Early Chinese History2852: Fu Hsi- inventor of writing, fishing, trapping.2737: Shen Nung- inventor of agriculture, commerce2697: Yellow Emperor2357-2205: Sage Kings- Yao, Shun, Yu (founder of first dynasty).1818: Hsia dynasty1766: Shang dynasty (King T’ang)1300: Earliest archeological evidence1115: Chou dynasty (Mandate of Heaven)

Chinese History551-200: 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 period221: Ch’in Dynasty214: Great Wall Completed105: Paper invented.65 CE Buddhist missionaries reach China.

Pre-Confucian ReligionShang-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- I’Ching).Sacrifice to ancestors was vital to the welfare of each family or clan.

From Shang-Ti to T’ienT’ien (heaven) gradually comes to replace Shang-Ti. T’ien 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 t’ien ming, mandate of heaven to justify their overthrow of the Shang dynasty.

ConfuciusThe 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.”

ConfucianismEthical Humanism K’ung 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.)

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)

The Function of EducationTo 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 Master’s teaching is simply this: loyalty and reciprocity. (Analects, II.15.)

Confucian EthicsIs 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)

JenJen- 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)

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.

Li is the Key to JenHe 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)

ConfuciusConfucius 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.)

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 Master’s views concerning culture and the outward insignia of goodness, we are permitted to hear; but about Man’s nature and the ways of Heaven (Tao T’ien) he will not tell us anything at all. (V.12.)

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] Man’s very life is honesty, in that without it he will be lucky indeed if he escapes with his life. (VI.17, Waley.)

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.)

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.

Mo Tzu (470-391?BCE)What is the way of universal love and benefit? To regard other people’s countries as ones own. Regard other people’s families as ones own. Regard other people’s 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…

The Three StandardsSought 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.

Mencius (372-289 BCE)Human nature is essentially good. The four primary virtues arise from four natural human feelings:Commiseration----JenShame/dislike------YiModesty-------------LiRight and wrong---Chih

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...(6A:10)

"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"

Finding Jen WithinIf 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)Man’s 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)

Seeking the Lost MindThe 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 there’s 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)

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)

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 man’s 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).

Hsun-Tzu’s Naturalism 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.

To speculate about heaven is to miss the true nature of things.

Taoism

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

Philosophical TaoismFounder- 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)

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)

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.

The Tao of Chuang TzuLike other Taoist sages, Chuang Tzu was dissatisfied with conventional Confucian morality. You can’t “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.

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, don’t 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.

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.