Ancient Chinese thinkers. Briefly about the philosophy of ancient China
In historical and philosophical science today there is no generally accepted point of view on the periodization of the development of Chinese philosophy. We will consider its content in accordance mainly with chronological periods, distinguished on the basis of ruling dynasties, as many authors do.
The Origin of Chinese Philosophy. Chinese philosophy originates and develops during the period of dynasties Shan(XVIII - XII centuries BC) and Zhou(XI - III centuries BC). Its philosophy is rooted in mythological thinking. Already within the framework of mythology, the highest principle governing the world order stands out. During the Shang Dynasty, such a higher principle, the deity who created everything that exists, was considered shandy(Supreme Emperor), and during the Zhou Dynasty the idea of “ by the will of Heaven"as about the omnipotent first principle and first cause of all things.
Simultaneously with the spread of the religious worldview, philosophical thinking began to emerge and develop. Already during the Shang Dynasty, ideas about dark and light beginnings. Dark and light began to be viewed as properties inherent in objects, the opposition of which causes development and changes in things and processes. These views were first recorded in inscriptions on fortune-telling books and bones, in which a sunny day was called bright, and a cloudy day - not bright.
These and similar ideas, as they develop, begin to be filled with deeper meaning and broader content. The light principle began to express not only the “bright day”, but also the properties of the sky, sun, hardness, strength, man, etc., and the dark beginning - the properties of the earth, moon, night, cold, softness, weakness, woman, etc. .d. Gradually, ideas about dark and light acquire abstract meaning.
"Book of Changes". The origins of the philosophy of Ancient China should be sought in the first, and still semi-mythical monuments of Chinese writing, especially the famous “Book of Changes” (“I Ching”), comments on which laid the foundation for the philosophy of China.
“The Book of Changes” is one of the main sources that contains the basic principles for the development of philosophical thinking in China. Its texts were created at different times (XII-VI centuries BC). In the “Book of Changes” one can trace the transition from a mythological reflection of the world to its philosophical understanding. The text of this book reflects the ancient myths of China about two principles (spirits) - Yin and Yang, which here acquire a conceptual form.
Ian- this is a masculine, bright and active principle (spirit). It rules the sky. Yin is the feminine, dark and passive principle. It rules the earth. In this case, we are not talking about a dualistic, but rather a dialectical connection between them, because Yang and Yin can not act in isolation from each other, but only in interaction, in combining their forces. The alternation of Yang and Yin is called way (tao) which all things pass through. "Book of Changes" and traces Tao- the way of things and the way of the world in motion. One of the main tasks of a person is to understand his place in the world, “to unite his strength with heaven and earth.”
Thus, already in the “Book of Changes” the naive dialectic of Chinese philosophical thought is set out, which is associated with the affirmation of the contradictory nature of the world, mutual attraction and mutual alienation of light and dark, development and change of the world.
Philosophy in the Chunqiu – Zhanguo period. Period Chunqiu(VIII-V centuries BC) - Zhanguo(V – III centuries BC) is a time of major changes in China. During this period, a transition to a feudal society took place, which could not help but have an impact on all aspects of life, including the worldview of people. In China, a situation arose called " rivalry between all schools" and gave a powerful impetus to the development of philosophical thought. Among these schools, the main six are:
school of service people (Confucians);
school of Mohists (followers of Mo Tzu);
school of lawyers (legists); school of nominalists (school of names);
school of supporters of yin and yang (natural philosophers).
Particularly notable among these schools are Confucianism And Taoism Let us dwell on the main provisions of the main schools.
Confucianism. This is one of the most important areas of development of Chinese philosophy, covering the periods of ancient and medieval Chinese society. The founder of this direction was Confucius(551 - 479 BC). In literature he is often called Kunzi, which means teacher Kun. And this is no coincidence; already at the age of just over 20 he became famous as the most famous teacher in China. The main source of his teaching is the book “ Lun Yu» (« Conversations and judgments") - statements and conversations with students recorded by his followers.
At the center of his teaching is Human, his mental and moral development and behavior. Concerned about the decomposition of his contemporary society and the decline of morals, Confucius paid main attention to issues of education ideal, noble person(jun-tzu), which should be carried out in a spirit of respect for surrounding people and society. It should include the development of appropriate rules of behavior and the obligation for each person to fulfill his functions, and the person himself is considered by Confucius as a functional element of society, as a human function subordinate to society.
The noble husband has his antipode - the so-called “low man” (xiao ren). Such is the one who in his actions is guided only by considerations of personal gain, who looks for accomplices everywhere, but does not respect either them or himself, who seeks favors, and having received what he wants, forgets about gratitude. When Teacher Kun contrasts a noble man with a low man, his words speak for themselves:
A noble husband lives in harmony with everyone. A low person seeks his own kind.
A noble husband is impartial and does not tolerate groupism. The low man loves to push people together and form cliques.
A noble husband endures adversity with fortitude. A lowly man in trouble blossoms.
A noble man awaits the commands of Heaven with dignity. The low man hopes for good luck.
A noble husband helps people see the good in themselves and does not teach people to see the bad in themselves. But a short person does the opposite.
A noble husband is serene in his soul. A low person is always preoccupied.
What a noble man seeks is found within himself. What the low person seeks is found in others.
The main quality of a noble husband, brought up by ritual and music, Confucius called “humanity” (zhen). Hieroglyph zhen consists of the signs “man” and “two”, that is, it denoted relationships between people, something interhuman, which in the Chinese tradition was considered the true existence of a person. In Conversations and Judgments, humanity is discussed quite often, although the Teacher himself, according to the testimony of his students, spoke about it reluctantly. And when he spoke, he defined it differently each time. After all, each case requires its own word and deed. To be humane for Confucius just means to be different with different people. Once, to the question: “What is humanity,” the Teacher answered: “to love people.” This answer concerns the essence of the moral ideal. And if we want to know what a person with humanity should be like, then we will have to turn to another explanation: “A person endowed with humanity has five qualities: he is courteous, generous, honest, diligent and kind. He who is courteous in his manners will avoid insults. He who is generous will attract people to him. One who is honest will enjoy the trust of others. He who is diligent will achieve success. He who is good will be able to use people in his service.” Some of Confucius’s judgments emphasize the inextricable connection of “humanity” with ritual, and once the Teacher explained the meaning of “humanity” in the words of his famous maxim, which resembles the Gospel commandment: “Do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself.”
The basis of all social and moral norms of behavior and education for Confucius is religious ritual. Essentially, the entire text of Lun Yu is his description. It can be said that in ritual Confucius discovered a new type of wisdom and philosophy. The core of wisdom is the observance of ritual, and the essence of philosophy is its correct explanation and understanding. And here, as in ancient Indian philosophy, the difference between the understanding of philosophy itself and the Western European tradition is very clearly revealed.
In accordance with the importance of religious ritual for a person, Confucius considered the impoverishment of religious feelings and non-observance of ritual to be the cause of unrest in society. He considered the unifying universal principle of all people and their unity with the cosmos to be a respectful attitude towards Heaven, a feeling of divine unity. And God was for him Heaven, as a sacred moral element that governs the whole world. The king himself had the title “Son of Heaven” and was seen as a mediator between Heaven and people. According to Confucius, the manifestation of this divine moral power on earth is a ritual, which initially had a sacred character.
The manifestation of ren are all the moral qualities of a person, but the basis of ren is xiao, which occupies a special place among other categories. Xiao means filial piety, respect for parents and elders. Xiao- and the most effective method of governing the country, which was considered by Confucius as a big family. Therefore, the relationship between the ruler and the subject should, Confucius believes, be built similar to the relationship between father and son, older brother and younger.
The concept of “Junzi” is also of great importance in educating zheng ming" - "name corrections" Its essence is that all things must be brought into accordance with their names.
Therefore, government activity, for example, should begin with the “correction of names,” and the noble man “first sees the deed in the word, and acts after what is said.”
If “the names are wrong, the speech is inconsistent; when speech is contradictory, things do not succeed.” It is important to note that Confucius did not separate word and deed, but considered them in unity. It is enough to quote his famous aphorism: “I listen to people’s words and look at their actions.”
You should also pay attention to the concept “ golden mean» Confucius. “The path of the golden mean” is one of the main elements of his ideology and the most important principle of virtue, for “the golden mean, as a virtuous principle, is the highest principle.” And it must be used in governing the people to mitigate contradictions, without allowing either “excess” or “lag.” Here the thinker is actually talking about affirming the need for compromise in social management.
The ideas of Confucius played a major role in the development of all aspects of the life of Chinese society, including in the formation of its philosophical worldview. He himself became an object of worship, and in 1503 he was canonized. Philosophers who support and develop the teachings of Confucius are called Confucians, and the general direction is Confucianism. After the death of Confucius, Confucianism split into a number of schools. The most significant of which were: the idealist school Mencius(about 372 - 289 BC) and the materialist school Xunzi(about 313 -238 BC). However, Confucianism remained the dominant ideology in China until the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Taoism(from Chinese Tao Jia - school of Tao). Along with Confucianism, Taoism is the most important philosophical school in China, which arose in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. Its founder is considered to be Lao Tzu (VI – V centuries BC)
At the center of Taoist teaching is the category Tao(literally - path, road). Tao is the invisible universal natural law of nature, human society, behavior and thinking of an individual. Tao is inseparable from the material world and governs it. It is no coincidence that Tao is sometimes compared to logos. ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus.
The doctrine of Tao reveals elements of the original dialectic: Tao is empty and at the same time inexhaustible; it is inactive, but thereby does everything; rests and moves at the same time; it is a beginning for itself, but it has neither beginning nor end, etc. Knowledge of Tao is identical to knowledge of the universal, internal law of self-development of nature and its self-organization. In addition, knowledge of Tao presupposes the ability to comply with this law.
In Taoism, everyone needs to abide by the principle of following the Tao as the universal law of the spontaneous arising and disappearing of the entire universe. One of the main categories of Taoism is connected with this - inaction, or inaction. While observing the law of Tao, a person can remain inactive. Lao Tzu therefore denies any effort by both the individual and society in relation to nature, for any tension leads to disharmony and increasing contradictions between man and the world. And those who seek to manipulate the world are doomed to failure and death. The main principle of personal behavior is maintaining the “measure of things.” Therefore, non-action ( wu wei) and is one of the main and central ideas of Taoism, it is this that leads to happiness, prosperity and complete freedom.
From here, a wise ruler follows the Tao, without doing anything to rule the country, and then the people prosper, and order and harmony naturally reign in society. In Tao, everyone is equal - noble and slave, ugly and handsome, rich and poor, etc. Therefore, the sage looks equally at both one and the other. He strives to unite with eternity and does not regret either life or death, for he understands their inevitability, that is, he looks at the world as if from the outside, detached and detached. As can be seen, this point of view is the opposite of the concept of "junzi" in Confucianism, in which a "noble man" should engage in self-improvement and take part in governing others.
Taoism, like Confucianism, had a significant influence on the further development of culture and philosophy in China.
Also in the history of philosophy of Ancient China played an important role Mohism And legalism.
Mohism(Mohist school) - got its name from its founder Mo Tzu(Mo Di) (about 475 - 395 BC). In his early years, Mo Tzu was a follower of Confucius, but then he broke with his school and founded a new, opposite direction - Mohism. At one time, Mo Tzu enjoyed the same fame as Confucius; they said about both: “famous scholars Kun and Mo.” Mohism spread to China in the 5th - 3rd centuries. BC e. This school was like a strictly structured paramilitary organization whose members strictly followed the orders of its head.
The titles of the chapters of the treatise “Mo Tzu” (“Treatise of Teacher Mo”) reflect the main provisions of the philosopher’s concept: “veneration of wisdom”, “honor of unity”, “universal love”, “on saving in expenses”, “denial of music and entertainment”, “denial of the will of Heaven”, etc. The main ideas of Mozi's philosophy are universal love, duty, prosperity and mutual benefit (benefit). According to his teachings, universality, love and humanity should be obligatory for all people in the state and everyone should be concerned about mutual benefits. He claims the unity of philanthropy and duty with the benefits they bring and thereby diverges from the Confucians. Considering benefit as the content and goal of philanthropy and duty, Mo Tzu develops the concept of utilitarianism, from which the teachings of Confucius were free. For the latter, it was duty and humanity that came first.
Mo-tzu paid the main attention to social ethics, which, through strict organization, is associated with the despotic power of the head of state. Speaking against Confucius, he argued that theorizing is a useless activity, the main thing is pragmatic expediency, labor activity.
Legalism. This school arose and took shape in the VI - II centuries. BC e. Legalism (from Lat. lex - gender from legis- law) is the teaching of the school of lawyers, which reveals ethical-political concept about the management of man, society and the state. Its most prominent representatives Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, Shen Dao, Han Fei. Its most prominent representative is Han Fei, who completed the construction of a theoretical system of legalism.
The formation of legalism took place in a sharp struggle with early Confucianism. Although both schools sought to create a powerful, well-governed state, they substantiated the principles and methods of its construction in different ways. Confucianism, as is known, proceeded from the moral qualities of people and emphasized the role and significance of ritual, moral norms in establishing order in the country and principles of governance. The legalists, on the contrary, proceeded from laws, arguing that politics is incompatible with morality. In their opinion, the ruler should exercise his main influence on the masses through rewards and punishments. In this case, punishment plays the main role. Management of the state and its development should be carried out not on the basis of good wishes, but by developing agriculture, strengthening the army and at the same time fooling the people.
The concept of the state created by the legalists was the theory of the despotic state. Everyone must be equal before the law, except the ruler himself, who is the only creator of laws. It was legalism that played a decisive role in the formation of the imperial-bureaucratic system of government in China, which lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. Instead of the traditional principle of inheritance of positions, they proposed a systematic renewal of the state apparatus by appointing officials to positions, equal opportunities for promotion to administrative posts, unification of the thinking of officials, and their personal responsibility.
Introduction
1. Thinkers of Ancient China
Three Greatest Thinkers of Ancient China
2.1Lao Tzu
2 Confucius
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
China is a country of ancient history, culture, and philosophy.
Ancient China arose on the basis of Neolithic cultures that developed in the 5-3 millennia BC. in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The Yellow River basin became the main territory for the formation of the ancient civilization of China, which developed for a long time in conditions of relative isolation. Only from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. The process of expanding the territory begins in a southern direction, first to the Yangtze basin area, and then further to the south.
At the end of our era, the state of Ancient China extended far beyond the Yellow River basin, although the northern border of the ethnic territory of the ancient Chinese remained almost unchanged.
Ancient Chinese class society and statehood formed somewhat later than the ancient civilizations of Ancient Western Asia, but nevertheless, after their emergence, they began to develop at a fairly rapid pace and high forms of economic, political and cultural life were created in Ancient China, which led to the formation of the original socio-political and cultural system.
Chinese philosophy is part of Eastern philosophy. Its influence on the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan is equivalent to the influence of ancient Greek philosophy on Europe. Thus, the relevance of the topic lies in the fact that the thinkers of Ancient China left their mark on history, whose experience is currently being used.
The purpose of this work: to study the greatest thinkers of Ancient China and characterize the main provisions of their teachings.
. Thinkers of Ancient China
China's religions have never existed in the form of a rigidly centralized "church." The traditional religion of ancient China was a mixture of local beliefs and ceremonies, united into a single whole by the universal theoretical constructs of pundits.
However, the most popular among both the educated and the peasantry were the three great schools of thought, often called the three religions of China: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. All these teachings are more philosophical than religious, in contrast to ancient Indian philosophy, which has always been closely connected with the religious tradition.
Ancient Chinese philosophy arose approximately in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The ideas that formed the basis of philosophy were formed in monuments of the ancient Chinese literary tradition such as “Shu Jing” (“Book of Documentary Writings”), “Shi Jing” (“Book of Poems”), “I Ching” (“Book of Changes”).
Ancient Chinese philosophy is characterized by features that are not characteristic of other Eastern philosophical traditions. It must be said that the ancient Chinese had no idea about a transcendental God, about the creation of the world by God out of nothing, and had no idea about the dualism of the ideal and material principles of the world. In Ancient China, the traditional ideas for the West, India, and the Middle East did not develop about the soul as a kind of immaterial substance that separates from the body after death. Although ideas about the spirits of ancestors existed.
The Chinese worldview is based on ideas about qi. Qi is understood as a kind of vital energy that permeates absolutely everything in the world. Everything in the world is a transformation of Qi.
Qi is a kind of quasi-material substance that cannot be defined only as material or spiritual.
Matter and spirit are inseparable, they are consubstantial and interreducible, that is, spirit and matter are in a state of constant mutual transition.
At the core of existence is the Primordial Qi (Limitless, Chaos, Unity), which is polarized into two parts - yang (positive) and yin (negative). Yang and Yin are mutually transitive. Their transition constitutes the great Tao-path.
The negative potentially contains the positive and vice versa. Thus, Yang power reaches its limit and turns into Yin and vice versa. This position is called the Great Limit and is depicted graphically as a “Monad”.
Considering everything that exists as a unity of opposite principles, Chinese thinkers explained the endless process of movement by their dialectical interaction. Filling the Universe, generating and preserving life, these primary substances or forces determine the essence of the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Soil.
Actually, these ideas underlie ancient Chinese philosophy and are supported by all Chinese thinkers, with some differences in interpretation.
Differences between Chinese philosophy and Western philosophy: integral (holic) perception instead of analytical and cyclical processes instead of their static, linear nature. The three greatest thinkers of Ancient China that we will focus on in the next chapter are:
Lao Tzu- covered with an aura of mystery;
Confucius- revered by everyone;
Mo Tzu- now little known, who, however, more than four centuries before the birth of Christ formulated the concept of universal love.
Getting to know the views of these thinkers is made easier by the fact that there are three texts directly related to their names.
2. Three Greatest Thinkers of Ancient China
.1 Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu - a nickname meaning "old teacher" - is the great sage of Ancient China who laid the foundations of Taoism - a direction of Chinese thought that has survived to this day. Approximately, the life of Lao Tzu dates back to the 7th-6th centuries BC. He is considered the author of the main treatise of Taoism, “Tao Te Ching,” which became the most popular test of ancient Chinese philosophy in the West.
Little is known about the life of this sage and the authenticity of the available information is often criticized by scientists. But it is known that he was the custodian of the imperial archive of the Zhou court - the greatest book depository of Ancient China. Therefore, Lao Tzu had free access to various ancient and contemporary texts, which allowed him to develop his own teaching.
The fame of this sage spread throughout the Celestial Empire, so when he decided to leave the kingdom of Zhou, he was stopped at an outpost and asked to leave his teachings in written form for his kingdom. Lao Tzu compiled the treatise “Tao Te Ching”, which translates as “The Canon of the Path and Grace”. The entire treatise talks about the category of Tao.
Tao means “The Way” in Chinese. According to Lao Tzu, Tao lies at the basis of the world and the world realizes Tao. Everything in the world is Tao. Tao is inexpressible, it can be comprehended, but not verbally. Lao Tzu wrote: “The Tao that can be expressed in words is not the permanent Tao.” The doctrine of Tao is closely related to the doctrine of the mutual transition of opposites.
Lao Tzu, who lived earlier than two other great Chinese thinkers (VI-V centuries BC), is not easy to understand not only because his basic concept of “Tao” is very ambiguous: it is both “the main thing over many things” and “mother earth and sky”, “the fundamental principle of the world”, and “root”, and “path”; but also because in comprehending this concept we do not have the opportunity (as, for example, in ancient Indian and other cultures) to rely on any mythological images that would facilitate assimilation. Tao is as vague in Lao Tzu as the concept of Heaven is in all Chinese culture.
Tao is the source of all things and the basis for the functioning of existence. One of the definitions of Tao is “root.” The root is underground, it is not visible, but it exists before the plant that emerges from it. The invisible Tao, from which the whole world is produced, is also primary.
Tao is also understood as a natural law of the development of nature. The main meaning of the hieroglyph “dao” is “the road along which people walk.” Tao is the path that people follow in this life, and not just something outside it. A person who does not know the path is doomed to error, he is lost.
Tao can also be interpreted as unity with nature through subordination to the same laws. “The path of a noble man begins among men and women, but his deepest principles exist in nature.” Since this universal law exists, there is no need for any moral law - either in the natural law of karma or in the artificial law of human society.
Ecologists point to the closeness of Taoism to the emerging new understanding of nature. Lao Tzu advises adapting to natural cycles, points to self-movement in nature and the importance of balance, and perhaps the concept of “Tao” is a prototype of modern ideas about cosmic information belts.
Tao is sought within oneself. “He who knows himself can find out [the essence of things], and he who knows people is able to do things.” To know the Tao, you need to free yourself from your own passions. He who knows the Tao achieves “natural balance” because he brings all opposites into harmony and achieves self-satisfaction.
Tao desires nothing and strives for nothing. People should do the same. Everything natural happens as if by itself, without any special effort of the individual. The natural course is contrasted with the artificial activity of a person pursuing his own selfish, selfish goals. Such activity is reprehensible, therefore the main principle of Lao Tzu is not action (wu wei) - “non-interference”, “non-resistance”. Wuwei is not passivity, but rather non-resistance to the natural course of events and activity in accordance with it. This is a principle by following which a person maintains his own integrity, while at the same time gaining unity with existence. This is the path to realizing one’s own Tao, which cannot be different from the universal Tao. Finding one’s own Tao is the goal of every Taoist and should be the goal of every person, but this is difficult to achieve and requires a lot of effort, although at the same time it takes away from any strain of strength.
To better understand the teachings of Lao Tzu, it is necessary to immerse yourself in reading his treatise and try to understand it at an internal intuitive level, and not at the level of logical-discursive thinking, which our Western mind always turns to.
.2 Confucius
Taoism thinker Confucius philosophical
A younger contemporary of Lao Tzu, Confucius or Kong Tzu “Master Kun” (c. 551 - c. 479 BC) pays the traditional Chinese cultural tribute to Heaven as the creator of all things and calls for unquestioningly following fate, but pays the main attention to conscious design social connections necessary for the normal functioning of society. Confucius is the founder of the doctrine known as Confucianism.
“Teacher Kun” was born into a poor family, was left an orphan early and experienced poverty, although, according to legend, his family was aristocratic. The men of this family were either officials or military men. His father was already at an advanced age (70 years old) when he married a young girl (16 years old), so it is not surprising that when Confucius, or Qiu as he was called in the family, was 3 years old, his father passed away.
From a young age, Qiu was distinguished by his prudence and desire to learn. When he was seven years old, his mother sent him to a public school, where even then he amazed the teachers with his intelligence and wisdom. After training, Qiu entered the civil service. At first he was a sales officer overseeing the freshness of market products. His next job was as an inspector of arable fields, forests and herds. At this time, the future teacher Kun is still engaged in science and improves his ability to read and interpret ancient tests. Also at the age of 19, Qiu marries a girl from a noble family. He has a son and a daughter, but family life did not bring happiness to Confucius. The service began to bring Confucius popularity among officials and they began to talk about him as a very capable young man and it seemed that a new promotion was waiting for him, but his mother suddenly died. Confucius, faithfully fulfilling traditions, was forced to leave his service and observe three years of mourning.
Afterwards he returns to the work of a servant, but he already has students who have learned about the wisdom and knowledge of the great traditions of Confucius. At the age of 44, he took the high post of governor of the city of Zhongdu. The number of students grew. He traveled a lot and everywhere he found people willing to share his wisdom. After long travels, Confucius returned to his homeland, and he spent the last years of his life at home, surrounded by numerous students.
Confucius's main work, Lun Yu (Conversations and Sayings), was recorded by his students and enjoyed such popularity throughout the subsequent history of China that it was even forced to be memorized in schools. It begins with a phrase that almost word for word coincides with one that is well known to us: “Learn and repeat what you have learned from time to time.”
The activity of Confucius falls on a difficult period for Chinese society of transition from one formation - slave-owning, to another - feudal, and at this time it was especially important to prevent the collapse of social foundations. Confucius and Lao Tzu took different paths to this goal.
The primacy of morality, preached by Confucius, was determined by the desire of the Chinese spirit for stability, tranquility and peace. The teachings of Confucius are devoted to how to make the state happy through the growth of morality, first of all, of the upper strata of society, and then of the lower ones. “If you lead the people through laws and maintain order through punishments, the people will strive to evade punishment and will not feel shame. If you lead the people through virtue and maintain order through rituals, the people will know shame and they will correct themselves.” The moral model for Confucius is a noble husband: devoted, sincere, faithful, fair. The opposite of a noble husband is a low man.
The desire for realism led Confucius to follow the rule “ golden mean"- avoiding extremes in activity and behavior. "A principle such as the 'golden mean' is the highest principle." The concept of the middle is closely related to the concept of harmony. A noble husband “... strictly adheres to the middle and does not lean in either direction. This is where true strength lies! When order reigns in the state, he does not abandon the behavior that he had before... When there is no order in the state, he does not change his principles until his death.” Greek philosophers responded the same way. But the noble man is not reckless. When order reigns in the state, his words contribute to prosperity; when there is no order in the state, its silence helps it preserve itself.
Of great importance both in the history of China and in the teachings of Confucius is the adherence to certain, once and for all established rules and ceremonies. “The use of ritual is valuable because it brings people to agreement. Ritual recognizes only those actions that are sanctified and verified by tradition. Reverence without ritual leads to fussiness; caution without ritual leads to timidity; courage without ritual leads to turmoil; directness without ritual leads to rudeness.” The purpose of the ritual is to achieve not only social harmony within, but also harmony with nature. “The ritual is based on the constancy of the movement of the sky, the order of phenomena on earth and the behavior of the people. Since heavenly and earthly phenomena occur regularly, then the people take them as a model, imitating the clarity of heavenly phenomena, and are consistent with the nature of earthly phenomena... But if this is abused, then everything will get confused and the people will lose their natural qualities. Therefore, a ritual was created to support these natural qualities.”
Ritual, in a picturesque expression, “is the beauty of duty.” What is a person's debt? The father must show parental feelings, and the son must show respect; the elder brother - kindness, and the younger - friendliness, the husband - justice, and the wife - obedience, the elders - mercy, the younger - obedience, the sovereign - philanthropy, and the subjects - devotion. These ten qualities are called human duty.
Confucius proclaimed a principle that runs like a red thread through the entire history of ethics: “Do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself.” He was not the first to formulate this moral maxim, which was later called the “golden rule of ethics.” It is found in many ancient cultures, and then among modern philosophers. But this saying expresses the essence of the basic concepts of Confucius - philanthropy, humanity.
We find in Confucius many other thoughts regarding the rules of community life. Don’t be sad that people don’t know you, but be sad that you don’t know people.” “Do not enter into the affairs of another when you are not in his place.” “I listen to people’s words and look at their actions.”
Understanding the importance of knowledge, Confucius warned against an exaggerated idea of one's own knowledge: “When you know something, consider that you know; Without knowing, consider that you don’t know - this is the correct attitude towards knowledge.” He emphasized the importance of combining learning with reflection: “Learning without thought is in vain, thought without learning is dangerous.”
The similarity between Lao Tzu and Confucius is that both of them, in accordance with the archetype of Chinese thought, sought permanence, but Lao Tzu found it not in action, but Confucius found it in permanence of activity - ritual. The call for limiting needs was also common.
