Tao of Heaven Liberalism Discussion Series
Talk Sixty-Two: Human Dignity as the Supreme. Why Shouldn’t One Use Power to Insult Human Dignity?
Liu Jun Ning
Translated By: Selene Cong
Confucius: There was an incident in Shenzhen that drew the attention of the nation. On November 29, 006, the Shenzhen Futian Police held two public meetings, during which, hundreds of people suspected of prostitution-related crimes were handcuffed and paraded through the streets under the supervision of the armed police. The police proceeded to announce their sentences, names, birthdates, and residencies. This incident attracted thousands of the locals to watch. It reminded me of what you said in this chapter about the Tao of Heaven protects both the good and the bad. What is your opinion on this event?
Lao Tzu: I have heard of it and I am quite concerned about this. It is indeed a vicious act. I believe that all humans, whether good or bad, deserve the protection of the Tao of Heaven. Perhaps many people heard the whispers of the Tao of Heaven and realized that the women weren’t the ones who were publicly humiliated, but their tormentors were.
Confucius: What does that mean?
Lao Tzu: These women committed a minor offense but they (the police) committed a grave offense. To punish a minor offense through a grave offense is wrong. Besides, these women are members of a weaker group in that profession. The police humiliated these powerless streetwalking women in public while ignoring the concubines of the corrupt bureaucrats. Are they not bullying the weak ones?
Confucius: What you mean is that in order to be fair, the police should parade the concubines and the corrupt bureaucrats in the streets as well?
Lao Tzu: No, that is absolutely not what I mean. I believe that the punishment of public humiliation is wrong regardless who the recipient may be, whether it may be a prostitute, a concubine, a corrupt bureaucrat, or a bandit. To do so is against the Tao of Heaven.
Confucius: You are familiar with the traditions of China. There wasn’t one dynasty in Chinese history that did not parade the criminals in public. This type of incidents continued to take place even after 1949, reaching its apex during the Cultural Revolution. Besides you, since the ancient times, not only did people not complain, but they loved such spectacles. Human beings must have shame. Perhaps we may waken those people who have no shame through a little humiliation. Do you agree with me?
Lao Tzu: You are utterly wrong. Even if a person were to make a mistake, he may still feel shame. Look at these women in the pictures with their head hanging down and their faces covered with hair. This shows that they know shame. But if we were to mercilessly humiliate them, wouldn’t we destroy what remains of their sense of shame? Sense of shame is easily destroyed and hard to build. How would these young women live as normal human beings if their sense of shame were completely destroyed? Where would they stand in society? Therefore, public humiliation not only destroys their self-respect, but also destroys the rest of their lives. Nobody questioned or dared to question this kind of practice in the ancient times or during the Cultural Revolution. But now, almost everyone is questioning it and no one is afraid to question it. This is the merit of the prevalent understanding of human rights. You should let your disciples work harder in this area or you would suffer as well.
Confucius: The Confucian school has indeed not considered much of the dignity of the deviants. Otherwise, parading them in the streets wouldn’t have survived to this day with Confucianism dominating the last two millennia. We are at least guilty of negligence. I have another question: can’t we even humiliate those who have completely lost their sense of shame and self-respect?
Lao Tzu: Of course not. Saddam Hussein was a mass murderer. Nevertheless, he was still allowed to wear his white shirt and dark suit; not only were his hands not cuffed, but they were also permitted to wave about as he wished. How would you feel if Saddam were tied up with ropes with a plaque saying “murderer” hanging from his neck? It won’t be the embarrassment of Saddam, but the embarrassment of those who were trying him; it wasn’t Saddam who was uncivilized but these who were trying him.
Confucius: That’s a good reason. I didn’t think much about it. My head was filled with clear distinctions of right and wrong, love and hate.
Lao Tzu: Treating the prostitutes respectfully and allowing Saddam to dress tidily have nothing to do with right and wrong, or love and hate. Doesn’t the Confucian school speak of the benevolent person loving men, and love being extended to all? Weren’t there people criticizing the Confucians for having unclear class boundaries? Confucianism does have the idea of compassion for all and it needs to be promoted. For example, the Confucian scholar Zhang Zai of the Song Dynasty said, “the people are born brothers of mine; I share my belongings with them” This idea is great. As long as he is human, regardless of his nature, class, or political affiliations, he should be treated as a brother. Of course, here needs a bit clarification. It is one’s duty to see other people as his brothers and it means that he cannot see human beings as animals of inanimate objects. As far as sharing one’s belonging is concerned, it depends on the individual’s willingness. We cannot force a person to share his property with others.
Confucius: The saying of Zhang Zai contains the essence of my teaching. It is the pride of the Confucian school. His four verses (To create a center for the world, to create a destiny for the people, to end the teachings for the ancient wisdom, to spread peace for thousands of generations) are also favorites of mine. These verses have encouraged numerous good people since the Song Dynasty and they are signs of the great ambition of the Confucians to see the duty of the world as our own duty and to care for the entire humanity.
Lao Tzu: But I feel unease whenever I hear these verses. It reveals a preference for force and an ambition of great ventures using force and aggression to conquer the world while treating the individuals as nothing. This is of the same nature as the European absolutism. What is the power or right of one human being to determine the center, destiny and peace for the entire generation and all generations that follow? This is not the work of a mortal man. Furthermore, it deprives the individual of the right to determine the center, destiny and peace for himself. It is full of the ideas of absolutism. Under the free order of the Tao of Heaven, we should return the rights to choose and pursue religion, happiness, and life, to the individuals, instead of sealing their mouths and tying their hands, and then claim to work for them to create happiness and perpetual peace for them.
