My Chinese ph prof ppt

1. 3.1 Meaning of Shexue
3.2 Jingshen: Spirit of Chinese
Philosophy
3.3 Luzi-Biaoda: Methodology &
Expression
3.4 Pingsheng: Synthesis
3. SHEXUE:
CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

2. 3.1 MEANING OF SHEXUE
SHEXUE : Philosophy (Mandarin,
Official Language of China); Verb = “to
know”; Noun = “wise”
SHEXUEJIA: PHILOSOPHER
XUESHENG: STUDENT

3. Use of the word:
 According to some philosophers,
everything in existence is reasonable.
 All are lunatics but he who analyze the
delusion is a philosopher.
 A billion philosophers’ opinion can only
be accepted with a pinch of salt.
 The beard does not make a
philosopher.
 The boy wants to be a philosopher in
the future.

4. 3.2 JINGSHEN: SPIRIT OF
CHINESE PHILOSOPHY
1) Meld of Philosophy & Religion
2) THE CORE: CONFUCIANISM
3) “Sageliness Within &Kingliness Without”
4) Continental
5) Agricultural
6) “Reversal in the Movement of Tao”
7) Golden Mean
8) Idealization of Nature
9) Familial
10) This Worldliness?

5. 3.2 JINGSHEN: SPIRIT OF
CHINESE PHILOSOPHY
1) Meld of Philosophy & Religion
The place which philosophy has occupied in
Chinese civilization has been that of religion in
other civilization…
• The first education of children in ancient China
was on philosophy: The Four Books were
considered the Bible for Chinese; these are:
Lun Yu or The Confucian Analects
Meng Zi or Book of Mencius
Ta Hsueh or The Great Learning
Chung Yung or The Doctrine of the Mean (the
most important text of Neo-Confucianists)

6. 2) THE CORE: CONFUCIANISM
 Confucianism permeates Chinese life
more as a Philosophy than Religion. As
philosophy, it is a systematic and
reflective thinking on life.
 But since religion also has something to do with
life, then in the heart of every great religion
there is philosophy.
 Confucianism may have no story of creation nor
mention of heaven or hell. But the Higher
Values (Super Moral) which it offers are even
purer than those acquired through religion,
because they are not mixed with imagination
and superstition.

7.  Today, man is philosophical and not
religious. When he is philosophical, he
has the very best of the blessing of
religion.
 Exemplification:
Epiphany: (Matthew 2:1-12 The
Astrologers’ study of the stars led them
to the Child Jesus)
Pope John Paul II on Evangelization:
“discover Christ in people…”

8. 3) “Sageliness Within &Kingliness Without”
 According to Chinese philosophy, the highest
human achievement is to be a SAGE or to
achieve identification with the universe.
 How? Buddha & Plato taught that for one to
achieve sageliness, he or she has to abandon
society or even negate life (we refer to them as
“Other Worldly”).
Confucianism aims at the synthesis of both
“other worldliness” and “this worldliness” - only
the sage must be in public service:
“sageliness within & kingliness without.”

9. 4) Continental
• Analects VI, 21: “The wise delights in
water; the good man delights in
mountains. The wise move; the good
stay still. The wise are happy; the
good endure.” – there is bias for the
land!
• China is a continental country…no
Chinese thinkers had the experience of
venturing upon the high seas (from
Confucius’ time until the end of the
last century)

10. 5) Agricultural
In Chinese thought there is a distinction
between “the root” and “the branch”
The “root” refers to agriculture; the “branch,”
to commerce
The hierarchy of professions are: Scholars,
Farmers, and Artisans; the lowest is
Commerce.
Scholars & Farmers are the most honorable
professions. Scholars were landlords &
farmers were peasants, cultivators of the
land.

11. 6) “Reversal in the Movement of
Tao”
 The theory holds that “in the sphere of
nature and that in man, when the
development of anything brings it to one
extreme, a reversal to the other extreme
takes place.” (held by Confucianists &
Taoists)
 Pendulum – the symbol of the theory

12. 7) Golden Mean
“Never Too Much” – it is better for one to
be wrong by having too little, than to be
wrong by having too much; and to be
wrong by leaving things undone, than to
be wrong by overdoing them. For by
having too much and overdoing, one runs
the risk of getting the opposite of what
one wants.
The corollary principle of the
“reversal in the movement of Tao.”

13. 8) Idealization of Nature
 Both Confucianism & Taoism are
philosophies of the life of the farmer; but
they differ because they are theoretical
expressions of different aspects of the life
of the farmer.
 For the Taoist, the highest achievement in
the spiritual development of a sage lies in
the identification of himself with the whole
of nature, i.e. the universe.

