Jump to content

Chinese History and Philosophy


Recommended Posts

For a long time I have wanted to give a detailed explanation of the philosophy of Dao... not because I think it is the most important, but least understood.

 

So a few weeks ago, I started to write it up, only to find a need to tie in a comparison to the other major philosophies of Confucianism and Buddhism, and let's not forget about Zen which started in China... and then to show the historical development.. and to explain the classic texts... next thing I know it is spanning the history of china and 30 written pages...

 

I want to be both broad enough to show the influence but concise enough to avoid the pedantic; Most likely I did not show enough of the influence by being too pendantic... but a line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

So you will see from the outline in the next post that I was too ambitious.. but I think that enough of the important issues are included so that if one is interested, they will research it on their own. I've included a section on:

- the dynasties with a 'world event' part to show what the rest of the world was doing;

- cosmology due to it's tying together of Dao, Tai Ji, and Yin Yang; as well as those similarities to the western biblical accounts.

- philosophy to give some space to confucianism and buddhism, and zen.

- Dao, last but not least... and hopefully all the previous sections prepare you for an understanding of this section,which was the purpose at the start. But you'll hopefully see how Dao, Tai Ji, Yin Yang, Feng Shui, TCM and Qigong are all tied together by a daoist view of life. A few daoist works are mentioned which are anything but easy to digest... but I hope that some will want to read them on their own.

 

Next post is the five part outline;

then the next one after that is the Introduction comments, Part I.

I'll post each next part in a new thread as it is ready.. most likely over the week.

 

--

 

(ironically, this is my 10,000 posts.. not really planned.. but I'll accept this as the way [dao] it was meant to unfold).

 

--

 

I've found these most useful for character study:

 

MDBG Chinese-English Dictionary:

 

Pinyin Dictionary

 

Chinese Character Etymology

Edited by DavidZixuan (see edit history)
Link to comment

HTML DOCUMENT:

CFL China History and Philosophy

 

 

CHINESE HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY

 

I. Introduction

 

II. Dynasties

Ancient China ( – 221 BC)

--Neolitic Cultures ( - 3000 BC)

--Pre-Historic Cultures (3000 – 2000 BC)

--Xia (2000 – 1500 BC)

--Shang (1500 – 1040 BC)

--Zhou (1040 – 221 BC)

--The “One Hundred Schools” of Philosophy

 

Early Imperial (221 BC – 586)

--Qin (221 – 206 BC)

--Han (206 BC – 220)

--Six Dynasties (220 – 586)

 

Middle Imperial (586 – 1280)

--Sui (586 – 618)

--Tang (618 – 906)

--Five Dynasties/Ten Kingdoms (906 – 960)

--Song (960 – 1280)

 

Late Imperial (1280 – 1912)

--Yuan (1280 – 1365)

--Ming (1368 – 1644)

--Qing ( 1644 – 1912)

 

III. Cosmology

 

Without reference to Yin Yang

--Nu Wa myth

--Jade Emperor myth

--Daoist texts

--Hun-Tun myth (chaos)

--The Spiritual Sovereign

 

With reference to Yin Yang

--Pan Gu myth

--Tai Yi myth

--Tai Zhao myth

--Wu Ji / Tai Ji myth

 

Terms

--Tai Ji

--Yin Yang

--Tai Ji Du Symbol (Yin Yang symbol)

 

Terms for God

--Shang Di

--Tian

--Shen

 

IV. Philosophy

 

--Confucianism

--Neo-Confucianism

--Nothingness

--Emptiness

--Buddhism

--Zen Buddhism

--Neo-Taoist Contributions

 

V. Dao

 

Daoism

--Dao

--Metaphysical Dao

--Change

--Action without Action (wei wu wei)

--Spontaneity/Naturalness (zi ran)

--Harmony

--Reversal (“Reversal is the movement of Dao”)

--Neo-Taoist Contributions

 

Daoist Influences

--Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

--Feng Shui

--Internal Martial arts

--Qigong

--Jing Essence

 

Daoist writings

--Yi Jing (I Ching, Book of Change)

--Huang Di Nei Jing – The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine

--Lao Zi’s Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching, The way and the Power)

 

---------

 

-- Sections linked

Edited by DavidZixuan (see edit history)
Link to comment

I. Introduction

 

1. Ancient Cultures:

In all cultures, the three poles of Heaven-Earth-Man will naturally produce an inquiry into the universe, life, and knowledge: Heaven in both the physical (moon, stars, sun) and spiritual sense; Earth as nature and the environmental influences; Man as mankind proper: Ones actions, thoughts, and interactions with life. World views usually develop out of, or in some combination of science, philosophy and religion in conjunction with the existing economic and political systems.

