Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy (2 vols.)

680 Pages·2019·14.703 MB·English

by  Jiaxiang Hu

9”x6” b3345 Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy – Volume 1
Featuring a new mode of approach to analyze the logic and integrate the
systems of Chinese philosophy, this book distinctively displays its
author’s aim and intention. His objective is to conduct an in-depth
investigation on, and thereby sort out, the ways in which pre-modern
thinkers conceptualized and portrayed the cosmos and humankind.
Through his criticism and exploration of pre-modern thinkers’ approach
to issues regarding the cosmos and human life, the author endeavors to
reveal human’s position in the cosmos, the mechanism by which human
hearts attain enlightenment, and the path through which human beings
accomplish moral autonomy. He does all this in order to highlight the
charm and strengths of Chinese philosophy, making the philosophy
constructive to people’s spiritual home and their “resacralization”. This
book is marked by its broad field of view, compendiousness in exposition,
logically ordered arguments, well-designed overall structure, comprehen-
siveness and remarkable depths in discussion, and smooth but succinct
writing style. This is a book that unifies analytical cogency and methodo-
logical creativity.
Guo Qiyong
Professor of Philosophy and
Dean of Academy of Traditional Chinese Culture,
Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
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b2530 International Strategic Relations and China’s National Security: World at the Crossroads
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Basic Principles of
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY
Volume 1
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b2530 International Strategic Relations and China’s National Security: World at the Crossroads
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Basic Principles of
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY
Volume 1
HU Jiaxiang
South-Central University for Nationalities, China
World Scientific
NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI • TOKYO
11088_9789813273887_TP.indd 2 10/1/19 9:09 AM
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hu, Jiaxiang, author.
Title: Basic principles of Chinese philosophy / by Jiaxiang Hu
(South-Central University for Nationalities, China)
Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, [2018] | Includes bibliographic references.
Contents: Fundamental root of the cosmos -- Evolution of the cosmos --
The position of human kind -- The level of Zhixing -- The level of intellectuality --
The level of sensitivity -- Methodology -- Knowing and doing -- Spiritual realms of human life.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018043060| ISBN 9789813273887 (hc: set : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9789813273948 (hc: v.1 : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789813273955 (hc: v.2 : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, Chinese.
Classification: LCC B126 .H7758 2018 | DDC 181/.11--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018043060
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2019 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance
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is not required from the publisher.
For any available supplementary material, please visit
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11088#t=suppl
Desk Editors: Herbert Moses/Lixi Dong
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9”x6” b3345 Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy – Volume 1
Foreword
Chinese philosophy, as a great nation’s gem of wisdom, commits itself to
the exploration of the mystery in the cosmos and human life, which is its
eternal theme. Over the past millenniums, Chinese philosophy has kept
renewing itself with great vitality. It is a philosophy that has developed in
history and taken in a great variety of contents in history to meet people’s
spiritual demands. After entering the modern epoch, we are facing such
pressing questions as whether it is possible to construct modern Chinese
philosophy and how to construct it if it is possible. Professor Hu Jiaxiang’s
胡家祥 Preliminary Discussion on the Basic Principles of Chinese
Philosophy 中國哲學原理初編 is an important accomplishment in this
regard in answer to these questions.
With the word “basic principles” in its title, the book aims to find out,
and thereby systemize the exposition of, such implications of considerable
universality that have been intrinsic and fundamental to Chinese philoso-
phy. In other words, it aims to reveal in modern language the latent as well
as the well-established systems that are inherent to, but not yet explicitly
formulated in, Chinese philosophy. Its idea is to nourish the spiritual civi-
lization of our contemporary time with the essence and universal values in
philosophy. Moreover, the book is entitled basic principles of “Chinese
philosophy” because the project integrates the thoughts of Confucianism,
Daoism, and Buddhism in China, and thereby reveals the seemingly con-
flicting principles they actually share in common. With this method, one
is able to see both an entire forest and the individual trees therein. As for
vii
