Confucianism and Meritocracy

[William S. Lear]

On Sun, November 22, 1998 at 09:42:45 (-0500) Henry C.K. Liu writes:
>...
>Officially, Confucianism promotes meritocracy.
>But it s a meritocracy that comes with a loyalty precondition.
>In that sense it is very different than the Legalist idea of
>meritocracy.
>...

This is precisely the definition of the vassal/lord relationship,
embodied in the ritual of (European) homage under feudalism that Marc
Bloch describes.

Over time, the ritual was retained, but the loyalty of the lord to the
vassal was dropped.

Bill