The rectification of names (Chinese: 正名; pinyin: Zhèngmíng; Wade–Giles: Cheng-ming) is originally a doctrine of feudal Confucian designations and relationships, behaving accordingly to ensure social harmony. Without such accordance "undertakings would not be completed" and societal order would fail. Mencius extended the doctrine to include questions of political legitimacy. When Confucius was asked what he would do if he was a governor, he said he would "rectify the names" to make words correspond to reality.
Confucius The Analects states that social disorder often stems from failure to call things by their proper names. Confucius' solution to this was the "rectification of names". He gave an explanation to one of his disciples:
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. The teaching of Confucius consists of five basic relationships in life:
Ruler to subject Parent to child Husband to wife Elder brother to younger brother Friend to friend In the above relationships, Confucius teaches that righteous, considerate, kind, benevolent, and gentle treatment should be applied by the former to the latter. And that with the application of such practices in day-to-day life, societal problems would be solved and righteous government would be achieved. The carrying out of these relational duties would equate the proper channeling of li and the correct use of zhèngmíng congruent to Confucius' teachings leading to the envisioned path of his doctrine; a moral and efficient society and individuals who have achieved the ascension to superior human beings through the principles of li and ren. The proper operation of oneself ultimately depends on the role of zhèngmíng; essentially a circle of dependency in terms of the practice and application of principles and ways. In Confucianism, the Rectification of Names means that "things in actual fact should be made to accord with the implications attached to them by names, the prerequisites for correct living and even efficient government being that all classes of society should accord to what they ought to be". Without the rectification of names, different words would have different actions. This essentially means for every action, there is a word that describes that action. The belief is that by following the Rectification of Names, one would be following the correct/right path. The rectification of names also calls for a standard language in which ancient rulers could impose laws that everyone could understand to avoid confusion. Each person has a social standing and a social name. With their social names comes responsibilities and duties. Ruler, minister, father and son all have social names therefore need to fulfill their required social duties of respect (The rectification of names). For example, in the study of Chinese culture a child only speaks when a parent permits them to speak. Following orders from a person of authority means that one is showing respect, therefore that one is following the Rectification of Names without explicitly acknowledging it. Confucius' belief in the Rectification of Names is still practiced in today's society, for example when a teacher asks a student to address a visitor, that student will follow the instructions.
Mohism and Legalism
Because the rectification of names in the Analects of Confucius appears to have been written later, the rectification of names has been argued in western sinology to have earlier have originated in Mozi (470–391 BC). Noting that the term Chengming or rectification of names only appears once in the Analects, and not at all in Mencius, sinologist Herrlee G. Creel earlier argued it's origination in Shen Buhai (400–337 BC) for the same reasons, as intentionally imaginative theory increasing Shen Buhai's role in history. However, as Creel himself argued, Shen Buhai has Confucian elements and is largely administrative. The idea of the rectification of names, is, at least, consonant throughout the Analects. The earlier sinologists were more focused on terms, though Shen Buhai's rectification is relevant for the Han Feizi. More modernly, professor Zhenbin Sun considers Mozi's rectification itself consonant with Confucian usages, Mozi moreover considering it an important factor in the resolution of sociopolitical issues, and not simply administration. The Mohist and "Legalistic" version of the rectification of names emphasizes the use of hermeneutics to find "objective models" (法; fa) for ethics and politics, as well as in practical fields of work, to order or govern society. Mozi advocated language standards appropriate for use by ordinary people. With minimal training, anyone could use these "objective, particularly operational or measurement-like standards", giving identical names to equivalent social relationships and functions so as to apply identical standards of "correct" behavior in analogous situations. By contrast, the Zhuangzi says that "great words are overflowing; small words haggling"(2.2), the true self lacks form (2.3), the mind can spontaneously select (2.4), asks whether language is different from the chirping of birds (2.5), and rejects assertion and denial (2.7), saying "to wear out one's spirit like powers contriving some view... without understanding that it is all the same is called 'three in the morning'".
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