Volume COMPARATIVE 2013 COMPARATIVE STUDIES of CHINA and THE WEST < I > STUDIES Winter of CHINA and THE WEST ᇗ༎ߌйࢨခࣶ
ᇗ ༎ ߌ й ࢨ ခ ࣶ oue 2013 Volume < I >
Tu Weiming Roger T. Ames & Henry Rosemont, Jr. The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism On Translation & Interpretation in Comparative Studies
Gu Zhengkun Jean Bessiere A Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Fables of China. Frontier Fables, Fables of Radical Values and Their Origins Exoticism
Gao Peiyi John G. Blair & Jerusha McCormack : 4VSÁXSVMIRXIHSVIQTPS]QIRXSVMIRXIH# Comparing China and the West: Remedies for Cultural Amnesia ݛࡅᇗ༎ߌйࢨྀ߾ࣂ
GENERAL EDITORS Prof. Gu Zhengkun, Prof. & Dean of Institute of World Literature, Peking University Prof. John G. Blair, Prof. Emeritus, University of Geneva KRSHVWREULQJWRJHWKHULQWHUHVWHGVFKRODUVIURPWKH¿HOGVRIOLWHUDWXUHKLVWRU\OLQJXLVWLFV EXECUTIVE EDITORS Prof. Jerusha McCormack, Emeritus, University College Dublin Prof. Ma Shikui, Minzu University of China Prof. Zhang Zheng, Beijing Normal University
Comparative Studies of China and the West is an international peer- reviewed journal, published and distributed by T he International Association for Comparative Studies of China and the West (IACSCW; www. chinaandthewest.org ).
ISSN 2009-6097(Print) ISSN 2009-6100(Online)
ADDRESSES: 79 Waterloo Road, Dublin 4, Ireland. Tel 66 00 592 http://www.chinaandthewest.org Institute of World Literature, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China Tel: 86-10-62754610 +WWSVÀSNXHGXFQHQOLVWSKS"FDWLG
Copyright© The International Association for Comparative Studies of China and the West (IACSCW) +WWSVÀSNXHGXFQHQOLVWSKS"FDWLG All rights reserved. No reprinting or reproduction is allowed without the per- mission in writing from the IACSCW . Volume COMPARATIVE 2013 < I > STUDIES Winter of CHINA and THE WEST 中西文化比较研究
Published by the International Association for Comparative Studies of China and the West Dublin & Beijing
出版者:国际中西文化比较协会 都柏林·北京 ᇗ༎ߌйࢨခࣶ
GENERAL EDITORS Prof. Gu Zhengkun, Prof. & Dean of Institute of World Literature, Peking University [email protected] Prof. John G. Blair, Prof. Emeritus, University of Geneva [email protected]
EDITORIAL BOARD Prof. Tu Wei-ming, Harvard University/Peking University Prof. Roger T. Ames, University of Hawaii Prof. Jean Bessiere, Paris III Prof. Tang Yijie, Peking University Prof. Yue Daiyun, Peking University Prof. Riccardo Pozzo, Università di Verona Prof. Gao Peiyi, Tsinghua University
EXECUTIVE EDITORS Prof. Jerusha McCormack, Emeritus, University College Dublin [email protected] Prof. Ma Shikui, Minzu University of China [email protected] Prof. Zhang Zheng, Beijing Normal University [email protected] Introduction to IACSCW
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The International Association for Comparative Studies of China and the West (IACSCW) was founded in 2010. Headquartered both at 79 Waterloo Road, Dublin 4, Ireland, and at the Institute of World Literature, Peking University, its primary goal is to promote comparative studies by helping practitioners to learn from each other. The IACSCW is currently co-presided by Professors Gu Zhengkun (China) and John G. Blair (USA). Professor Tu Weiming (Harvard/Peking University) is IACSCW’s honorary president. The IACSCW Executive Vice President is Dr. Gao Peiyi, distinguished research fellow for Urbanization and Education at Tsinghua University. Its Vice Presidents are Professor Wang Yuechuan from Peking University and Professor Hans-Christian Günther from Freiburg University. The IACSCW has also a list of distinguished scholars as its honorary advisors, including Professor Roger T. Ames, Professor Jean Bessiere (Paris III), Prof. Tang Yijie, Professor Yue Daiyun, and Professor Riccardo Pozzo (Università di Verona), etc.
IACSCW provides a forum for those trained in a variety of traditional disciplines. It KRSHVWREULQJWRJHWKHULQWHUHVWHGVFKRODUVIURPWKH¿HOGVRIOLWHUDWXUHKLVWRU\OLQJXLVWLFV translation, philosophy, economics, political science, ecology, art and music, . . . the list goes on and on.
What they share is a sense that comparing China and the West is important not just to their individual careers but to the collective intellectual enterprise of everyone who is working to help these civilizations understand and communicate with each other. That complex and elusive process requires rethinking the past as well as the present, clarifying small issues as well as large ones.
In both China and the West intellectuals have a long history as advisors and counselors to those in power. In particular, they create the cultural understandings that underpin all serious attempts at dialogue across civilizational lines. Right now these matters have become a matter of great importance because the global response to the impending ecological crisis will be decided primarily in and by China and the West. Acting in concert, they have the potential to assure a viable future for humankind. Acting separately in pursuit of “business as usual,” they would doom all hopes for a reasonable life for everyone on earth. The responsibility is large; IACSCW will take steps in the positive direction.
