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Lai Chen The Core Values of Chinese Civilization The Core Values of Chinese Civilization Lai Chen The Core Values of Chinese Civilization 123 LaiChen TheTsinghuaAcademyofChineseLearning TsinghuaUniversity Beijing China Translated byPaulJ. D’Ambrosio, Robert CarleoIII,Chad Meyers,Joanna Guzowska ISBN978-981-10-3366-7 ISBN978-981-10-3367-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-3367-4 JointlyPublishedwithSDXJointPublishing ISBN:978-7-108-05292-6SDXJointPublishing LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016960277 ©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.andSDXJointPublishing2017 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublishers,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublishers,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinor foranyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade. Printedonacid-freepaper ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd. Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:152BeachRoad,#22-06/08GatewayEast,Singapore189721,Singapore Preface In the spring of 2007, I gave a talk at Tufts University on “Confucianism and the Transformations of Contemporary China.” I discussed two issues. One was the characteristicsofConfucianvalues,andtheotherwasthechangesofcontemporary China. As the audience of American students had no familiarity with the Chinese language, I could not quote from the Chinese classics in the way I do when speaking in China. Therefore, I declared openly at the beginning of the talk that I would not discuss classical texts and instead attempted a comparative approach to elucidatingthecharacteristicsofChinesethoughtandvalues.Iidentifiedeighttotal points: Morality is more important than law, this life more important than the afterlife, the community more important than the individual, the spiritual more important than the material, responsibility more important than rights, the well-being of the people more important than democracy, order more important than freedom, and harmony more valuable than struggle. In the summer of 2010, I gave a report on “Confucian Thought and ContemporarySociety”foraforumonreadingheldbyChina’scentralgovernment at the headquarters of the General Administration of Press and Publication. Idiscussedfourissues:ThefirstwasConfucianculture,thesecondwasConfucian thought on governance and political administration, the third was the Confucian perspective on human life, and the fourth was Confucianism and contemporary China.InthisfourthpartonthequestionofConfucianismandcontemporaryChina, I adopted a comparative method and modern perspective in looking at the char- acteristics of Confucian values. In total, I discussed ten points: Morality is more importantthanlaw,thecommunitymoreimportantthantheindividual,thespiritual more important than the material, responsibility more important than rights, the well-being of the people more important than democracy, order more important than freedom, this life more important than the afterlife, harmony more valuable than struggle, civilization more valuable than impoverishment, and family more valuable than social class. This time, I discussed two points in addition to those described at Tufts and slightly adjusted their order. In the fall of 2012, at the invitation of the Korean Academic Research Council, I served as a speaker for the 14th series of “Special Lectures by Distinguished v vi Preface Scholars,”carryingoutacademicexchangewithKoreaandgivingaseriesoftalks. I spoke twice in Korea, on the topics of “The Foundations of the Philosophic Thought of Chinese Civilization” and “The Values and Worldview of Chinese Civilization,” respectively. The latter concentrated on the values of Chinese civi- lization, while the former, although it was devoted to the discussion of philo- sophicalthoughtandcosmology,couldserveasanexplanationofthecosmological andphilosophicalbackgroundofChinesevalues.Thetopicsofthesetwotalkswere setinaccordancewiththerequirementsoftheKoreanAcademicResearchCouncil. The Koreans had mentioned in particular that they hoped the talks would be ori- ented at problems that had become apparent in Western civilization and Western modernity and seek in Chinese civilization potential alternative universalist prin- ciples.Therefore,mytalktookancientConfucianismasaprominentrepresentative of the values of humane love, ritual, responsibility, and community emphasized in Chinese civilization. Through later philosophical explication, these values further came to express universal meaning. The principle of humane love, spirit of ritual, consciousness of responsibility, and fundamental place of the community are all value positions opposed to individualism. They lead to