An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy ThissecondeditionofAnIntroductiontoChinesePhilosophypresentsa comprehensiveintroductiontokeyideasandargumentsinearlyChinese philosophy.Writteninclear,accessiblelanguage,itexploresphilosophical traditionsincludingConfucianism,Daoism,Mohism,LegalismandChinese BuddhismandhowtheyhaveshapedChinesethought.Drawingonthekey classicaltextsaswellasup-to-datescholarship,thediscussionsrangeacross ethics,metaphysicsandepistemology,whilealsobringingoutdistinctive elementsinChinesephilosophythatfallbetweenthegapsinthese disciplinarydivisions,therebychallengingsomeprevailingassumptionsof Westernphilosophy.Topicsinclude:humannature,selfhoodandagency; emotionsandbehaviour;theplaceoflanguageintheworld;knowledgeand action;andsocialandpoliticalresponsibility.Thissecondedition incorporatesnewideasandapproachesfromsomerecentlyexcavatedtexts thatchangethelandscapeofChineseintellectualhistory. KARYNL.LAIisAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversityofNew SouthWalesinSydney,Australia.HerpublicationsincludeAnIntroductionto ChinesePhilosophy(CambridgeUniversityPress,2008),LearningfromChinese Philosophies(AshgatePublishing,2006)andnumerousresearcharticlesin peer-reviewedjournals. An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy Second Edition KARYN L. LAI University of New South Wales, Australia University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia 314-321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi - 110025, India 79 Anson Road, #06-04/06, Singapore 079906 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107103986 © Karyn Lai 2017 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2017 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Names: Lai, Karyn, 1964– author. Title: An introduction to Chinese philosophy / Karyn L. Lai, University of New South Wales, Australia. Description: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2016. | Originally published: 2008. | Includes index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2016023149| ISBN 9781107103986 (hardback) | ISBN 9781107504097 (pbk.) Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, Chinese. Classifi cation: LCC B5231 .L34 2016 | DDC 181/.11–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023149 ISBN 978-1-107-10398-6 Hardback ISBN 978-1-107-50409-7 Paperback Additional resources for this publication at www.cambridge.org/9781107103986 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents Preface pageix Chronology xi 1 ChinesePhilosophy 1 Thinkers,TextsandTraditions 2 FeaturesofChinesePhilosophy 6 Self-Cultivation 6 RelationshipsandContexts 9 Harmony 11 Change 13 ThinkingPhilosophically 16 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 19 2 ConfuciusandtheAnalects 20 ReadingtheAnalects 21 Ren:Humaneness 23 RenasGeneralConcernforHumanity 24 Ren,theConfucianGoldenRule 25 RenandtheCultivationofParticularRelationships 26 RenasPracticalWisdom 27 Li:BehaviouralPropriety 28 RenandLi 30 RenIsFundamental 31 LiisFundamental 33 RenandLiareInterdependentConcepts 33 Self-CultivationandExemplaryPersonhoodinContemporary PhilosophicalDebates 34 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 39 v vi Contents 3 HumanNatureandCultivationinConfucianPhilosophy:Mencius andXunzi 41 Mencius:NurturingGoodness 42 MoralityIsNotaNaturallyGivenAspectofHumanNature 44 HumanNatureIsNotNaturallyInclinedtowardsGoodness 49 NotAllHumansAreNaturallyInclinedtowardsGoodness 53 Xunzi:ShapingHumanity 55 RegulatingNames,PractisingProprietyandTransforming HumanNature 59 TheWayofTianandtheWaysofHumanity 64 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 71 4 EarlyMohistPhilosophy 73 TheTenDoctrines 75 MaximisingCollectiveWelfare 78 WorkingwithStandards 84 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 91 5 DaoismandtheDaodejing 92 ThePhilosophyandPracticeoftheDaojia 93 Huang-LaoDaoism 94 Lao-Zhuangor“PhilosophicalDaoism” 95 DaoandDeintheDaodejing 97 Dao:RealityorCosmicVision 