ADDRESSES: +WWSVÀSNXHGXFQHQOLVWSKS"FDWLG 79 Waterloo Road, Dublin 4, Ireland. Tel 66 00 592 http://www.chinaandthewest.org Institute of World Literature, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China Tel: 86-10-62754610 +WWSVÀSNXHGXFQHQOLVWSKS"FDWLG COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF CHINA AND THE WEST ᇗ༎ߌйࢨခࣶ Volume 1 Winter 2013
Contents
Confucianism and the World Tu Wei-ming The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism: Implications for China and the World 001 Tang Yijie Confucianism & Constructive Postmodernism 010
Chinese and Western Values Gu Zhengkun A Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Values and Their Origins: Family – Nation – World 016
Culture and Translation Roger T. Ames & Henry Rosemont, Jr. On Translation & Interpretation in Comparative Studies--- With Special Reference to Classical Chinese 025
Culture and Identity John G. Blair & Jerusha McCormack Comparing China and the West: Remedies for Cultural Amnesia 033 Wang Yuechuan Building up Cultural Strategy of China as a Great Power
through Cultural Innovation 040
Society and Economics Gao Peiyi Profit-oriented or Employment-oriented? A New Topic for the Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Economic Cultures 049 Frank Jacob Social Organization, Secrecy, and Rebellion – Secret Societies in China and Ireland 053
Comparative Literature Jean Bessiere Fables of China. Frontier Fables, Fables of Radical Exoticism: Segalen, Michaux, Butor 058 King-Kok Cheung Two Forms of Solitude: Tao Qian’s Reclusive Ideal and Emerson’s Transcendentalist Vision 062 Li Yongyi Fictions of Nature in Wallace Stevens and Wang Wei 075
Recent Publications in China-West Comparative Studies 015; 061 Tu Weiming The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism
The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism: Implications for China and the World
By Tu Wei-ming Harvard University/Peking University
Today virtually all axial-age civilizations are going thinkers articulated this idea of unity in a distinctive through their own distinctive forms of transformation in way. response to the multiple challenges of modernity.1 One of the most crucial questions they face is what wisdom Qian Mu (1895-1990) of Taiwan characterized the they can offer to reorient the human developmental unity as a mutuality between the human heart-mind and trajectory of the modern world in light of the growing the Way of Heaven.3 Tang Junyi (1909-1978) of Hong environmental crisis. Kong emphasized “immanent transcendence”: we can apprehend the Mandate of Heaven by understanding China and the Confucian tradition face an our heart-and-mind; thus, the transcendence of especially significant challenge given the size of Heaven is immanent in the communal and critical self- China’s population and the scale of her current efforts consciousness of human beings as a whole.4 Similarly, at modernization. A radical rethinking of Confucian Feng Youlan (1895-1990) of Beijing rejected his humanism began in the late nineteenth and early previous commitment to the Marxist notion of struggle twentieth centuries, when China was engulfed in an and stressed the value of harmony not only in the human unprecedented radical social disintegration as the result world, but also in the relationship between humans and of foreign invasion and domestic dissension. In the nature.5 Since all three thinkers articulated their final late twentieth century, this reformulation continued positions toward the end of their lives, the unity of in the “New Confucian movement” led by concerned Heaven, Earth, and Humanity sums up the wisdom of intellectuals, some of whom left mainland China these elders in the Sinic world. I would like to suggest for Taiwan and Hong Kong when communism was that this New Confucian idea of cosmic unity marks an established as the ruling ideology in the People’s ecological turn of profound importance for China and Republic in 1949. the world.
In the last twenty-five years, three leading New An Ecological Turn Confucian thinkers in Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong independently concluded that the most Qian Mu called this new realization a major significant contribution the Confucian tradition can offer breakthrough in his thinking. When his wife and students the global community is the idea of the “unity of Heaven raised doubts about the novelty of his insight - the idea and Humanity” (tianrenheyi), a unity that Confucians of unity between Heaven and Humanity is centuries old - believe also embraces Earth. I have described this Qian already in his nineties, emphatically responded that vision as an anthropocosmic worldview, in which the his understanding was not a reiteration of conventional human is embedded in the cosmic order, rather than wisdom, but a personal enlightenment, thoroughly an anthropocentric worldview, in which the human is original and totally novel.6 His fascination with the idea alienated, either by choice or by default, from the natural of mutuality between the human heart-and-mind and world.2 By identifying the comprehensive unity of the Way of Heaven, and his assertion that this idea is Heaven, Earth, and Humanity as a critical contribution a unique Chinese contribution to the world, attracted to the modern world, these three key figures in New the attention of several leading intellectuals in cultural Confucian thought signaled the movement toward China.7 both retrieval and reappropriation of Confucian ideas. Speaking as public intellectuals concerned about the Tang Junyi, on the other hand, presented his direction of the modem world, each of the three key view from a comparative civilizational perspective.
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He contrasted Confucian self-cultivation with Greek, The great man regards Heaven and Earth and the myriad Christian, and Buddhist spiritual exercises, and things as one body. He regards the world as one family and concluded that Confucianism’s commitment to the the country as one person. As to those who make a cleavage world combined with its profound reverence for Heaven between objects and distinguish between self and others, offered a unique contribution to human flourishing in they are small men. That the great man can regard Heaven, the modern world. The Confucian worldview, rooted in Earth, and the myriad things as one body is not because he earth, body, family, and community, is not “adjustment deliberately wants to do so, but because it is natural to the to the world,” 8 submission to the status quo, or passive humane nature of his mind that he do so. 12 acceptance of the physical, biological, social, and political constraints of the human condition. Rather, it is dictated by an ethic of responsibility informed by By emphasizing the “humane nature of the mind” a transcendent vision. We do not become “spiritual” as the reason that the great person can embody the by departing from or transcending above our earth, universe in his sensitivity, Wang made the ontological body, family, and community, but by working through assertion that the ability to strike a sympathetic them. Indeed, our daily life is not merely secular but a resonance with Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things is a response to a cosmological decree. Since the Mandate of Heaven that enjoins us to take part in the great enterprise of cosmic transformation is implicit in our nature, we To demonstrate that this is indeed the case, he are Heaven’s partners. In Tang’s graphic description, the offered a series of concrete examples: ultimate goal of being human is to enable the “Heavenly virtue” ( tiande ) to flow through us. His project of When we see a child about to fall into the well, we reconstructing the secular humanist spirit is, therefore, cannot help a feeling of alarm and commiseration. This shows predicated on an anthropocosmic vision. 9 that our humanity ( ren ಭ ) forms one body with the child. It may be objected that the child belongs to the same species. Feng Youlan’s radical reversal of his earlier Again, when we observe the pitiful cries and frightened position is an implicit critique of Mao Zedong’s thoughts appearances of birds and animals about to be slaughtered, on struggle and the human capacity to conquer nature. we cannot help feeling an "inability to bear" their suffering. His return to the philosophy of harmony of Zhang Zai This shows that our humanity forms one body with birds (1020-1077) signaled a departure from his Marxist and animals. It may be objected that birds and animals are phase and a representation of Confucian ideas he had sentient beings as we are. But when we see plants broken and destroyed, we cannot help a feeling of pity. This shows that People’s Republic of China. The opening lines in Zhang our humanity forms one body with plants. It may be said that Zai’s “Western Inscription” state: plants are living things as we are. Yet even when we see tiles Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even and stones shattered and crushed, we cannot help a feeling of regret. This shows that our humanity forms one body with tiles 13 Therefore that which fills the universe I regard as my and stones. body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature. These examples clearly indicate that “forming one All people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are body” entails not the romantic ideal of unity, but rather my companions.” 10 a highly differentiated understanding of interconnected- ness. The “Western Inscription” can be regarded as a core Neo-Confucian text in articulating the Neo-Confucian thinkers like Wang deeply anthropocosmic vision of the unity of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Accordingly, Feng characterizes the highest stage of human self-realization as the embodiment of the positions may seem to be a matter of personal style. Yet “spirit of Heaven and Earth.” 11 all three were obviously convinced that their cherished tradition had a message for the emerging global village; A significant aspect of Qian, Tang, and Feng’s they delivered it in the most appropriate way they ecological turn was their effort to retrieve the spiritual knew. Their use of a prophetic voice suggests that their resources of the classical and Neo-Confucian heritages. Confucian message was addressed not only to a Chinese In the sixteenth century, for example, Wang Yangming audience but also to the human community as a whole. (1472-1529) offered in his “Inquiry on the Great They did not wish merely to honor their ancestors but Learning” an elegant interpretation of Confucian also to show that they cared for the well-being of future thought, one with rich implications for modern generations. ecological thinking:
