How does Confucius help us during the quarantine time?

But an unusual phenomenon occured, I got to see the closest people every day which brought me to think about how we could learn and become better people just by being in close proximity to those we love. For the past years, everything has been, admittedly, about traveling, exploring new horizons, just being out there meant growing as a person and thus becoming better. So it is natural to ask how can one become good if one is required to staty within one apartment? Fortunately, Confucius, an ancient Chinese philosopher, seems to be of some help.

According to Confucius, filial piety is the root of one becoming human. People can become good only if they learn how to care for their closest ones. Since such love does not arise naturally, one must learn and cultivate it.

Analects [1-2]: 有子曰。其爲人也孝弟、而好犯上者、鮮矣。不好犯

上、而好作亂者、未之有也。君子務本、本立而道生。孝弟也者、其爲仁之本與。

Yu Tzu said: “It is rare for a man whose character is such that he is good as a son and obedient as a young man to have the inclination to transgress against his superiors; it is unheard of for one who has no such inclination to be inclined to start a rebellion. The gentleman devotes his efforts to the roots, for once the roots are established, the Way will grow therefrom. Being good as a son and obedient as a young man is, perhaps, the root of a man’s character.”

Mencius, a second Confucian scholar, emphasizes that everyone disposes of the heart of compassion through a thought experiment where if one were to see a drowning child, one would naturally feel compassionate with such a heart-rending situation. It is important to understand that although everyone is capable of caring, acting upon such emotion requires persistence and will. If one can care about those closest to him, only then one can truly care for others. And so, let the time of quarantine be of no isolation but rather a time of cultivation. As Confucius reminds us, now is the chance to improve the relationship with those close to us, so we can become better people in the world that will inevitably come.