14. 9) Familial
 Confucianism has been the philosophical
justification for the family system of
China.
 The Family system of China is the most complex
and well organized social system in the world as
manifested in its: Dynastic History, Ancestor
Worship, Economic Life & Five Basic
Relationships: (1) Sovereign - Subject, (2) Father
- Son, (3) Elder - Younger Brother, (4) Husband -
Wife, & (5) Friend –Friend (3 of 5 are within the
Family)
Erh Ya (oldest Chinese Dictionary) has
hundreds of term for various family
relationships

15. 10) This Worldliness?
 Confucianism is a philosophy of social
organization and philosophy of life; while
Taoism emphasizes what is natural &
spontaneous in man.
 Confucianism appears “this worldly” as it
“roams within the bounds of society”;
while Taoism appears “other worldly” for
it “roams beyond the bounds of society.”
 They appear to be rivals but they actually
complement each other. They give the
Chinese people a better sense of balance
in regard to “this-worldliness” & “other-
worldliness”

16. 3.3 LUZI.BIAODA: METHOD,
EXPRESSION & CHARACTER
1. Briefness & Disconnectedness
2. Use of Aphorisms, Apothegms,
Allusions & Illustrations
3. Highly Suggestive; Insufficient in
Articulateness
4. Emphasis on the Perception of the
Concrete
5. Concrete Expression of Concepts

17. 6. Non-development of Abstract Thought
7. Emphasis on Particular
8. Conservatism expressed in the
Exaltation of Antiquity
9. Fondness for the Complex &
Multiplicity
10. Individualism

18. 1. Briefness & Disconnectedness of
Sayings
 Chinese writings are not formal
philosophical works.
 Everyone is expected to study philosophy
for the study of philosophy makes a man, a
man.

19. 2. Use of Aphorisms, Apothegms,
Allusions & Illustrations
 Aphorism – maxim; a concise & pithy
(forceful) statement of a rule or
precept
 Apothegm – a pithy saying,
embodying a wholesome truth or
precept
 Allusion – a comparison or reference
by symbol or metaphor; a causal
reference
 Illustration – a picture designed to
elucidate the text

20. 3. Highly Suggestive; Insufficient in
Articulateness
 Because the forms are brief and
disconnected, they are highly suggestive;
their interpretations can be boundless.
 The more the expression is articulate, the
less it is suggestive; just as the more an
expression is prosaic, the less it is
poetic.
 The sayings and writings of Chinese
philosophers are so inarticulate that their
suggestiveness is almost boundless.

21.  Suggestiveness, not articulateness, is
the ideal of all Chinese art, whether it
be poetry, painting, or anything else.
 In a good poetry “the number of words
is limited, but the idea it suggests are
boundless.
 An intelligent reader of poetry reads
what is outside of the poem; and a
good reader of books reads “what is
between the lines.” Such also is the
way Chinese philosophers express
themselves.

22. 4. Emphasis on the Perception of the
Concrete
This is manifested in the graphic character
of Chinese writing. Chinese characters are
originally hieroglyphics (145 characters) & are
constructed in four classic ways (Karlgren).
The 4 Classic Ways are:
4.1 Hsing Hsing – image shapes (pictograph)
4.2 Chih Shih – pointing to situations (indirect
symbol)
4.3 Hui-i – meeting of ideas (associative
compounds)
4.4 Hsing Sheng – pictures & sounds

23. 5. Concrete Expression of Concepts
◙ Use of concrete numbers: “fast horse” is “tsien-
li-ma” – a horse good for a thousand li (li = 1890
feet)
◙ Use of evocative terms: “human body” is “chou-
pi-tai” – stinking bag of skin
◙ Many meanings to the same word: “li” could
mean a standard of measurement (1,000 feet);
profit; principle (universal principle); originally, a
well distributed vein in the precious stones &
minerals
◙ Explanation by means of perceived symbols:
“what a man believes is his eyes & ears”
(emphasis on sense-perceptions)

24. 6. Non-development of Abstract
Thought
 There is no Universal Chinese word for
OLD:
- For 60 years old or so they use CHI;
- For 70 years old or so, TIEH;
- For 80 or 90 years old, MAO.
 No Distinction between Singular & Plural
 No Logical Science

25. 7. Emphasis on Particular
 A mythological character Yen-Lo
became identified with the Sui dynasty
official who died in 592 AD
 Buddha is “Three Pounds of Hemp”:
one should not regard Buddha as
mystical & transcending ordinary life

26. 8. Conservatism expressed in the
Exaltation of Antiquity
- Attachment of importance to past events.
Learning implies full knowledge of the
precedents of a past age.
- Imitation of expressions used by their
predecessors in their writing is ideal.
- Continuity of the Classical way of
thinking
- The idea that the past is important led
the Chinese to a way of thinking to
assume that a Master is generally
superior to the Disciple.

27. 9. Fondness for the Complex &
Multiplicity
• Chinese thinkers’ dependence upon
perceived phenomena & emphasis on
particulars made them naturally sensitive
to multiplicity of things.
• The attitude of observing only those
things concretely experienced weakens
the power of imagination.
• They have no great epic like India’s
“Mahabharata”

28. 10. Individualism
 The tendency to value one’s own
opinion.
 The tendency towards egoism;
but this dos not mean that they
lack the spirit of altruism
(regard for others).

29. 3.4 PINGSHENG: A SYNTHESIS OF
CHINESE THOUGHT
 Life Is Interplay Of Opposites
 Nothing In Life Can Exist Without Its
Opposite
 Harmony with the Tao Is The Balance
Of Each Other

30. Life is eternal interplay of:
YIN  YANG
NEGATIVE - + POSITIVE
RECEPTIVE <  ACTIVE
DEATH LIFE
WINTER SUMMER
EVIL GOOD
FEMALE ♀♂ MALE

31. NOTHING IN LIFE CAN EXIST
WITHOUT ITS OPPOSITE
CONFUCIANISM TAOISM
TRADITIONAL SPONTANEOUS
RATIONAL INTUITIVE
BALANCE EACH OTHER
TAI CHI CHU’AN
Exercises in Harmony with the Tao