Chinese Intellectual History

Presentation on theme: "Chinese Intellectual History"— Presentation transcript:

1 Chinese Intellectual History
Seminar on Chinese Intellectual History 8. Neo-Daoism Chun-chieh Huang National Chair Professor National Taiwan University Research Fellow, Academia Sinica

2 I. Lecture Notes:

3 The Historical and Intellectual Background:
1:1. The Period from the Third to Sixth Century: Period of disunion witnessed a) the flourishing of Daoism in a new philosophical fashion b) the "domestication" of Buddhism ‧An Age of desperation ‧Age of alienation ‧Age of individualism ∴ Restructuring of the content of Chinese philosophy

4 1:2. Historical Background: a) The degeneration of the aristocracy
b) Society and economy: feudalism reemerged c) Three currents of thought:  the flourishing of individualism  the awakening of group consciousness  the crisis of the established morality ∴  Xuan-xue (玄學, Metaphysical School)  Qing-tan (清談, Pure Conversation)

5 2. Three Stages of the Development of Philosophy in Wei-Jin Period:
2: A.D.: He Yan 何晏 (195?-249), Wang Bi 王弼 (226–249) Book of Changes Daode Jing Central issue: Naturalness vs. Conformity  to merge Confucianism and Daoism together

6 2: A.D.: Revolt against conformity and the philosophical establishment Incompatibility between Naturalness and Conformity Xiang Xiu 向秀 (fl. 253) and Guo Xiang 郭象 (d.312) Freedom or Naturalness exists in Conformity Commentaries on Zhuang Zi

7 2:3. Eastern Jin ( ) Buddhism

8 3.Wang Bi's Philosophy: 3:1. Metaphysics — "non-being" (無)
3:2. Philosophy of life — "to revert to the original substance" (反本)

9 “To return is to revert to the original [substance]
“To return is to revert to the original [substance]. The original [substance] is the mind of Heaven and Earth… Thus although Heaven and Earth are vast, possessing the myriad things in abundance, where thunder moves and winds circulate, and while there is an infinite variety of changes and transformations, yet its original [substance] is absolutely quiet and perfect non-being…(Commentary on hexagram no. 24, fu or to return). (Chan, pp )

10 復者，反本之謂也。天地以本為心者也。凡動息則靜，靜非對動者也；語息則默，默非對語者也。然則天地雖大，富有萬物，雷動風行，運化萬變，寂然至無，是其本矣。故動息地中，乃天地之心見也。若其以有為心，則異類未獲具存矣。（〈復卦〉注）

11 4. He Yan: "non-being"

12 “Being, in coming into being, is produced by non-being
“Being, in coming into being, is produced by non-being. Affairs, as affairs, are brought into completion by non-being. When one talks about it and it has no predicates, when one names it and it has no name, when one looks at it and it has no form, and when one listens to it and it has no sound – that is Tao in its completeness…” (Tao lun, or Treatise on Tao) (Chan, p.324)

13 「有之為有，恃無以生；事而為事，由無以成。夫道之而無語，名之而無名，視之而無形，聽之而無聲，則道之全焉。故能昭音嚮而出氣物，包形神而章光影；玄以之黑，素以之白，矩以之方，規以之員。員方得形而此無形，白黑得名而此無名也。」（《道論》）

14 5. Xiang Xiu and Guo Xiang:
Metaphysics: autonomy and Naturalness of things Let things take their own courses ∴ Naturalness and Conformity are not incompatible Xiang Xiu

15 “The universe is the general name for all things
“The universe is the general name for all things. They are the substance of the universe while Nature is their norm. Being natural means to exist spontaneously without having to take any action...” (Chan, p.326) Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove

16 天地者，萬物之總名也；天地以萬物為體，而萬物必以自然為正，自然者，不為而自然者也。故大鵬之能高，斥鴳之能下，椿木之能長，朝菌之能短，凡此皆自然之所能，非為之所能也。
（〈逍遙遊注〉，《南華真經》，卷一，頁八下半）

17 6. Conclusion 6:1. Issues in Neo-Daoism a) Being vs. Non-being
b) Naturalness vs. Conformity 6:2 From Neo-Daoism to Buddhism

18 II. Assignments:

19 ．Chan, Chapter 19, pp ．陳榮捷，下冊，十九章，頁 ．勞思光，第二冊，第二章，頁

20 Discussion Questions:
III. Discussion Questions:

21 1. Compare and contrast classical Daoism and Neo-Daoism.
*2. Discuss the notion of dao in Lao Zi and Neo- Daoist philosophers.

22 IV. 討論問題

23 討論王弼《周易注》中之「理」與「事」概念之內涵及其關係。
討論王弼《老子注》中之「體」、「用」概念。 比較老子與新道家的「道」概念。

24 V. 延伸閱讀

25 金谷治：《儒家思想と道家思想》，收入《金谷治中國思想論集‧中卷》（東京：平河出版社，1997），第2部：道家の思想。
Robert G. Henricks, Philosophy and Argumentation in Third-Century China: The Essays of Hsi K'ang (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983). Donald Holzman, Poetry and Politics: The Life and Works of Juan Chi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976).

26 陳弱水：〈漢晉之際的名士思想與玄學突 破〉，收入陳弱水編：《中國史新論：思 想史分冊》，頁171-250。
余英時：〈魏晉時期的個人主義和新道家 運動〉，收入余英時著；程嫩生，羅群等 譯；何俊編：《人文與理性的中國》 （台北：聯經出版公司，2008），頁23-58 。

27 Keyword: “non-being” (無) “to revert to the original substance”(反本)
“its original substance is absolutely quiet and perfect non-being.” (寂然至無，是其本矣)