2 Tu Weiming The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism
Were they even conscious of the ecological carefully integrated program of personal self-cultivation, harmonized family life, and well-ordered states. At of the twentieth century, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even the heart of this vision is a sense that “home” implies mainland China were all marching toward Western- not only the human community, but also the natural style forms of social organization. Modernization was world and the larger cosmos. Speaking directly to the the most powerful ideology in China. By challenging above passage, Wm. Theodore de Bary has observed, China’s traditional agriculture-based economy, family- “Chinese and Confucian culture, traditionally, was centered social structure, and paternalist government, about settled communities living on the land, nourishing industrialization seemed to seal the fate of Confucianism themselves and the land. It is this natural, organic as no longer relevant to the vital concerns of the process that Confucian self-cultivation draws upon for contemporary world. 14 Perhaps Qian, Tang, and Feng all its analogies and metaphors.” 16 He noted that the were nostalgic for the kind of “universal brotherhood” farmer-poet Wendell Berry made the Confucian point: or “unity of all things” that Max Weber and others have “[H]ome and family are central, and we cannot hope to supposed must disappear in a disenchanted modern do anything about the environment that does not first world. However, while traces of romantic longing can establish the home - not just the self and family - as the be seen in their writings, all three discovered a new home base for our efforts.” De Bary concluded that: vitality in the Confucian tradition. In order to appreciate properly what these men accomplished, it will be useful If we have to live in a much larger world, because to recall the broad historical context in which they ecological problems can only be managed on a global scale, worked. the infrastructure between home locality and state (national or international) is also vital. But without home, we have nothing Holistic Confucian Humanism for the infrastructure, much less the superstructure, to rest on. ಭ This is the message of Wendell Berry; and also the lesson of Prior to the impact of the modern West, Confucian Confucian and Chinese history.” 17 humanism largely defined political ideology, social ethics, and family values in East Asia. Since the East Asian educated elite were all well versed in the The human in this worldview is an active Confucian classics, what the three contemporary thinkers participant in the cosmic process with the responsibility advocated as a unique Confucian contribution to the of care for the environment. Thus in the classical period human community was, in fact, a spiritual orientation of Confucianism we see a holistic humanism expressed once widely shared in China, Vietnam, Korea, and in the Great learning . Furthermore, environmental Japan. The famous “eight steps” in the first chapter of concerns implicit in the Great Learning are explicitly the Great Learning provide a glimpse of what Confucian articulated in other core Confucian texts. A statement in humanism purported to be: the Doctrine of the Mean succinctly captures the essence of this cosmological thinking: The ancients who wished to illuminate their “illuminating Only those who are the most sincere [authentic, true, to govern their states, they first regulated their families. and real] can fully realize their own nature. If they can fully Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their realize their own nature, they can fully realize human nature. If personal lives. Wishing to cultivate their personal lives, they they can fully realize human nature, they can fully realize the first rectified their hearts and minds. Wishing to rectify their nature of things. If they can fully realize the nature of things, hearts and minds, they first authenticated their intentions. they can take part in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth. If they can take part in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth, they can form a trinity with Heaven and Earth. 18 when intentions are authentic are hearts and minds rectified; Obviously, this idea of the interrelation of Heaven, only when hearts and minds are rectified are personal lives Earth, and humans was precisely what the three thinkers had in mind in stressing the centrality of the precept cultivated; only when personal lives are cultivated are families of “the unity of Heaven and Humanity,” although for regulated; only when families are regulated are states governed; more than a century this idea had been regarded as an only when states are governed is there peace all under Heaven. archaic irrelevance in cultural China. The excitement Therefore, from the Son of Heaven to the common people, all, of rediscovering this central Confucian precept was a 15 without exception, must take self-cultivation as the root. poignant reminder of how much had been lost and how difficult it was to retrieve the elements of the tradition This holistic vision of a peaceful world rests on a
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Critical Voices for an Ecological Turn: New respected and preserved through restraint. Confucians and the Earth Charter However, neither Xiong nor Liang was able to Both from within the Confucian tradition sustain an argument in favor of a nonanthropocentric, not and from without, critical voices have emerged to to mention eco-friendly, ethic. The modernist trajectory criticize the Enlightenment vision of secularization, was so powerful that Confucian humanism was rationalization, and development at any cost. Even at profoundly reconfigured toward a secular humanism. the height of the May Fourth Movement’s obsession The rules of the game determining the relevance of with Westernization as modernization, some of the most Confucianism to China’s modern transformation were original New Confucians had begun to question the changed so remarkably that most attempts to present a individualistic worldview and utilitarian ethics implicit Confucian idea for its own sake were ignored outside in the Enlightenment project. Two key examples are a small coterie of ivory-tower academicians. Thus the Xiong Shili (1883-1968), who elaborated a naturalistic goals of modernization and economic development philosophy of vitalism, and Liang Shuming (1893-1988), overrode broader humanistic and communitarian who called for restraint and moderation in using natural concerns. resources. As Amartya Sen and others have argued, however, Xiong Shili reconfigured Confucian metaphysics it is now clear that the modernization process, used through a critical analysis of the basic motifs of the Consciousness-Only school of Buddhism. He insisted 21 Instead, there that the Confucian idea of the “great transformation” is a broader understanding emerging that development (dahua ) is predicated on the participation of the human must include not only economic indicators but in cosmic processes, rather than the imposition of consider human well-being, environmental protection, human will on nature. He further observed that as a and spiritual growth as well. To this end, there is a continuously evolving species, human beings are not growing awareness in the world community of the created apart from nature, but emerge as an integral part need to develop a more comprehensive global ethic for of the primordial forces of production and reproduction. sustainable development. 22 This coalesced in the “Earth The vitality that engenders human creativity is the same Charter” that was developed over the last years since energy that gives rise to mountains, rivers, and the whole the United Nations Earth Summit was held in Rio in of the planet. There is consanguinity between humans, 1992. 23 An international committee spent three years Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things of nature. Since his drafting the charter before its formal release by the naturalistic vitalism is based on the Book of Change and Earth Charter Commission at a meeting in Paris in 2000. some Neo-Confucian writings, the ethic of forming one Hundreds of consultations were held with organizations body with nature looms large in his moral idealism. 19 and individuals throughout the world to ensure that it would be an inclusive people’s charter. The charter sets Liang Shuming characterized the Confucian ethos forth principles of ecological integrity, social justice, as a balance between detachment from and aggression democracy, nonviolence, and peace. toward nature. Although he conceded that China had to The Earth Charter enjoins us to “respect Earth for the sake of national survival, he prophesized that and life in all its diversity,” “care for the community in the long run the Indian spirit of renunciation would of life with understanding, compassion, and love,” prevail. 20 While Liang merely hinted at the possibility and “secure Earth’s bounty and beauty for present and of alternative visions of human development, his future generations.” 24 As the charter puts it, “humanity inquiry generated a strong current in reevaluating and is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is revitalizing Confucianism at a time when Westernization alive with a unique community of life.” For Confucians, dominated the Chinese intellectual scene. the “community of life” is expressed as consanguinity between the earth and ourselves, because we have The distinctive contributions of these two thinkers evolved from the same vital energy that makes stones, are critical to the ecological turn of later Confucianism, plants, and animals integral parts of the cosmos. We live Xiong highlights the naturalistic vitalism of the tradition with reverence and a sense of awe for the fecundity and from its classical expression in the Book of Change to its creativity of nature as we open our eyes to what is near Neo-Confucian articulation in the notion of the fecundity at hand. of life ( sheng-skeng ). Liang maintains that long-term human survival depends on the practice of moderation, When measured against these principles of a a hallmark of Confucian cultivation in attaining balance, global ethic for sustainability, a narrowly conceived harmony, and equilibrium. Thus Xiong and Liang modernization process such as China’s is inadequate. observe that the vitality of natural processes must be This critique is an important external counterpoint to
4 Tu Weiming The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism
modernization within an Enlightenment framework.
