Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy By Masayuki Sato
Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy By Masayuki Sato Lecture Two Intellectual Foundation for Chinese Philosophy 【本著作除另有註明外,採取創用CC「姓名標示-非商業性-相同方式分享 」台灣 2. 5版授權釋出】 The “Work” under the Creative Commons Taiwan 2. 5 License of “BY-NC-SA”. 1
Contents of Today’s Lecture n Introduction n (1) How should the West understand essential elements of Chinese thought? n ----Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” as a clue n (2) How do Chinese explicate main the characteristics of Chinese philosophy n ----Feng Youlan (Fung Yulan)’s “The Spirirt of Chinese Philosophy” as a clue 2
This work is from Princeton Weekly Bulletin, http: //www. princeton. edu/pr/pwb/05/0321/2 a. shtml, and used subject to the fair use doctrine of: • Taiwan Copyright Act Articles 52 & 65 • The "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open. Course. Ware 2009 (http: //www. centerforsocialmedia. org/sites/default/files/10 -305 -OCW-Oct 29. pdf)" by A Committee of Practitioners of Open. Course. Ware in the U. S. The contents are based on Section 107 of the 1976 U. S. Copyright Act n Feng Yu-lan (1895 -1990) Frederick W. Mote (1922– 2005)
Intellectual Foundation for Chinese Philosophy: Introduction n Four forms of “Foundation” for Chinese Philosophy n (1) Historical and social origin n (2) Religious faith or/and world view n (3) Concepts, ideas, arguments which fermented the formation of classical Chinese philosophy n (4) Those essences or core ideas which logically support the value of Chinese philosophy 4
Intellectual Foundation for Chinese Philosophy: Introduction n Four forms of “Foundation” for Chinese Philosophy n (1) Historical and social origin n (2) Religious faith or/and world view ← Mote n (3) Concepts, ideas, arguments which fermented the formation of the classical Chinese philosophy n (4) Those essences or core ideas which logically support the value of Chinese philosophy ←Feng 5
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n How does the West misunderstand the Chinese way of thinking? n Mote: “Modern European and American have insisted on making the unexamined and, as it turns out, quite unsupportable assumption that all people […] have regarded the cosmos and man as the products of a creator external to them. […] Westerners in translating Chinese texts have simply relied on falsely analogous expressions from our culture and read them mechanically into the Chinese texts. ” (p. 17) Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 17. 6
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n Chinese cosmology: “In 1949 Jung had noted: ‘the ancient Chinese mind contemplates the cosmos’ in a way comparable to that of the modern physicist, who cannot deny that his model of the world is a decidedly psychophysical structure. Needham, analyzing that Chinese model, calls it ‘an ordered harmony of wills without an ordainer. ’ As he describes the organismic Chinese cosmos, it emerges to our full view as one in striking contrast to all other world conceptions known to human society” (p. 20) Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 20. 7
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n Chinese cosmology: “In 1949 Jung had noted: ‘the ancient Chinese mind contemplates the cosmos’ in a way comparable to that of the modern physicist, who cannot deny that his model of the world is a decidedly psychophysical structure. Needham, analyzing that Chinese model, calls it ‘an ordered harmony of wills without an ordainer. ’ As he describes the organismic Chinese cosmos, it emerges to our full view as one in striking contrast to all other world conceptions known to human society” (p. 20) Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 20. 8
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n Devoid of Supreme God: “Whatever spiritual beings or spiritual forces the ancient Chinese were apt to acknowledge and venerate, by the limitations of their cosmology, none was capable of being dignified above all others as something external to the cosmos and therefore not subject to its dynamic process or as the ultimate cause behind it all, responsible for existence. If no super -god could be granted such a function, then prime impulse toward monotheism was lacking. ” (pp. 21 Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 22) 1971, p. 21 -22. 9
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n The concept of “Tian” (Heaven): n “The concept of t’ian (i. e. tian), called ‘heaven’ or ‘nature, ’ which had been an anthropomorphic conception of deified ancestor a millennium earlier, had become an abstract conception of cosmic function. This change reflects what many scholarly works have described as an apparent but unexplained rise of rationalism in Chinese culture in this period. ” (p. 22) Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 22. 10
