Eastern Dialectics: Ren-Yi (仁义)
Traditional Eastern (Chinese) philosophy seeks to find a middle ground between contradictory ideas
In the Book of Rites, it is said that the Son of Heaven “distinguishes benevolence from righteousness” [375]. The ren-yi (仁义) pair of opposites is central to classical Chinese philosophy. Benevolence (ren) without righteousness (yi) is foolish because not everyone deserves benevolence. However, ruled by righteousness alone engenders fear and mistrust. Thus, it is the unity of benevolence and righteousness—the unity of opposites—that allows the complete expression of humanity and social justice. In Chinese history, Confucian scholar-officials taught the virtues of xiao (孝) and ren while the Legalists promoted the strict application of the law. Although Legalism was effective at unifying China for the first time under the Qin dynasty, it was the combination of Confucianism and Legalism that allowed the Han dynasty to last for 400 years.
The Book of Tea shares the dialectical philosophy to that of the Book of Rites. It is written in the Book of Tea that “Truth can be reached only through the comprehension of opposites” [29]. Human societies are by nature political. Ancient Chinese thinkers discovered that in order to sustain an orderly human society, humans must observe the working of ren and yi.
In his essay “On Contradiction”, although Mao Zedong does not talk about ren-yi, his understanding of contradiction is similar to the underlying philosophy holding ren-yi together. Mao describes two aspects of contradiction: first, “no contradictory aspect can exist in isolation. Without its opposite aspect, each loses the condition for its existence”; second, “each of the contradictory aspects within a thing transforms itself into its opposite, changes its position to that of its opposite.” It is difficult to imagine a political society operating on simply one aspect of ren-yi. Such a society would not last very long. Although humans by nature is good, they need education and law to act accordingly. Ren without yi would cause ren to disappear because people would find ways to take advantage of those that are good-natured. Before long good people cease to exist. And yi without ren would bring yi to an end. People are now fearful of being punished so they hesitate to help others even when it is the right thing to do. Thus, they lose their yi.
In contemporary China, after decades of peace and economic growth, perhaps it is not surprising to see the revival of Confucianism as a state ideology. Rapid urbanization and the adoption of market policies have made the application of law ineffective. Furthermore, it has been observed that President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive has worked too well, creating a counterproductive environment in which officials are discouraged from taking risks on implementing innovative policies. The revival of Confucianism as well as ren demonstrates that dialectical thinking still exists in contemporary China.