the rational affirmation of communalcollaboration,acultureofritualeducation,apoliticsofcooperation,and aworldgovernedby“theWayoftheking”(wangdao王道).Theyoughttobecome universal principles. Communal collaboration emphasizes the significance of the community, which helps counter individualism. A culture of ritual education emphasizesmoralconsciousness,whichdistinguishesitfromlegalism.Apoliticsof cooperation emphasizes the cooperative political communication, which differen- tiates it from a politics of conflict. Finally, a world governed by “the Way of the king”isatype ofworld order thatdiffers fromhegemonism.Thesefour pointsare all centred in humaneness (ren 仁). Humaneness is a fundamental principle that takesinterrelationandpeacefulcoexistenceasitscontent.Theprincipalpurposeof identifyingtheseistoelucidatealternativeuniversalprinciplesthatdifferfromthose of Western modernity. After returning from Korea, I immediately published the Chinese text of this study in an academic journal with slight adjustments. I added thefollowingsentences:ThebasicvaluesformedinAxialAgeChinesecivilization became the principle guides for the core values developed in later Chinese civi- lization. Through the two millennia of development following the Axial Age, Chinese civilization formed its own set value preferences, of which there are principally four: the priority of responsibility to freedom, the priority of duty to rights, the community being higher than the individual, and harmony being higher than conflict. These four points present pronounced contrast with modern Western culture and are adjusted and simplified from the aforementioned ten points. To a certain extent, they also aim to express the characteristics of the values of Chinese civilization in a more focused and succinct way. The above views all engage with the values of traditional Chinese culture and their characteristics. I have mentioned these often in my various works on ConfucianismandChinesecultureinrecentyearsandhavedrawntheattentionofa Preface vii certain number of other thinkers. In fact, I have discussed the characteristics of the values of Confucianism and Chinese culture many times in various lectures since 2004. In recent years, the fervor for guoxue 国学 (Chinese studies) has risen throughoutChina.Passionforthestudyoftheresplendentculturepioneeredbyour ancestors has increased consistently among the broad Chinese masses. Therefore, this volume includes two papers on the history and concept of this area of schol- arship, so as to help readers understand the general academic views on guoxue. During the twentieth century’s New Culture Movement, there was a movement to organize traditional Chinese culture and learning, and Liang Qichao pointed out two forms of common knowledge of guoxue: a general understanding of Chinese historyandChinesepeople’sperspectiveonhumanlife.Thatistosay,thestudyof guoxue in one aspect requires grasping China’s history and culture and in another aspect requires study and grasping of Chinese culture’s perspective on human life. TheperspectiveonhumanlifediscussedbyLiangQichaoisalsovalues.Therefore, in examining guoxue and traditional Chinese culture today, we need broad understanding of the history of the generation, maturation, and development of Chinese culture, recognizing its unique qualities, existential value, and universal significance. We also need self-conscious study and absorption of the values of Chinesecivilization,bywhichtoadvancetheculturalconfidenceofthepeopleasa whole, inspire the spirit of the people, strengthen the cohesion and vitality of the Chinese people,andstrivetorealize agreat renaissance oftheChinese people and Chinese culture. Beijing, China Lai Chen February 2015—First Day of Spring Contents 1 The Philosophical Foundations of Chinese Civilization .. ..... .... 1 1.1 Correlative Cosmology.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 3 1.2 The One Continuous Qi... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 7 1.3 Yin-Yang Complementation.... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 10 1.4 Continuously Generative Transformation .. .... .... ..... .... 13 1.5 Natural Heavenly Patterns . .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 16 1.6 Unification of Humans and Heaven .. .... .... .... ..... .... 20 2 The Values and Worldview of Chinese Civilization . .... ..... .... 25 2.1 The Ethical Spirit of Early Chinese Civilization. .... ..... .... 26 2.2 The Fundamental Values of Axial Age Chinese Civilization .... 29 2.3 The Ancient Confucian System of Moral Concepts .. ..... .... 32 2.4 The Preferences and Characteristics of the Values of Chinese Civilization.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 35 2.5 The Divergence Between the Value Preferences of Chinese Civilization and Modern Values.... .... ..... .... 