Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series III, Asia, Volume 27 General Editor George F. McLean Confucian Ethics in Retrospect and Prospect Chinese Philosophical Studies, XXVII Edited by Vincent Shen Kwong-loi Shun The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Copyright © 2008 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box 261 Cardinal Station Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Confucian ethics in retrospect and prospect / edited by Vincent Shen, Kwong-loi Shun. p. cm. -- (Cultural heritage and contemporary change. Series III, Asia ; v. 27) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Confucian ethics. I. Shen, Qingsong. II. Shun, Kwong-loi, 1953- III. Title. IV. Series. BJ1289.3.C662007 2007010736 170.951 dc22 CIP ISBN 978-1-56518-245-5 (pbk.) Table of Contents Introduction Vincent Shen 1 Part I. Confucian Ethics in Historical Context Chapter I. Virtues of Junzi Antonio Cua 7 Chapter II. Teacher-Disciple, or Friends?– An Historico-Exegetical Approach to the Analects Yuet Keung Lo 27 Chapter III. Music [yue] in Classical Confucianism: On the Recently Discovered Xing Zi Ming Chu Johanna Liu 61 Chapter IV. Is Mencius a Motivational Internalist? Anh Tuan Nuyen 79 Chapter V. Xunzi and the Essentialist Mode of Thinking about Human Nature Kim-chong Chong 93 Chapter VI. Do Sages Have Emotions? Alan K. L. Chan 113 Chapter VII. Locating the Moral Self: Emotions and Human Agency in Song Neo-Confucian Thought Curie Virág 137 Chapter VIII. Is Wang Yangming’s Notion of Innate Moral Knowledge (Liangzhi) Tenable? Yong Huang 149 Chapter IX. On Mou Zongsan’s Idealist Confucianism Wing-cheuk Chan 171 Part II: Confucian Ethics in Comparative Context and in Prospect Chapter X. Between the Good and the Right: The Middle Way in Neo-Confucian and Mahāyāna Moral Philosophy Jinfen Yan 187 iv Table of Contents Chapter XI. Chong Yagyong’s Four Books Learning Tsai Chen-feng 229 Chapter XII. Itô Jinsai on Confucius’ Analects: A Type of Confucian Hermeneutics in East Asia Chun-chieh Huang 247 Chapter XIII. Confucius on li and Montaigne on Coustume: A Reflection on Customary Practices and Personal Autonomy Cecilia Wee 277 Chapter XIV. Globalization and Confucianism: The Virtues of Shu and Generosity to Many Others Vincent Shen 291 Contributors 305 Index 307 Introduction Vincent Shen The original Chinese term for “Confucianism“ was “rujia” (儒家), a term which first appeared only late in the “Records of the Grand Historian” (completed around 100BCE) of Sima Qian (司馬遷 145-86BCE) in the former Han Dynasty. Nevertheless, it was formed as a school already in the pre-Qin era. Historically speaking, ru (儒) were those people who served, in the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China, as officials of middle range related to education and public rites. In the later Spring and Autumn period, they lost their office and earned their livelihood as teachers of rites and ritual coordinators. “Confucius“, the latinization of Kong Fuzi (Master Kong), refers to Kong Qiu 孔丘, also know as, Zhongni 仲尼, who served more or less the same function, though he was most influential because of teaching the largest number of students (3000 students according to the legend), having systematically organized his teaching materials, and, most importantly, laying a philosophical foundation for rituals and Chinese civilization by their transcendental derivation from ren to yi to li. Confucius (551-479BC), seen as the founder of classical Confucianism, was followed in its second phase by his grand son Zisi (493-406BC), to be developed by Mencius (371-289BC), and in the third phases by Xunzi (298-238BC). Xunzi’s idea of Heaven as Nature and his combination of li (ritual) with fa (law), was followed by most Confucians in Han Dynasty to serve emperors and to reinforce political stability of the state. Dong Zhongshu (c179-c104BC) was responsible for making Confucianism the state ideology of Han Dynasty. Unfortunately, since the end of later Han Dynasty, Confucianism became dormant and less influential for intellectuals who were led away first by Neo-Daoism and then by Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. After Centuries of silence, Confucianism began to revive in the North Sung Dynasty as “Neo-Confucianism“, which developed through three lines of thought. First, from the five masters of North Sung Dynasty, such as Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073AD), Zhang Zai (1020-1077) Shao Yung (1011-1077AD), Cheng Hao (also known as Cheng Mingdao 1032-1085) and Cheng Yi (also known as Cheng Yichuan 1033-1107), to Zhu Xi in the South Song Dynasty; this line could be called the Neo-Confucianism of the Realist Type. Second, from Lu Xiangshan (1139-1193) to Wang Yangming (1472-1529); this line could be called Neo-Confucianism of the Idealist type. Third, thinkers from late Ming Dynasty to mid Qing Dynasty, such as Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692) Yan Yuan (1635-1704), Li Gong (1659-1733), Dai Zhen (1723-1777), etc.; this line