If China’s modernist project had followed the The idea of the unity of Heaven and humanity democratic ideal of building a society that is “just, implies four inseparable dimensions of the human participatory, sustainable, and peaceful,” 25 as formulated condition: self, community, nature, and Heaven. The full in the Earth Charter, it could have had a salutary effect distinctiveness of each enhances, rather than impedes, a on China’s overall conception of development. A harmonious integration of the others. Self as a center of counterfactual exercise is in order. Surely the global relationships establishes its identity by interacting with issues mentioned in the Earth Charter are far from being community variously understood, from the family to the resolved in the modern West, but had they been put on global village and beyond. A sustainable harmonious the national agenda for discussion in China, the Chinese relationship between the human species and nature is intellectual ethos could have been much more congenial not merely an abstract ideal, but a concrete guide for to the culture of peace and environmental ethics. After practical living. Mutual responsiveness between the all, “eradicating poverty as an ethical, social, and human heart-and-mind and the Way of Heaven is the environmental imperative” 26 and promoting human salient features constitute the substance of the New and Confucian ideals. Although “upholding the right Confucian ecological vision. of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, Fruitful Interaction between Self and and spiritual well-being” 27 may appear to be a lofty goal, Community it is compatible with the Chinese notion of realizing the whole person. Furthermore, “affirming gender equality Since the community as home must extend to and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development” the “global village” and beyond, the self in fruitful and “ensuring universal access to education, health care, interaction with community must transcend not only and economic opportunity” 28 are clearly recognized egoism and parochialism, but also nationalism and modern Chinese aspirations. The traditional Confucian anthropocentrism. In practical ethical terms, self- sense of economic equality, social conscience, and cultivation is crucial to the viability of this holistic political responsibility could have been relevant to and humanist vision. Specifically, it involves a process of continuous self-transcendence, always keeping important matters. The cost of the secularization of sight of one’s solid ground in earth, body, family, and Confucian humanism was high. The single-minded community. Through self-cultivation, the human heart- and-mind “expands in concentric circles that begin with oneself and spread from there to include successively to wealth and power. As China completely turned her one’s family, one’s face-to-face community, one’s nation, back on her indigenous resources for self-realization, she 29 embarked on a course of action detrimental to her soul and her long-term self-interest. In shifting the center of one’s empathic concern Confucian Humanism as an Anthropocosmic The move from family to community prevents nepotism. Vision The move from community to nation overcomes parochialism, and the move to all humanity counters Qian, Tang, and Feng saw the potential for chauvinistic nationalism. 30 While “[t]he project Confucian humanism to occupy a new niche in of becoming fully human involves transcending, comparative civilizational studies. As a partner in sequentially, egoism, nepotism, parochialism, the dialogue among civilizations, what message can ethnocentrism, and chauvinist nationalism,” it cannot Confucians deliver to other religious communities and 31 If we stop at secular humanism, our arrogant self-sufficiency will Confucian humanism informed by the anthropocosmic undermine our cosmic connectivity and constrain us in an anthropocentric predicament. Specifically, can the Confucian self-cultivation philosophy inspire a new constellation of family A Sustainable Harmonious Relationship values, social ethics, political principles, and ecological between the Human Species and Nature consciousness that will help cultural China develop a sense of responsibility for the global community, both The problem with secular humanism is its self- imposed limitation. Under its influence, our obsession with power and mastery over the environment — to the resources and broaden the Enlightenment project’s scope exclusion of the spiritual and the natural realms — has
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made us blind to ecological concerns. 32 The “humanism that professes the unity of man and Heaven” is neither secular nor anthropocentric. While it An ecological focus is a necessary corrective to fully acknowledges that we are embedded in earth, body, the modernist discourse that has reduced the Confucian family, and community, it never denies that we are in worldview to a limited and limiting secular humanism. tune with the cosmic order. To infuse our earthly, bodily, Confucianism, appropriated by the modernist mindset, familial, and communal existence with a transcendent has been misused as a justification for authoritarian polity. Only by fully incorporating the religious and a basic Confucian practice. In traditional China, under naturalist dimensions into New Confucianism can the the influence of Confucian thought, Daoist ritual, and Confucian worldview avoid the danger of legitimating folk belief, the imperial court, the capital city, literary social engineering, instrumental rationality, linear progression, economic development, and technocratic private houses were designed according to the “wind management at the expense of a holistic, anthropocosmic and water” ( fengshui ) principles. While these principles, vision. Indeed, the best way for the Confucians to attain based on geomancy, can supposedly be manipulated to the new is to reanimate the old, so that the digression to enhance one’s fortune, they align human designs with secular humanism, under the influence of the modern the environment by enhancing intimacy with nature. West, is not a permanent diversion. Similarly, Chinese medicine as healing rather than curing and the mental and physical exercises such as the Mutual Responsiveness between the Human ritual dance of the great ultimate ( taijiquan ) and various Heart-and-Mind and the Way of Heaven forms of breathing disciplines ( qigong ) are also based on the mutual responsiveness between nature and humanity. In the appeal of scientists at the Global Forum Conference in Moscow in 1990 religious and spiritual Self-Knowledge and Cultivation to Complete leaders were challenged to envision the human-Earth the Triad relationship in a new light: Confucians believe that Heaven confers our human As scientists, many of us have had profound experiences nature and that the Way of Heaven is accessible through of awe and reverence before the universe. We understand that self-knowledge. They also believe that to understand what is regarded as sacred is more likely to be treated with care the Mandate of Heaven we must continuously cultivate and respect. Our planetary home should be so regarded. Efforts ourselves. This is completing the triad of Heaven, to safeguard and cherish the environment need to be infused Earth, and humans. Nature, as an unending process of with a vision of the sacred. 