DOCSLIB.ORG

Chinese Intellectual History 508:348 -Draft Syllabus

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chinese Intellectual History 508:348 -Draft Syllabus Sukhee Lee Spring 2012 Chinese Intellectual History 508:348 -Draft syllabus History is made by people’s actions. But we can’t fully understand the meaning of other people’s actions until we understand what they thought they were doing. Intellectual history is the queen of all history as it explores how people made sense of themselves and the world and what their thought and ideas tell us about the time and place that produced them. 4,000 years of Chinese history provide us with a cornucopia of diverse intellectual traditions, many of which have perennial relevance not only to the later history of China but also to universal human conditions. This course explores some key moments and issues of Chinese intellectual history from antiquity to the modern period. This course is designed as a 300-level history course. Students are expected to read about 120 to 150 pages a week and to develop a skill of thinking through primary sources and of evaluating the quality of scholarly works. They are expected to write at least 15 pages of academic writing in the course. *Basic background knowledge of Chinese history is strongly recommended. Instructor : Sukhee Lee; [email protected] There is no phone in my office. Email is the only way of contacting me outside the class. Use your Rutgers email account when you write to me. And please do not forget to start your subject line with “(Chinese Intellectual History)” so that I can recognize that it is from one of you. Office : Van Dyck 002E (College Avenue Campus); Learning Goals 1) Develop an understanding of the role of human agency in bringing about change in society and institutions 2) Develop the ability to write persuasively and communicate effectively Books to be purchased Patricia Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China , 2 nd edition (Cambridge University Press, 2010) ISBN-13: 978-0521124331 Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan W. Van Norden, Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2002) ISBN-13: 978-0872207806 Huang Zongxi, Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince , tr. William Theodore de Bary (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000) ISBN-13: 978-0231080972 All other readings will be provided at Sakai course site in pdf file. Grading Class attendance and participation 15% (attendance 5% and participation 10%) FIVE response papers based on primary source analysis 10% 1 THREE Quizzes 15% TWO Papers Book review (should be double-spaced, typed, and 4-5 page long) 15% Longer paper (6-7 page) 20% Final exam 25% On academic integrity Plagiarized paper or cheating in exams will result in, at least, “F” for the assignment. In addition, the cases will be reported to the university administration for sanctions. As for the Rutgers policies on academic integrity, see http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml Other Class Policies *Lecture and section attendance is your most basic responsibility. I will take attendance at every lecture and section. Unexcused absences, when they exceed twice, will affect your final grade. (e.g. 3 times, -10% from your “class attendance and participation”; 4 times, -20%; …) If you are absent from more than one third of the entire classes and sections, you will automatically get “F.” *Please turn off your cell phones as a courtesy to others. *Late paper will be penalized by subtracting FIVE points for every day past the due date FOR THE FIRST FIVE days. No paper will be accepted after FIVE days past the due. Famous lines such as “I am pretty sure that I emailed that to you the other day” or “I certainly uploaded it at Sakai in time, but somehow can’t find it there now” will do no good unless you show me “hard evidence” of such claims (e.g. a print of your original sent mail showing the time of its sending). Weekly Schedule Week 1 Introduction 1) Course Introduction 2) Why Intellectual History? Why China? Quentin Skinner, “Meaning and understanding in the history of ideas,” in Visions of Politics, vol. 1 (Cambridge, UK.: Cambridge University Press, 2002):57-89. Benjamin Schwartz, “A Brief Defense of Political and Intellectual History: The Case of China,” in China and Other Matters (Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press, 1996):30-44 Week 2 Early Cultural Orientations 1) Shang and Early Zhou 2) Tradition of Sage Kings David N. Keightley, “Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How It Became Chinese,” in Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese Civilization , edited by Paul S. Ropp (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990): 15-54. Benjamin Schwartz, The World of Thought in Ancient China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985), chapters 1 and 2. Herrlee G. Creel, The Origins of Statecraft in