Ljlr·Y the JUNZIDOTH PROTEST: TOWARD A
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
f-LI.),\fill~l'l UNiVERSITY OF ~ ~ LIBI:"lJlR· Y •.. j \' • I j \/""'\. THE JUNZIDOTH PROTEST: TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY OF REMONSTRANCE IN CONFUCIANISM A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWArI IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN PHILOSOPHY MAY 2005 By Virginia D. Suddath Dissertation Committee: Roger Ames, Chairperson Eliot Deutsch Graham Parkes Mary Tiles Katherine Kane ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The two greatest debts, both scholarly and personally, that I would like to acknowledge are to Roger Ames and David Hall. My initial graduate study in philosophy was undertaken with David during my first semester at University ofHawai'i. In those two seminars and in our correspondence and conversations over the ensuing years, I was continuously challenged, stimulated, and encouraged by the brilliance ofhis mind, the joy that he brought into the classroom, and the support that he gave to my efforts. His loss is still felt. The contribution that Roger Ames has made to this dissertation is difficult to quantify. It was during a directed reading with Roger that I first encountered Lu Xun. In the development ofmy research on this topic and the subsequent writing process, Roger has consistently provided scholarly guidance and deftly administered appropriate critique. This dissertation plainly demonstrates my intellectual debt to his approach to comparative philosophy. And yet it is his generosity ofspirit that I would like to recognize with deeper gratitude. To friends, family, and those who became my family at East-West Center I also owe a world ofthanks. Thank you to my father for his initial support. 111 ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on the Confucian value ofremonstrance (jian) and explores the degree to which remonstrance as a form ofprotest is a key value within the Confucian tradition. My claim is that the literature has undervalued the role ofjian; that, in fact,jian serves as a critical counterpoint to sentiments ofreciprocity, deference, and benevolence within the tradition. Furthermore, I argue thatjian becomes an especially significant strategy for harmonizing values and practices in times when forces for change and continuity are in complex collision. My point ofdeparture will be with the works ofLu Xun, a fiction writer and cultural critic during the early years ofthe 20th century, and I will explore the degree to which he instantiates the value ofjian and the role that it plays in his theory of "grabbism" (nalai zhuyi). While Lu Xun is conventionally perceived and portrayed as being anti-Confucian, I will present a reading that counters this depiction and contend that such a reading ofLu Xun will serve to clarify the creative dimension of remonstrance. The two propositions that frame this dissertation are: (1) Remonstrance as a form ofprotest is integral to Confucianism and, (2) Lu Xun's protest remains within the Confucian tradition While the first will be my primary focus, I intend to establish these as interrelated propositions, the latterproviding the context in which to more fully grasp the former. My methodology will rely not on analytic process; rather I will develop a narrative IV understanding ofjian through an exploration ofhow this term is used within a particular historical instance, in this case by focusing on the nature ofLu Xun's critique of Confucianism during the period ofNew Culture Movement. Such an extensive method is consistent with the Confucian tradition's own way ofunderstanding its key terms and Lu Xun, through modeling the technique ofjian, can be seen as the functional equivalent of the principle ofprotest at work. Commentary on this relationship will take place within a Deweyan framework. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments iii Abstract iv Preface viii Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview Introduction 1 Jian as a Confucian Value 5 Continuity and Change 7 Lu Xun's Confucian Anti-Confucianism 9 Criticism and Change 12 John Dewey 15 Confucian Methodology 18 History as Hermeneutics 21 Chapter Overview 24 Precis 30 Chapter 2: The Genealogy ofRemonstrance (jian) in Confucian China Introduction 31 Alteration as Preservation 33 Institutionalization ofjian in Confucian Governance: (Mis)-translation ofTerm "Censor" .. 47 The Early Evolution ofChina's "Censorship" System 50 The Confucianist/Legalist Divide 53 The Function ofSurveillance 55 The Function ofRemonstrance 57 Characteristics ofRemonstrancers and Censors 58 An Unsettling Transition 60 A Call to Arms 63 Conclusion: Prospects for Re-articulation and Self-Transcendence 69 Chapter 3: Leaning Toward Modernity Introduction: Dewey's Encounter with China During the May Fourth Era 71 Lu Xun's Anti-Confucianism in contrast to Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi 72 Dewey and the Distinction between "Religion" and "the Religious" 82 Deweyan Democracy and Confucianism 89 Confucian Conservatism 95 Conclusion 103 Chapter 4: China (En)Counters Modernity Introduction 109 What Do We Mean by "Chinese culture"? 113 What Do We Mean by "modernity"? 