33 transformation rather than a static presence, is a source Obviously, the ecological question compels all of inspiration for us to understand Heaven’s dynamism. religious traditions to reexamine their presuppositions in Book of Change symbolizes. regard to the earth. It is not enough that one’s spiritual Heaven’s vitality and creativity is incessant: Heaven tradition makes limited adjustments to accommodate the always proceeds vigorously. The lesson for humans is ecological dimension. The need is for none other than the obvious: we emulate the constancy and sustainability sacralization of nature. This may require a fundamental of Heaven’s vitality and creativity by participating in human flourishing through “ceaseless effort of self- restructuring of basic theology by requiring the sanctity 35 of the earth as a given. Implicit in the scientists’ appeal strengthening.” The sense of “awe and reverence before is the necessity of a new theology, adding nature as a the universe” is prompted by our aspiration to respond to factor that must enter into, and transform, the traditional the ultimate reality that makes our lives purposeful and understandings of the relationship between God and meaningful. From either a creationist or an evolutionist human beings. perspective, we are indebted to “Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things” for our existence. To repay this debt we For the New Confucians, the critical issue is to cultivate ourselves so as to attain our full humaneness underscore the spiritual dimension of the harmony amidst the wonder of existence. with nature. As Wing-tsit Chan notes in his celebrated Source Book in Chinese Philosophy , “If one word could Mencius succinctly articulated this human characterize the entire history of Chinese philosophy, attitude toward Heaven as self-knowledge, service, and that word would be humanism — not the humanism steadfastness of purpose: that denies or slights a Supreme Power, but one that When a man has given full realization lo his heart, he professes the unity of man and Heaven. In this sense, humanism has dominated Chinese thought from the will understand his own nature. A man who knows his own dawn of its history.” 34 nature will know Heaven. By retaining his heart and nurturing his nature he is serving Heaven. Whether he is going to die
6 Tu Weiming The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism
young or to live to a ripe old age makes no difference to his has generated a new dynamism unprecedented in steadfastness of purpose. It is through awaiting whatever is to as those who are politically concerned, socially proper destiny. 36 engaged, culturally informed, religiously sensitive, and ecologically conscientious, they are readily visible and audible on the political scene. 38 Indeed, public Self-realization, in an ultimate sense, depends intellectuals in academia, government, mass media, on knowing and serving Heaven. The mutuality of business, and society are articulating a variety of the human heart-and-mind and the Way of Heaven ecological and spiritual messages relevant to China’s is mediated by cultivating a harmonious relationship quest to join the modern world. The New Confucians with nature. Through such cultivation, humans form a triad with Heaven and Earth and thus fully realize their the underlying value, or the all-embracing conception” 39 potential as cosmological as well as anthropological that can serve as a standard of inspiration for all beings. This sense of mutuality achieved through concerned citizens of the nation. However, they are completion of the triad, precludes the imposition of the strategically positioned to generate new discussions on human will on Heaven and transforms the human desire the ecological way “as macrocosm, overarching unity, to conquer nature. and ultimate process”; indeed, as a necessary reference for “the human enterprise in its fullest dimensions, Sustaining the Ecological Turn: The Role of 40 the Public Intellectual Given the current political climate in China, poverty, unemployment, and social disintegration as religion is a particularly delicate matter. Whether religion three serious threats to the solidarity of the human will play an active role in shaping China’s development community. Globalization intensifies and enhances strategy is not yet clear. The possibility of a sound the felt need for rootedness in primordial ties. Our environmental ethic depends heavily on the ability of community, compressed into a “village”, far from being Chinese intellectuals to transcend a narrow nationalism integrated, blatantly exhibits differentiation and outright informed by secular humanism and their willingness to discrimination. 37 For developing societies such as China take religion seriously in considering human integrity to appreciate the environmental movements of the developed world, the contradiction between ecological and national security as a way of outlawing superstition, and developmental imperatives will have to be resolved. as in the case of the Falungong, has not been effective The ecological advocacy of elegant simplicity is not in dealing with the outpouring of religious sentiments persuasive if one considers development, in the basic throughout the country. Its technocratic approach material sense, a necessary condition for survival. to religious issues merely reflects an increasingly Only if China comes to feel a responsibility not just for unworkable instrumental rationality. Religion as a nation-building but for nature itself can China become vibrant social force is widely recognized by public a constructive partner on global environmental issues. intellectuals in government, academia, business, and the She could be encouraged to do so if the developed world, especially the United States, demonstrates moral how religious and ecological discourses will converge leadership. Without encouragement and reciprocal in China, tolerance of religion often entails sensitivity respect from developed countries, it is unlikely that he to ecology. When public intellectuals in China begin to will independently embark on such a path. Fortunately, appreciate the profound religious implications of the mutually beneficial dialogues on religion and ecology ecological turn and the importance of retrieving and between China and the United States have already reappropriating indigenous spiritual resources to develop begun. an environmental ethic, they will be ready to take part in a dialogue among civilizations concerning religion and The ecological turn, as an alternative vision, ecology. is particularly significant in this regard. To make it sustainable and, eventually, consequential in formulating In a broader context, for religious and spiritual policies, the need for public-spiritedness among leaders to play a significant global role in articulating intellectuals is urgent. The emergence of a public space a shared approach to environmental degradation, they in cultural China provides a glimmer of hope. Although must assume the responsibility of public intellectuals full-fledged civil societies in the Chinese cultural themselves. As the Millennium Conference at the universe are found only in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the United Nations in September of 2000 clearly showed, horizontal communication among public intellectuals unless religious and spiritual leaders can rise above in several sectors of society in the People’s Republic their communities of faith to address global issues as public intellectuals, their messages will be misread,