100 De:Potency 105 Dao:AWay 109 WuweiandZiranintheDaodejing 115 Wuwei 115 Ziran:Nature 117 Ziran:Self-So-Ness 121 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 128 6 TheMingjiaandtheLaterMohists 130 TheMingjia 133 HuiShi 134 GongsunLong 138 LaterMohistThought 144 MakingDistinctionsandRecognisingSimilarities 147 Names,PropositionsandKnowledge 150 ScientificDiscussions 155 ThePracticeofJianai:UtilitarianMorality 158 Contents vii ArgumentationinWarringStatesChina 159 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 162 7 LegalistPhilosophy 163 ThreeBasicThemes:PenalLaw,TechniqueandPower 165 Fa:StandardsandPenalLaw 166 Shu:TechniquesforManagingtheBureaucracy 169 Shi:Power 173 HanFei,the“GreatSynthesiser” 175 DebatesinLegalistPhilosophy 178 HumanNature 178 TheCommonPeople 179 BestManorBestSystem? 181 Bureaucracy 183 Secrecy,PowerandtheControlofKnowledge 185 GovernmentandHumanWell-Being 186 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 187 8 TheZhuangzi 188 Zhuangzi’sScepticism 193 EpistemologicalQuestions 198 CultivationandMastery 207 Spirituality 208 ParticipationinPoliticalLife 213 Mastery 216 TheImplicationsofthePhilosophyoftheZhuangzi 221 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 223 9 TheYijingandItsPlaceinChinesePhilosophy 224 SynthesisandtheIntellectualFoundationsofEmpire 233 CorrelativeThinking 238 Yin-yang,WuxingandQi 239 TheNatural,ReligiousandHumanWorlds 241 TheSpiritoftheYijing 247 ThePrimacyofObservation 247 AHolistic,All-EncompassingPerspective 248 ADialecticalandComplementaryApproachtoDualisms 250 CorrelativeThinkingandResonance 252 AnInterpretiveApproachtotheMeaningsoftheHexagramsand Correspondences 253 viii Contents TimelinessandPracticalWisdom 255 TheImpactoftheYijing 261 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 262 10 ChineseBuddhism 265 BasicTenetsofIndianBuddhistThought 266 TheEarlyPeriodofBuddhisminChina 272 ChineseBuddhistDoctrines 281 SanLun(ThreeTreatise)Buddhism 283 WeiShi(Consciousness-Only)Buddhism 284 TianTai(HeavenlyTerrace)Buddhism 286 HuaYan(FlowerGarland)Buddhism 289 ChanBuddhism 294 ChineseBuddhistPhilosophy 301 SuggestionsforFurtherReading 303 Glossary 305 Bibliography 321 Index 349 Preface ThisbookcoversmajorphilosophicaltraditionsinearlyChinesephilosophy, focusingespeciallyonitsfoundationalperiod,priorto200BCE.Itdiscusses on concepts, themes, reasoning and argumentative methods in Chinese philosophy, introducing readers to fundamental ideas in the different trad- itions, debates among thinkers, cross-influences between traditions, as well as interpretive theories about these ideas, including views expressed in contemporary scholarship. The chapters are organised partly on the basis ofthematiccoherenceandcontinuityandlooselyaccordingtochronological order. A Chronology is provided at the outset, placing key thinkers in rela- tion to one another. This list is selective and brief, situating only those thinkers and periods that are discussed in the book. The at-a-glance table shouldhelpthereaderlocatethinkersintheirhistoricalcontextinrelation tootherthinkers.Datesarealsoincludedinthetextinplaceswheretheyare integraltothespecificpointbeingmade. In a number of chapters, a section discussing textual matters is included. These cover, for example, details of different versions of texts, connections betweentextandthinker,orthedatingoftexts,whererelevant.Someofthis material is quite technical, though readers should find the information helpfulinunderstandinghowChineseintellectualhistoryshapesourgrasp ofChinesephilosophy. For the sake of consistency, within citations, English transliterations of Chinese concepts, and names of thinkers and texts, have been modified to thestandardPinyinsystem.However,thenamesofmodernandcontempor- ary scholars (e.g. Fung, Yu-lan) have been retained so as not to confuse bibliographic data. A short list of Suggestions for Further Reading, of pri- maryandsecondarysources,isprovidedattheendofeachchapter.Amore ix