Early Chinese History

1
Early Chinese History

• 2852 Fu Hsi- inventor of writing, fishing,
  trapping.
• 2737 Shen Nung- inventor of agriculture,
  commerce
• 2697 Yellow Emperor
• 2357-2205 Sage Kings- Yao, Shun, Yu (founder of
  first dynasty).
• 1818 Hsia dynasty
• 1766 Shang dynasty (King Tang)
• 1300 Earliest archeological evidence
• 1115 Chou dynasty (Mandate of Heaven)

2
Chinese History

• 551-200 Golden age of 100 philosophers
  Confucius, Mo Tzu, Lao Tzu Mencius, Chuang Tzu,
  Hsun Tzu, Han Fei Tzu. (Confucianism, Taoism,
  Moism, Legalism).
• 403-221 Warring states period
• 221 Chin Dynasty
• 214 Great Wall Completed
• 105 Paper invented.
• 65 CE Buddhist missionaries reach China.

3
Pre-Confucian Religion

• Shang-Ti (Lord on high). A divine ruler who
  watches over human society and regulates the
  forces of nature.
• Lesser divinities of the sun, moon, stars, wind,
  rain, and particular mountains and rivers.

• These deities were appeased through sacrifice and
  their will revealed through divination techniques
  (oracle bones, sticks- IChing).
• Sacrifice to ancestors was vital to the welfare
  of each family or clan.

4
From Shang-Ti to Tien

• Tien (heaven) gradually comes to replace
  Shang-Ti. Tien is not a personal god, but an
  impersonal source of moral order which
  impartially guides human destiny. Reason
  replaces divination as the means of discovering
  moral principles.
• Chou rulers appeal to the concept tien ming,
  mandate of heaven to justify their overthrow of
  the Shang dynasty.

5
Confucius

• The axial age enters China through the sage Kong
  Qiu (551-479 BCE). Born in a time of social and
  political crisis, Kong Qiu was an avid student
  who mastered the study of li.
• His disciples called him Konfuzi, our master
  Kong.

6
Confucianism

• Ethical Humanism
• Kung Fu-Tzu (551-479 BCE)
• The Master said, At fifteen I set my heart upon
  learning. At thirty, I planted my feet firm upon
  the ground. At forty, I no longer suffered from
  perplexities. At fifty, I knew what were the
  biddings of heaven. At sixty, I heard them with
  a docile ear. At seventy, I could follow the
  dictates of my own heart for what I desired no
  longer overstepped the boundaries of right.
  (Analects , II.4.)

7
The Character of Confucius

• I am a person who forgets to eat when he is
  enthusiastic about something, forgets all his
  worries in his enjoyment of it, and is not aware
  that old age is coming on. (VII.18)
• Having only coarse food to eat, plain water to
  drink, and a bent arm for a pillow, one can still
  find happiness therein. Riches and honor
  acquired by unrighteous means are to me as
  drifting clouds. (VII.15)

• When walking in a party of three, I always have
  teachers. I can select the good qualities of one
  for imitation, and the bad ones of the other and
  correct them in myself. (VII.21)
• To love truth is better than only to know it. To
  delight in it is better than merely to love it.
  (VI.18)
• When you know a thing, say you know it, when you
  do not know a thing, admit that you do not know
  it. That is knowledge. (II.17)

8
The Function of Education

• To produce the chun-tzu superior person,
  profound person, gentleman. Literally, child
  of a ruler, for Confucius, it refers to a
  morally good person Character, not social
  status, determines individual worth.

• Fundamental virtue Jen- humanity, goodness,
  benevolence.
• My teaching contains one thread that runs through
  it all.... What did he mean? Our Masters
  teaching is simply this loyalty and
  reciprocity. (Analects, II.15.)

9
Confucian Ethics

• Is there any one word that can serve as a
  principle for the conduct of life? Confucius
  said Perhaps the word reciprocity Do not do
  to others what you would not want others to do to
  you. (Analects, XV.23.)

