Rectification of names
Confucian political concept / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The rectification of names (Chinese: 正名; pinyin: Zhèngmíng; Wade–Giles: Cheng-ming) is originally a doctrine of feudal Confucian designations and relationships, behaving accordingly to ensure social harmony.[1] Without such accordance society would essentially crumble and "undertakings would not be completed."[2] Mencius extended the doctrine to include questions of political legitimacy.[3]
When Confucius was asked what he would do if he was a governor, he said he would "rectify the names" to make words correspond to reality.