Transcript Early China

Recapitulation
• Definition of ideogram (for this course):
A symbol consists of meaning, structure and sound of a single
syllable to represent the idea of a thing
• The concept of change as the cultural logic:
• The lyrical mode:
Poetry expresses desires. Self-expressive subjectivity is at the heart
of the poetic creation.
• The didactic code:
a. It aims at teaching a moral lesson;
b. It is designated to transform the mind with a certain set of idea;
c. It tends to talk above the listener(s).
• The Classic of Poetry ( or The Book of Songs):
-- What is shared by these ancient poems?
-- Does the lyrical mode exclude different desires?
• Critical significance of the debate:
-- Canonization of the Mao commentary is not based on
its quality, but is part of power politics.
-- After Mao exegesis has become part of the statecraft in
the orthodox culture, any attempt to address the diverse
voices is defiant to the dominant discourse.
-- The controversy over the meanings of these ancient
poems is no longer a literary issue, but a key component
of the cultural interplay in Chinese literature.
Historical context (The 8th - the 3rd century BC)
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The Zhou (周) dynasty was in an advanced stage of decline:
Wars among contending states were social reality:
Widespread yearning for peace and order:
Thinkers emerged to respond to the crisis of civilization:
Confucius (孔子): 551-479 BC
Plato (429-347 BC)
Laozi (老子):
Mencius (孟子): 371-289 BC
Xunzi (荀子): 298-238 BC
Zhuangzi (莊子): 369-286
Aristotle (384-321 BC)
Confucius
• The man and the Analects 《論語》:
• The conceptual basis:
Confucius believed that cosmos is a moral order, and human
affairs can prosper only when they are in harmony with the
moral nature of the world.
• Self-cultivation:
“To master oneself and return to propriety is humanity. . . . To
practice humanity depends on oneself” (The Analects, 12:1).
 Implication:
a. Nobility is acquired through one’s own effort not by birth.
b. His emphasis on the character over birth is against the
principle of the hereditary privilege:
c. Engaging orientation: to cultivate oneself in the here and
now:
• Ethical principle -- benevolence (仁) and propriety (禮):
-- One’s primary duty is his filial submission to the father figure in
his family, clan, state and the cosmic order:
“Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you”
(ibid., 12:2).
 Implication:
a. Individual practice of ethical principle is self-regulative:
b. Moral behavior is reciprocal:
c. Personal devotion has a bearing on the stability of a society:
“Let a ruler govern as he should, and the minister serve as he
should. Let the father regulate as a father should, and the son act
as a son should” (ibid., 12:11).
 Implications:
a. There is a hierarchical order in the social life;
b. Politics as an extension of social ethics:
c. Moral conducts give one the power to teach and/or regulate:
• On learning:
“When I have pointed out one corner of a square to
anyone and he does not come back with the other three,
I will not point it out to him a second time” (ibid., 7:8).
“Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking
without learning is perilous” (ibid., 2:15).
 Implications:
a. Learning and thinking are inseparable:
b. To be actively engaged in the learning process:
• Significance:
a. His search for order starts with individual regulation;
b. It is a secular approach oriented toward action;
c. His political thought contains certain idealistic
elements, though his direction is backward.
Mencius
• Human nature is originally good:
-- Uncalculated compassion:
• Everyone has the potential to rise through self-cultivation:
-- Moral conducts earn individuals a prestige to influence over
others:
-- People may be corrupted by the environment:
• On government:
-- Sociopolitical hierarchy is based on virtue and ability of the
ruler:
-- The mandate of Heaven is not unconditional:
-- Ministers should protest/reprove the corrupted ruler by
withdrawal from his court if he does not listen:
Xunzi (Hsun Tzu)
• The nature of man is evil:
-- Man’s inborn nature is to seek for gain:
-- People are prone to violence:
-- His goodness is a result of his active molding:
• On government:
Emphasis on social control and strict law:
-- A ruler is responsible to transform people by law and punishment
if they do not conduct themselves according to propriety:
-- Disorder is a result that man does not follow the moral principle:
• His thought has a considerable impact on the Qin and Han dynasties:
-- His students are ministers of the Qin empire:
The Daoist (Taoist) orientation
• One is both different from and complementary to the other:
-- The upper teeth and the lower teeth:
-- The coherent action of teeth in chewing food:
• Particularity and commonality:
“Pear, orange and grapefruit have their distinctive tastes of their
own, but they are all delicious regardless of their difference”
(Zhuangzi).
• To think beyond the conventional boundaries:
-- Self-preservation:
Is Huizi’s tree really useless? (Course Package, page 27):
-- How to perceive an unusual thing:
The gigantic gourd:
Is the huge gourd really useless? Can it be used as a canoe?
Comparison
Confucian orientation:
• Propriety:
• Government:
• Action theory:
 How to regulate or
govern:
 Emphasis on social
welfare of the
collective
Daoist orientation:
• Relative perception:
• Commonality and
particularity:
• Self-preservation:
 How to think outside
the box:
 Individual concerns: