The Rectification of Names (Chinese: 正名; pinyin: Zhèngmíng; Wade–Giles: Cheng-ming) is the Confucian doctrine that to know and use the proper designations of things in the web of relationships that creates meaning, a community, and then behaving accordingly so as to ensure social harmony is The Good. Since social harmony is of utmost importance, without the proper rectification of names, society would essentially crumble and "undertakings not completed."
Read more about Rectification Of Names: Confucius, Later Scholars, Modern Applications, Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the words rectification of and/or names:
“Divorce. A resumption of diplomatic relations and rectification of boundaries.”
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
“I come to this land to ride my horse,
to try my own guitar, to copy out
their two separate names like sunflowers, to conjure
up my daily bread, to endure,
somehow to endure.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)