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n The concept of “time-space”: n “Whitehead describes the cosmic process as netlike interweaving of event, […] n Concepts of Time: “[Chinese concept of time] is was cyclic cosmic time, with no beginning point, no Year One. Stages of cosmic ‘process’ (for example, the generative process of the self-contained cosmos itself) were seen as a set of logical, not chronological, relationship. The cosmic process is one in which all stages are simultaneously present. ” (pp. 27 -28) Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University 11 Press, 1971, p. 27 -28
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n The concept of “time-space”: n “Whitehead describes the cosmic process as netlike interweaving of event, […] n Concepts of Time: “[Chinese concept of time] is was cyclic cosmic time, with no beginning point, no Year One. Stages of cosmic ‘process’ (for example, the generative process of the self-contained cosmos itself) were seen as a set of logical, not chronological, relationship. The cosmic process is one in which all stages are simultaneously present. ” (pp. 27 -28) → synchronisity 12 Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 27 -28 (p. 22)
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n Western sense of “time-space”: n “Western man has been deeply influenced by the Newtonean preference for ‘particulate , catenary ’ casual explanation. […] Newton conceives of it as a series of discrete events linked in a causal chain. […This] kind of time, was the developmental, linear time of human history, in which man’s cumulative achievement in devising culture had its beginning point, suggested if not precisely known. ” (pp. 2728) Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 27 -28 13
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n Western sense of “time-space”: n “Western man has been deeply influenced by the Newtonean preference for ‘particulate’ , ‘catenary’ casual explanation. […] Newton conceives of it as a series of discrete events linked in a causal chain. […This] kind of time, was the developmental, linear time of human history, in which man’s cumulative achievement in devising culture had its beginning point, suggested if not precisely known. ” (pp. 2728) → causality (p. 22) 14 Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 27 -28
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n Other five characteristics of Chinese world view: n (1) absence of “creation myth” n (2) absence of a sense of sin: “Evil as a positive or active force cannot exist. ” (p. 24) n (3) lack of any institution, such as church, to make people maintain religious faith n (4) responsibility of filial submission, which had priority over loyalty to ruler and state. n (5) securlar man’s harmonious world: “the relationship of the one to the other is direct and W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton primary. ” (p. 27) Frederick University Press, 1971, p. 27 Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 24 15
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n The Book of Change, or Yijing 易經 or Zhouyi 周易 n The Book of Change has been one of five or six venerated classics which were supposed to have existed during the time of Confucius. n It consists the canonical part and the commentarial part, called “The Ten Wings” (shiyi 十翼 ). n The canonical part has it very old origin to, perhaps, the early Zhou period divination texts, and commentarial part has accumulated from the Spring and Autumn to the Warring State period (approximately 7 -3 BCE). 16
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” n According to author the Book of Change “heralds a striking cosmology and a philosophy of human potential for creative action and freedom in the cosmic process. ” W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University (p. 15) Frederick Press, 1971, p. 15 n The author also argues it represents one of the earliest crystallizations of the Chinese mind, and “the concern with the uses and meaning of this book has been a feature of the thought of a majority of China’s great philosophers. ” (p. 16) Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 16 17
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” (Some criticisms) n Mote does not distinguish the considerable difference of thoughts between the canonical part and commentarial part. n i. ) There might have been more than 500 hundred years’ time gap between two parts n ii. ) Thus, the statements in the canonical part and the argument of commentarial part might have been articulated on the basis of quite different world views (i. e. , prophecy for totally unknown future and the quest for investing corresponding each articulated pattern with meaning) 18