41 2.6 The Worldview of Chinese Civilization: Understanding and Attitude Regarding the External World .... .... ..... .... 46 2.7 The Universal Ideal of Chinese Civilization: Pursuit of Pluralism and Harmony . .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 51 3 A Brief Account of the Development of the Chinese Intellectual Tradition .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 57 3.1 Chinese Script and the Early Textual Corpus... .... ..... .... 59 3.2 The Formation of the Six Classics ... .... .... .... ..... .... 61 3.3 The One Hundred Schools. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 63 3.4 Han Dynasty Classical Learning. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 66 3.5 The Records of the Grand Historian, the History of the Han, and the Shuo Wen Dictionary . .... .... ..... .... 69 ix x Contents 3.6 The Broader Literary Corpus ... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 71 3.7 Wei-Jin Era Neo-Daoism and Religious Daoism .... ..... .... 73 3.8 Buddhism and Literature During the Sui and the Tang..... .... 76 3.9 Song-Ming Neo-confucianism and the Structure of Scholarship.. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 79 3.10 Qing Dynasty Han Learning and Large-Scale Compilation Projects. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 84 3.11 Early Modern Chinese Learning, Western Learning, and Guoxue ... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 87 3.12 The Contemporary Guoxue Craze.... .... .... .... ..... .... 91 3.13 The Basic Characteristics of Chinese Civilization and Culture.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 94 4 The Rise and Development of Modern “Guoxue”... .... ..... .... 97 4.1 The Birth and Development of the Idea of Guoxue .. ..... .... 98 4.2 The Employment of the Concept of Guoxue.... .... ..... .... 106 4.3 The Development of the Study of Guoxue. .... .... ..... .... 111 4.4 The Great Figures of Guoxue... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 117 Appendices.... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 125 Appendix A: Confucian Thought and Contemporary Society..... .... 125 Appendix B: Modern Confucianism and Universal Values .. ..... .... 151 Appendix C: The Transmission and Development of Traditional Chinese Values . ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 161 Chapter 1 The Philosophical Foundations of Chinese Civilization The philosophical foundations of Chinese civilization manifest mainly as cosmol- ogy. In contrast to modern Western mechanistic theories of the universe, the classical Chinese philosophical cosmology emphasizes continuity, dynamism, rel- ativity,relationships,andthetotality.Itisnotaself-centricphilosophythatassumes a subject-object dichotomy and focuses on static, isolated, and substantial entities. Startingfromitsorganicholism,theclassicalChineseperspectiveviewseverything in the cosmos as interrelated and interdependent. Each thing’s own existence and valuemanifestsonlyinitsrelationstootherthings.Thusrelationshipsofsymbiotic harmony should be established between humans and nature, between persons, and between cultures. This cosmology of Chinese philosophy not only provided ideo- logicalsupportforancientChinesecivilization,butalsoprovidesthephilosophical foundation for the values of the Chinese civilization. What isthephilosophicalfoundationofChinese civilization?Thisisa question we must ask in face of China’s contemporary renaissance and cosmopolitan movement toward the world. This book attempts to respond to this question. “Philosophical foundation” or “philosophical background” are ideas that can be taken in a very broad sense, but I focus on two aspects of the philosophical foundation of the Chinese civilization in my discussion: firstly, philosophical thinkingandcosmology;andsecondly,valuesandworldview.InthischapterIwill focus on the first aspect. The Yangtze River and the Yellow River were the center of early agricultural developmentinthenorthandcentralregionsofChina,andarethebasesofChinese civilization. In the late stages of the Neolithic period, there was diversified devel- opmentamong theregionalcultures along theYangtze River, inareas now known This chapter was translated by Paul J. D’Ambrosio. All quotations from Chinese texts in this chapterarealsoD’Ambrosio’s,unlessotherwisenoted. The content of this chapter was presented as part of the 2012 series of “Special Lectures by DistinguishedScholars”heldinSeoulbytheKoreanAcademicResearchCouncilandDaewoo Fund. ©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.andSDXJointPublishing2017 1 L.Chen,TheCoreValuesofChineseCivilization, DOI10.1007/978-981-10-3367-4_1

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