7 Comparative Studies of China and the West Vol. 1 2013 distorted, or ignored. China is particularly suspicious of widely accepted as the legitimate way to provide access the intentions of religious and spiritual leaders if they to justice for all, the ideal of “inclusive participation in are exclusively concerned about the well-being of their decision making” 45 is no longer unimaginable. own communities. Yet the time is ripe for spiritual and religious leaders outside China to engage Chinese public New Confucians fully acknowledge that in intellectuals in mutually informative and inspirational their march toward modernization in the cause of conversations on religion and ecology. nation-building, their primary language has been so fundamentally reconstructed that it is no longer The New Confucian ecological turn clearly shows a language of faith, but a language of instrumental that a sustainable human-Earth relationship will depend rationality, economic efficiency, political expediency, on the creation of harmonious societies and benevolent and social engineering. They are now recovering governments through the self-cultivation of all members from that mistake. Their reanimated anthropocosmic of the human community. At the same time, Confucians vision may inspire a new worldview and a new ethic. insist that being attuned to the changing patterns in This ecological turn has great significance for China’s nature is essential for harmonizing human relationships, spiritual self-definition, for it urges the nation to formulating family ethics, and establishing a responsive rediscover its soul. It also has profound implications for and responsible government. As Mary Evelyn Tucker the sustainable future of the global community. notes: “The whole Confucian triad of heaven, earth, and humans rests on a seamless yet dynamic intersection Acknowledgments between each of these realms. Without harmony with nature and its myriad changes, human society and I am indebted to Rosanne Hall, Lucia Huntington, government is threatened.” 41 Since each person’s self- Ron Suteski, and Mary Evelyn Tucker for searching cultivation is essential for social and political order, criticisms of and editorial suggestions on earlier drafts the public intellectual is not an elitist, but an active of this essay. participant in the daily affairs of his or her society. The Confucian idea of the concerned scholar may benefit from the wisdom of a philosopher, the insight of a 1 prophet, the faith of a priest, the compassion of a monk, For a contemporary discussion on the axial-age civilizations, see or the understanding of a guru, but it is the responsibility Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, ed., The Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1986. of the public intellectual that is the most appropriate to 2 See Tu Wei-ming, “Embodying the Universe: A Note on Confucian the embodiment of this idea. The Confucians remind Self-realization,” World & I (August 1989): pp.475-485. us that, in order to foster a wholesome worldview and 3 Qian Mu’s last essay, “Zhongguo wenhua dui renlei weilai keyou a healthy ecological ethic, we need to combine our di gongxian” (The Possible Contribution of Chinese Culture to the aspiration for a harmonious relationship with nature with United our concerted effort to build a just society. News in Taiwan (September26, 1990). It was reprinted, with a lengthy commentary by his widow, Hu Meiqi, Zhongguo Wenhua (Chinese Public intellectuals in China should impress upon Culture) 4 (August 1991): pp.93-96. the political leadership that it is in an advantageous 4 For an elaborate discussion on this, see Tang Junyi, Shengming cunzai position to “promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, yu xinling jingjie (Life Existence and the Spiritual Realms). Taipei: and peace,” 42 as recommended by the Earth Charter. Xuesheng Book Co., 1977, pp. 872-888. 5 Feng Youlan, Zhongguo xiandai zhexueshi (History of Modern They should recognize that since the Chinese people Chinese Philosophy). Guangzhou: Guangdong People’s Publishers, are well disposed to Mahayana Buddhism and religious 1999, pp. 251-254. Daoism as well as inclusive Confucian humanism, they 6 See Hu Meiqi’s commentary in Zhongguo Wenhua. can appreciate the value of the coexistence of Heaven, 7 For example, Ji Xianlin of Peking University, Li Shengzi of the Earth, and the myriad things and can “treat all living Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Cai Shangsi of Fudan University, Ɋ 43 beings with respect and consideration” as an expression and a number of other senior scholars all enthusiastically responded of their humanity. Furthermore, as an increasing number Zhonghua Wenhua of public intellectuals in the academic community have (Chinese Culture) 10 (August 1994): pp.218-219. already forcefully articulated their ecological concerns, 8 Max Weber, The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, trans. they should be encouraged to “integrate into formal Hans H. Gerth. Glencoe, III.: Free Press, 1951, p. 235. 9 education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, Tang Junyi, Shengming cuizai yu xinling jingjie , pp. 833-930. 10 Chang Tsai (Zhang Zai), “The Western Inscription,” in Wing-tsit and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.” 44 Many Chan, trans., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy . Princeton, N.J.: liberal-minded public intellectuals have openly suggested Princeton University Press, 1963, p. 497. that the major challenge in Chinese political culture is 11 11. Feng Youlan, “Xin yuanren” (New Origins of Humanity) in democratization at all levels, which must begin with Zhenyuan liushu (Six Books of Feng Youlan in the 1930s and 1940s). greater transparency and accountability in governance at Shanghai: Eastern Chinese Normal University Press, 1996, vol. II, pp. the top. As the rule of law, rather than the rule by law, is 626-649.
8 Tu Weiming The Ecological Turn in New Confucian Humanism
12 Wang Yangming “Inquiry on the Great Learning,” in Wing-tsit the National People’s Congress, he plays a pivotal role in formulating Chan, trans., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy , pp.659. national policies and encourages nongovernmental agencies in raising 13 Ibid., 659-660. Since Wang Yangming wished to demonstrate that environmental concerns. For a retrospective look at his own career, see the mind of the small man can form one body with all things as well, Qu Geping, Mengxiang yu qidai: Zhongguo huanjing baohu de guoqu he used “he” rather than “we” in the text. yu weilai (Dreams and Anticipations: The Past and Future of China’s 14 Joseph Levenson, Confucian China and its Modem Fate: A Trilogy Environmental Protection). Beijing: China Environmental Science Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968. Press, 2000. 15 The “Text” of The Great Learning . Although I have made a few 39 Wm, Theodore de Bary, Neo-Confucian Orthodoxy and the Learning changes in my translation, it basically follows Wing-tsit Chan’s of the Mind-and-Heart. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981, version. See Wing-tsit Chan trans., A Source Book in Chinese p. 216. Philosophy , p.86. 40 Ibid. It should be noted that although de Bary’s main concern here 16 Wm. Theodore de Bary, “’Think Globally, Act Locally,’ and the is the Way in the “learning of the mind-and-heart,” the ecological Contested Ground Between,” in Confucianism and Ecology: The implications are self-evident. Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans , ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker 41 Mary Evelyn Tucker, “The Emerging Alliance of Religion and and John Berthrong. Cambridge, Mass.: Center for the Study of World Ecology,” in Chase, ed., Doors of Understanding, p. 120. Religions, Harvard Divinity School, 1998, p. 32. 42 The Earth Charter. 17 Ibid., pp. 32-33. 43 Ibid. 18 Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean), XXII. See Tu Wei-ming, 44 Ibid, Currently more than a hundred programs (including Centrality and Commonality: An Essay on Confucian Religiousness. departments and research centers) focusing on the environment have Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1989, 77. This been developed in China’s institutes of higher learning. While the translation is slightly different from Wing-tsit Chan’s version, cited in majority of these programs are primarily concerned with technical the book. engineering issues, quite a few of them have integrated subjects in the 19 Xiong Shili, Xin Weishilun (New Theory on Consciousness-Only), social sciences and the humanities in their multidisciplinary approaches reprint. Taipei: Guangwen Publishers, 1962, vol. I, chap. 4, pp. 49-92. to environmental protection. 