• A man of humanity, wishing to establish his own
  character, also establishes the character of
  others, and wishing to be prominent himself, also
  helps others to be prominent. To judge others by
  what one knows of oneself is the method of
  achieving humanity. (VI.28)

10
Jen

• Jen- Produced by self-cultivation, requires li
  (originally, religious sacrifice, then, ritual,
  ceremony, propriety) traditional social rules and
  practices that connect one with the past.
• He who learns but does not think, is lost. He
  who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.
  (II.15)

11
Li

• The Master has broadened me with culture,
  restrained me with ritual (IX.10).
• The Master said, Courtesy not bounded by the
  prescriptions of ritual becomes tiresome.
  Caution not bounded by the prescriptions of
  ritual becomes timidity, daring becomes
  turbulence, inflexibility becomes harshness.
  (VIII.2)
• Here, ritual serves to make the practice of
  virtue more manageable by setting limits to what
  is ethically required.

12
Li is the Key to Jen

• He who does not tread in the tracks of the
  ancients cannot expect to find his way into the
  inner-room (XI.19).
• Li is what keeps one treading in the ancient
  tracks.
• He who can himself submit to ritual is good.

(XII.1)
13
Confucius

• Confucius does not describe himself as a prophet
  but as a teacher/learner
• The Master said, I for my part am not one of
  those who have innate knowledge. I am simply one
  who loves the past and is diligent in
  investigating it. (VII.19.)
• There may well be those who can do without
  knowledge but I for my part am not one of them.
  To hear much, pick out what is good and follow
  it, to see much and take due note of it, is the
  lower of the two kinds of knowledge. (VII.27.)

14
Confucius Religious Skepticism

• The Master never talked of prodigies, feats of
  strength, disorders, or spirits. (VII.20.)
• Tzu-lu asked how one should serve ghosts and
  spirits. The Master said, Till you have learned
  to serve men, how can you serve ghosts?

• Tzu-lu then ventured upon a question about the
  dead. The Master said, till you know about the
  living, how are you to know about the dead?
  (XI.11.)
• Our Masters views concerning culture and the
  outward insignia of goodness, we are permitted to
  hear but about Mans nature and the ways of
  Heaven (Tao Tien) he will not tell us anything
  at all. (V.12.)

15
Confucius on Human Nature

• The Master said, By nature near together, by
  practice far apart. (XVII.2.)
• Confucius said, Man is born with uprightness. If
  one loses it he will be lucky if he escapes with
  his life. (VI.17, Chan.)
• Or Mans very life is honesty, in that without
  it he will be lucky indeed if he escapes with his
  life. (VI.17, Waley.)

16
Confucius on Government Rule by Moral Example

• If a ruler could for one day submit himself to
  ritual everyone under heaven would respond to
  his goodness. For goodness is something that
  must have its source in the ruler himself it
  cannot be got from others (XII.1.)

• The Master said, If the ruler is upright, all
  will go well even though he does not give orders.
  But if he himself is not upright, even though he
  gives orders, they will not be obeyed. (XIII.6.)
• Were a true gentleman to settle among them there
  would soon be no trouble...(IX.13.)

17
Mo Tzu (470-391?BCE)

• Espoused universal love, condemned ceremony,
  music, elaborate funerals, and belief in fate
  (ming).
• Developed a utilitarian ethical theory where the
  goodness or badness of an action was judged by
  its consequences.

18
Jian Ai

• Jian Ai required an equitable, fair, and
  impartial concern with all human beings.
• To limit ones affections to ones immediate
  family leads eventually to nationalism and war.

• War ruins harvests, kills multitudes of
  civilians, wastes weapons and horses, and leaves
  ancestors with no descendents to sacrifice for
  them.

19
Mo Tzu (470-391?BCE)

• What is the way of universal love and benefit? To
  regard other peoples countries as ones own.
  Regard other peoples families as ones own.
  Regard other peoples person as ones own.
• Because of a lack of universal love, all the
  calamities, hatred, and animosity in the world
  arose. Honor the worthy, employ the capable,
  report good and evil deeds to superiors, avoid
  offensive warfare, treat strangers and family
  alike.
• Murderers who rob their victims are considered
  even more unrighteous.
• Yet, when it comes to the more serious
  transgression of offensive warfare against other
  states, people do not know enough to condemn such
  an act. In fact, they praise it and call it
  righteous

20
The Three Standards

• Sought to create an ideal society using the three
  tests
• (1) Origin Will of Heaven, experiences of sage
  kings. (2) Validity Inquire into actual
  experience. (3) Applicability
  Put it into law and see if it brings benefits to
  the state and the people.