Mote’s “The Beginnings of a World View” (Some criticisms) n In fact, those texts which, whether implicitly or explicitly, represent cyclical cosmological view belong to minority: (The Laozi, The Zhuangzi, the commentarial part of the Book of Change, and perhaps the Xunzi); Among the rest of major texts such as the Analects, the Mozi, the Mencius, such a worldview cannot be found obviously. Thus, as long as the Warring States’ texts are concerned, so-called “organismic view” might represent only a part of the main characteristics of early Chinese thought. 19
Feng’s “The Spirirt of Chinese Philosophy” One’s complete assimilation into the n. Deliberate Feng’s “definition” of philosophy and anti natural process including n “A philosopher -natural effort to must philosophize; that is to one’s own death prolong say, heone’s mustlife think reflectively on life, and then express his thoughts systematically. ” (p. 2) Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: n Its difference with religion The Free Press, 1966. p. 2 n “In the heart of every great religion there is a Philosophical philosophy. In fact, every great religion is a Religious Daoism with a certain amount philosophy 道教of 道家思想 superstructure, which consists of superstition, dogmas, rituals, and institution. This is what I Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The call religion. ” (p. 2) Free Press, 1966. p. 2 20
Feng’s “The Spirirt of Chinese Philosophy” n The purpose of Chinese philosophy n “The purpose of the study of philosophy is to enable a man, as a man, to be a man, not some particular kind of man. ”(p. 11) n “What is the highest form of achievement of which a man as a man is capable? According to the Chinese philosophers, it is nothing less than being a sage, and the highest achievement of a sage is the identification of the individual with universe. ”(p. 6) Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 11 Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 6 21
Feng’s “The Spirirt of Chinese Philosophy” n Inner sageliness and outer kingliness n Neisheng waiwang 內聖外王 n Chinese philosophy vs. Plato’s idea of “philosopher king” n “The Task of philosophy is to enable a man to have the character of sageliness within and kingliness without. But, according to Plato, when a philosopher becomes a king, he does so against his will---in other words, it is something forced on him, and entails a great sacrifice on his part. ” (p. 9) Cf. Daoist. Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 9 22
Feng’s “The Spirirt of Chinese Philosophy” n Confucianism: “the daily task of dealing with social affairs in human relations is not something alien to the Sage. Carrying on this task is the very essence of the development of the perfection of his personality. ” (p. 9) Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 9 “This-worldliness and other-worldliness stand in contrast to each other as do realism and idealism. The task of Chinese philosophy is accomplish a synthesis out of these antitheses. ” (p. 8) Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 8 23
Feng’s “The Spirirt of Chinese Philosophy” n The method for “practicing” Chinese philosophy n “The study of philosophy is not simply an attempt to acquire this kind of knowledge, but is also an attempt to develop this kind of character (i. e. inward sageliness and outward kingliness). Philosophy is not simply something to be known, but is also something to be experienced. ” (p. 10) Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 10 24
Feng’s image of ideal personality Inner Sagiliness Outer Kingliness Assimilation with universe National Taiwan University Masayuki Sato Practice for Self-cultivation 25
Feng’s image of ideal Inner Sagiliness Outer Kingliness Assimilation with universe National Taiwan University Masayuki Sato 26
Feng’s image of ideal Inner Sagiliness Outer Kingliness. Assimilation Outer with Kingliness universe Assimilation with universe An ideal man as a man National Taiwan University Masayuki Sato 27
Feng’s “The Spirirt of Chinese Philosophy”: Questions n The Way in Chinese philosophy express themselves n “Chinese philosophers were accustomed to express However, characteristics themselves in the formsuch of aphorisms, apothegms, or Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese value 12) the importance allusions, paradoxically and illustration. ”(p. Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 12 of reading, and n cf. But recent research has interpretation, revealing that early Chinese bytheir modern readers “philosophicalarticulation writings” show very strict argumentative style and structure. themselves. n “Thus, suggestiveness, not articulateness, the ideal of Chinese art. This ideal is reflected in the way in which Chinese philosophers have expressed themselves. ”. (p. 12) Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 12 28
