CONFUCIAN ACADEMY
Chinese Thought
and Culture Review
VOLUME 9 ·Number 1 ·March 2022
CONTENTS
·Creative Evolution and Development of Chinese Culture·
The Idea of ‘Harmonious Unity’ in Chinese Culture and Its Contemporary Qualities 4
------Ren Junhua
Confucius’s Creative Transformation and Development of the Six Classics: Based on the Relationship between Classics and Histories 14
------Ren Milin
·Academic Forum·
What Kind of Concept? What Sort of System? On the Construction and Evolution of Social Systems according to Different Views of Human Nature 29
------Liu Jingxi
‘Sobriety’ in the Chinese Intellectual Tradition 39
------Gong Huanan
The Philosophy of the Sages Is the Study of Mind: Development of the Study of Mind in the History of Confucian Philosophy 49
------Shen Shunfu
The Mission of Wisdom: A Reflection on What Philosophy Is and What Philosophy Can Do 61
-------Xu Qi and Pu Yuhui
·Pre-Qin Confucianism·
The Idea of ‘Maintaining Fullness’ in the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties and the Way of Self-Cultivation and Governance 70
------Zhai Kuifeng
·SONG–MING NEO-CONFUCIANISM·
The Rise and Fall of the Civil Service Examination with the Evolution of Confucian Classics Studies in the Early Ming Dynasty 81
------Zhou Chunjian
·YANGMING CULTURE·
On Wang Yangming’s View of the ‘Unity of Activity and Tranquility’: A Monistic and Two-Level Conception of Effort Devoted to the Original Substance 94
------Fu Xihong
Abstract
The Idea of ‘Harmonious Unity’ in Chinese Culture and Its Contemporary Qualities
Ren JunhuaT
Abstract: As an intellectual symbol of traditional Chinese culture, the idea of “harmonious unity” explains the principles and guidelines of how humans should interact with nature and with each other. This paper, based on the integrated, connected, and well-balanced idea of harmonious unity between the “three powers” of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, discusses such contemporary themes as ecological protection, world peace, and moral conscience. Harmonious unity underlies the green qualities of Chinese thought and culture. The study of the Book of Changes, from the Way of Qian as the originating power of nature and the Way of Kun as raising all things on earth, puts forward a humanistic concept of the “virtue of Heaven and Earth.” The Chinese people have transformed the ceaseless production, coexistence, and co-prosperity of the myriad things on earth into the peaceful qualities of “harmony in diversity” and respect for differences in human society. The theory of the “unity of knowledge and action” gives full play to people’s intuitive knowledge？ and inherent ability？, bringing forth the noble character of sages and junzi, as it is based on the humanistic feeling of benefiting the whole world and the people-oriented idea of “taking the common people’s will as one’s own,” which reflects the ideological content of advocating benevolence, fairness, and ritual propriety in ancient China.
Keywords: harmonious unity, green development, centrality and commonality, knowledge and action, contemporary.
Confucius’s Creative Transformation and Development of the Six Classics: Based on the Relationship between Classics and Histories
Ren Milin
Abstract: The nucleus of developing the excellent aspects of traditional Chinese culture in a creative way is dealing with the relationship between inheritance and development. When it comes to ancient Chinese culture, this was expressed as the relationship between constancy and change, as epitomized by the relationship between classics and histories. In the evolution of the relationship between classics and histories, Confucius made a remarkable contribution to the creative transformation and development of the Six Classics, a contribution that had two aspects. On the one hand, Confucius made the Six Classics vital again through systematic reinterpretation; while on the other hand, he popularized these classics among the ordinary people by means of education, so that such literature exerted a deep and extensive influence on the society.
Keywords: relationship between classics and histories, Confucius, Six Classics, creative transformation and development of Chinese culture.
What Kind of Concept? What Sort of System? On the Construction and Evolution of
Social Systems according to Different Views of Human Nature
Liu Jingxi
Abstract: Human nature and various views of human nature are the starting points on which diversified social systems have been constructed and evolved. There has been considerable research worldwide on the views of human nature as to whether “human nature is good” or “human nature is evil,” and on the inner logic of its relationship with the construction and evolution of various social systems. In fact, however, human nature has never been simply a binary of good or evil but a complex, pluralistic structural entity. In this structural entity, the view of “human nature as inherently selfish” and thus “egocentric” tends to be closer to the truth or essence of human nature. Therefore, much remains be discussed and explored concerning the correlation between the selfishness of human nature and the construction and evolution of social systems.
