Chinese Philosophies

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Chinese Philosophies
Underlying Principles Humanism-focus on human
relationships Harmony-a reflection of the cosmic
order Dao-the Way Yin/Yang The Universal Law
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Philosophical foundations

• The Hundred Schools
• Naturalism
• Confucianism
• Daoism
• Legalism

Confucius
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Naturalism

• Five agents wood, fire, earth, metal, water
• Geomancy Fengshui
• Dualism in nature yin and yang
• The importance of BALANCE!

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Complementary Opposites
Yin feminine passive negative weak cold response
Yang masculine active positive strong hot stimul
us
As yin expands and yang contracts, so the
universe breathes
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The Forbidden City Beijing Planned according
to principles of yin/yang and feng shui
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The Forbidden City today
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Confucius and Confucian thought

• Confucius lived 551-479 B.C.E.
• His students compiled The Analects
• Confucian thought and texts became the basis of
  education until the late 19th century!

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Basic principles

• Tradition important- the Golden Age
• The Golden Mean-moderation in all things
• All should work to be gentleman (junzi) with
  the virtues of (humans good by nature)
• ren (jen) kindness or benevolence
• ri (li) sense of propriety observing custom
• xiao (hsiao) filial piety

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Basic principles

• Te (duh) Confucian theory of government.
• Ideal society is achieved NOT by force and law
  but by the moral example of those in authority
  and everyone acting in accordance with their
  proper position in society.
• Wen (one) the arts of peace (high culture)
• Education valued
• Maintain standards of excellence

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Society is composed of five basic relationships

• Father and son
• Ruler and subject
• Husband and wife
• Elder brother and younger brother
• Friend and friend

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Confucius said

• When the meanings of the father are no longer
  meaningful to the son, civilization is in
  danger.
• Let the ruler be a ruler and the subject a
  subject let the father be a father and the son
  the son.

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According to Mencius

• A womans duties are to cook the five grains,
  heat the wine, look after her parents-in-law,
  make clothes, and that is all! She has no
  ambition to manage affairs outside the house She
  must follow the three submissions When she is
  young, she must submit to her parents. After her
  marriage, she must submit to her husband. After
  her husbands death, she must submit to her son.

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Mandate of Heaven

• The emperor was the son of heaven
• He had a mandate from heaven to rule all under
  heaven
• But this was conditional he could lose the
  mandate if he was a poor ruler.
• Natural disasters were signs that the emperor was
  on the verge of losing the mandate.

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Impact of Confucian Thoughtto be Chinese is to
be Confucian

• Political impact Mandate of Heaven
• -Good government depends on good men
• -Government of ethics not force
• Social impact knowing your place, saving face
• Harmony through ordered social relationships
• No need for priests or gods
• Civilian over military rule
• Education important

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Laozi and Daoism

• Laozi contemporary of Confucius?
• Reaction to ideas of Confucius
• Emphasized natural principles over social
  principles? wuwei, following the Dao or way
• In China many have been Confucian by day, Daoist
  by night.

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Laotsi said

• Do nothing and everything is done
• A wise man knows that it is better to sit
  fishing on the banks of a remote mountain stream
  that to be emperor of the whole world.

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Basic Principles

• Tao the way of Nature, the Cosmic Order
• wu-wei the natural way, adapt to natures
  rythyms.
• Values
• Intuition
• Eqalitarianism
• Spontaneity
• Humility
• Relativity

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Impact of Daoism

• Individualistic, set apart from society
• Naturalistic art, judo, karate, Tai Chi
• Technological developments-gunpowder, compass
• Two approaches high philosophical, magic
• Political impact-less government is better

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Legalism

• Law is the basis of stable government because,
  being fixed and known to all, it provides an
  exact instrument with which to measure individual
  conduct.

Han Feizi 280-233 B.C.E.
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Basic Principles

• Goal? Law and Order
• Man is essentially selfish
• Law is supreme but uniform
• Harsh punishments
• Means justifies the ends
• Pragmatic, not bound by past precedents

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Impact of Legalism

• Used as the model for laws, made Confucianism
  more rigid
• Laws must be written, uniform
• Laws dictated by the rulerStrong state
  totalitarianism
• Change laws to fit the times

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Unification of China under Emperor Qin Shihuangdi

• Qin reigned 221-210 BCE
• Unified north and south China
• Standardized language, weights, currency,
  measures
• Constructed roads throughout empire
• Connected Great Wall

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Guarding the Tomb of the Qin Emperor
Xian, China
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Farmers discovered first terra cotta warriors in
1970s
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The Great Wall of China
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Chinese religion

• Chinas origin myths influenced by Confucianism
  great men founded China
• Folk religion is based on worship of ancestors
• Secular philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism
  became religions of sorts.
• Buddhism was introduced to China from India 1st
  century C.E.
• Chinese religion is syncretic

Fu Xi
Shen Nong
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Han dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE Chinas classical
age

• Confucianism became the basis of educational
  system
• Contemporary with Roman Empire

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Civil Service Examination

• China as a meritocracy
• Scholarship was the way to the top!
• Initiated in 2nd century BCE and continued until
  early 1900s.

Cheat shirt c. 19th C.
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Connected to central Asia and Rome over Silk
Roads
Sericulture
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Tang Dynasty 618-907 CE Cosmopolitan China

• Tang capital at Changan was a crossroads of the
  world
• China was the center of civilization in Asia
• Conducted diplomacy through the tribute system

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Changan
In Changan there were Buddhist temples, Daoist
monasteries, Manichean, Nestorian, Mazdean
temples, and eventually Muslim Mosques.
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Tang China a regional power

• During the Tang period, Chinese philosophies,
  classic texts, ideas about government and city
  planning spread to Japan, Korea, Vietnam

Layout of Nara, Japan, 710-784
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Tang China the tributary system
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