The Rectification of Names and the Illumination of the Imago Dei: An Orthodox Reflection on the Confucian Dà Xué Tradition

The Opening Page of the Confucian "Book of Rites"

"In ancient times, those who wished to make bright virtue brilliant in the world first ordered their states; those who wished to order their states first aligned their households; those who wished to align their households first refined their persons; those who wished to refine their persons first balanced their minds; those who wished to balance their minds first perfected the genuineness of their intentions; those who wished to perfect the genuineness of their intentions first extended their understanding; extending one’s understanding lies in aligning affairs."

- The Great Learning, Translated by Robert Eno, Indiana State University, 2016, pg 11

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

Introduction

The Gospel of Saint John begins not merely with a historical narrative, but with a metaphysical and ontological proclamation: the Logos (λόγος) - the Divine Principle, Word, Reason, and Order - has become incarnate. For the Western Orthodox Christian, steeped in the ancient traditions of the Undivided Church and the Platonic-Christian synthesis of Alexandria and the Latin Fathers, this is not simply a theological claim, but a philosophical key to all reality. The Logos is not only the Second Person of the Trinity, but the very grammar of being, the archetype by which all things are ordered, named, and made knowable.

“In the beginning was the Word (Ὁ Λόγος), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” — John 1:1,14

In the Confucian tradition, particularly in the Dà Xué (大學, “The Great Learning”) found in the Lǐjì (禮記, “Book of Rites”), we are given a similar vision of moral and cosmic order, progressing outward from the individual to the world, grounded in inner transformation:

「古之欲明明德於天下者，先治其國；欲治其國者，先齊其家；欲齊其家者，先修其身；欲修其身者，先正其心；欲正其心者，先誠其意；欲誠其意者，先致其知，致知在格物。」— 禮記 Lǐjì: 大學 Dà Xué 1:5–9

“In ancient times, those who wished to make bright virtue brilliant in the world first ordered their states; those who wished to order their states first aligned their households; those who wished to align their households first refined their persons…”

This Confucian paradigm begins with personal cultivation (xiū shēn, 修身) and proceeds through family (qí jiā, 齊家), governance (zhì guó, 治國), to world peace (píng tiānxià, 平天下). The progression is not unlike the Church’s understanding of sanctification and spiritual warfare: that one must conquer the passions within (cf. Philippians 2:12–13) before attempting to govern others, or - as the Desert Fathers knew - before even attempting to instruct another soul.

Greeting One Another with a "Perfect Greeting," by Calling Each Other by Names of Endearment and Respect

I. The Rectification of Names and the Incarnation of Truth

Confucius says in the Analects:

「名不正，則言不順；言不順，則事不成。」— 论语 13:3

“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.”

This is a fundamental insight into what the Christian tradition calls the Logos—not only a divine name, but the correct ordering and naming of things according to their essence. The West, in its long memory, once knew this principle. Saint Augustine teaches, "Every good thing, and the very order of nature, is from God: the peace of all things is the tranquillity of order" (De Civitate Dei, XIX.13).

The early Fathers understood the rectification of the world as the re-naming and re-ordering of all things in Christ, the True Name above every name (Philippians 2:9). The name of Jesus, in the Christian mystical tradition, is not magic—it is metaphysical. It names reality rightly. As Dionysius the Areopagite writes, “God is the cause of all being (αἰτία τοῦ εἶναι τῶν πάντων), and all things long for Him according to their measure” (Divine Names, IV.10).

In misnaming, we distort being. Sin, then, is misnaming ourselves and others: calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), disfiguring the Imago Dei.

II. Harmony of Households and the Ecclesia Domestica

Confucius's insight that household harmony precedes national governance has a deep resonance with Christian thought. Saint John Chrysostom famously taught that the Christian household is a “little Church” (μικρὰ ἐκκλησία), a place where the divine order should first be embodied. Paul’s exhortations in Ephesians 5–6 concerning husbands, wives, children, and servants are precisely this: a restoration of the broken hierarchies of fallen man under the Lordship of Christ.

Confucius says:

「修身、齊家、治國、平天下」— “Refine the self, align the family, govern the nation, bring peace to the world.”

Compare this with the unknown Orthodox monk of the 12th century:

"When I was young, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realise the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realise that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." 

Both recognize that transformation radiates outward, beginning with the self (theoria), leading to virtue (arete), and culminating in love (agape)—first toward one’s household, then one’s neighbor, and ultimately toward God.