constituted Neo-Confucianism of the Naturalist type. 2 Vincent Shen This is only a very schematic presentation of Confucianism in Chinese History, abstracted from its very rich historical, philosophical and everyday meanings for the Chinese people. Indeed, Confucianism, both as a way of life and as a system of ideas, has been developing for some 26 Centuries, and is still developing in China, East Asia and even throughout the world. It has long been spreading in Europe, North and South Americas, Africa, Australia, and other parts of the world. This is not only because of the increasing Chinese Diaspora and cultural exchange, but also from the local interest of all these areas. It is worth mentioning that, recently in China, the idea of “governance by virtue” of Jiang Zheming, former President of China, and the guiding policy of “Building Up a Harmonious Society” proposed by Hu Jingtao, current President of China, both belong to the Confucian political program. In today’s context of globalization, there is always a need to delve into the depth of Confucian thought and practice, not only for the purpose of understanding the cultures in the areas under its influence, but also for drawing resources of spiritual values that might be helpful for solving problems in today’s world. For these reasons Confucianism is always an important subject for East Asian Studies and China Studies in North America, and it is not surprising to see the recent emergence of a group of distinguished American scholars, like Robert Neville, John Berthrong and others, who call themselves “Boston Confucians”. American and Asian scholars gathered for the purpose of mutual understanding and deeper perception of what is at stake for Confucianism today, as to its method, history and fundamental values. Some highly respected and internationally renowned academic institutions organized the International Conference on “Confucianism: Retrospect and Prospect” which took place at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, September 2-3, 2005. I’m most grateful to the co-sponsors of this conference: the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, represented by Professor Andre Schmid; the University of Toronto at Scarborough, represented by Professor Kown-loi Shun; National Taiwan University’s Center for Study on East Asian Civilizations represented by Professor Chun-chieh Huang; the Department of Philosophy of Singapore University, represented by Professor Alan K. L. Chan; and the Council for Research in Philosophy and Value, Washington D.C., represented by Professor George McLean. This volume is the outcome of the synergy of this conference whose papers are dvided into two parts. Those in the first part are related to Confucian Ethics in Historical Context; those in the second part are related to Confucian Ethics in Comparative Context and in Prospect. The first part covers all major phases of the development of Confucianism. It starts with Professor Antonio Cua’s keynote speech on the virtues of Junzi. Using an analytical method and ethical theories, his paper presents a very comprehensive discussion of the virtues of Confucian paradigmatic individual, the Junzi, consisting of such interdependent Introduction 3 cardinal virtues as ren, li, and yi, and their dependent supportive or constitutive virtues. Professor Yuet-keung Lo’s paper on “Teacher-Disciple, or Friends? – An Historico-Exegetical Approach to the Analects” discusses with subtlety the concept of peng (friend/disciple) in the Analects, integrating both philological and hermeneutic considerations. Professor Johanna Liu’s presentation, “Music [yue] in Classical Confucianism: On the Recently Discovered Xing Zi Ming Chu“, unfolds the rich meaning of the Confucian philosophy of music on three levels: sounds, aesthetics and self-cultivation/personality transformation, based on her analysis of the recently discovered bamboo slips text “Xing Zi Ming Chu” (Human Nature comes from Mandate). Professor Anh Tuan Nuyen’s paper “Is Mencius a Moral Internalist?” argues, using the analytic method, that Mencius should not be considered only an internalist, for he takes into account also external factors. Professor Kim-chong Chong’s “Xunzi and the Essentialist Mode of Thinking about Human Nature”, in critically analyzing Professor Antonio Cua’s consequentialist approach to Xunzi’s theory of human nature as evil, makes it clear that Xunzi does not hold an essentialist theory of human nature. As to the period of the Dynasties Wei and Jin, a period quite often neglected by Confucian scholars, we have fortunately an excellent paper presented by Professor Alan Chan, titled “Do Sages Have Emotions?” This discusses both historically and philosophically the concepts of xin (nature) and qing (feelings) of He Yan, Wang Bi and Guo Xiang under the influence of Daoism. This unfolds the philosophical and historical meaning of the proposition “The sage is forgetful of his own feelings” till its influence on the theory of emotion of Chen Hao in the North Song Dynasty.