Would Confucius appreciate MTV as a “way to the Tao?”?

Does this make any sense to you at all? Do you know what my comparative religions teacher is talking about? How the heck is MTV anything like the tao?





This is our assignment:





Watch an hour or so of MTV. As you watch, make a list of the kinds of values that are expressed and the patterns of human relationships that are advocated. Comment on your findings in terms of aesthetics, harmony, balance, and peace. Would Confucius appreciate MTV as a “way to the Tao?” What does the success and power of MTV tell us about relationships in American society?





Please help me cause I don't understand and I'm about to rip my hair out here.





P.S. I have read the Tao, of my own volition in fact, but this question makes no sense to me.|||if this is the question, there are serious problems that your paper should address, which our friends here have pointed out.





The biggest problematic point: Confucius was not a Taoist.





However, if I was answering this question I would:





1. Talk about the fact that Confucius was more interested in transmitting the accomplishments of ancient sages, like King Wen, than imitating the present norms of society, which he felt were detremental to producing good culture.





Or, that he tailored his teachings to the individual character of each of his students, sometimes answering the same question differently when it is posed by different students. Mtv is mass teaching, with no regard to individuality.





2. I would go to Chuang-Tzu for the Daoist side, and talk about uncertainty and sponteineity, and the virtual, where there is a primary uncertainty regarding the real as it gives way to the pure exchange of signs against signs - high advertizing in the Mtv age. I would speak about the innocence and the disposable nature of pop, alongside Chuang-Tzu's 'butterfly dream'.





3. I would make the case that the Daoist sage withdraws from society, establishes himself on the margins, so to teach, speak, and be the Way without being fettered by the trappings of general, or mass culture.





I'd say that the only problem with this is that it's hard to get away from mass culture in America nowdays, that the mass media obliterate the margins.





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If your teacher is implying that you should look at Mtv as being the metaphor for what Confucius would see if the Daoist were to have their way, then I'd say it is a cheap shot without ground.





A FINAL IMPORTANT NOTE: Confucius does talk about 'the way', which is the same character in the Chinese as it is for the Daoists (Dao). It might be the case that your teacher wants you to talk about the Confucian dao, not the Daoist Dao. In any case, for Confucians, I doubt the way of good culture includes Mtv as its flagship.





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WAIT!!! - OK - A way TO the Dao.





OK - Yes, Mtv does provide for the viewer a mass Dao, a way of being immersed in product consumption and pop culture, in short, a Way of being.





By buying this or that, you become this or that: sexy, successful, hip, cool, etc.





However, Kongzi would recognize that the substitution of these 'magic properties from the product you buy' for real life is a pretty shoddy way of being, and...





Kongzi would conclude that it is better to look back at what your family thought was a good life, and what constitutes good living outside of the capitalist consumerist paradigm in order to direct one's own virtue toward becoming a Junzi, than it is to get it ready-made from Mtv.





- Hope this helps, it took me a bit to figure out what the teacher was asking (maybe). R.|||holy christ, mtv is the OPPOSITE of the tao





unless it teaches me to embrace nothingness and seek no attachment to the world because it's all temporary (things happen FAST on mtv, even in terms of years)|||teacher needs help to associate things


:S|||Confucius was not a Taoist. Lao Tsu, founder of Taoism, was opposed to Confucian ethics.|||Confucius laid great stress on the cultivation of character, purity of heart and conduct. He exhorted the people to develop a good character first, which is a priceless jewel and which is the best of all virtues.





He would NOT have like MTV at all, and would not consider it a "way to the tao"





Also, Lao-Tzu was Confucious' teacher and both Taoism and Confucianism complement each other.





==


Living in total harmony


with Tao


is beyond culture,


oneness


with Tao


beyond philosophy.





The ignorant


fall in love with words,


yet words


do not touch


the Tao.





The wise


fall in love with truths,


yet truths


do not capture


the Tao.





The sage


in harmony with Tao


needs no words nor truths,


for she accepts


emptiness


and embraces


silence.





The Tao


is cruel and false


to the hypocritical and unscrupulous,


but to the sincere,


the Tao


is


mercy and truth.





The Tao


is cold and dispassionate


to those addicted to desire,


but to the detached,


the Tao


is


warmth and consolation.