Keywords: human nature, human nature as inherently good, human nature as inherently evil, human nature as inherently selfish, construction and evolution, social systems
‘Sobriety’ in the Chinese Intellectual TraditionT
Gong Huanan
Abstract: In the Chinese intellectual world, “intoxication” is understood as the foundation and presupposition for “sobriety.” In the state of intoxication, people appear oblivious of their physical existence, absent from their ego, perception, desires, and action. In the state of sobriety, conversely, they are aware of their physical existence, present with their ego, perception, desires, and action. Intoxication brings one into a harmonious relationship with others and a unity with things. In the wake of sobriety, one falls into depression and walks away from unity, isolating oneself again from or even standing in hostility toward others and the world. When intoxicated, one is free from worry about lack of proper judgment; when sober, one is often overcome by repentance about what has been done. Corresponding with the pursuit of sobriety, thinkers are likely to associate sobriety with human nature, or to take it as a method of thinking and to apply it to spiritual cultivation. The connotation and scope of sobriety keep expanding and becoming thematic in the Chinese intellectual tradition. From the antithetical relations of intoxication and sobriety, to the founding of sobriety on intoxication, to the idea that sobriety is the dreamland of intoxication, the two states constitute an axiological ideal for people to opt for or go beyond.
Keywords: sobriety, intoxication, awakening, Chinese intellectual tradition
The Philosophy of the Sages Is the Study of Mind: Development of the Study
of Mind in the History of Confucian Philosophy
Shen ShunfuTT
Abstract: Philosophy inquiries into the ultimate sources of things, including for example the mind. In the history of Chinese Confucianism, Confucius was the first to speculate about questions concerning mind. The Great Learning established the mind as the origin of things. Mencius and Xunzi interpreted the good mind and bad mind respectively as equivalent to human nature. Dong Zhongshu focused on the functioning of the mind of action, such as its thinking function. Scholars of Dark Learning concentrated on the tension between mind’s thinking and living functions and overemphasized the natural mind at the expense of the active mind. Based on their doctrines of the unity of Heaven and Humanity, Zhang Zai then tried to establish the mind for Heaven and Earth. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi deemed the mind as the source of benevolence and supposed that there was principle in it and that the Heavenly principle was the master of all the myriad things in the cosmos. According to Zhu Xi，the principle of Heaven manifests as human nature and dwells in the mind. The Heavenly principle in the human mind is termed as intuitive knowledge by Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming. Over the course of this long historical process, the transcendental power that dominates the cosmos was accordingly transformed from a physical object to the mind, and human beings thus were refigured in Confucian philosophy as the ultimate rulers of the cosmos. In this sense, the history of Confucian philosophy is actually a history of the study of mind.
Keywords: Confucian studies, mind, human nature, principle
The Mission of Wisdom: A Reflection on What Philosophy Is
and What Philosophy Can Do
Xu QiT and Pu YuhuiTT
Abstract: For thousands of years, the main focus for both Chinese and Western philosophers has been to strive to uncover such subjects as the ultimate being, the highest value, and the greatest wisdom, however they may evade realization beyond the conceptual realm. Since modern times, their pursuits have been repeatedly thwarted and the embarrassment and “poverty” of modern philosophy have become increasingly acute, especially in comparison to the glory the subject enjoyed two thousand or even five hundred years ago. Nevertheless, the persisting charm and vitality of philosophy lies in its ability to perpetually raise just such unanswerable questions, if on occasion meeting with frustration. In most cases, the values of philosophy can only be explored in its uncertainty. The present paper contends that the reason that philosophy is still worth studying and inquiring into is not for the complete or ultimate answers it has for questions about cosmos and life, but for the value of the questions per se. In this sense, for a civilized society, the pursuit of truth, reality, significance, absoluteness, freedom, wisdom, the Way, and beauty is indispensable, even though we often fail to grasp them entirely. The pursuit itself, namely, philosophical meditation and reflection, is what really counts.