• To levy taxes on the people in order to produce
  the sounds of big bells, resounding drums, harps,
  and pipes does not help the promotion of benefits
  and the removal of harms in the world. Therefore
  Mo Tzu said to engage in music is wrong.To have
  men engage in music is to waste their time for
  ploughing and planting.

21
Mencius (372-289 BCE)

• Human nature is essentially good. The four
  primary virtues arise from four natural human
  feelings
• Commiseration----Jen
• Shame/dislike------Yi
• Modesty-------------Li
• Right and wrong---Chih

22
Human Heartedness

• All men have the mind which cannot bear to see
  the sufferings of others.... When men see a
  child about to fall in a well, they all have a
  feeling of distress.
• I like life and I also like righteousness (yi).
  If I cannot have both of them, I will give up
  life...(6A10)

• "Human-heartedness is man's mind. Righteousness
  is man's path. How sad that he abandons that path
  and does not rely on it that he loses that mind
  and does not know to seek it. When a man has lost
  a cock or a dog, he knows to seek it, but having
  lost his (proper) mind, he does not know to seek
  it. The Way of Learning is nothing other than
  seeking the lost mind"

23
Finding Jen Within

• If you let people follow their feelings they will
  be able to do good.... Humanity, righteousness,
  propriety, and wisdom are not drilled into us
  from outside. We originally have them with
  us.... Therefore it is said seek and you will
  find it....(6A.6)
• Mans nature is naturally good just as water
  naturally flows downward....Now you can strike
  water and cause it to splash upward.... It is
  the forced circumstance that makes it do so. Man
  can be made to do evil, for his nature can be
  treated in the same way. (6A.2)

24
Seeking the Lost Mind

• The sage and I are the same in kind....
  Therefore moral principles please our minds as
  beef and pork please our mouths. (6A.7)
• The end of learning is to seek for the lost mind.
  (6A.11)

• The ten thousand things are all there in me. And
  theres no joy greater than looking within and
  finding myself faithful to them. Treat others as
  you would be treated. Devote yourself to that,
  for there is no more direct approach to humanity.
  (XIII.4)

25
Advice to Rulers

• A ruler who practices humanity with virtue is a
  true king... When force is used to overcome
  people, they do not submit willingly.... But
  when virtue is used to overcome people, they are
  pleased in their hearts and sincerely submit.
  (2A.3)
• If you wait till they have lapsed into crime and
  then mete out punishment, it is like placing
  traps for the people.When an intelligent ruler
  regulates the livelihood of people he makes sure
  that they will have enough to serve their parents
  and to support their wives and children. (IA.7)

26
Hsun-Tzu (298-238 BCE)

• Human nature is essentially evil- ritual,
  teaching, and training are required to harness
  natural passions.
• Desire for gain------strife.
• Envy and hate-------injury/cruelty.
• Passions--------------Excesses, disorder.
• To give reign to mans original nature and to
  yield to emotions will assuredly lead to strife
  and disorderliness, and he will revert to a state
  of barbarism. Therefore, it is only under the
  influence of teachers and laws and the guidance
  of the rules of decorum that courtesy will be
  observed. From all this it is evident that the
  nature of man is evil and that his goodness is
  acquired. (Ch. 23).

27
Hsun-Tzus Naturalism
To speculate about heaven is to miss the true
nature of things.

• The inferior man neglects what is within his
  power and seeks what comes from heaven.
• When stars fall or the sacred trees groan people
  become afraid and ask What is the significance
  of all this. I would say, there is no special
  significance.

• This is just due to...the mutation of yin and
  yang. These are rare phenomena. We may marvel
  at them but we should not fear them.
• If people pray for rain and it rains, how is
  that? I would say nothing in particular. Just
  as when people do not pray for rain it also rains.

