Historical

1
Historical Philosophical Background

• IAS 2540 / UGD 2270 History of Traditional
  Chinese Thought

2

• the 3 Dynasties of Antiquity (mythical)
• Hsia
• Shang
• Chou
• Western
• Eastern, 770 B.C.-

3

• The highly cultured Shang people were conquered (
  in 1122B.C.) by rude tribesmen from western
  China- know as the Chou Who established the
  famous Chou Dynasty.
• Duke of Chou
• (the founders younger brother)
• regent to his nephew (a young Emperor),
• proved to be a man of high principle, therefore,
  he was well-respected.

4

• During the Cultural Revolution of modern China
  (around 1966-76), there was a political campaign
  of anti-Confucianism (down with Confucius /
  Confucianism). Specialists analyzed that one of
  the targets was Premier CHOU En-Lai, who was
  protecting people such as Deng Xiaoping, etc.,
  and thus was the main enemy of the Gang of Four
  (the extreme leftists). As his surname was the
  same as the Duke of CHOU ( his image, too), so
  both Premier Chou and the Duke of Chou were
  attacked by the Red Guards the Gang of Four.

5

• Nevertheless, lets get back to the ancient
  history of China
• The Chou conquerors justified their conquest of
  the Shang people by alleging that history had
  merely repeated itself
• Many centuries earlier, the Shang founder know as
  Tang the Successful had been appointed by Heaven
  to replace the wicked last king of the previous
  Dynasty (Hsia).
• The doctrine of the decree of Heaven (Tien or
  Ti).

6

• The Chou Rulers did what was almost the only
  thing they could do
• They parceled out their territories to vassals
  who were for the most part their relatives who
  had assisted them in the conquest. These feudal
  lords had to keep the peace, paid the required
  tribute to the king, and led their soldiers to
  help the king when they were needed. Therefore, a
  feudal system was established.

7

• BUT, this ancient Chinese feudalism is very
  different from the medieval feudalism of Europe.
• Cf. Rushton Coulborn, ed. Feudalism in History
  (Princeton Princeton U. Press, 1956)
• Prof. Derk Bodde (Harvard) on China
• Profs. Rushton Coulborn, Joseph Strayer
  (Princeton) on medieval Europe.

8

• At the beginning, this feudalism system of Chou
  China worked quite well.
• However, after a few generations, the situation
  changed.
• The descendants of this blood relation became
  more distant!
• (example)

9

• Nevertheless, soon the stronger feudal lords
  annexed the territories of their weaker
  neighbors, and when the emperor tried to
  interfere, they even resisted the emperor.
• Spring Autumn Period
• Warring Period
• Political decentralization

10

• Story of the last emperor of Western Chou his
  concubine ( Who was beautiful but did not smile-
  until seeing the burning of SOS fire calling
  for help).
• The feudal vassals were antagonized.
• After his downfall, (770B.C.) his son moved to
  the East, established his new Capital at Loyang,
  thus, the beginning of the Eastern Chou Dynasty.

11

• The great flourishing of ancient/traditional
  Chinese thought came, however, after the Capital
  was moved to the east (from Chang-on to Loyang
  in 770 B.C., thus, the Eastern Chou), at the end
  of the Spring Autumn Period and during the
  Warring Period.
• Confucius (551-479 B.C.) Hundred Schools

12

• 2 reasons for the rise of thought in this period
• 1. the rapid changes underway in the structure of
  society,
• 2. the opportune appearance of some great
  thinkers, such as Confucius, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu,
  etc.

13

• The feudal political institutions were
  disintegrating, the social system and the way
  of life of the feudal aristocracy were being
  transformed.
• Service in government and the acquisition of
  learning, both privileges originally limited to
  noble families, were now opened to commoners.
• Therefore, thought was freed Learning was
  unrestricted.

14

• Rulers (including the feudal lords) intent upon
  self-strengthening greatly valued the service of
  talented scholars.
• Thus, the Golden Age in Chinese Intellectual
  History.
• The Period of Creativity (from birth of
  Confucius 551B.C. to the unification of the
  First Emperor of Chin 221B.C.).
• Hsiao Kung-Chuan (tr. Frederick Mote), A History
  of Chinese Political Thought (our main reference)

15

• Synthesis was at the hands of the great thinkers
  of this time, by whom concepts were extended and
  ordered.
• Example The Taoist and Legalist Schools held the
  Yellow Emperor of antiquity in great reverence.
  Therefore, they drew upon earlier origins.
• Yet, this work of melting down the old so as to
  cast from it something new is no less than an act
  of creation.

16

• The creativity of the pre-Chin age was not
  creation from nothing, lacking precedent
  foundation.
• Pre-Chin thought, with respect to that which
  preceded it, was a melting of the old metal in
  order to cast something new from it. And with
  respect to the Chin and Han and following ages,
  it established the main themes framework.

17
Periodization

• Period of Creativity or the thought of the feudal
  world (Spring Autumn Period, Warring Period to
  the founding of the Chin Dynasty, 221 B.C.)
• Period of Continuation the Period of Change or
  the thought of authoritarian empire (221 B.C. to
  late Ching Dynasty 1898 Reform or 1911
  Revolution)
• The thought of the modern nation-state.

18
Dynasties/ pendulum or cycle
19

• This theory of pendulum or cycle
• Confucianism, Taoism Legalism should be looked
  at in a macro way!

20
The Great Minds in Eastern Chou

• The Chou Dynasty was a period of great economic
  growth, social change, political development.
  But the failure of old authority, both secular
  spiritual, posed new problems in Eastern Chou.
  Mens mind could wander at will and did range
  more freely than ever.
• One is struck by the parallel in time between
  this intellectual outburst in China the heyday
  of the Greek philosophers, the Hebraic prophets,
  the historical Buddha in India. Great Minds in
  History Confucius, Socratesdialogues.

21

• Some of these thinkers were first of all
  practical politicians. They were part of the new
  class of bureaucrats, produced by the spread of
  literacy and the needs of an increasingly complex
  political system. These men often wandered from
  state, offering their services where they would
  be most appreciated.
• These great thinkers attracted followers thus
  became teachers. Their disciples gradually formed
  into schools of philosophy, and from these
  schools, the sayings of original masters, as
  collected supplemented by later disciples,
  eventually emerged as the philosophical classics.