What I "Tweet" about The Original Way: Comparing The Original Way and The Bhagavad-Gita

After reading Han Yu (韓愈)’s The Original Way (《原道》), one would easily get an impression that the thinking presented in the passage is incompatible with or even the opposite of that in The Bhagavad-Gita, especially to Hongkongers who often find difficulty in differentiating Hinduism from Buddhism. Is this really the case?

        Han Yu is a staunch advocate of Confucianism, and he adopts a hard-line stance against Buddhism and Taoism. One of his arguments is that these two religions undermine the four social classes of ancient times, which in turn threatens social stability, as people leave their day jobs and family duties, and become monks and Taoist priests:

「古之為民者四，今之為民者六。古之教者處其一，今之教者處其三。農之家一，而食粟之家六。工之家一，而用器之家六。賈之家一，而資焉之家六。奈之何民不窮且盜也！」  

(韓愈《原道》)

(English Translation:
“In antiquity there were four classes of people; today there are six. In antiquity there was one teaching, today three. The farmer is but one, while his grain goes to feed six. The craftsman one, his craft used by six. Merchants, one class raising capital for six. How could the people not be thieving and poor?”

(The Original Way by Han Yu, translated by Dr. Lucas Klein)
                                                              

「而外天下國家，滅其天常，子焉而不父其父，臣焉而不君其君，民焉而不事其事。」　　　　

(韓愈《原道》)

(English Translation:
“whereas nowadays, those who would 'rule their minds' ignore state and home and abolish the heavenly relations — where are the sons who treat their fathers as fathers, the ministers who treat their lords as lords, the people occupied with their occupations?"

(The Original Way by Han Yu, translated by Dr. Lucas Klein)

       On the other hand, the importance of fulfilling one’s dharma or ordained duties is preached throughout The Bhagavad-Gita. For instance, in the first teaching, Krishna teaches that Arjuna needs to fulfill his own duties in the family. If the family duties are shirked, this will create disorder in the caste system, resulting in chaos.
  

Krishna and Arjuna on the chariot, a 18–19th century painting
(Source: Simthsonian Freer Sackler Gallery)

       And the establishment of the four classes is mentioned in the fourth teaching:

“I created mankind in four classes,

different in their qualities and actions,

though unchanging, I am the agent of this,

the actor who never acts!”  

                               (The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Barbara Miller, 4:13)

        Although there may be differences in the classification of social classes between The Bhagavad-Gita and The Original Way, the emphasis on duties and social system is similar. We observe that in both Han Yu's Confucian philosophy and Hinduism, fulfilling one’s righteous duties and roles in the social system is the pillar of a prosperous society.

Reference:
 

Han, Y. (2012, Winter). The original way (Lucas Klein. Trans.). Almost Island, pp.1-5. (http://almostisland.com/winter_2012/special_issue_style/pdfs/the_original_way.pdf)
 

Miller, B.S. (1986). The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's counsel in time of war. Bantam Dell: New York.