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The Concept of Human Nature in Wei-Jin Chinese Philosophy

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The Concept of Human Nature in Wei-Jin Chinese Philosophy View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarBank@NUS THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN NATURE IN WEI-JIN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY: AN EXAMINATION OF WANG BI AND GUO XIANG WANG JINYI (M.A. PEKING UNIVERSITY) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2006 i Acknowledgements I remember the days when I began to study Chinese philosophy in early 2000. They are as vivid as just yesterday. How little I knew then! Now, looking back the past five years, I conclude this period in my course of learning with this thesis. It is a work, though imperfect due to the limits of my own capacity, that would never have been done without the advice and encouragement I have received gratefully during this period. Professor Alan K. L. Chan directed me to this interesting field and has guided me patiently yet strictly throughout my Ph.D. candidature at the National University of Singapore, to whom I owe more than I can ever repay. His guidance, in a classic way that I admire but may not achieve, does not end with the completion of this thesis. It exerts an enduring influence on me both as a prospective teacher and a scholar in the future. I have benefited a lot from the lectures and seminars held by the Department of Philosophy of NUS. I am impressed by the teachers’ academic ability, and their kindness, which, I think, is more valuable. I wish to thank especially Associate Professor Tan Sor hoon and Dr. Heng Hock Jiuan for their comments on this thesis and help at critical moments. It is my luck to be the classmate of a group of friendly and bright Ph.D students. Michael Fitzgerald carefully corrected two chapters of an earlier draft. My friend Dr. Sun Wenmin managed to squeeze time to read part of the thesis when he himself was terribly busy. My discussions with Kim Hak Ze, Olalekan Rafiu, Raphael Funwa, and other students are inspiring and pleasant. They made the days right before the submission of this thesis, normally stressful and hectic, enjoyable. ii The financial support from the National University of Singapore enables me to concentrate on the research. I also want to extend my thanks to the library of NUS for its five star services. This thesis is materially based on it. My husband has borne the painful burden of my study emotionally. I thank his understanding and support especially when I stayed overseas. I also wish to thank my mother. She always pushes her daughters to forge ahead. I was once seriously suspicious of her life philosophy. But now I know that I need to be pushed. This thesis is dedicated to my father. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... i Summary ..................................................................................................... iv Introduction.................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 Conceptions of Human Nature in Warring States and Han China........................................................................................................... 23 1.1. Early Confucian Ideas of Human Nature........................................... 26 1.2. Human Nature in Han Confucian Synthesis...................................... 30 1.3. New Developments in Han Confucian Views of Human Nature...... 43 1.4. Human Nature in Early Daoist Philosophy........................................ 55 1.5 Two Perspectives of Human Nature: Principle vs. Substance........... 65 Dao qi Chapter 2 Wang Bi: Nature and Nature ........................................... 69 2.1. NatureDao: Human Authenticity and Natureqi: Human Substance .. 71 2.2. The Relationship between Nature and Feeling: NatureDao Guides Natureqi ......................................................................................................... 89 2.3. The Ideal Sage: His feelings and Spirituality................................... 103 Chapter 3 The Limits of Nature and Self-Knowledge ......................... 125 3.1. A Comprehensive View of Nature..................................................... 128 3.2. The Limits of Nature and Self-knowledge........................................ 141 3.3. The Sociopolitical Implications of Guo Xiang’s View of Human Nature ......................................................................................................... 170 Chapter 4 Wang Bi and Guo Xiang Compared: Inheriting from and Going beyond Han Confucianism .......................................................... 189 4.1. Similarities between Wang Bi and Guo Xiang................................. 192 4.2. Differences between Wang Bi and Guo Xiang................................. 195 4.3. Inheritance from and Development to Han Confucianism............. 201 Selected Bibliography.............................................................................. 217 iv Summary Falling between the great unified empires of the Han and Tang, the Wei- Jin Period of Division (A.D. 220-420) may be one of the most overlooked and least understood eras to the English world. Compared with the large number of publications on the philosophical currents in the pre-Qin period, Wei Jin philosophy, normally known as xuanxue (玄学 Learning of the Profound), is still an under-developed field in the English-speaking world. The concept of human nature in it, in particular, has not been addressed in detail and systematically. This thesis tries to make contribution in this respect. The concept of human nature is generally considered to be a dominant theme of Confucianism. It seems not to enjoy a privileged position in Daoism and xuanxue that mainly built on the commentaries on Daoist classics and the Yijing. However, as the examination of this thesis shows, the philosophical understanding of human nature actually serves as the basis for both Daoist and Wei-Jin philosophers’ socio-political thoughts. To be specific, Wei-Jin philosophers’ views of the socio-political issues, for example, the principle of non-action (wuwei 无为), the method of restoring social order, and the role of the sage, derive logically from their views of human nature. This thesis examines two representative philosophers in the Wei-Jin period, i.e., Wang Bi and Guo Xiang’s views of human nature. It begins with a review of the influential views of human nature developed before the Wei-Jin period, then gives a detailed analysis of Wang Bi and Guo Xiang’s thoughts, and concludes the examination with a comparison between the two philosophers. It is the submission of this thesis that Wang Bi understood human nature as consisting of two parts, i.e., natureDao and natureqi. The former is the differentiation of the Dao v in each human being, which is neither good nor evil. The latter is the material constituent of human nature, whose contact with external things is subject to moral judgment. Wang Bi’s view may anticipate the dichotomy that Neo- Confucian Zhu Xi made between tianli zhi xing (nature of Heavenly principle 天 理之性) and qizhi zhi xing (nature of qi endowment 气质之性), which indicates the bearing of Wei-Jin philosophy on Neo-Confucianism. As for Guo Xiang, he adopted a comprehensive view of human nature, i.e., to refer human nature to the concrete phenomena of life, physical features, capacity, and feeling principally. The most distinctive of his view of human nature, as the thesis observes, is that the nature of each human being has its limits. So the urgent thing for people is to develop self-knowledge of their respective limits. This mode of self-knowledge guarantees that one fully utilizes one’s nature, but not admires or envies others, which forms the resource of one’s happiness. The thesis situates Wang Bi and Guo Xiang in a tradition that took shape in the Warring States period and developed in the Han dynasty. As opposed to a popular yet sectarian view that Wei-Jin philosophy is a revival of early Daoism, the thesis suggests that Wei-Jin philosophy represents a distinctive development to the tradition. A comparison between Wang Bi and Guo Xiang shows not only the dynamic change of the tradition within the Wei-Jin period, but also the connection of the two philosophers to the previous tradition. While both inherited certain basic ideas from the tradition, they also contributed to its renewal by solving the problems that Han Confucians failed to address, i.e., the origin of goodness and evilness and the balance between rites and naturalness, in particular. 1 Introduction Irene Bloom says, “In virtually every culture, there is reflection about how human beings are alike and how they differ”.1 As far as Chinese philosophy is concerned, the concept of human nature enjoys a privileged position. It is widely accepted that Chinese philosophy has strong ethical and political dimensions. From one perspective, the understanding of human nature serves as the theoretical basis for ethical and political thought. It determines the kind of life that one ought to live and the socio-political policies to be implemented. Also, it is generally agreed that Chinese philosophy aims to pursue a harmonious unity between Heaven and human beings (tianren heyi 天人合一). In this context, the concept of human nature functions as a bridge between Heaven and human beings, as human nature is understood to be endowed by Heaven. Confucianism and Daoism may debate with each other on many issues, but both agree that only by realizing one’s nature can one achieve the harmony between
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