{"product_id":"the-junzi-confucius-ideal-umberto-bresciani-9791223945742","title":"The Junzi - Confucius' ideal human being","description":"It is a deeply rooted habit among the Chinese to divide people into two categories: the junzi (gentlemen, decent people, those with a sense of justice, noble-spirited men) and the xiaoren (petty men, mean-spirited individuals who look only to personal profit and never to the common good). This habit, too, is a legacy of Confucius, who transformed the meaning of these two labels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe term \u003cb\u003ejunzi \u003c\/b\u003e-- rendered \u003ci\u003ekunshi\u003c\/i\u003e in Japanese, \u003ci\u003ekwunca\u003c\/i\u003e in Korean, and \u003ci\u003equân tử\u003c\/i\u003e in Vietnamese -- already existed before Confucius, and its original meaning was simply to indicate a person's social status. As a social designation, junzi meant \"son (zi) of a feudal lord (jun)\" or of an aristocrat, and thus a member of the noble class that governed under that system. In Confucius's time, society was divided into two classes: the junzi (the aristocrats) and the xiaoren (the common people, the masses).\u003cbr\u003eThe original meaning occasionally resurfaces in the Analects, as we will point out in due course. But in most cases, the term is used with a different sense. Confucius transformed it into a moral qualification: from \"son of a feudal lord (or an aristocrat)\" to \"a person who has the ideal qualities of a feudal lord or an aristocrat.\"\u003cbr\u003eFrom a social qualification (\"noble man by blood\") to an ethical one (\"noble man by spirit\").\u003cbr\u003eThe junzi is, according to Confucius, the ideal human being.\u003cbr\u003eNaturally, its opposite, the xiaoren, then does not (in most cases) mean someone of humble social origin, but rather a petty, selfish man, unable to see beyond his own narrow personal interests. As we will see, the junzi of Confucius is not a hereditary condition; it is an ideal of life, a goal to be achieved, which any person may aspire to, not just those of noble birth.\u003cbr\u003eThe descriptions Confucius gives us of the personality of the junzi, or conversely the xiaoren, are in fact his definitions of the ideal human being -- how, in his view, a person worthy of the name \"human\" should or should not behave.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eUmberto Bresciani\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1942 Born in Ca'd'Andrea, Cremona, Italy.\u003cbr\u003e1962 High School Graduate (Maturità Classica), Liceo Ballerini, Seregno (MI), Italy.\u003cbr\u003e1968 Licentiate of Philosophy \u0026amp; Theology, Studentato Teologico Saveriano, Parma, Italy.\u003cbr\u003e1969 Entered Chinese Language Institute (Annexed to Fujen University, Taipei, Taiwan).\u003cbr\u003e1973 B.A. (major: History; minor: Chinese Studies), University of Maryland (U.S.A.), Far East Division.\u003cbr\u003e1975 M.A. Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.\u003cbr\u003e1983 Ph. D. Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.\u003cbr\u003eProfessor of Italian Language: National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei (since 1974).\u003cbr\u003eProfessor, Dept. of Italian Language \u0026amp; Culture, Fujen University, Xinzhuang, Taipei, Taiwan (since 2003).\u003cbr\u003eUmberto Bresciani has lived in Taiwan for over 40 years.\u003cbr\u003eHis main interest is Chinese philosophical and religious thought and comparative theological studies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMain publications\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBooks: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eXifang hanxuejia yanjiu wenshidongyi de shangdui\u003c\/b\u003e (Evaluation of research by Western sinologists on the Wenshidongyi), dissertation for the Ph.D., Chinese Literature, Taipei: National Taiwan University, May 1983.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReinventing Confucianism: The New Confucian Movement\u003c\/b\u003e, Taipei: Ricci Institute, 2001.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLa filosofia cinese nel ventesimo secolo\u003c\/b\u003e - I nuovi confuciani, Roma: Urbaniana University Press, 2009.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIl primo principio della filosofia confuciana\u003c\/b\u003e, Gaeta: Passerino Editore, 2014.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Umberto Bresciani\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9791223945742\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Passerino\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/03\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 312\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.08lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.45h x 6.69w x 0.65d","brand":"Umberto Bresciani","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48217903464703,"sku":"9791223945742","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_3ba56e71-b1c6-4337-bfe7-aed82dec1d89.jpg?v=1772000200","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-junzi-confucius-ideal-umberto-bresciani-9791223945742","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}