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b3345 Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy – Volume 1 9”x6”
viii Foreword
the phrase “preliminary discussion” in the title, it is used to indicate that
although this exceedingly difficult task has been “completed”, it is subject
to revision and further substantiation. Reflected in the phrase is, therefore,
not only the author’s modesty but also a conscientious and sincere work
attitude.1
Since the end of the period between 1930s and 1940s, Chinese phi-
losophers have been using new perspectives and new methods in their
interpretations of Chinese philosophy, thereby making remarkable contri-
butions to the modernization of philosophy. But they mostly confined
themselves within the mode of “interpreting the Chinese from Western
perspectives”. Now we have entered an age of cultural diversity, an age
that witnesses an even higher status of Chinese philosophy than before
and the further awakening of the cultural self-consciousness in China.
What role should Chinese philosophy play in such a modern society?
To answer this question, one would need to proceed from where our pre-
decessors have left off. We should, on the one hand, reach the depths of
Chinese philosophy and, through our life experience, grasp the essence of
its spirit. On the other hand, we need to come up with new interpretations
through our original theoretical approach. Only by “submerging into it”
can one “come out of it”. This is exactly what Professor Hu has done.
He spent over ten years assimilating the scholarship of the past while
drawing materials from the scholarships that are up-to-date. And he did so
with a view to merging Chinese philosophy into the modern society,
reaching its depths and extracting its key points so as to obtain the essence
that is most valuable to people today. His approach is original and yet
without losing sight of the main spirit of Chinese philosophy, his logic is
rigorous without deviating from the basics of Chinese philosophy, and his
standpoint is based in the modern world and yet related to both the ancient
and the present, thereby retaining the vitality of Chinese philosophy.
1 The book was originally entitled Preliminary Discussion on the Basic Principles of
Chinese Philosophy. During the nearly yearlong consultation for advice and revision, there
were colleague scholars who suggested removing the phrase “preliminary discussion” on
the grounds that, in liberal arts and social sciences, the use of the phrase “basic principles”
did not imply that the principles dealt with in a scholarly undertaking were exclusively all
the principles. Their advice is adopted, hence the present title of the book.
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9”x6” b3345 Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy – Volume 1
Foreword ix
The book is at once its author’s summary of, and his creative contribution
to, the development of the modernization of Chinese philosophy.
Professor Hu structured the book on the basis of an important view.
He thinks that Chinese philosophy can be called the study of humankind,
because the philosophy addresses issues of the cosmos and human life
with its particular emphasis laid on human life, specially, on humankind’s
status in the cosmos as well as the meaning and value of the status. Central
to this study of humankind, as he argues, is the study of heart-nature
心性, which he refers to as the philosophy of the heart in its broad sense.
In the study of heart-nature, he accords particular attention and impor-
tance to the status and function of “Zhi” 志 (“free will”; “ideal”; “pur-
pose”; “aspiration”), arguing that “Zhi is where the value of human life
resides”, “Zhi features a combination of ideal and free will”, and “Zhi is
… the leader of all elements of heart-nature”. Given the important status
of Zhi in Chinese philosophy as we know, none has elevated the status and
emphasized the function of Zhi as much in history. His inference of such
implications from Chinese philosophy should be considered as a new
development in contemporary scholarship. By emphasizing Zhi and ele-
vating its status, he means to highlight a vigorous and robust spirit in
Chinese philosophy and promote the perfection of a personality that keeps
striving for the better.
In addition to connecting the ancient and the present, the author of the
book also makes an effort to integrate the Chinese and the Western
thoughts. Particularly, there are numerous splendid observations made in
the book to underscore the characteristics of Chinese philosophy and its
unique contributions to the modern society. He observes, for example, that
“[m]uch as Chinese philosophy always centralizes human kind, it funda-
mentally differs from Western anthropocentrism”. No one can raise this
point without having conducted enough in-depth research in this regard.
As another example, in his explication of “emotion”, the author suggests
that emotions are not only “the blood vessels of humanistic culture”, they
can also be marked by “noble” feelings related to value issues, which, as
a feature, explains the strengths of Chinese philosophy in ethics and aes-
thetics. This is also a very incisive remark. As one more example, the
author, when explaining the term “身體” shenti (meaning “body” in mod-
ern Chinese), points out that the term speaks of a theory of praxis and
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