What can we learn from Feng’s observation? n Feng’s accounts for the significance of Chinese philosophy can be summarized into the following two points: n (1) Feng tries to find the importance of “the spirit of Chinese philosophy” in its orientation for selfcultivation practice, rather than mere method for allow a practitioner to reach the philosophical truth. n (2) Feng’s characterization of Chinese writing as “suggestiveness” contains a message that it is us, namely modern readers, who should be able to grant full range of philosophical significance to early Chinese text. 29
Feng’s “The Spirirt”: Concerning the mode of Chinese World view n Feng takes two characteristics in Chinese philosophy concerning the mode of Chinese philosophy: n (1) Reversal Is the Movement of Dao n “When the development of anything brings it to one extreme, a reversal to the other extreme takes place; that is, to borrow an expression from Hegel, everything involves its Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. own negation. ” (p. 19) NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 19 n (2) Identification or deep appreciation of nature 30
Feng’s “The Spirirt”: Concerning the mode of Chinese World view n Criticism of Feng’s point (1): n Feng does explain in great depth the motion which Chinese philosophy presumes is, Mote pointed out, an eternal cyclical movement, and just emphasizes those aspects such as “reverse” and “negation” in order to understand it in analogous with Western philosophy (here, namely, Hegel’s) n Thus, unlike the dialectic method, this negation in Chinese thinking does not presuppose any further development from it. 31
Feng’s “The Spirirt”: Concerning the mode of Chinese World view n Some criticism and further questions on Feng’s account. n (1) The idea: “Inner sageliness and outer kingliness”, which first appeared in the last chapter of the Book of Zhuangzi, was not much elaborated on by the Warring States’ thinkers as by the later Neo-Confucian thinkers which has been profoundly influenced by Buddhist idea of ideal state of Buddhahood. 32
Feng’s “The Spirirt”: Concerning the mode of Chinese World view n Some criticism and further questions on Feng’s account. n (2) With ample use of Western philosophical terms, such as realism and idealism, Feng explicates the development of Chinese thought as if it had gone through the similar process which the Western philosophy has done. In other words, his accounts takes a high risk to disregard several unique aspects for early Chinese philosophy per se. 33
Contrast of two articulations of the charecteristics between Mote and Feng n (1) Mote emphasize the difference between Chinese and Western thinking, while Feng tries to associate Chinese concepts and arguments with their most “corresponding” western counterparts. n (2) Mote seeks the model of Chinese way of thinking in the Book of Change, and tries to derive the general account for its characteristics from it, while Feng presents broader range of textual examples 34
Contrast of two articulations of the characteristics between Mote and Feng Mote n (3) From the model of “Chinese world view”, Mote’s seems to present the very single or unitary image of Chinese thought, while Feng contrasts Confucian conception with Daoist one, suggesting Chinese philosophy as a whole containing dual aspects in its evolution. n (4) Both of them have described the early Chinese thought as the intellectual foundation for the following Chinese history and society, but pay less attention to the fact that it has also greatly influenced the formation of the society and culture of the other East-Asian countries 35
Questions and discussions n (1) By which argument do you feel more persuaded to understand the main characteristics of Chinese thought/philosophy? n (2) Can you find anything in contemporary Chinese and/or East Asian way of thought and behavior, which could be associated with those characteristics presented by Mote and Feng? Please name some of them, if you can. n (3) Which position, do you think, is Mote argument among the four which Defoort has indicated? 36
Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy Thank you very much! Lecture Two Intellectual Foundation for Chinese Philosophy 37