20 Liang Shuming, Dongxi wenhua jiqi zhexue (Eastern and Western 45 Ibid. Cultures and their Philosophies), reprint. Taipei: Wenxue Publishers, 1979, pp. 200-201. 21 Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom. New York: Knopf, 1999. About the author: 22 See Hans Küng and Karl-Josef Kuschel, eds., A Global Ethic: The Declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. New York: Tu Wei-ming, IACSCW Honorary President, is Director of Continuum, 1993. Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University 23 The Earth Charter, http://www.earthcharter.org. 24 Ibid. and Research Professor at Harvard University. He has taught 25 Ibid. Chinese intellectual history at Princeton University (1967-71) 26 Ibid. and University of California at Berkeley (1971-81). He has 27 Ibid. been on the Harvard faculty since 1981, and was Director of 28 Ibid. the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, 29 Huston Smith, The World’s Religions. San Francisco: Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute from 1996 to 2008. HarperSanFrancisco, 1991, p. 182. 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid., pp. 186-187. Professor Tu Wei-ming is the primary proponent of the “Third 32 See Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco: Sierra Epoch of Confucian Humanism”. He is the author of numerous Club Books, 1990 and Brian Swimme, The Universe Story. From the publications in Chinese and English, including: Neo-Confucian Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era - A Celebration of the Thought in Action: Wang Yang-ming’s Youth; Centrality and Unfolding of the Cosmos. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. Commonality, An Essay on Confucian Religiousness; Humanity 33 Quoted in Mary Evelyn Tucker, “The Emerging Alliance of Religion and Ecology,” in Steven L. Chase, ed., Doors of Understanding: and Self-Cultivation; Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Conversations on Global Spirituality in Honor of Ewert Cousins. Transformation; Way, Learning, and Politics: Essays on the Quincy, Ɋ.: Franciscan Press, 1997, p.111. Confucian Intellectual. 34 Wing-tsit Chan, trans., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 3. was published in Chinese in 2001. 35 The Book of Change, 36 Mencius, VIIA:1. See D. C. Lau, trans., Mencius. Harmondsworth, 37 Tu Wei-ming, “Global Community as Lived Reality: Exploring Social Resources for Development,” in Social Policy & Social Progress, Special Issue on the Social Summit, Copenhagen, March 6-12, 1995. New York: United Nations, 1996, pp. 47-48. 38 The case of Qu Geping merits special attention. Since the Stockholm Conference on the Environment in 1972, he has been instrumental in developing an infrastructure within the governmental system for dealing with environmental protection in China. As chairman of the Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation Committee of
9 Comparative Studies of China and the West Vol. 1 2013
Confucianism & Constructive Postmodernism
By Tang Yijie Peking University
I. What Kind of Age Are We in Now? With the growth of industrialization, a “free market economy” has promoted the huge increase of human From a world perspective, our current age wealth, and people have won great material benefit can possibly be seen as the transition from modern from it. But there is no denying that it has also caused capitalist society beginning with the first, 18 th -century, serious polarization between rich and poor (including Enlightenment toward a postmodern society of a “second tensions country-to-country, ethnic group-to-ethnic enlightenment.” From a China perspective, our age will group, and class-to-class within a country). If the “free be seen as a crucial moment for realizing great national market economy” continues to grow like a rapacious revival in the context of globalization. All in all, for monster, without effective supervision, control or human society, this age represents a precious opportunity restraint, sooner or later it will cause economic crisis and to enter a totally new era. social disturbance. The global financial crisis that first appeared in the USA in 2008 was still ongoing when the Since the 18 th -century Age of Enlightenment, debt crisis began to sweep Europe in 2011. According to Western capitalism has a history of almost 300 years, Professor Paul Kennedy of Yale University, liberalism during which period the Western world achieved freed people from the shackles of the pre-market- dazzling “modernization.” But now, “modernized economy age, but it has also put people in danger of society” is suffering from more and more intractable 1 problems. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) proposed that reason should be the watchword of the Enlightenment, Another Enlightenment watchword, “liberation of but these days “reason” faces its own problems. the individual,” originally targeted religious superstition Originally, “reason” contained two related aspects: and vulgar ignorance, encouraging people to be fully “instrumental reason” and “value reason,” both aspects aware of their own strength so as to fully deploy their with an extremely important role in advancing human “free” creativity. Today, however, this notion has become an instrument for the domination of others, a tool that omnipotent” “instrumental reason” outshines humanistic imperialist countries in particular use to support their “value reason,” and the latter has become marginalized. own hegemony and impose their own value systems As a result, everything becomes an “instrument”: people on other countries and peoples, pushing a universalist become instruments for others and the natural world has doctrine. 2 The distorted development of today’s capitalist become an instrument to be used by human beings as society has resulted in people no longer in pursuit of “reason,” but indulging themselves in the lust for power and worship of money. Consequently, all groups The normal and harmonious relation between of people live in pain and mental conflict: ordinary man and nature has been severely harmed by man’s people struggle to survive harsh conditions; intellectuals unrestrained exploitation, destruction and waste of experience constant guilt because of their inability natural resources. In turn, man’s own survival is to end social chaos, their inability to win people’s threatened by deteriorating natural conditions such as trust. Politicians exist in a state of self-deception; depletion of the ozone layer, poisoned oceans, polluted entrepreneurs wrestle to figure their way around environment and unbalanced eco-environment. Although mutually contradictory rules and systems. Regardless of the Kyoto Protocol for limiting air pollution was signed rank or identity it seems that the happy life to which all in Kyoto, Japan, as early as in December 1997, certain aspire is out of reach and happiness eludes all. But this developed countries in the capitalist world set various is not a problem caused by any individual: rather, it is an obstacles on its path. One example is Canada’s recent unavoidable pain for a society in the throes of a major announcement of its intention to withdraw from the transitional period. Therefore, it is incumbent on each Protocol. This illustrates that the “reason” advocated by and every one of us to work hard for the coming of a the Enlightenment is being changed by some Western new age. leaders into a “non-rational” and utilitarian “tool.”