China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970) , chapter 1 2 Week 3 The Axial Age in China 1) Disintegration of the Zhou Feudal Order 2) Confucius, the First Teacher Herbert Fingarette, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred (Waveland Pr Inc, 1998) Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2001), chapter 1 Week 4 Critics of Confucius: Impartial Caring and Self-Love 1) Mozi 2) Laozi, Yang Zhu, and Zhuangzi Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy , chapters 2, 4, and 5 Week 5 In Defense of Confucian Ideals 1) DISCUSSION SECTION I 2) Mencius and Xunzi Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy , chapters 3 and 6 Week 6 Art of War and Art of Bureaucracy 1) Sunzi and Han Feizi 2) Rise of Eclecticism: Guanzi and Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals Ralph Sawyer, The Art of War (Boulder: Westview, 1994), General Introduction. Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy , chapter 7 Week 7 History and Empire 1) DISCUSSION SECTION II 2) Sima Qian and the Discourses on Salt and Iron Willard Peterson, “Ssu-ma Ch’ien (Sima Qian) as a Cultural Historian,” in The Power of Culture: Studies in Chinese Cultural History (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1994), 70-79. Sima Qian, “The Biography of Po Yi (Bo Yi) and Shu Ch’i (Shu Qi),” Records of the Historian: Chapters from the Shih Chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien, 7-15. _________, “Letter in Reply to Ren An,” Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty , 227-37. _________, “Postface,” Ssu-ma Ch’ien (Sima Qian) Grand Historian of China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), 42-57. Huan Kuan, Discourses on Salt and Iron: A debate on state control of commerce and industry in ancient China, chapter I-XXVIII , tr. Esson M. Gale (selected chapters) Week 8 Canonization of Classics 1) DISCUSSION SECTION III 2) The Five Classics Ezra Pound, The Confucian Odes: The Classic Anthology Defined by Confucius . Michael Nylan, The Five “Confucian” Classics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001) Week 9 SPRING RECESS 3 NO CLASS Week 10 Emergence of New Alternatives 1) “Learning of Mystery” 2) Coming of Buddhism Yü Ying-shih, “Individualism and the Neo-Taoist Movement in Wei-Chin China,” in Individualism and Holism: Studies in Confucian and Taoist Values , ed. Donald Munro (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1985), 121–55. Arthur Wright, Buddhism in Chinese History (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959), 3-127. Ming-wood Liu, “Seng-chao and the Mdhyamika Way of Refutation.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 14 (1987): 97-110. Week 11 “Chinese” Buddhism 1) Sinicization of Buddhism: Doctrines and Practices 2) DISCUSSION SECTION IV Morten Schlütter, “Transmission and Enlightenment in Chan Buddhism Seen Through the Platform S ūtra. ” Chung-hwa Buddhist Journal 21 (2007): 379-410. Jinhua Chen, “More Than a Philosopher: Fazang (643-712) as a Politician and Miracle-worker.” History of Religions 42.4 (May 2003), 320-58. Antonino Forte, A Jewel in Indra’s Net: The Letter Sent by Fazang in China to Ŭisang in Korea . Italian School of East Asian Studies Occasional Papers 8. Kyoto, 2000. Week 12 Neo-Confucianism: Rediscovery of Confucian Learning 1) Key Concepts of Neo-Confucianism 2) Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming: Intellectualism and Intuitivism Peter Bol, Neo-Confucianism in History (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2009), chapters 5 and 6. Stephen Angle, Sagehood: The Contemporary Significance of Neo-Confucian Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), chapter 2. Chen Chun (1159-1223), Neo-Confucian Terms Explained , tr. Wing-tsit Chan (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986), 46-56, 105-13, 168-74. Week 13 Confucian Statecraft in Later Imperial China 1) DISCUSSION SECTION V 2) Radical Reforms, Conservative Reactions and an Overhaul of Confucian Statecraft Peter Bol, “Government, Society, and State: On the Political Visions of Ssu-ma Kuang and Wang An-shih,” in Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China , ed. Robert P. Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993): 128-92. Lynn Struve, “Huang Tsung-hsi (=Zongxi) in Context: A Reappraisal of His Major Writings,” Journal of Asian Studies 47.3 (Aug. 1988), 477-502. Huang Zongxi, Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince , tr. William Theodore de Bary (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000) Week 14 Modern Fates of Confucianism: Denunciation and Rehabilitation 4 1) “A death of Confucius will save the nation”: The May Fourth Movement and the Cultural Revolution 2) Confucian Fervor in the late 20 th century Theodore Huters, “The Closing of the Confucian Perspective in China,” in Rethinking Confucianism: Past and Present in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam , eds. Benjamin Elman, John Duncan, and Herman Ooms (Los Angeles: UCLA Asia Institute, 2002) Michael Nylan, “A Confusion of Confuciuses: Invoking Kongzi in the Modern World,” in Lives of Confucius (New York: Doubleday, 2010), 192-243. Song Xianlin, “Reconstructing the Confucian Ideal in 1980s China: The “Culture Craze” and New Confucianism,” in New Confucianism: a critical examination , ed.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Political Thoughtyuri Pinespolitical Thought
