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China Perspectives A HOPE FOR PHILOSOPHY II THE EUROPEAN PATH AND CHINESE OPPORTUNITY Ye Xiushan A Hope for Philosophy II As the final work by Ye Xiushan, one of the most famous philosophers and philosophy scholars in China, this two-volume title scrutinizes the historical development of both Chinese and Western philosophies, aiming to explore the convergence between the two philosophical traditions. Combining the historical examination and argumentation based on philosophical problematics, the two-volume set expounds the key figures and schools and critical thoughts in both Western and Chinese philosophical histories. The second volume retraces the origin and development of Chinese philosophy and reveals its focal grounds, i.e. a trinity of man, Heaven, and earth, which helps explain why and how it diverges from the Western way of philosophizing. This book also delineates the diachronic transitions of Chinese philosophy that critically embrace different schools of thought throughout history, including Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Marxism, etc., and then constitutes an organic whole. To elicit the potential for a new transformation of contemporary Chinese philosophy, the author encourages a constructive dialogue between the Chinese and Western philosophies. This title will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers interested in philosophical history, comparative philosophy, Chinese philosophy, and Western philosophy ranging over Greek philosophy, German classic philosophy, and contemporary continental philosophy. Ye Xiushan was a researcher in the Institute of Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Director of the Western Philosophy Society, China. His academic expertise was Western philosophy, aesthetics, and Chinese and Western comparative philosophy. China Perspectives The China Perspectives series focuses on translating and publishing works by leading Chinese scholars, writing about both global topics and China-related themes. It covers Humanities & Social Sciences, Education, Media and Psychology, as well as many interdisciplinary themes. The China Perspectives series focuses on translating and publishing works by leading Chinese scholars, writing about both global topics and China-related themes. It covers Humanities & Social Sciences, Education, Media and Psychology, as well as many interdisciplinary themes. To submit proposals, please contact the Taylor & Francis Publisher for China Publishing Programme, Lian Sun ([email protected]) Titles in philosophy currently include: A New Exploration of Hegel’s Dialectics I Origin and Beginning Deng Xiaomang A New Exploration of Hegel’s Dialectics II Negation and Reflection Deng Xiaomang A New Exploration of Hegel’s Dialectics III The Three-Dimensional Structure Deng Xiaomang A Hope for Philosophy I The European Path and Chinese Opportunity Ye Xiushan A Hope for Philosophy II The European Path and Chinese Opportunity Ye Xiushan For more information, please visit https://www.routledge.com/China-Perspectives/ book-series/CPH A Hope for Philosophy II The European Path and Chinese Opportunity Ye Xiushan This book is published with financial support from Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences. First published in English 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Ye Xiushan Translated by Petko T. Hinov, CHEN Zhaojuan The right of Ye Xiushan to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. English Version by permission of Jiangsu People’s Publishing House. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Names: Ye, Xiushan, author. Title: A hope for philosophy : the European path and Chinese opportunity / Xiushan Ye. Other titles: Zhe xue de xi wang. English Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2022. | Series: China perspectives | Includes index. | Contents: v. 1. A hope for philosophy i: the european pa ‐‐ v. 2. A hope for philosophy ii: the european p ‐‐ A hope for philosophy: the european path | Identifiers: LCCN 2021052194 (print) | LCCN 2021052195 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032248042 (v. 1 ; hbk) | ISBN 9781032248141 (v. 1 ; pbk) | ISBN 9781032248059 (v. 2 ; hbk) | ISBN 9781032248134 (v. 2 ; pbk) | ISBN 9781032248066 (hbk) | ISBN 9781032248165 (pbk) | ISBN 9781003280200 (v. 2 ; ebook) | ISBN 9781003280194 (v. 1 ; ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, European‐‐History. | Philosophy, Chinese‐‐History. Classification: LCC B99.C52 Y47213 2022 (print) | LCC B99.C52 (ebook) | DDC 190‐‐dc23/eng/20211122 