The difference between them is what they considered more important. But Lao Tzu also wrote about philanthropy, and Confucius said: “If you know the right path in the morning, you can die in the evening.”
.3 Mo Tzu
Mo Tzu (Mo Di) - the founder of the teachings and school of the Mohists, identified wisdom and virtue, and with his preaching of love he was close to Christ.
The years of Mozi's life are approximately 479 - 381. BC. He was born in the kingdom of Lu and belonged to the "Xia", that is, wandering warriors or knights. "Xia" were often recruited not only from the impoverished houses of the nobility, but also from the lower strata of the population. Mo Tzu was initially an admirer of Confucianism, but then moved away from it and created the first oppositional teaching. The critical attitude towards Confucianism was due to dissatisfaction with the existing traditional and rather burdensome system of rules of behavior and ritual. Compliance with all the rules of the ritual often required not only internal, but also external efforts. The ritual took a lot of time and sometimes forced one to spend a lot of money on its exact observance. As a result, Mo Tzu comes to the conclusion that ritual and music are a luxury inaccessible to the lower strata or the impoverished nobility, and therefore require abolition.
Mo Tzu and his followers organized a strictly disciplined organization that was even capable of conducting military operations. Mo Tzu was “perfectly wise” in the eyes of his disciples.
Mo Di preached the principle of universal love and the principle of mutual benefit. Mo Tzu formulated the principle of universal love in a clear form, contrasting love that “knows no differences but the degree of kinship” with separate, egoistic love, that each person should love another as the closest, for example, like his father or mother. Note that love (in the understanding of Mo Tzu) concerns relationships between people, and not towards God, as in Christianity.
The principle of mutual benefit suggested that everyone should share their sorrows and joys, as well as poverty and wealth with everyone, then all people would be equal. These principles were implemented within the organization created by Mo Di.
Lao Tzu and Confucius emphasized the importance of the will of Heaven as a higher power. According to Mo Tzu, the events of our life do not depend on the zero of Heaven, but on the efforts made by man. However, Heaven has thoughts and desires. “To follow the thoughts of Heaven means to follow universal mutual love, mutual benefit of people, and this will certainly be rewarded. Speaking against the thoughts of Heaven sows mutual hatred, encourages them to do harm to each other, and this will certainly entail punishment.” The authors of “The History of Chinese Philosophy” correctly write that Mo Tzu used the authority of Heaven as an ideological weapon to justify the truth of his views. Marx also subsequently used the idea of objective laws of social development.
Like all the great utopians, Mozi created his own concept of an ideal state and even an idea of three successive phases of social development: from the era of “disorder and unrest” through the era of “great prosperity” to a society of “great unity.” But not all people want a transition from disorder and unrest to prosperity and unity.
Mozi's views were very popular in IV-III centuries BC, but then the realism of Confucius still won in the practical soul of the Chinese. After the death of Mo Di, at the end of the 4th century BC. The Mo Di school undergoes a disintegration into two or three organizations. In the second half of the 3rd century BC. There was a practical and theoretical collapse of the organization and teachings of Mo Di, after which it was no longer able to recover, and in the future this teaching existed only as the spiritual heritage of Ancient China.
The teachings of Confucius are also aimed at an ideal, but the ideal of moral self-improvement. Mo Tzu was a social utopian and wanted the forced introduction of universal equality. Confucius took his place between Lao Tzu, with his actions, and Mo Tzu, with his violence; and his concept turned out to be the “golden mean” between passivity and extremism.
Conclusion
The most prominent philosophers of Ancient China, who largely determined its problems and development for centuries to come, are Lao Tzu (second half of the 6th - first half of the 5th century BC) and Confucius (Kung Fu-tzu, 551-479 BC). BC), as well as other thinkers, and primarily the philosophical heritage of Mo Tzu. These teachings give a fairly objective idea of the philosophical quests of ancient Chinese thinkers.
Lao Tzu is an ancient Chinese philosopher of the 6th-4th centuries BC, one of the founders of the teachings of Taoism, the author of the treatise “Tao Te Ching” (“Canon of the Way and Grace”). The central idea of Lao Tzu's philosophy was the idea of two principles - Tao and De. The word "Tao" literally means "way"; in this philosophical system it received a much broader metaphysical content. “Tao” means both the essence of things and the total existence of the universe. The very concept of “Tao” can also be interpreted materialistically: Tao is nature, the objective world.
Confucius is an ancient thinker and philosopher of China. His teachings had a profound influence on life in China and East Asia, becoming the basis of the philosophical system known as Confucianism. Although Confucianism is often called a religion, it does not have the institution of a church and is not concerned with theological issues. Confucian ethics is not religious. The teachings of Confucius concerned mainly social and ethical problems. The ideal of Confucianism is the creation of a harmonious society according to the ancient model, in which every individual has his own function. A harmonious society is built on the idea of devotion, aimed at preserving the harmony of this society itself. Confucius formulated the golden rule of ethics: “Do not do to a person what you do not wish for yourself.”
Mo Tzu is an ancient Chinese philosopher who developed the doctrine of universal love. The religious form of this teaching - Moism - for several centuries competed in popularity with Confucianism.
So, we can rightfully say that Laozi, Confucius and Mozi, with their philosophical creativity, laid a solid foundation for the development of Chinese philosophy for many centuries to come.
Bibliography
1.Gorelov A.A. Fundamentals of philosophy: textbook. allowance. - M.: Academy, 2008. - 256 p.
2.History of Chinese philosophy / Ed. M.L. Titarenko. - M.: Progress, 1989.- 552 p.
