The Five Loves and Commitments of Confucianism

“Know thyself,” said the temple at Delphi. Only you can peer into your heart and know what you truly love, but others can see your actions and see your commitments. These are related. Love empowers commitment; commitment sustains love.

What are the loves and commitments of Confucianism, the Ru Jia? To become a noble person I believe one starts by loving humanity. The love of humanity leads to a love of virtue. The love of virtue leads to a love of culture. The love of culture leads to a love of learning. And the love of learning leads to a love of order.

I believe the first commitment of a noble person is to family. The commitment to family enables a commitment to self-cultivation. The commitment to self-cultivation enables a commitment to community. A commitment to community enables commitment to a state. And a true commitment to a state should enable commitment to world peace, because no state is truly secure unless all states live in harmony.

A love for humanity empowers a family. A love of virtue empowers self-cultivation. A love of culture empowers community. A love of learning empowers a state. And a love of order empowers world peace.

World peace sustains order. A successful state sustains learning. Successful communities sustain culture. Successful self-cultivation sustains virtue. And successful families sustain humanity.

I have diagrammed these relationships. Click on the image to enlarge it.

This is my contribution to modern Confucianism.

Robert