    13 POLITICAL THOUGHTYURI PINESPOLITICAL THOUGHT Yuri Pines* The three centuries that preceded the establishment of the Chinese empire in 221 bce were an age of exceptional intellectual flourishing. No other period in the history of Chinese thought can rival these centuries in creativity, boldness, ideological diversity, and long-term impact. Val- ues, perceptions, and ideals shaped amid intense intellectual debates before the imperial unifi- cation contributed decisively to the formation of the political, social, and ethical orientations that we identify today with traditional Chinese culture. More broadly, the ideas of rival thinkers formed an ideological framework within which the Chinese empire functioned from its incep- tion until its very last decades. These ideas stand at the focus of the present chapter. The centuries under discussion are often dubbed the age of the “Hundred Schools of Thought.” The school designations were developed primarily by the Han (206/202 bce–220 ce) literati (Smith 2003; Csikszentmihalyi and Nylan 2003) as a classificatory device for the variety of pre-imperial texts. This classification, even if belated, may be heuristically convenient insofar as it groups the texts according to their distinct ideological emphases, distinct vocabulary, and distinct argumentative practices. For instance, followers of Confucius (551–479 bce) and Mozi 墨子 (ca. 460–390 bce) were prone to prioritize morality over pure political considerations, in distinction from those thinkers who are – quite confusingly (Goldin 2011a) – dubbed Legalists (fa jia 法家). Confucians (Ru 儒) and Legalists also differed markedly with regard to the nature of elite belonging (see later). This said, it is fairly misleading to imagine “schools” as coherent ideological camps, as was often done through the twentieth century and beyond.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy in Confucianism Sor-Hoon TAN Singapore Management University, [email protected] DOI
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Research Collection School of Social Sciences School of Social Sciences 5-2012 Democracy in Confucianism Sor-hoon TAN Singapore Management University, [email protected] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2012.00481.x Follow this and additional works at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Citation TAN, Sor-hoon.(2012). Democracy in Confucianism. Philosophy Compass, 7(5), 293-303. Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2546 This Journal Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Sciences at Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Collection School of Social Sciences by an authorized administrator of Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University. For more information, please email [email protected]. Published in Philosophy Compass, Vol. 7, Issue 5, May 2012, page 292-303Philosophy Compass 7/5 (2012): 293–303, 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2012.00481.x Democracy in Confucianism Sor-hoon Tan* National University of Singapore Abstract Confucianism’s long historical association with despotism has cast doubts on its compatibility with democracy, and raise questions about its relevance in contemporary societies increasingly domi- nated by democratic aspirations. ‘‘Confucian democracy’’ has been described as a ‘‘contradiction in terms’’ and Asian politicians have appropriated Confucianism to justify resistance to liberaliza- tion and democratization.
    [Show full text]
  • Dai Zhen's Ethical Philosophy of the Human Being
    Dai Zhen’s Ethical Philosophy of the Human Being By Ho Young Lee Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of the Study of Religions School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 2006 ProQuest Number: 10672979 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672979 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 Abstract The moral philosophy of Dai Zhen can be summarised as “fulfil desires and express feelings”. Because he believed that life is the most cherished thing for all man and thing, he maintains that “whatever issues from desire is always for the sake of life and nurture.” He also claimed that “caring for oneself, and extending this care to those close to oneself, are both aspects of humanity" He set up a strong monastic moral philosophy based on individual human desire and feeling. As the title ‘Dai Zhen’s philosophy of the ethical human being’ demonstrate, human physical body and activities of life is ethical base of philosophy of Dai Zhen.