 

Ancient cultures tended to rely more on agriculture and animals. Yet, despite what advances occurred with metals, tools, or irrigation they realized they ultimately depended on something out of their control: Nature. This dependence on the environment invariably lead to a desire to understand the physical aspect of heaven’s influences and movements for predicting and planning purposes; Also, this dependency invariably lead to an appeal to the spiritual aspect of heaven as the controller of nature and benefactor of man. All cultures have a central concern for man; the differentiating factor tends to be how they define man’s relationship to society, nature, and heaven.

 

2. Cosmology:

The origin of much of Chinese philosophy, particularly Daoism and Buddhism, comes from Hindu thought. In China, there are quite a few ancient mythologies/cosmologies for sure. The most lasting are those which: developed Dao from simply a ‘way’ of living to an original state of ‘nothingness’ and source of all thing, and correlated the universal, interdependent forces and movements of Yin Yang (a compilation of the possible interactive movements in the universe are the basis of divination in the classic text Yi Jing/I Ching, Book of Change). Their cosmologies did not develop into long held religious beliefs in deities nor a punishment/reward based Supreme situated above from which all things are independent of but dependent on. Although there is an after-life concept carried over from Hinduism into Buddhism (reincarnation), the agency of this process is not a deity but simply life itself; life defined as a circular process, like a wheel without [distinction of] a beginning or end.

 

The spiritual concerns for the Chinese begin and end with man and his ethics or ‘way’ of living life. This is his philosophy and religion: to live life in maximum harmony and happiness. Spiritual considerations lead to idealism; Physical considerations to pragmatism.

--Daoism’s concern is for man’s way to be like nature’s way (ie: to model one’s life on the effortless way in which the seasons unfold and to understand the ONENESS it shares with the universe). Since nature conducts itself effortlessly, so should man. Thus identification with an impersonal entity (heaven or nature) developed more than the concept of a personal deity (God). –-----Confucianism’s concern is with ritual and relationships, this had both personal and political implications; The proper conduct of people and the government was paramount towards achieving harmony and happiness. In philosophical-to-practical life application, heavenly help is ultimately unnecessary, as Confucius said: "to respect gods and ghosts but hold them in distance."

 

3. Metaphysic:

The perennial metaphysical question, “Why is there something rather than nothing”, does not escape the Chinese philosophers. Their history of thinking is not so void of religious concern for heaven’s spiritual way as it was full of philosophical concern for man’s physical way. Yet, spirituality is not lacking in Chinese philosophy when one views it as less about spirits and more in terms of “being and non-being”.

--The Daoist Laozi said, “All things in the world come from being, and being comes from non-being”, yet in other places states that both reside in Dao. Thus, one should not necessarily think in terms of one [non-being] existing exclusively [in time] without the other’s potentiality inherent; rather, non-being is more like undifferentiated being, or how potential and kinetic energy are two forms of the same energy. For Laozi, and thus Daoism, non-being is a beginning state; an infinite, boundless, unlimited state of nothingness. Dao encompasses both the original state and the generating process for all things. It is not like a spiritual non-being, rather it is describe as giving rise to a force (Tai Ji) and ultimately to interactions within the universe (Yin Yang).

--Zen and Buddhism’s concept of nothingness (and emptiness) is similar in the sense that nothingness is ‘in-and-of-itself’; it has ‘inherent existence’. Its existence is not defined by any pre-matter; Non-being requires no cause.

--The Confucians also appeal to Tai Ji as the generating forces of Yin Yang; For Confucian’s, the natural state is the Great Ultimate (Tai Ji) which eternally exists and perpetually regenerates; The infinite and boundless space is called Wu Ji which is said to give rise to Tai Ji (often, this is depicted as similar to the big bang theory). Since ‘being’ cannot come from ‘non-being’, the natural state for the Confucian is one of ‘being’.

--Neo-Confucianism utilitzed principle (li) as a cosmic principle and energy (Qi) as the cosmic force of Tai Ji, eventually released in Yin Yang. The Neo-Confucians re-evaluation of Tai Ji and Yin Yang lead to the Tai Ji Du, or as known in the west as the Yin Yang symbol.

 

4. Disharmony:

What brings about man’s suffering and how to rid oneself of suffering? In many cultures, spirit/non-being worship or appeasement resulted. To the Christian, it is from having a bond or separation with God; Central to this is a morality of sin (dualism of right and wrong, good and bad). The 20th century British philosopher Bertrand Russell said he believed unhappiness to be due to one’s mistaken view of the world and mistaken ethics and habits.