Copyright Declaration Work Licensing Author/ Source Wiki User Sgsg http: //zh. wikipedia. org/wiki/File: Feng_Youlan. jpg 2011. 16 visited This work is from Princeton Weekly Bulletin, http: //www. princeton. edu/pr/pwb/05/0321/2 a. shtml, and used subject to the fair use doctrine of: • Taiwan Copyright Act Articles 52 & 65 • The "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open. Course. Ware 2009 (http: //www. centerforsocialmedia. org/sites/default/files/10305 -OCW-Oct 29. pdf)" by A Committee of Practitioners of Open. Course. Ware in the U. S. The contents are based on Section 107 of the 1976 U. S. Copyright Act “Modern European and American have insisted on making the …… read them mechanically into the Chinese texts. ” Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 17 “In 1949 Jung had noted: ‘the ancient …… to all other world conceptions known to human society” Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 20 “Whatever spiritual beings or spiritual forces ……then prime impulse toward monotheism was lacking. ” Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 21 -22 “The concept of t’ian (i. e. tian)……but unexplained rise of rationalism in Chinese culture in this period. ” Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 22 38
Copyright Declaration Work “Whitehead describes the cosmic process as netlike interweaving of event……in which all stages are simultaneously present. ” “Western man has been deeply ……suggested if not precisely known. ” “Evil as a positive or active force cannot exist. ” “the relationship of the one to the other is direct and primary. ” (p. 27) Licensing Author/ Source Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 27 -28 Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 24 Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 27 “heralds a striking cosmology and a philosophy of human potential for creative action and freedom in the cosmic process. ” Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 15 “the concern with the uses and meaning of this book has been a feature of the thought of a majority of China’s great philosophers. ” Frederick W. Mote : Intellectual Foundation of China. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971, p. 16 39
Copyright Declaration Work “A philosopher must philosophize; that is to say, he must think reflectively on life, and then express his thoughts systematically. ” “In the heart of every great religion there is a philosophy. In fact, every great religion is a philosophy with a certain amount of superstructure, which consists of superstition, dogmas, rituals, and institution. This is what I call religion. ” “The purpose of the study of philosophy is to enable a man, as a man, to be a man, not some particular kind of man. ” “What is the highest form of achievement of which a man as a man is capable? According to the Chinese philosophers, it is nothing less than being a sage, and the highest achievement of a sage is the identification of the individual with universe. ” “The Task of philosophy is to enable a man to have the character of sageliness within and kingliness without. But, according to Plato, when a philosopher becomes a king, he does so against his will---in other words, it is something forced on him, and entails a great sacrifice on his part. ” Licensing Author/ Source Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 2 Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 11 Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 6 Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 9 40
Copyright Declaration Work Licensing Author/ Source “the daily task of dealing with social affairs in human relations is not something alien to the Sage. Carrying on this task is the very essence of the development of the perfection of his personality. ” Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 9 “This-worldliness and other-worldliness stand in contrast to each other as do realism and idealism. The task of Chinese philosophy is accomplish a synthesis out of these antitheses. ” Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 8 “The study of philosophy is not simply an attempt to acquire this kind of knowledge, but is also an attempt to develop this kind of character (i. e. inward sageliness and outward kingliness). Philosophy is not simply something to be known, but is also something to be experienced. ” Inner Outer Sagilines s. Kinglin ess Assimilatio n with universe Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 10 National Taiwan University Masayuki Sato Practice for Self-cultivation Inn er Sa gilin ess Outer Kinglin ess National Taiwan University Masayuki Sato Assimilation with universe 41
Copyright Declaration Work Licensing Author/ Source National Taiwan University Masayuki Sato “Chinese philosophers were accustomed to express themselves in the form of aphorisms, apothegms, or allusions, and illustration. ” “Thus, suggestiveness, not articulateness, the ideal of Chinese art. This ideal is reflected in the way in which Chinese philosophers have expressed themselves. ” “When the development of anything brings it to one extreme, a reversal to the other extreme takes place; that is, to borrow an expression from Hegel, everything involves its own negation. ” Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 12 Y. L. Feng: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. NY: The Free Press, 1966. p. 19 42
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