    [Show full text]
  • LL4375 / LL5375 / LL6375 Traditional Chinese Legal Thought This Course
    LL4375 / LL5375 / LL6375 Traditional Chinese Legal Thought This course is an introduction to the major themes and issues in traditional Chinese legal thought. A basic premise and argument of this course is that Chinese legal thought should not, and indeed cannot, be studied in a vacuum. As such, we will also make reference to Chinese political and moral philosophy, as well as historical context. We will focus our attention on the close reading and analysis of selected works by various philosophers and various philosophical schools, including Confucius and later Confucian thinkers (including, but not limited to, Mencius, Xunzi, and Dong Zhongshu), the Legalists, and the Daoists. Attention will also be placed on understanding these thinkers and philosophical schools in historical context and gaining an understanding of how law was applied in premodern Chinese society. No prior knowledge of Chinese history or Chinese philosophy is assumed or required. All required readings are in English. At the end of the course participants should be able to: 1. Demonstrate awareness and understanding of the important norms, themes, principles, and concerns of traditional Chinese legal thought. 2. Describe and explain the key ideas of Confucian (including pre-Qin Confucianism, Han dynasty Confucianism, Tang dynasty Confucianism, and Neo-Confucianism), Daoist, and Legalist legal and political thought. 3. Develop an awareness and understanding of how traditional Chinese legal thought is enmeshed in traditional Chinese moral and political thought. 4. Develop an awareness and understanding of how ideas and norms in traditional Chinese legal thought were applied (or not applied) in premodern Chinese jurisprudence. 5. Develop an awareness and understanding of how traditional Chinese legal thought compares and contrasts to Western legal thought.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Article (PDF)
    125 Member News Tang Prize Winner The 2016 Tang Prize in Sinology was awarded to William Theodore de Bary for his tremendous aca- demic and educational achievements. Born in 1919, Professor de Bary fi nished his doctoral degree in 1953 at Columbia Uni- versity. He remains at his alma mater for the follow- ing decades and there he has established one of the Wiiliam Theodore de Bary leading centers of Chinese studies in the West. The enterprise continues even after his retirement in 1990. Professor de Bary specializes in Chinese intellectual history, particu- larly Confucianism, and he has written and edited over 30 books, many of which have made groundbreaking contributions to Confucian studies. He chaired the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture between 1960 and 1966 and served as Executive Vice President of Academic Aff airs and Provost from 1971 to 1978. He was also President of the Association of Asian Studies from 1969 to 1970. Even now in his nineties, he continues to publish works that address key questions of humanity, including his 2013 publication The Great Civilized Conversation: Education for a World Community.1 Professor de Bary’s exploration of Confucianism began with his study of Huang Zongxi’s (黃宗羲; 1610‒1695) Waiting for the Dawn (明夷待訪錄). He strove to understand China’s ideals, traditions, as well as internal problems faced throughout history, without the shackles of Western values and theories. With this insight, Professor de Bary went on to pioneer the fi eld of Neo-Confucian studies with his 1953 article, “A Reappraisal of 1 Wm.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy with Chinese Characteristics: a Political Proposal for the Post-Communist Era
    Democracy with Chinese Characteristics: A Political Proposal for the Post-Communist Era Daniel A. Bell Philosophy East and West, Vol. 49, No. 4. (Oct., 1999), pp. 451-493. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0031-8221%28199910%2949%3A4%3C451%3ADWCCAP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 Philosophy East and West is currently published by University of Hawai'i Press. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/uhp.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Wed May 23 02:28:49 2007 DEMOCRACY WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS: A POLITICAL PROPOSAL FOR THE POST-COMMUNIST ERA Daniel A. Bell Department of Philosophy, University of Hong Kong SCENE I. The Discussion Begins Beijing University, June 3, 2007. SAM DEMO, program officer for a US.-based pro- democracy think tank, steps into the office of PROFESSOR WANC to begin a prearranged interview.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Cultivation of Confucian Moral Practices∗
    US-China Education Review B, August 2018, Vol. 8, No. 8, 365-369 doi: 10.17265/2161-6248/2018.08.005 D D AV I D PUBLISHING On the Cultivation of Confucian Moral Practices∗ ZHU Mao-ling Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China In this paper, Confucian moral practices will be analyzed through three typical cases. First, Cheng Yi’s “laying emphasis on earnestness”. Cheng Yi said, “Spiritual cultivation requires the application of earnestness, and the advancement of learning lies in the extension of knowledge”. Second, Wang Yangming’s “extending the intuitive knowledge”. This is a summary of his idea after a lifetime practice. The key is the “extending”, a process of development and accumulation. Third, Liu Jishan’s “being cautious when one is alone”. Liu Jishan raised the concept of “sincere intentions” and considered everything is good of no evil, and are issued from and dominated by the mandate of heaven. Therefore, the most fundamental moral practice method of Liu Jishan is to make efforts in the “sincere intentions”, that is, to be “being cautious when one is alone”. Keywords: Confucianism, moral practice, laying emphasis on earnestness, extending the intuitive knowledge, being cautious when one is alone Introduction Confucian moral practices follow the principle of self-discipline. As Confucius said, the practice of perfect virtue is from a man himself instead of others. In other words, human being’s morality is decided by their inner drive rather than external factors. Unlike Christianity that has a transeunt and transcendent entity as the moral standard, Confucian gives less attention to religious spirit, which is one of Confucian characteristics.