117 The "modernity question" in China: ti-yong and "Mr. Science and Mr. Democracy" .. 121 Modernization as Westernization 126 Lu Xun's "grabbism" 134 Conclusion 144 VI Chapter 5: Lu Xun's Appropriation ofNietzsche Introduction: Lu Xun Encounters Nietzsche 146 "Traveling" Theory 154 Lu Xun Encounters Zarathustra 158 Obermensch as Confucian Supra-man 164 Conclusion 174 Chapter 6: Evidence ofjian in Lu Xun's zawen Introduction 178 Further Reflections onjian 177 Lu Xun's zawen 186 "My Views on Chastity" 187 "Confucius in Modem China" 192 "The Collapse ofthe Leifeng Pagoda" and "More Thoughts on the Collapse ofthe Leifeng Pagoda" 198 Conclusion 205 Chapter 7: Conclusion 209 Appendix: Propaganda Poster 236 Bibliography 237 VB "Is there anyone saying that can ruin a state?" Duke Ding asked. "A saying itselfcannot have such effect," replied Confucius, "but there is the saying, 'I find little pleasure in ruling, save that no one will take exception to what I say.' Ifwhat one has to say is efficacious (shan) and no one takes exception, fine indeed. But ifwhat one has to say is not efficacious and no one takes exception, is this not close to a saying ruining a state?" The Analects ofConfucius, 13.15 viii CHAPTERl INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Introduction This project is a study ofthe practice ofremonstrance (jian) within the Confucian tradition. The reasons for this choice are twofold: jian can properly be seen as an indigenous means ofprotest, one that has been a documented part ofthe Confucian state bureaucracy from at least the Han Dynasty, with some elements dating back to the Zhou Dynasty. This topic is one especially worth pursuing at this time given that China is at present experiencing difficulty in negotiating a place for protest within contemporary society. Questions arise as to whom in the government or which policies can be properly or safely criticized and to what degree or level ofcommand this criticism can extend. For instance, the central authorities' tolerance toward localized strikes and tax demonstrations and their overt encouragement ofsuch protests as those against the 1999 bombing ofthe Chinese embassy in Belgrade contrasts sharply with the persistent campaign ofrepression that has been directed against Falun Gong members and the silencing ofthose who publicly question the policies ofthe Central Committee. Exploring such a homegrown means ofprotest not only demonstrates that this technique has historically had a place within the Chinese tradition, but also is useful in countering those who might claim that protest or freedom ofspeech need be discussed in rights language and its practice imported. My aim is not to address directly the applicability ofsuch a conception of protest in contemporary China; that I wi11leave to political scientists. Instead, in 1 examiningjian as both a philosophical and an historical phenomenon, I aim to contribute to the project ofrearticulating Confucianism, making it more relevant and giving it greater cultural currency. In addition, the concept ofjian is an especially compelling one with respect to unpacking the idea and ideal ofConfucianism as internally self-regulating. As classically framed, the "self-regulating" nature ofConfucian praxis pivots on its unwavering emphasis on selfand action as strongly socially constructed, as well as strongly socially constrained, in such a way that harmony emerges naturally to counter unbalanced power relations. So while I do think Tu Weiming's characterization ofConfucianism as a set of "despotic, gerontocratic, and male-oriented practices" is a valid, but somewhat harsh description ofmany periods in China's long history, still the system did function well, and one could say "harmoniously," especially given its longevity. To rule by moral example (de) instead ofby force and violence was a central tenet ofConfucianism; Confucius thought that a ruler who had to resort to force had already failed as a ruler - "Ifyou govern effectively, what need is there for killing?" (Analects, 12.19). This was not a principle that Chinese rulers always observed, but it was the ideal ofauthoritative rule. While it should be noted that even such humane principles have been in practice both paternalistic and statist; nevertheless, the Confucian ideal avoids the worst ofmodem paternalism with the principle ofgovernment by example and by wuwei (not doing), putting classical Confucianism closer to Daoism than to modem practices of authoritarian control. Confucius thought that government by laws and punishments could keep people in line, but government by example ofvirtue (de) and good manners (li) 2 would enable them to control themselves.' In addition, words have ideals built into them; to call someone a "ruler" is not so much to describe his role in society as it is to prescribe the values and actions that should define his behavior. That is to say, things should be made to correspond to their names, and human beings especially should live up to their ideals, the ideals that are built into the language itself. According to Confucius, "the rectification ofnames" is essential for any society to be a good society; taking care of using language is a primary way oftaking care ofthe world.