The Steps of Self-Cultivation and Virtue Leading to Ultimate Truth and Peace, Submission to the "Wll of Heaven," and Perfect Consonance of Behavior, Morals, Names and Claims to Authority

III. The Five Relationships and the Restoration of Hierarchy

The Confucian five relationships are not arbitrary social roles, but hierarchical harmonies—microcosms of the cosmic order:

1. Ruler to Subject

2. Parent to Child

3. Husband to Wife

4. Elder Brother to Younger Brother

5. Friend to Friend

Each relationship assumes both love (ren, 仁) and duty (li, 禮)—virtues echoed in Christian ethical teaching. Saint Paul’s exhortations in Romans 12 and 13, and again in Colossians 3, map neatly onto these relationships. Christian Platonists, from Clement of Alexandria to Hugh of St. Victor, saw earthly hierarchies as types and shadows of heavenly ones. For just as there are Thrones, Dominions, and Principalities in Heaven (Colossians 1:16), so also on earth there are kings, fathers, and teachers.

But when such hierarchies become divorced from their telos in God, they become oppressive. The proper Christian response is not egalitarian erasure, but transfiguration. Christ does not abolish authority; He fulfills it. “He who would be greatest among you must be servant of all” (Matthew 23:11).

The Eight Virtues of Human Relationships - Filial Piety, Brotherly Love, Loyalty, Faith, Ritual Action, Righteousness, Healthy Focus, and Self-Restraint

IV. Platonic Forms, Chinese Li, and the Logos of the Cosmos

In Plato’s Cratylus, Socrates explores the correctness of names (ὀρθότης ὀνομάτων)—an idea mirroring the Confucian concern for proper naming. In the Timaeus, Plato sees the cosmos as the embodiment of rational form (εἰδος):

“God desired that all things should be good and nothing evil, and so far as possible He drew them into likeness with Himself” (Timaeus, 29e–30a).

So too, in Confucianism, li (禮) - rites, customs, and proper patterns - are not mere etiquette, but reflections of the moral order. To follow the ritual li is to harmonize oneself with Heaven (Tiān, 天) through apprehension of the lines that connect the Created with the Uncreated, the Finite with the Infinite, also called li (理) which is best understood as the lines of Logos (λόγος) that connect all things with the Mind of God. Is this not the same idea as submitting to the Uncreated Word behind and upholding all of the created world? 

Saint Maximus the Confessor extends this vision: in every created thing there is a “logoi of being” (λόγοι τῆς οὐσίας), and all these logoi find their unity in the Logos. The cosmos is a symphony in which every part resounds in the Person and Nature of Jesus Christ.

Human Relationships in Healthy Happy Families Reflect the Cosmic Relationships Fundamental to Human Reality

V. Toward the Peace of the World: The Eschaton and the Peace of Heaven

The Dà Xué ends in eschatology: the peace of the world. In Orthodox liturgy, we begin with the Great Litany: “In peace let us pray to the Lord... For the peace of the whole world.” We begin as Confucius does: with the person - his passions and disordered affections - and proceed to the Church, the household, the city, the nation, and the cosmos.

Yet this peace is not the cessation of conflict alone; it is the harmony of all things in God, the restoration of Eden. As Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes, “The end is likeness to God” (Ὁ σκοπὸς ἡ ὁμοίωσις Θεῷ), and this likeness begins with the purification of the self—katharsis, metanoia, and ultimately, theosis.

VI. A Confucian Christian Rectification of Names

In both Confucian and Christian thought, naming rightly is the foundation of right order. Christ is the Name above every name, and in Him, all things are named and ordered aright.

"A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect." -  Confucius, Analects, Book XIII, Chapter 3, verses 4–7, Analect 13.3, translated by James Legge

The Western Orthodox tradition - rooted in Scripture, forged in the fire of patristic wisdom, and illumined by classical philosophy - can receive Confucius not as a rival, but as a forerunner in the quest for divine harmony. His Great Learning becomes, when baptized in the Light of Christ, a mirror to the Beatitudes, the Epistles, and the Liturgy.

Let us then strive first to be rectified in ourselves, that we may in Christ rectify all things:

“That God may be all in all (ἵνα ᾖ ὁ Θεὸς πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν).” — 1 Corinthians 15:28

COLLECT

Almighty and Everlasting God, who didst order all things in wisdom, and didst send Thy Son, the Eternal Word, to restore in us the likeness of Thy divine image: Grant us grace so to amend our lives, that, being renewed in heart, we may rightly name Thee, rightly name ourselves, and rightly name our neighbour; that our households may be governed in peace, our words be tempered with truth, and our works established in charity. Conform us, O Lord, to the pattern of Thy Son, that through the harmony of inward virtue, we may be instruments of Thy peace in the world, and attain at last to that city whose builder and maker is God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Relationships of Rectification, Based on the "Great Learning"