Philo of Chinese

8/6/2019 Philo of Chinese

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Chinese

PhilosophyI. The Chinese MindII.The Chinese

Thinkers

III.The Chinese


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I. The Chinese

Mind


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Recurring Dominant Key Ideasin the Teachings of the Sages

1. belief that the highest achievement ofman as man is to be a sage or wise

man; the highest achievement of a sage

is the identification of the individual with

the universe

Sageliness within and kingliness

without.


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2.belief that life is a gift to be treasured

Life is desirable.

3. belief in the cycle of ups-and-downs and the

right-and-left movement of the pendulum

All that happens in the universe is a

continuous whole like chain of natural

sequence due to yang and yin.

4.belief in the coordination of thought and actionAction must agree with thought.


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Otherbeliefs/philosophies: Chineses Cosmic conception:

All that happens in the universe is a continuous

whole like chain of natural sequences. All events inthe universe follow a transitional process due to

the primeval pair, the yang and yin. The universe

does not proceed onward but revolves without

beginning or end. There is nothing new under thesun, everything is just a repetition of the old.


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On happiness:

Mans happiness lies in his conformity with tao,

which can mean his conformity with nature, the

course of which cannot be subject to man.

On morality:Follow Tao what follows tao cannot be morally

wrong, and what conflicts with tao cannot be

morally right. And in following tao, man

accomplishes his humanity.He who knows the Tao does not speak about it;

he who speaks about it does not know it.


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On Divine Power:

There is no divine power that controls the motion

of the universe, but everything is a result of the

single or combined action of four factors : Tao,

heaven, earth, king.

On happiness:

Mans happiness lies in his conformity with tao,

which can mean his conformity with nature, thecourse of which cannot be subject to man.


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II. The Chinese

Thinkers


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1. Kung Tzu (551-479 B.C.)(Lun Yu)

Confucius:

Analects orSayings

Of


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a. The gentleman or superior man

Possesses the Way (Tao)

Doesnt preach what he practises till he has

practised what he preaches Always act out of yi (righteousness) and

never out of li (profitable)

Is always happy; he accepts with equanimity

what has to be (ming)


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b. life

He who has only vegetables for food and

water to drink and a bent arm for a pillow will

still find happiness.

It is not worthwhile to discourse about death:

Not yet understanding life, how can one

understand death?

Life is a gift that must be treasured.

It is a part of tao to live life as it ought to be

lived.


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c.Ren (The Golden Rule)

Do not do unto others what you would

not like them to do unto you.Boo

k XII,2

Never do to others what you would notlike them to do unto you.Book XV, 23


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d.R

ectification of namesLet the ruler be ruler, the minister,

minister, the

father, father, the son, son.

e. Government

Sufficient food, sufficient weapons, andthe

confidence of the common people make


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f. mourningonly when a child is three years old does

it leave its

parents arms


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2. Meng tzu (371-

289 B.C.)

Mencius

Book ofMencius


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a. Man is originally good Man becomes evil because of exposure

and a relentless surrender to evil

inclinations.

b. All-embracing love

Love covers all.It is extended to allhumanity.

There is hierarchy of love.


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c. The heart

It is with the heart that man thinks. There

is no need for the law of morality if man

uses his heart, for he would know what is

good and evil.

d. The Great Morale (Hao jan Chih

Chi)Everything must be put in its right place.

However, there should be a hierarchy of


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3. Lao tzu

Old Master

Tao Te Ting


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It is the tao that begins, proceeds, and

ends

- The Tao produced One; One produced

Two; Two

produced Three; Three produced All

Things

The tao does not do anything (wu-wei)but accomplishes everything

Tao is not the product of anything but is


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Tao is eternal, unchanging, nameless.

Tao is all pervading it may be found on

the left hand and on the right.

Tao is humble, wise, inactive, yet it is

the peak of excellence, power, andvirtue.


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The Tao may be similar to:

Hegelian undertones: Pure Being equals Pure

Nothing

Platos eternal ideas or the Divine Archetypes in the

Mind of God: How do we know they exist? We dont.

But if they do, their existence can only be posited,

not logically argued.


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Tao is a cornerstone of Chinese thoughtand without

truly understanding what it means, one

cannot truly

appreciate Chinese philosophy. And as a

final

warning:

He who knows the TAO does not speak


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4. Chuang tzu

The Writings of Chuang Tzu


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Philosophies:

Happiness comes from conformity with

Tao; sadness and frustration proceed

from non-alliance with nature.

To each one belongs a peculiar nature.

What is natural to one may not be

natural to another.


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On life and death:

When the Master came, it was at the

proper time;

when he went away, it was the simple

sequence

of his coming.


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On the Grand Beginning of all things:

There is not a single thing without the

Tao. So it is with the Perfect Tao.And if we call it the Great Tao, it is just

the same. There are three terms

complete, all-embracing, the whole.


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On epistomology:(relativism of

truth/personal

truth)Each one has a point of view, a

contextual

situation, and each one understands inhis own

personal manner.


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5. Mo tzu

The Works ofMoTzu


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Philosophies:

On universal love:

In the matter of loving people, one has

to love

everybody before he can be spoken of

loving

people. Failing to love all, one fails to

love


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On the Will of Heaven:

Heaven wants righteousness and

dislikes

unrighteousness.

On Confucian Ming:

Lifes experiences do not give credenceto the

doctrine of fatalism.


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6. Yang Chu


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Philosophies:

On mans self preservation:

No one should sacrifice a limb, not even

for a kingdom

On life:

Life is forbeauty and abundance.


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III. The Chinese Classics


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1.I Ching

Tao is the way, and the way is

necessary change made possible by theyang and yin which are the primeval

pair.

Change is made possible by theinteraction of the Yang and Yin


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2. Han Fei Tzu

Power has to be invested in a single

ruler in order to concentrate the statescontrol.

The citizens were to be given duties to

perform, failure of which could subject

them to disciplinary measures.


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3. Hsun Tzu

Believes that human nature is evil and

goodness arises only out of artificialtraining education is the salvation of

men

Believed that if Tao were followed, thenHeaven would necessarily follow.


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4. The Great Learning Believes that the perfection of

knowledge implies knowing the root of

the problem

Believes that The cultivation of the

person depends on the rectification ofthe mind


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5.The Mean (Chung Yung) When Chung and Yung are respected,

there would be balance in the universe.

Human virtue does not only exist in the

ethical but also in the cosmic sphere.

Sincerity is an active force that welds thetheoretical and the practical.


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Reference:

The Merging Philosophy of East and

West

by Emerita S. Quito

Reporter:

Maria Cris S. Zorilla Dela RosaMA-ELT


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Philo of Chinese

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