10 Tang Yijie Confucianism & Constructive Postmodernism II. The Rise of Two Trends of Thought in “to care about others” and “to respect differences” (in China in the 1990s a postmodern society). In their opinion, when people use their personal “freedom” in ways that diminish In the 1990s, there emerged in China’s ideological the community, they are bound to weaken their own and cultural circles two ideological trends opposing the “freedom.” Therefore, it is necessary to reject an concept of “monism.” One trend is “postmodernism,” an abstract concept of freedom in favor of a profound idea originating in the West and aiming to deconstruct and responsible freedom by bringing in the notions “modernity.” In the early 1980s, “postmodernism” had of responsibility and duty and by revealing the inner already come to China, but it made little impact at the relation between freedom and duty. In the West, time: by the 1990s however, Chinese scholars were constructive postmodernism is a tiny branch stream with suddenly showing it great interest. Another trend is very little influence, but in China it has attracted the the “ Guoxue tide”—the ardent pursuit of revitalizing attention of a group of scholars who are passionate for traditional Chinese culture. In truth, in the 1980s, national revival. China’s thinkers had advocated greater emphasis on traditional Chinese culture, but it did not coalesce into a Karl Theodor Jaspers wrote in The Origin and surge tide until in the 1990s when Guoxue rose quietly Goal of History : in Peking University. What does the rise of these two Until today mankind has lived by what happened during the Axial Period, by what was thought and created In the 1960s, to save human society and cancel out modernity’s concomitant negative impact, the since then it has been the case that recollections and re- its early period, postmodernism was “deconstructive awakenings of the potentialities of the Axial Period— postmodernism,” posited as a way of dealing with renaissances—afford a spiritual impetus. Return to this problems produced in the course modern society’s beginning is the ever-recurrent event in China, India and development. The aim was to deconstruct modernity, the West. 4 to oppose monism and advocate pluralism, to shatter all authority and to cast the “authoritativeness” and In the West, constructive postmodernism is a tiny “dominant nature” of modernity into the shade. But, postmodernism of the deconstructive kind produced has attracted the attention of a group of scholars who neither positive standpoints, nor any designs for a new are passionate for national revival. This is exemplified age. in the “ Guoxue tide” in the late 1990s, when China was experiencing a process of national rejuvenation, and At the turn of the 21st century, “constructive for this the support of a revitalized national culture was postmodernism,” a concept based on process philosophy, essential. proposed integrating the positive elements of the first Enlightenment with postmodernism and thus called for a In my opinion, it is precisely because traditional “second enlightenment.” Chinese culture ( Guoxue ) has had over a century of impact from Western culture that Chinese scholars have For instance, according to Alfred North had the chance for reflecting on our own traditional Whitehead’s process philosophy, “man” should not culture. We have gradually come to realize what of be taken as the center of everything. Rather, “Man our culture should be promoted, what abandoned and and nature should be regarded as a closely related what absorbed. For over one hundred years, Chinese living community.” 3 According to John B. Cobb, a scholars have been trying to absorb and digest “Western major founder of process philosophy, Constructive learning,” and this most certainly laid the foundation for postmodernism takes a critical attitude towards the transformation of Guoxue in the traditional sense to deconstructive postmodernism…we have introduced its modern counterpart. The new or modern Guoxue must ecologicalism into postmodernism. In a postmodern be a spiritually significant power for China’s revival age, man and man will co-exist harmoniously, as will as well as for the “peace and development” of human man and nature. It is an age which will retain something society. It will help China to realize “modernization” in positive of modernity while transcending dualism, an all-round way, and also to avoid the predicament that anthropocentrism and male chauvinism, an age that aims Western society currently experiences. to build a postmodern society for the common good. In other words, the new Guoxue should stick to According to process philosophy, if the rallying the principle of Fanben Kaixin . Only through Fanben cry of the first Enlightenment was “to free the self,” (return to the source) are we able to Kaixin (open up new then the second enlightenment’s watchword should be territory). Fanben requires of us a deep understanding
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of Guoxue ’s essence and insists on the mainstay nature of our own culture, whereas Kaixin requires of us a no getting away from the fact that the long prevalence of systematic understanding of the new problems facing the “man-nature dichotomy” mindset made nature a vic- China and human society, problems in need of urgent tim. 5 Fortunately, the “unity of Man and Heaven” way resolution. The two aspects are inseparable: only by of thinking offers us a feasible way towards tackling the digging deeper into the true essence of Guoxue can we destruction of the natural world. open up new territory at the appropriate time. Only by squarely addressing the problems of human society can As early as 2,500 years ago, Confucius was exhort- we better promote and update the essence of Guoxue , so ing people to both “know heaven” and “fear heaven.” Guoxue will once The first admonition requires us to learn more about more be ignited by the Fanben Kaixin principle and nature and thus consciously use it to improve the welfare contribute to human society. of human beings. The second requires us to hold nature What are the prospects of these two trends of Zhu Xi, another great thinker of ancient China, “Heaven is inseparable from man and man from heaven.” What he is telling us is that, after heaven gives birth to man, man answer these questions, we must fully investigate the and heaven have formed an inseparable relation, one that possibility of integrating the two. requires man to embody the laws of heaven and to be responsible for it. III. In the New Historical Period of Chinese Revival and in the Context of Globalization, As we have seen, in dealing with the relation be- Traditional Chinese Culture May Well Make tween man and nature, traditional Chinese philosophy an Epochal Contribution to Human Society. takes a road similar to that of constructive postmodern- ism. As Léon Vandermeersch put it, “Western humanism China is in the process of national revival, and this that brought the world such a perfect thought as the con- must have the support of revitalized national culture. cept of human rights now faces many challenges from However, in this globalized age, the revitalization of our modern society that as yet it has been unable to answer. traditional culture requires us not only to address our Why, then, not give some consideration as to whether own social problems but world problems also. It follows Confucian thinking might indicate a way forward for the that while developing our traditional culture we must world, for example: respect for nature as proposed in the keep in mind that it belongs to both China and the world ‘unity of man and heaven’ concept; and the philanthropic at large. It requires us not only to pay close attention to the actual development of our own culture but also bring to bear the essence of Confucian teaching on cur- to incipient tendencies in Western culture. Here the au- rent world problems, to examine them afresh from a new thor would like to offer a possible trend for discussion, perspective.” 6 namely: Could a combination of Guoxue and construc- ⽬ tive postmodernism—the former traditional Chinese Why does Vandermeersch put Western thought on learning and the latter of Western origin and still in the human rights together with the three concepts from Chi- bud—have something to offer to the healthy and rational rights are very important to us, because man should not be deprived of the right of freedom, and social progress i. “Man and Nature as a Closely Related can only be realized with “freedom of thought,” “freedom Living Community” and “Unity of Man and of speech,” “freedom of belief,” “freedom of move- Heaven” ment,” etc. However, the question of how to protect human rights is often subject to interference by external According to John B. Cobber, “Today we recog- forces, to removal even. This has been the case in China nize that man is a part of nature and that we live an eco- and overseas. Some Western thinkers and politicians logical community.” This idea, although coming directly widen the concept of human rights to the extent that from Whitehead, is very similar to a traditional Chinese there are no limits and that man can destroy nature at notion—the unity of Man and Heaven, Heaven implying will. Hence Vandermeersch asserts that there should be the laws of nature. As a core traditional Chinese value, some constraints on man’s rights over nature, and to do it is a mode of thinking that differs from the “man-nature dichotomy” idea that long prevailed in the West. the concept of their unity. In 1992, 1,575 famous scientists from around the According to Christian belief, God created the world signed and published a document named “World world in its complete form and man can do nothing Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.” Its first line read: further to it. However, in Vandermeersch’s opinion, “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision
12 Tang Yijie Confucianism & Constructive Postmodernism