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052194 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052195 ISBN: 978-1-032-24805-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-24813-4 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-28020-0 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003280200 Typeset in Times New Roman by MPS Limited, Dehradun Contents 1 The Spiritual Durée of Chinese Philosophy: A Theoretical Investigation 1 2 The Spiritual Durée of Chinese Philosophy: A Historical Investigation 13 3 Daoist Philosophical Thought 35 4 The Great Union between Political Governance and Philosophical Schools in the Han Dynasty 60 5 Philosophical Approach in Buddhist Thought 95 6 Development of Philosophical Thought During the Song and Ming Dynasties 105 Epilogue: A New Hope for the Future 135 Index 139 1 The Spiritual Durée of Chinese Philosophy A Theoretical Investigation 1.1 The Rectification of Names Traditional Chinese scholarship has no name for philosophy, but has the pith of philosophy. In search of a name corresponding to its pith, it has systematically translated European philosophy as xing-er-shang-xue [形而上学](knowledge of what is antecedent to material forms), i.e. ‘metaphysics’. In the beginning, this was regarded as sufficiently apposite. In the course of time, however, a sense of distance between ‘name-essence’ set in, and this distance was reduced only in the modern time. If we approach this term from its ancient meaning, then the distance is still comparatively great and what makes it great is the different primary source of both philosophies. They were moving in opposite directions up until their encounter in the premodern and modern age. This is the reason why we deem such a translation as apposite. The translation of ‘meta-physics’ as xing-er-shang-xue [形而上学] (knowledge of what is antecedent to material forms) was considered as pertinent, as they both emphasised the meaning of transcendence and opposed ‘what precedes form’ to ‘what is subsequent to form’. Thus, metaphysics was regarded as a counterpart of physics—a most proper approach. However, European metaphysics was taken either as ‘antecedent-things-knowledge’ or as ‘first-things-knowledge’, and both terms express surpassing of things material (physics), which betokens their evolving from natural philosophy to theory of Forms. That is the route of ‘elevation-abstraction’ from ‘nature- physicalness’ to ‘principle-tenet’ or elevation from empirical concepts to ‘metaconcepts-Forms’. First come the concrete ‘empirical concepts-natural concepts’ such as ‘water’, ‘fire’, etc. Even Plato’s ideas could not shake off the grounds of natural experience, wherefore came the premise of Aristotle’s ontology. Now, let’s turn to Chinese xing-er-shang-xue [形而上学] (knowledge of what is antecedent to material forms). Its historical path is, as it were, the opposite of European metaphysics, because it took the road ‘from higher to lower’ regions: it did not rise from ‘physics-knowledge of visible form’ to ‘philosophy-knowledge of what precedes form’, but vice versa: from DOI: 10.4324/9781003280200-1 2 The Spiritual Durée of Chinese Philosophy philosophy it ‘descended’ to physics. In this sense, if we are to epitomise both with the single term of ‘philosophy’, then we should state clearly that this term is far from synonymous in its Chinese and European usage. 1.2 xing-er-shang-xue (形而上学) and The Book of Changes The expressions ‘what is antecedent to form-what is subsequent to form’ originate in the chapter Xi Ci [系辞] (Appended Phrases) of Yizhuan [易传] (The Great Commentary): ‘Hence that which is antecedent to the material form we name Dao, and that which is subsequent to the material form exists, we say, as a concrete qi [器] (thing)’. What is Dao and ‘thing’ is related to the entire mode of thinking in The Book of Changes. The Book of Changes is perhaps a common source of the entire Chinese philosophical thought, the greatest contribution to which belongs to Confucianism. It is to their tradition that this book has been ascribed and it was included in the Confucian canonical books. Owing to The Book of Changes, Confucian thought became clearer and more mature. A statement by the great Confucian scholar of Song dynasty Zhu Xi that The Book of Changes was a book of divination was rebutted by almost all his confreres. Actually, The Book of Changes was a book for divination used to inquire, through a variety of methods, whether something was a good or bad omen, a token of success or failure. This is principally incompatible with Confucian ideas, which insist on the immutability of principles and are indifferent to ‘changes of reality’. Confucianism persists in their old ways and truths which are unshakeable for all eternity. So, the patriarch of Confucianism, Confucius said he hoped to live a little longer to study thoroughly The Book of Changes. The result of his studies is possibly embodied in his Ten Wings. Regardless of historical facts, we can see that Confucius became exempt from the current political situation and pondered over a number of philosophical problems and, in fact, had already established a systematic philosophical mindset. This point is sufficiently conclusive. Confucius did not necessarily believe in divination, but possibly believed in the underlying philosophical principles that human deeds could not be determined by human will itself. Not only a human cannot undertake something alone, but things and events are not determined ‘by themselves’. There is a superior and external factor which determines everything, both human and object. Human life on the earth is governed by the Heaven’s Way (Dao). The intents of Heaven can be divined and construed by wise people and sages. Only then could something be successful. The Book of Changes, therefore, employs the method of divination to reckon Heaven’s intent or will. The latter, too, has its own path of logic, which is called ‘Dao of Heaven’. However, Dao of Heaven cannot be per- ceived in the fashion we see things on the earth. It is not the object of im- mediate sensory perception, but has to be construed according to a sum of revelational images. It is according to these images that man is capable of The Spiritual Durée of Chinese Philosophy 3 ‘divining’ the will of Heaven, and the method thereof is neither common knowledge nor ‘common sense-conventional practice’. As for divination itself, one had to receive a special tutorship to learn it. The Heavenly Dao is a mystery to man. Only those ‘special people-sages-wisemen’ are capable of divining and construing that Way (Dao). Consequently, the divinatory methods include observing celestial phe- nomena and reckoning, which is later termed ‘knowledge of signs and numbers’, i.e. study of the Eight Trigrams of The Book of Changes, or numerology.1 ‘Numbers’, just like ‘signs’, are not to be taken in a quotidian but in a special meaning. They, so to say, are not a method of grasping the concrete things (器, qi) on earth but a method of knowing the Way of Heaven. 1.3 The Interrelation between Heaven, Earth, and Man The Book of Changes established, on philosophical grounds, the ‘relationship- boundaries’ between ‘Heaven-earth-man’. The dependence of ancient peoples on Nature was far greater than that in our age. Upon entering the agricultural season, they practically ‘leaned on Heaven for sustenance’, and the myriad of things and people on earth relied on Heaven’s grace. Figuring out Heaven’s will was of utmost importance to ‘conscious-reflective’ humans. Ancient nations all have myths and legends about the ‘Genesis-the beginning of heaven and earth’. China is not an exception. But a logically consistent theory that aptly ‘congeals-sublimates’ legends appeared firstly in China’s The Book of Changes. The Book of Changes takes the worshipping of the supreme Heaven and turns it into a philosophy and its divinatory technique turns, through an entire set of philosophical theories, into a bolster. And, while the technique wanes with the elapsing of time, theory never fails to thrive. The theoretical coordinates of The Book of Changes are firmly fixed upon the correlated ‘trinity-three elements’ or ‘Heaven, earth and man’: Heaven is above on high, earth is below, and man is in the middle. We have to say that such an immediacy of place is fairly well-known to all people, but its meaning could be expounded only by ‘sages-wisemen’. Or, Confucius spotted precisely this feature of The Book of Changes and it won his greater esteem, because all of his life he was making efforts, though with rather poor results, to rectify the ‘places’ under Heaven. Doctrinally, The Book of Changes was more profound and systematic. The techniques of divination, designed to inquire after the propitious or pernicious outcome of an undertaking, were more practical than Confucius’ practice of self- constraint and restoration of ancient rites in order to fortify the people. Therefore, Confucius’ appreciation of The Book of Changes was not merely owing to the Zhou dynasty origins of this book. Reading The Book of Changes could initially surprise one with the com- plete set of superb ‘philosophical theory’ proceeding directly from im- mediate sensorial experience: this is a fact incomprehensible to a ‘non-sage’.