Day 97truthlanguageclarity
Names and Reality
This is the famous doctrine of the 'Rectification of Names' (正名, zhèng míng). For Confucius, social and moral order begins with using words accurately. When a father is called 'father' but does not act as one, disorder follows. When we call cruelty 'discipline' or neglect 'freedom,' language becomes a tool of confusion rather than clarity.