Junzi

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Junzi (Chinese: 君子, pinyin: Jūnzǐ) was a term coined by Confucius to describe his ideal human. To Confucius, the functions of government and social stratification were facts of life to be sustained by ethical values; thus his ideal human was the junzi. Often translated as "gentleman" or "superior person" and sometimes "exemplary person"^[1], the junzi literally means "ruler's son". As the potential leader of a nation, a son of the ruler is raised to have a superior ethical and moral position while gaining inner peace through being virtuous. Despite its literal meaning, any righteous man willing to improve himself can become a junzi.

On the contrary, the petty person or xiaoren (小人, pinyin: xiăo rén, lit. "small person") does not grasp the value of the Confucian virtues and seeks only immediate gains. The petty person is egotistic and does not consider the consequences of his action to the overall scheme of things. Should the ruler be surrounded by xiaoren as opposed to junzi, his governance and his people will suffer due to their small-mindness.

The junzi enforces rule in his subjects by acting virtuously himself. It is thought that his pure virtue will lead others to follow his example. The ultimate goal is that government behaves much like family. Thus at all levels filial piety promotes harmony and the junzi acts as a beacon for this piety.