Confucius: You have a deeper understanding of these problems. I guess good intentions are not enough. We must consider the possible results of these intentions. Let us return to our previous subject. Why would public humiliation have such serious moral consequences? Besides what we have discussed, are there other philosophical causes? What is the relationship between these and your Tao of Heaven?
Lao Tzu: Excellent question. I also want to talk about what I have discovered in years of contemplation. I believe the greatest evil of legal violence such as parading in the streets is the disregard of human dignity; it violates the dignity of a human being and the second greatest damage is the destruction of a person’s sense of morality, leading to severe damage to the person’s spirit and the body. There is a very important concept here, dignity, especially human dignity. What does it feel like when a man’s dignity is trampled upon by power and force?
Confucius: Then, what is the origin of human dignity? Did it fall out of the sky?
Lao Tzu: Why do men have dignity? It is because men are the children and creation of the Tao of Heaven. This is the meaning of the Tao generates all things. There is no Son of Heaven in the realm of men but everyone is the son of the Tao of Heaven. No matter how ignorant, evil, deviant, a person is, he still has his right and dignity because they are innate to humanity. Everybody has dignity and everybody has a role in the Tao of Heaven, regardless of the status of his social position; everyone has inalienable dignity. It is a violation of the Tao of Heaven to humiliate or even torture our fellow human beings. Don’t you also support “there is teaching regardless of classes?” It is the same reason. What would the consequence of depriving those who are flawed and poor of their right to education?
Confucius: I originally support education regardless of class because of human nature and benevolence. I see education equality has roots in your Tao of Heaven. You said in chapter forty-nine, “treat these who are kind with kindness; treat these who are unkind also with kindness; the fruit of benevolence is thus born. Treat these who are sincere with sincerity; treat these who are insincere also with sincerity; the fruit of sincerity is thus born.” Is this what you mean? But there is a common saying, “a man insults himself first and others will insult him, too.” What do you think of this belief?
Lao Tzu: Whether or not a person respects himself is his private affair. Even if he does not respect himself, it doesn’t mean that others, especially the government, has the right to automatically humiliate him, or his dignity. For example, regardless of the crime a person has committed, the judge cannot degrade him in court; regardless of how disrespectful a prostitutes has been to herself, the judge cannot have the liberty to touch her.
Confucius: I am still a bit confused. Why would the Tao of Heaven protect the evil people? Isn’t it harming the good by aiding the evil?
Lao Tzu: Good and evil are the opinions of men about this world. The measure for good and evil is closely related to the position of the man setting the standards and the reason for using the standards. In the political affairs of the world, when the moral standards are determined and enforced by unbridled power, the standards and the judgments for good and evil are very likely to be warped and often reversed. It must not be like during the Cultural Revolution again, where the powerful man gave the order saying so and so was not good, and everyone would rush forward to knock him down and trample him under so that he would never be able to rise again. Therefore, once power is involved in the judgment of morality, things become complicated. Those who disagree with the status quo may not be evil and those who are favored may not be good, either. However, throughout the history of humanity the more abusive the tyrants were, the more they would receive praises and approbations therefore, the governmental machine must not violate the integrity of the so-called evil ones based on the standards of good and evil. Even when people have been found guilty through legitimate legal processes, they still deserve the basic respect due to human dignity.
Tao of Heaven Chapter Sixty-Two
Tao has of all things the most honoured place.
No treasures give good men so rich a grace;
Bad men it guards, and doth their ill efface.
(Its) admirable words can purchase honour; (its) admirable deeds
can raise their performer above others. Even men who are not good are
not abandoned by it.
Therefore when the sovereign occupies his place as the Son of
Heaven, and he has appointed his three ducal ministers, though (a
prince) were to send in a round symbol-of-rank large enough to fill
both the hands, and that as the precursor of the team of horses (in
the court-yard), such an offering would not be equal to (a lesson of)
this Tao, which one might present on his knees.
Why was it that the ancients prized this Tao so much? Was it not
because it could be got by seeking for it, and the guilty could escape
(from the stain of their guilt) by it? This is the reason why all
under heaven consider it the most valuable thing. (J. Legge Translation)
The Tao of Heaven is the way of flow through the four seas, and the creator and the guardian of all things. Both the good and evil men are saved through the Tao of Heaven. Flatteries will win the favor of those who are in power, and respectful behaviors will win the praises of those who are in power. However, the Tao of Heaven does not relinquish those who don’t are not mastered in the words of flattery, nor those whose behaviors are flawed, nor those who hold opposing political or religious beliefs. All humanity are equal before the Tao of Heaven. It protects the good but does not abandon the bad.
Therefore, it is no better to support one as the prince, or name one as the court advisor, minister, or other positions of power, giving them massive gems and gifts, letting them enjoy high powers and prestige, than to force them to honor the Tao of Heaven. Why have people valued the Tao of the Heaven since the ancient times? Isn’t it because as long as you are willing to help yourself, the Tao of Heaven will help you, too; even if you are guilty, the Tao of Heaven can still treat you fairly, saving you from abuse, and letting you enjoy the basic respect due to humanity. Therefore, all governments and people should believe in and implement the Tao of Heaven.
Published in “Balance Magazine” 2007 Vol. 1