28
Taoism
Tao- way, path, road natural, eternal,
spontaneous, nameless, indescribable,
impersonal, and unkind. Taoist virtues
quietism, pacifity, simplicity, spontaneity,
non-action (wu wei)
29
Philosophical Taoism

• Founder- Lao Tzu old Master. Tao Te Ching-
  The classic on the Way and its Power. A mystical
  book intended to bring the reader into contact
  with the transcendent Tao.
• The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal
  Tao the name that can be named is not the
  eternal name. The Nameless is the origin.
  (1)

• The highest good is like water, Water benefits
  all things generously and without strife. (8)
• It was when the great Tao declined that there
  appeared humanity and righteousness. It was when
  knowledge and intelligence arose, that there
  appeared much hypocrisy. (18)

30
The Key is Simplicity

• Banish sageliness, discard wisdom, and the people
  will be benefited a hundredfold. Banish
  humanity, discard righteousness, and the people
  will return to filial piety and paternal
  affection.... Embrace simplicity, reduce
  selfishness, have few desires. (19)
• Like the wind blowing about, seemingly without
  destination...I alone differ from others, and
  value drawing sustenance from Mother (Tao). (20)
• The sage embraces the One and becomes the model
  of the world. He does not show himself
  therefore he is luminous. He does not boast of
  himself therefore he is given credit. It is
  precisely because he does not compete that the
  world cannot compete with him. (22)

31
Relativity of Perceived Opposites

• With the nameless uncarved wood there shall be no
  desire. Without desire there is quietude. The
  world shall be self ordered.
• When all know beauty as beauty, there is then
  ugliness when all know the good as good, there
  is then the not-good..

• Therefore, being and not-being give rise to each
  other.
• Wu-wei- non-purposive action, action without
  intention. The sage manages affairs without
  action, carries out teaching without speech.
• Act by no-action, then nothing is not in order.

32
The Tao of Chuang Tzu

• Like other Taoist sages, Chuang Tzu was
  dissatisfied with conventional Confucian
  morality. You cant treat others as you wish to
  be treated until you know how you wish to be
  treated. He sought to recover spontaneity and
  depth in an intellectual climate that had become
  rigid and formalistic. He refused to take
  seriously the aggression, ambition, and
  self-importance required for social success.

33
Chuang Tzu (369?- 286? BCE)

• Nature is in flux a ceaseless transformation, a
  universal process that binds all things into one.
  Become a companion of nature, dont interfere or
  impose upon it.
• Yu- free and purposeless journey, life without
  attachments. No effort made at understanding
  things rationally. A bird alights on a branch
  and takes off, fish in the sea, swim mindlessly,
  leaving no trace behind them.
• Eliminate distinctions Viewed from the
  standpoint of Tao, a beam and a pillar are
  identical. So are ugliness and beauty,
  greatness, wickedness, perverseness, strangeness.

34
I dreamed I was a butterfly, or did the butterfly
dream he was me?

• There is a limit to our life, but there is no
  limit to knowledge. To pursue what is unlimited
  with what is limited is a perilous thing. Shrink
  from fame when you do good...pursue always the
  middle course.

• All men know the usefulness of the useful, but no
  one knows the usefulness of the useless...
• Glorify the ugly, the twisted.... Do not be an
  embodier of fame, a storehouse of schemes, an
  undertaker of projects, a proprietor of wisdom.
  Wander an unmarked trail.

35
References

• Armstrong, Karen. ( 2007). The great
  transformation. New York Anchor
• Ballou, R. (Ed.). (1944). The portable world
  Bible. New York Penguin.
• Chan, w. (1963). A sourcebook in chinese
  philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey Princeton
  University Press.
• De Bary, W., Chan, W., and Watson, B. (Ed.s).
  Sources of chinese tradition, Vl.1. (1960).
  New York Columbia
• University Press.
• Feng, G, English, J. (Translators). (1989) Tao
  te ching Lao Tsu. New York Vintage Books.

36
References

• Hinton, D. (Translator). (1998) Mencius.
  Washington, D.C.
• Counterpoint.
• Merton, T. (1965). The way of Chuang Tzu. New
  York
• Penguin.
• Waley, A. (Translator). (1938). The analects
  of Confucius.
• New York Vintage.
• Watson, B. (Translator). (1964). Chuang Tzu
  basic writings.
• New York Columbia University Press.
• Watson, B. (Translator). (1963). Hsun Tzu
  basic writings.
• New York Columbia University Press.