"Li[-d]" The Way
In moving on to Chapters 4 & 5, I wanted to note a connection I made between Confucius' "Way" and another "Way" that I know of. The Way is also a film directed by and starring Emilio Estevez. The Way depicts the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James), an ancient, religious path leading through France and Spain to Galicia, Spain. Estevez's film portrays a father who decides to walk the trail in memory of his son who died trying to travel it. The father takes his son's ashes with him as he journeys.*This story, along with having the same name as the translation of "Li" (the Way), illustrates some of Confucius' teachings. Following the Way (Li) includes standing by your family, as Confucius reveals in the telling of the story of "Upright Kung." This same lesson is exposed in the film, The Way, in how the father completes the task that his son wanted to complete but could not. The father shows the respect toward his son that Confucius would appreciate.
In discussion today, we talked about how Confucius adamantly told that along the Way, it was the journey that mattered and not the final destination. On the Camino de Santiago in the film and in reality, I believe this to be true as well. Estevez's Way and Li share that they are personal journeys that cause their travelers to develop and learn on their paths. I want to go on a (somewhat) spiritual journey like the Way to see what it is like to go on a journey for the sake of the road, not the place you end.
*The movie is based on a number of true stories from Estevez's life, his son's life, and "Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down The Pilgrim's Route Into Spain" by Jack Hitt.
I really like how you connected this story to the concepts we are discussing in class. Do you think that Estevez was aware of any of these concepts? I really enjoy Confucius' message that the journey is what matters, not the destination. I think more people, including myself, need to take this idea to heart. We would all probably take a lot from it if we did.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. I always have a hard time taking the things that we learn in class and applying them to outside things.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check this movie out at some point, sounds very interesting. More importantly, I am very glad you took that away from our discussion last Tuesday. It is very true that the process or path is more important than the result. And with countless examples that we have discussed in class we see that it is a shared concept.
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