3.Lukyanov A.E. Lao Tzu and Confucius: Philosophy of Tao. - M.: Eastern literature, 2001. - 384 p.
.Rykov S. Yu. The doctrine of knowledge among the late Mohists // Society and state in China: XXXIX scientific conference / Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - M. - 2009. - P.237-255.
.Shevchuk D.A. Philosophy: lecture notes. - M.: Eksmo, 2008. - 344 p.
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The formation of ancient Chinese philosophy, like ancient Indian philosophy, is associated with the breakdown of traditional communal relations caused by economic progress, the emergence of money and private property, the growth of scientific knowledge, primarily in the field of astronomy, mathematics and medicine, which created fertile ground for spiritual
change. It is noteworthy that in China, the first “oppositionists” were the ascetic wandering sages, who prepared the onset of the “golden age” of Chinese philosophy in the era of “Zhang Guo” (“warring states”). Although individual philosophical ideas can be found in even more ancient cultural monuments, such as the Upanishads and partly the Rigveda in India, and in China the Shi Jing (Canon of Poems) and the I Ching (Book of Changes), philosophical schools they were formed here at the same time - approximately in the 6th century. BC. Moreover, in both regions, philosophy, which developed anonymously for quite a long time, now becomes author's, associated with the names of Gautama-Buddha, the founder of Jainism, Mahavira, the first Chinese philosopher - Confucius, the Taoist sage - Lao Tzu, etc.
If in India numerous philosophical schools were in one way or another correlated with Vedism, then in China - with Confucian orthodoxy. True, in India, as noted above, the delimitation into separate schools did not lead to official recognition of the priority of any one of the philosophical directions, while in China Confucianism in the 2nd century. BC. achieved the state status of ideology, managing to maintain it until modern times. Along with Confucianism, the most influential in the rivalry of the “hundred schools” were Taoism, Mohism and Legalism.
Ancient Chinese philosophy also has other distinctive features:
A specific feature of Chinese philosophy was the principle of viewing the world (nature, man and his society) as a single universe, all elements of which are interconnected and are in dynamic balance.
Practicality, focus not on searching and developing an ideal in accordance with which reality should be changed, but on maintaining reality as it is. Hence the absence of any serious appeals (from the Latin appellation - appeal) to the supernatural, basing it on a completely achievable ideal of a social, ethical and political system. This ideal, of course, is illuminated by the blessing of Heaven, but nothing impossible was required to bring it into reality. All theories should simply focus the people on maintaining order. Therefore, Chinese written monuments discuss in great detail the methods of governing the state and the methods of human self-improvement.
The specificity of ancient Chinese philosophical thought is also due to the use of figurative and symbolic signs - hieroglyphs - in written speech. Pictographic (from Latin pictus - drawn and Greek grapho - writing; pictorial) writing developed an aesthetic and philological attitude to the text. This inevitably affected the substantive features of ideas about the world and man, and the culture of thinking of ancient Chinese philosophers in general.
Lack of conceptual apparatus, abstract speculation of a naturalistic and ideological order. Hence the weak connection with science, the underdevelopment of logic.
Internally, Chinese philosophy is unusually stable. The basis for such stability was the constant emphasis on the exclusiveness of the Chinese way of thinking. Its consequence was the gradual emergence and consolidation of a sense of the superiority of Chinese national speculation, its intolerance towards all other philosophical views.
An excellent illustration of what has been said can be the philosophical views of the above-mentioned ancient Chinese schools.
CONFUCIANITY. The founder of the scale is Confucius (Chinese - Kun Qiu, the Latinized version of the name Kun Fu-tzu - teacher Kun; 551-479 BC). He is considered the first Chinese philosopher, and his biography over the centuries-old history has naturally been enriched by later legends. It is known that at first he was a low official in the state of Lu, then for a number of years. wandered around Eastern China, and devoted the end of his life exclusively to his students. The main reliable source for the study of his views is the surviving records of the sayings of Confucius and his students in the book “Conversations and Judgments” (Lun Yu).
The concept of “heaven” and “heavenly decree” (order, i.e. fate) can be considered the starting point for Confucius. “Heaven” is both a part of nature and the highest spiritual force that determines nature and man (“Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and nobility depend on heaven”). A person endowed by heaven with certain ethical qualities must act in accordance with them, with the moral law (Tao) and improve them through training. The goal of improvement is to achieve the level of a “noble husband” (jun-tzu), observing li etiquette, kind and fair towards the people, respectful to elders and superiors.
The central place in the teachings of Confucius is occupied by the concept of ren (humanity) - the law of ideal relations between people in the family, society and state. It includes two basic principles that govern human existence: a) help others achieve what you yourself would like to achieve; b) what you don’t wish for yourself, don’t do to others.
To maintain subordination and order, Confucius developed the principle of justice and correctness (i). A person must act as his position and order dictate. Correct behavior is behavior in compliance with order and humanity, for “a noble man understands what is correct, just as small people understand what is profitable.” This is the way (tao) of all educated people who have moral strength (de) and who should be entrusted with the management of society.
These ethical principles underlie Confucius's political views. He advocated a strict, clear, hierarchical division of responsibilities between members of society, for which the family should serve as a model (“A ruler should be a ruler, and a subject should be a subject, a father should be a father, and a son should be a son”).
The main method of governing the people is the power of example and persuasion. A "noble husband", a member of the ruling elite, should not be angry, greedy, proud and cruel. Confucius condemned the persecution and murder of dissidents and rebellious people. If the leaders follow the right path" (tao), he taught, then "people with children behind their backs will come towards them from all sides."