Keywords: philosophy, wisdom, starry heavens, moral laws, antinomy, endless pursuit
The Idea of ‘Maintaining Fullness’ in the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties and the Way of Self-Cultivation and Governance
Zhai Kuifeng
Abstract: Chiman or chiying (two synonymous terms meaning “maintaining fullness”) was of general concern across the various disciplines of pre-Qin philosophers. As recorded in many historical materials of the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties, Confucius commented “how could there be a fullness that does not lead to overturning” when he observed a vessel that overturned when full in the ancestral temple of Zhou (or the temple of Lu) for “it inclines when empty, is upright when half full, and overturns when completely full.” He introduced his ideas on chiman with this observation. Western Han literature also recorded Confucius’s comments regarding the two hexagrams of Decrease (Sun) and Increase (Yi) in the Book of Changes, to further express ideas on chiman, that is, how one gains through self-effacing and remaining receptive. The Laozi stresses the idea of “never wishing to be full,” believing that “it is better to leave the vessel unfilled than to attempt to carry it when it is full,” advocates “withdrawing into obscurity after winning merit,” and opposes indulgence in extravagance and debauchery, which is another manifestation of chiman. Receiving an intellectual inheritance on the Way of life from the Laozi, the Guanzi further advocates “whoever pursues fullness must give it to Heaven,” and holds that a brilliant ruler is one who models himself on the Way of Heaven, seeking to be “full but not overflowing” and striving to be “noble but never arrogant” and “wealthy but never extravagant,” thus a ruler may maintain his wealth, rank, and rule for a long period of time. The Discourses of the States, through recounting the story of Fan Li, offers a further extension to the idea of “pursuing complete fullness and following Heaven.” Thenceforth, the Confucian doctrine that “humility brings increase whilst pride incurs decrease,” and the Daoist doctrines of “withdrawing into obscurity after winning merit” and “bright but not dazzling” have jointly contributed to shaping the finer features of the Chinese people’s spiritual character.
Keywords: Confucianism, Daoism, chiman, chiying, fullness, decrease and increase, humility, obscurity
The Rise and Fall of the Civil Service Examination with the Evolution of Confucian Classics Studies in the Early Ming DynastyT
Zhou ChunjianTT
Abstract: During Zhu Yuanzhang’s reign, the keju or civil service examination underwent a tortuous course of reinstatement, abrogation, and restoration. When keju was conducted in early 1370, the Five Classics and the Four Books were examined successively, including the ancient notes and commentaries on them. Keju conducted in this manner were similar and yet dissimilar to the keju held in the Yuan dynasty. Three years later, keju was abrogated for qualified candidates and replaced by the recommendation system owing to the complicated political situation of the time. In 1382, keju was restored with a new examination procedure, in which Zhu Xi’s commentary on the Four Books was given priority. This indicated that the status of Zhu Xi’s teachings was established. The incident known as the “southern and northern list of successful candidates” happened in 1397, in which northern candidates wrote a petition accusing imperial examiners of partiality on the grounds that successful candidates were mostly chosen from the South. Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of this incident to establish balance between the development of the South and the North and reform the study of Confucian classics in the North, which had declined during the Yuan rule and long wars associated with it. The rise and fall of keju in the early Ming dynasty reflected a deep tension between scholarship and imperial power, illuminating the political characteristics of keju as an important national institution.
Keywords: early Ming dynasty, keju, civil service examinations, study of Confucian classics, Four Books, southern and northern lists of successful candidates
On Wang Yangming’s View of the
‘Unity of Activity and Tranquility’:
A Monistic and Two-Level Conception of Effort Devoted to the Original Substance
Fu XihongTT
Abstract: Wang Yangming’s theory of effort (gongfu) has at least two distinctive features. First, since effort is devoted to the original substance, the original substance and effort are united, and what Wang Yangming advocated is thus a monistic type of effort devoted to the original substance. Second, since the original substance has different manifestations in different stages, effort can be divided into two types based on whether principle is followed deliberately or spontaneously. The monistic and two-level perspective may illuminate Wang’s thoughts on activity and tranquility. Activity has three levels of meaning: engaging in something, obeying desires, and deliberateness; tranquility also has three levels of meaning: engaging in nothing, following principle, and spontaneity. At the first level, tranquility is a special case of activity, and engaging in nothing is a special case of engaging in something. Accordingly, the heart-mind engaging in something and that engaging in nothing are one and the same, and the unity of activity and tranquility refers to following principle in a general sense, or in particular to following principle spontaneously. While following principle already leads to proper actions, following principle spontaneously is proper and natural, as a perfect manifestation of human innate knowledge and a feature of the Way of Heaven.
Keywords: Wang Yangming, innate knowledge, effort, original substance, monistic and two-level conception, unity of activity and tranquility