    [Show full text]
  • Wing-Ming Chan) (PDF 1.5MB
    East Asian History NUMBER 19 . JUNE 2000 Institute of Advanced Studies Australian National University Editor Geremie R. Ba rme As sistant Editor Helen Lo Editorial Bo ard Mark Elvin (Convenor) John Clark An drew Fraser Helen Hardacre Colin Jeffcott W.]. F. Jenner Lo Hui-min Gavan McCormack David Marr Tessa Morris-Suzuki Michael Underdown Des ign and Production Helen Lo Bu siness Manager Marion Weeks Printed by Goanna Print, Fyshwick, ACT Th is is th e nineteenth issue of East Asian History in the seri es previously entitled Papers on Far EasternHistory. The journal is published twice a year Contributions to The Ed itor, East Asian History Division of Pacific and Asian History Research School of Pacific and As ian Studies Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Au stralia Phone +61 2 6249 3140 Fax +61 2 6249 5525 email [email protected] Subscription Enquiries to Subscriptions, East Asian History, at th e above address Annual Subscription Au stralia A$45 Overseas US$45 (for two issues) iii CONTENTS 1 Lu Xun's Disturbing Greatness W. j. F.Jenner 27 The Early-Qing Discourse on Lo yalty Wing-ming Chan 53 The Dariyan ya, the State of the Uriyangqai of the Altai , the Qasay and the Qamniyan Ceveng (c. Z. Zamcarano) -translated by 1. de Rachewiltz and j. R. Krueger 87 Edwardian Theatre and the Lost Shape of Asia: Some Remarks on Behalf of a Cinderella Subject Timothy Barrett 103 Crossed Legs in 1930s Shanghai: How 'Modern' the Modern Woman? Francesca Dal Lago 145 San Mao Makes History Miriam Lang iv Cover calligraphy Yan Zhenqing M�Y��, Tang calligrapher and statesman Cover illustration Magazine advertisement for the medicine Bushiming THE EARLY-QING DISCOURSE ON LOYALTY � Wing-ming Chan �*Jkfijj The drastic shift of the Mandate of Heav en in seventeenth-century China 2 ZhangTingyu iJ1U!33: (1672-1755) et aI., provoked an identity crisis among the Chinese literati and forced them to comp., Mingshi [History of the Ming dynasty! reconsider their socio-political role in an er a of dynastic change.
    [Show full text]
  • The Global Value of Mencius's Ideas on Moral Feeling and Reason
    Cultural and Religious Studies, June 2016, Vol. 4, No. 6, 372-386 doi: 10.17265/2328-2177/2016.06.005 D DAVID PUBLISHING The Global Value of Mencius’s Ideas on Moral Feeling and Reason: Reinterpreting the Feeling of Compassion From the Perspective of the Philosophy of Emotion Liu Yuedi Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China Amid the recent global upsurge of studies on the philosophy of emotion, a reinterpretation of traditional Confucian philosophy, especially Mencius’s ideas on the siduan (Four Original Sources) of morality, may shed new light on the subject in comparative philosophy. This paper probes the structure of moral feeling and reason described by Mencius’s from five perspectives: (1) In view of the relationship between feeling and reason, is it better to use the expression “siduan” or the expression “sixin (Four Heart-minds)”? (2) In view of dispositional feeling, what are the four original sources? (3) In view of moral feeling, what are the structural order of the four sources and the corresponding procedure of reasoning of four heart-minds of Humanity? (4) In view of positive feeling, how does moral feeling grow out of the goodness of human nature? (5) What is the global value of Mencius’s ideas on human moral feeling? The author concludes that Mencius’s thought on moral feeing has a global value and cross-cultural significance, and that Chinese wisdom is more than regional but universally applicable. The structure of moral feeling and reason that Mencius identified is in accordance with the principles of zhiliang (grasping the two poles of the beginning and the end) and yongzhong (emloying the middle).
