Confucius' View of Hierarchy from the Perspective of Fen

Abstract

As a core concept in pre-Qin Confucian thought, fen is both the logical starting point of social order and the spiritual support of ritual and legal institutions. Although Confucius does not directly and systematically elaborate the concept of fen in his recorded statements, the li and zhengming that he advocates are in fact grounded in fen and aim to establish distinctions of rank, honor, responsibility, and role among persons. Starting from the philological meaning and institutional origin of fen, this article examines its forms of expression in the system of the Rites of Zhou and then investigates how fen is embedded in the intellectual construction of Confucius' view of hierarchy. Through the three dimensions of defining fen through li, consolidating fen through ren, and clarifying fen in the application of punishment, the article shows how Confucius internalizes fen as an ethical principle and externalizes it as social order, giving it concrete expression in the human relations between ruler and minister, father and son, elder and younger, and husband and wife. Through a comparative analysis of Xunzi's thought on fen, the article further highlights the tension and extension between the moralized tendency of Confucius' concept of fen and the rationalized turn of Xunzi's thought on fen. Finally, the article attempts to reinterpret the Confucian idea of hierarchy under the modern discourse of equality. It argues that fen is not a tool for suppressing the individual, but a reasonable division of responsibility and role in the construction of an ordered society, and therefore has theoretical value across ancient and modern contexts.