--Confucianism, which more closely resembles an ethical way (and was viewed by missionaries in the 19th century as not putting emphasis on the inseparable oneness of man-nature-heaven as does Buddhism and Daoism) stresses the need for man to find happiness through the harmony created by his actions, this was both a personal and political message. This naturally leads to concepts like principles, morals and duty; to the creation of an ideal man, or the Confucian ‘man of virtue’ (Jun Zi).

--To the Buddhist, the first principle of life is: “Life is Suffering”. The problems that man encounters with life are self-imposed by his faulty mental concept of the ‘self’ and the disparity between what we have and what we want/desire. Buddhism developed prescribed steps (meditation, right living and thinking) to help man overcome his suffering and be released from life’s cyclic [karmic] process; Processes don’t suffer, only a ‘self’ can suffer; and the false concept of the self as an independent existence is the source of our suffering. Zen makes a small deviation from the Buddhist strict prescribed path and their solution puts one foot in the Daoist way; Zen sees the source of man’s troubles as dividing up life; dividing the ‘undivided reality’; Instead of thinking, analyzing and following prescribed steps, one should simply and naturally ‘do’ in the moment (every moment becomes a Zen moment) to bring one back to the harmony and knowledge of an ‘undivided reality’.

--The Daoist believes that man’s problems are due to his disunity with the universe; When man ceases to act/think within the theoretical structure of the universal interactive forces which bring all things together as ONE (Heaven-Earth-Man), then disharmony occurs. Chinese traditional medicine, Qi (Chi), Yin Yang, Feng Shui, and internal martial arts (Gi Gong, Tai Ji) arose from the Daoist position and contributed a holistic way of looking at life based upon harmony / disharmony.

 

5. Philosophy:

The Chinese are said to be famed for their pragmatism: their belief system is based upon what is happening around them. The three pillars of Chinese philosophy (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism) all focus on the person and life: society, ethics, environment, government issues, etc. These issues reveal their concern with ‘this life and this world’; one needs to know how best to conduct themself and how to be achieve harmony and happiness. For convenience, we can categorize Chinese philosophy into two camps:

--(1) That which concerns the social structures and human affairs faced on a daily basis; This focus is on man’s efforts and interactions within society. The philosophy of Confucianism most closely represents this focus—social humanism and personal pragmatism. The goal is to improve/perfect ‘humanness’ (ren). The Confucian way is most concerned with man and society; practical considerations for harmony and happiness are both a personal and political necessity.

--(2) That which concerns the universal structures and human-nature affairs occurring on a daily, seasonal, and annual basis. This focus is on man’s identification and part within the cyclic processes of the universe. Buddhism represents this focus and developed a detailed metaphysics concerning man and reality. Daoism most closely represents this focus—idealism and nominalism; Instead of the goal being an increase in the knowledge of man, the Daoist appeared to espouse a decrease in one’s mind; To simplify and reduce distinction-based thought. In Zen like fashion, they spoke of the way of ‘No-thought’ over thought and ‘no-action’ over action, where the negation is on outside influence and impediments to spontaneity. Famously stated by Laozi as: “wei wu wei” (Action without action); acting naturally and spontaneously without interference from thought or outside influences. One does this by following the way of nature; Natural theology and natural pragmatism.

 

(Compare Stoicism where singular unity of all matter (against dualism) exists in a circular [world] process, where virtue is the highest ethic and self-control over one’s emotions—master your passions—and an indifference to pleasure and pain produces peace within).

 

6. Oneness:

In comparing ancient Chinese investigation to the early Greeks, the former was concerned with the ‘way’ (dao) processes and forces (Tai Ji, Qi) of nature unfold and affect (Yin Yang) human activity; the latter was concerned with defining the elemental forces that make up nature (atomism). The Chinese showed little inclination towards a desire to get to the core determination of a thing’s makeup. Instead, they tend to view life holistically and to seek to understand the influence of and connection to the universe. This tendency to not subdivide life is clearly seen in their poetry; their linguistic tendency is to describe in fewer words [thus leaving an impression] rather than articulate in more distinct words [which leaves a description]. A unified theory of the universe was not sought as much as it was simply embraced.

 

(Compare the Greeks who developed various discrete mathematical and astronomical concepts where subdivision is important; or Babylon who stands in-between, despite their astronomical observations they lacked the geometric view of the Greeks or the precise collection and interpretative results of nature’s way on man, such as the Chinese classic, Yi Jing/I Ching Book of Change, represents.)

