of Heaven.

Through a symbolic analysis of the three core
ideas in the text--chun-tzu (superior man, or pro-
found person), cheng (politics), and ch'eng (sin-
cerity)--I hope to demonstrate that such familiar
dichotomies as the tension between self and society
and the conflict between ethics and religion are
alien to Chung-yung's spiritual orientation. This
interpretation will probably unsettle the conven-
tional belief that Confucianism is preeminently a
social philosophy or an ethical system. But my pur-
pose is not so much to underscore a few selected
elements in Chung-yung as to introduce a new way of
analyzing all of its salient features. If my inter-
pretative position is tenable, Chung-yung's re-
flections on the "profound person" who is engaged in
a continual process toward an ever-deepening sub-
jectivity, ⁷ on society as a "fiduciary community," ⁸
rather than as an adversary system, and on "sincer-
ity" as a primary concept in the construction of a
moral metaphysics" ⁹ will suggest an exceedingly in-
teresting approach to some of the perennial human
concerns.

In writing this essay, I have benefited greatly
from long discussions with several friends and
colleagues. I would like particularly to thank
John Ewell, Stephen Hay, Lao Ssu-kuang, Leonard
Nathan, Irwin Scheiner, and Frederic Wakeman, Jr.

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