    [Show full text]
  • 8 · Chinese Cosmographical Thought: the High Intellectual Tradition
    8 · Chinese Cosmographical Thought: The High Intellectual Tradition JOHN B. HENDERSON Chinese cosmographical thought of premodern times was to establish just what these relationships were. Hence this not as concerned as its counterparts in Western civili­ chapter must rely largely on verbal descriptions for its zations with the overall shape of the world or structure account of Chinese cosmographical thought in its form­ of the cosmos. There is no pre-seventeenth-century ative phase in the Han era (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), though Chinese equivalent of the medieval European mappae­ graphic reconstructions dating from the Song and later mundi or of Western representations of the earth show­ will be included where they are helpful and relevant. ing its various cosmographical divisions or climatic zones. A glance at these reconstructions reveals that most of The widely held conception that China comprised "all them were patterned on the same model, a square divided under heaven" (tianxia), as well as the geographical iso­ into nine equal squares resembling the form of a simple lation of Chinese civilization, may have contributed to magic square or three-by-three grid. Cosmographers in Chinese cosmographers' lack of interest in outlining, traditional China applied this plan to the conceptuali­ either realistically or schematically, the form of the world zation and arrangement of such diverse kinds of space as as a whole. Whatever the explanation, traditional Chinese astronomical, political, agrarian, urban, and architectural. cosmographical charts generally represent structures in Just as Sir Thomas Browne, according to Coleridge, saw such microcosmic dimensions as the architectural, the "Quincunxes [or lozenges] in Heaven above, Quincunxes urban, and the agrarian rather than depicting the shape in Earth below, & Quincunxes in the water beneath the of the earth or the system of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Download[English](PDF)
    125 Member News Tang Prize Winner The 2016 Tang Prize in Sinology was awarded to William Theodore de Bary for his tremendous aca- demic and educational achievements. Born in 1919, Professor de Bary fi nished his doctoral degree in 1953 at Columbia Uni- versity. He remains at his alma mater for the follow- ing decades and there he has established one of the Wiiliam Theodore de Bary leading centers of Chinese studies in the West. The enterprise continues even after his retirement in 1990. Professor de Bary specializes in Chinese intellectual history, particu- larly Confucianism, and he has written and edited over 30 books, many of which have made groundbreaking contributions to Confucian studies. He chaired the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture between 1960 and 1966 and served as Executive Vice President of Academic Aff airs and Provost from 1971 to 1978. He was also President of the Association of Asian Studies from 1969 to 1970. Even now in his nineties, he continues to publish works that address key questions of humanity, including his 2013 publication The Great Civilized Conversation: Education for a World Community.1 Professor de Bary’s exploration of Confucianism began with his study of Huang Zongxi’s (黃宗羲; 1610‒1695) Waiting for the Dawn (明夷待訪錄). He strove to understand China’s ideals, traditions, as well as internal problems faced throughout history, without the shackles of Western values and theories. With this insight, Professor de Bary went on to pioneer the fi eld of Neo-Confucian studies with his 1953 article, “A Reappraisal of 1 Wm.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Imperial Institution
    China’s Imperial Institution China’s Imperial Institution Yuri Pines Subject: China, Ancient China, Early Imperial China, Qin-Han, Late Imperial China, 1368-1912, Middle Imperial China, 755-1368 Online Publication Date: Aug 2019 DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.392 Summary and Keywords Emperors were the symbolic and administrative pivot of the Chinese empire ever since its establishment in 221 BCE. They were arguably the most powerful human beings on earth. Their nominal authority was limitless, and it encompassed the administrative, military, economic, social, religious, and intellectual spheres to mention only a few. Moreover, the emperors’ semi-sacral status added superhuman dimensions to the imperial position. And yet, only very few emperors were able to impose their will in full. The combination of lim­ itless institutional authority and limited personal power is the major paradox of China’s emperorship. The contradiction between the emperor’s nominal omnipotence and his limited ability to impose his personal will on his subjects was imbued into the imperial institution from its very inception. Chinese thinkers of pre-imperial age (pre-221 BCE) sought peace and sta­ bility in their realm and came to the conclusion that these are attainable only under the omnipotent universal sovereign. Yet being aware of the dangers of the ruler’s potential mediocrity, these thinkers tried to create a system in which the ruler reigns but not rules, and the effective power rests with the ministers of proven intellectual and moral abilities. Although the system they envisioned never worked perfectly and allowed periodic recur­ rences of the emperors’ abuse of power, overall their goal was achieved.
    [Show full text]