 

7. Society of Man:

In social and economic ways of thinking, China distinguished between “root” and “branch”; farmers and merchants; agriculture and commerce. China depended more on the former, and as comparison, the Greeks more on the latter. The Daoist extolled the former way for its basic simple way of life, close connection to nature, and trust and care of people. The way of the farmer is to follow nature’s lead. Merchants were not allowed to have government positions (merchants dealt in money too often). Confucians felt farmers were blinded by nature and not engaged in the social needs inherent to people and society; They opposed the Daoist idealization of farmers.

 

A maritime country which is merchant based will travel and meet more varied people; industrialization is a more natural outcome. Early China did not take a mercantile look outside of it’s borders/shores to ‘other places’. This isolationism can certainly contribute to both nationalism and self-sufficiency (ie: an agrarian society might be a natural outcome / dependency). As well, philosophic, scientific, and religious thought tends to remain within the former systems; For ancient China, there is not a strong competitive debate and divergence of theories; they were philosophers in orientation but not sophists. Personal interest was unthinkable; Seeking consensus rather than debate was their way. For the early Greek philosopher who wanted to make a name for himself, a competitive pluralism arose for solutions to the problems presented by competing theories. Their success in disputing and debating was important and encouraged. For the former, the needs of the group are more important, for the latter the needs of the individual are more important. The result for Ancient China was one based on respect and dependency on family and groups; As well an agrarian culture contributes towards a “Family” hierarchical system.

 

(Compare the philosophy, science, and evolution of thought that transpired due to the Greeks contact with Egypt and Babylon. Compare England, another maritime/merchant country, where industrialization in the west first began).

Edited by DavidZixuan (see edit history)
Link to comment

Now this is some great informatiom. I am impressed and happy that it just happens to coinside your 10,000 post. I was joking about your 10,000 post needing to be so meaningful. But now I have egg on my face and really am glad about it.

 

I look forward to your addition posts on this subject with insight into China and it's culture.

Link to comment

It's a bit late here to try to digest and attempt to try to understand your post. So, I'll save it to print out and read during those slow periods at work.

 

I am curious to know a bit about the author's background, schooling and reason/desire to pursue an understanding of these philosophy's.

 

How about an: About The Author section at the end of the book? :lol:

Link to comment

I am curious to know a bit about the author's background, schooling and reason/desire to pursue an understanding of these philosophy's.

 

How about an: About The Author section at the end of the book? ;)

Now, that is too complex to describe in language... that's why I'm with a woman who doesn't need language to understand me B)

 

I will share that once she heard I was writing about Dao, she said, "let me review it". :P

 

don't worry about understanding it.. I can send you the MS Word file to read the rest of your life :lol:

Edited by DavidZixuan (see edit history)
Link to comment

No wonder you seems to be so quiet these days. This is a BIG project! (It is also a big project for me to read and understand).

 

By the way, I saw a book titled I-ching in the used bookstore nearby. Did you say it was a good book?

The last write-up will be on Dao and it's influence.. so will include a section on the I-Ching, which is a divination art based on 64 hexagrams (from 8 trigrams--ba gua); The octogonal Feng Shui symbol is an application of the ba gua, so is like another divination art (harmonizing with space, etc). The basis of the I-Ching is the 'change' that is inherent in the universe, as manifested by Yin Yang. The book and it's application is very difficult to understand and properly use.. for pure curiosity you might buy it. Confucius said if he had 50 more years to add to his life, it would be in studying this book so as to avoid further error...

Link to comment

No wonder you seems to be so quiet these days. This is a BIG project! (It is also a big project for me to read and understand).

 

By the way, I saw a book titled I-ching in the used bookstore nearby. Did you say it was a good book?

The last write-up will be on Dao and it's influence.. so will include a section on the I-Ching, which is a divination art based on 64 hexagrams (from 8 trigrams--ba gua); The octogonal Feng Shui symbol is an application of the ba gua, so is like another divination art (harmonizing with space, etc). The basis of the I-Ching is the 'change' that is inherent in the universe, as manifested by Yin Yang. The book and it's application is very difficult to understand and properly use.. for pure curiosity you might buy it. Confucius said if he had 50 more years to add to his life, it would be in studying this book so as to avoid further error...

 

There was a saying in China that one needs to be over 50 to understand Yi Jing (I-Ching). I am not there yet. :D

Link to comment

Thanks David for posting and writing this. So much food for thought! I am faintly familiar with most of the concepts you're describing here.....but I have a lengthy journey to understand and connect them as you are doing here. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! :)

 

I can't wait to go on and read the next installment. :P

 

PapaBear B)

Link to comment
×
×
  • Create New...