Transcript CHinese Philosophies & Ethical Codes

• Born: 551 – Died: 479 B.C.E.
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He became a teacher;
founder of Confucianism
• Lead by example
• Live a productive life with
good moral values.
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Show respect for fellow
humans.
Li --> Rite, rules, ritual modesty)
Ren --> kindness, humanity, compassion
Shu --> Mutual benefit, empathy
Do not do unto others what you would
not want others to do unto you.
Yi --> Righteousness
Xiao --> Family Faithfulness (Respect your
elders!)
* Confucius' main interest was to figure out ways for the government to do a
better job of taking care of the people.
* He was born in 551 BC ; his parents were poor, although his family had once been
rich. They had gotten into trouble with the emperor, and he had taken away their
money and their land.
*Confucius, was a smart and hard-working child, and when he grew up, he was fair,
and polite, and loved to learn things, and so his family sent him to the big city, to
Zhou, where the Chou emperor lived, to go to school. While he was in Zhou,
Confucius studied under Lao Zu, who was later on the creator of the philosophy of
Daoism.
*Confucius spent the rest of his life travelling from town to town around China
with his students and friends, giving advice to different rulers wherever he went.
Often they didn't like his advice: once he was thrown in jail for five days! When he
was 67, Confucius went back to Lu and settled down there, and he died there when
he was 72 years old.
* The single most important Confucian
work.
* In Chinese, it means “conversation.”
* Focus on facts of personal
relationships and the relationship of
the role of rulers and ministers to the
conduct of government.
* Knowing what he knows and knowing what he
doesn’t know, is characteristics of the person
who knows.
* Making a mistake and not correcting it, is
making another mistake.
* The superior man blames himself; the
inferior man blames others.
* To go too far is as wrong as to fall short.
• Born: 280 – Died: 233
• Han FeiZi is a book
named after himself.
• He believed that people
are naturally bad.
• Legalism became the
political philosophy of
the Qin Dynasty.
1. Human nature is naturally selfish or
“bad”.
2. Intellectualism and literacy is
discouraged.
3. Law is the supreme authority and
replaces morality.
4. The ruler must rule with a strong,
punishing hand.
5. War is the means of strengthening
a ruler’s power.
One who favors the principle
that individuals should obey
a powerful authority rather
than exercise individual
freedom.
The ruler, therefore, “cracks
his whip” on the backs of his
subjects!
* He was Born in 604 B.C.
* His name means
“Old Master”
*He believed that the way to happiness was
for people to learn to "go with the flow.“
* He also believed that you should live in
harmony with nature, creating a balance –
Yin/Yang
*The teachings of Lao Tzu were recorded in
writings called the Dao De Jing
*Lao Tzu taught that a force known as the
Dao filled all living things. He instructed his
followers to reject the world and their
desires for worldly possessions and power,
and commune with nature, bringing oneself
into a state of oneness with the Dao
* The basic text of Daoism.
* In Chinese, it means The Classic in
the Way and Its Power.
* “Those who speak know nothing:
Those who know are silent.” ~Lao Tzu
1. Dao is a force that flows through
all life.
2. A believer’s goal is to become one with
Dao; one with nature.
3. Daoism-Is a philosophy, not a religion. If
you look at life and think about things in the
right way, you will be happy.
4. Man is unhappy because he lives according
to man-made laws, customs, & traditions
that are contrary to the ways of nature.
To escape the social, political, & cultural
traps of life, you must free yourself by
finding “the way”
1. Understanding that the force of
nature rules an individual, not a
government.
2. Relying on the senses and instincts.
3. Discovering the nature and
“rhythm” of the universe.
4. Ignoring political and social laws.
* Feminine
* Masculine
* Passive
* Active
* Darkness
* Light
* Cold
* Warmth
* Weak
* Strong
* Earth;
Moon
* Heaven;
Sun
Confucianism --> Moral order in society.
Legalism --> Rule by harsh law &
punishment.
Daoism --> Freedom for individuals and
less government to avoid
uniformity and conformity.
Buddhism-->To get good karma and
reach Nirvana
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Prince Gautama (Buddha) was born about 553 BCE. He had
parents who loved him, many servants to wait on him, the finest
clothes, and a different palace for each season of the year. Yet, he
found his world full of suffering. It upset him that painful old age,
sickness, and death were all part of life in this world In 500 B.C., the
idea of reincarnation became very strong among the Hindu people
who believed that after you died, you would be reborn in another
form, and then reborn again, and again, forever.
One day, he met a monk. He was amazed that this monk could find
calm and peace in a world filled with such sufferings. That day he
made a very difficult decision. He decided to leave his wealth, his
comfort, his wife, and his newborn son, to become a monk
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For the next six years he traveled
throughout India. But the answers
he found were not enough. One
day, while sitting under a fig tree,
an understanding came to him.
This understanding was a way to
end suffering. That was the day
Prince Siddhartha Gautama
began to earn a new title, the
Buddha, which means "Awakened
One".
His journey to find the meaning of
life had concluded. The Buddha
realized that life is ruled by
Eightfold Path. If you follow these
“Laws” you will find Enlightenment
and reach Nirvana.
Key Principals
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Life a good moral life to
get good “karma” which
will eventually help you
reach Nirvana.
Meditation will lead you
to enlightenment.
Stay on the Middle
Path—follow the eight
basic laws
Belief in Reincarnation—
rebirth of the soul
Eight Basic laws
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To know the truth
To intend to resist evil
To not say anything to hurt
others
To respect life, property, and
morality
To work at a job that does not
injure others
To try to free one's mind from
evil
To be in control of one's feelings
and thoughts
To practice appropriate forms of
concentration
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Today, Buddhism is a major world religion.
There are over 300 million Buddhists in the
world
Buddhists everywhere live by Buddha's
teachings, which were written down as
proverbs, written in about 100 BCE (Over
2000 years ago!)
The Buddhist Sutras are books of these
different Proverbs or sayings that the
Buddhist live by--Like a bible or a manual.
Two examples are below:
As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind,
even so the wise are not ruffled by praise
or blame.
Hatreds never cease by hatred in this
world; by love alone they cease.