After the death of Confucius, his teaching split into eight schools, only two of which are important: the idealistic school of Mencius (372-289 BC) and the materialistic school of Xunzi 298-238. BC.). According to the teachings of Mencius, people's lives are subject to the law of heaven, which is carried out by a wise ruler - the son of heaven. He must love the people like children, and the people honor him like a father. Man is naturally good; he has four qualities: compassion, shame, modesty, and the ability to distinguish truth from lies. Human unkindness is unnatural; it is a consequence of need and underdevelopment.
Humanity (ren), justice (yi), good morals (li) and knowledge (zhi), according to Mencius, are also innate to man. Ren and yi are the basis of the concept of “humane management” (ren zheng) of the state developed by Mencius, in which the main role was assigned to the people (“The people are the main thing in the state, followed by the spirits of the earth and grain, and the sovereign takes the last place”). If the sovereign ignores the principle of humanity, and replaces personal power emanating from knowledge with tyranny (ba), the people have the right to overthrow him.
In the teachings of Mencius, for the first time, the question of the relationship between the ideal (xin - heart, soul, mind or zhi - will) and the material (qi) principles in human nature was outlined, and he assigned the primary role to the will (zhi).
Xunzi proceeded from the concept of qi - primordial matter, or material force, which has two forms: yin and yang. The world exists and develops in accordance with natural, knowable patterns. The sky is an active natural element of the world; it does not control people, but, on the contrary, can be subordinated to them and used in the interests of people. Happiness and unhappiness, wealth and poverty, health and illness, order and disorder depend on man as a part of nature. Man is evil by nature (criticism of Mencius). He is born envious and malicious, with an instinctive sense of profit. It is necessary to influence him with the help of education (li-etiquette) and the law (Confucius rejected the law), force him to observe ritual, perform duty, and then he will have virtue and culture. Perfection is achieved through lifelong learning.
Xun Tzu considered the main links in governing the country to be fair orders and love for the people, reverence for ritual 1 and respect for scientists, reverence for the wise and the involvement of capable people in public affairs, and the measure of government was justice and peace.
TAOISM. Along with Confucianism, one of the two main movements of Chinese philosophy. The legendary founder is Lao Tzu (bit., lit. - old teacher; proper name - Li Er; 6th century BC). He is credited with compiling the book "Tao Te Jing" ("Book of Tao and Te"). In Taoism, unlike other schools, ontological problems are in the foreground. Tao is the natural path of origin, development and disappearance of all things and at the same time their material beginning. Tao is infinite, it cannot be grasped either by the mind or by feeling. Tao precedes God and dictates laws to heaven, heaven to earth, earth to man. Te is an indefinite, secondary principle, thanks to which Tao manifests itself in the world of things and fills them with energy.
The ethical ideal of Taoism is expressed in the concept of wu-wei (lit. - inaction, inaction) and is directed against legalists and Confucians. Wu-wei meant submission to the natural process, harmony with Tao, the absence of any action that goes against it and leads to freedom and happiness. The goal of behavior is to become like the Tao, which does not fight, but knows how to win; victorious inaction, the rest is vanity.
The Universe cannot be brought into order artificially; for it to reign, its innate qualities must be given freedom. Therefore, the best ruler is the one who does not interfere in anything and follows the Tao, ruling the country, and then it prospers, being in peace and harmony; the people know only the fact of its existence. The social ideal of the Taoists is a patriarchal, unenlightened life, since it is difficult to control a knowledgeable people; lack of external contacts, peace with neighbors.
MOISM. The school was named after the founder Mo Di (Mo Tzu; 5th century BC) and was a clearly structured paramilitary organization that strictly followed the orders of its head. The main idea of the philosophy of Mohism is “universal love”, i.e. abstract love of all for all, in contrast to Confucian reciprocity, interpreted as love for relatives. The absence of universal love is the cause of unrest, and “separate” love is the cause of “mutual hatred.” The Mohists also rejected the Confucian doctrine of fate. A person’s life, they argued, is determined by his free actions, and not by the orders of heaven, which only wants people to help each other, so that the strong do not oppress the weak, and the noble do not boast before the ignorant. Mo Tzu strongly condemned “wars of aggression,” declaring them the greatest and cruelest crime. The highest value, according to the teachings of Mohism, is the people, which rulers must love. By recognizing the existence of “spirits and ghosts” (they punish evil and reward good), “the will of heaven” (the guideline of human behavior), Mo Tzu introduced a religious stream into his teaching.
LEGISM (from Latin legis - law). THE SCHOOL OF LEGALISTS (2nd name of legalism) arose and took shape in the VI-III centuries. BC. Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, Han Fei and other philosophers actively participated in the development of the doctrine.
Legalism developed in an intense struggle with early Confucianism, together with which it sought to create a powerful, well-governed state, diverging, however, in the philosophical justification and methods of its construction. If Confucianism brought to the fore the moral qualities of people, then Legalism proceeded from the laws and proved that politics is incompatible with morality. The ruler needs to have a good understanding of the psychology of people in order to successfully manage them. The main method of influence is rewards and punishments, and the latter should prevail over the former. The state should be strengthened through the development of agriculture, the creation of a strong army capable of expanding the borders of the country, and the stupidity of the people.
The legalists created the concept of a despotic state in which everyone is equal before the law, with the exception of the ruler himself - the only creator of these laws. This doctrine played a decisive role in the formation of the imperial-bureaucratic system of government. His main ideas: state regulation of economic processes in the country; systematic renewal of the state apparatus through the appointment of officials (instead of the traditional principle of inheritance of positions); the introduction of a unified principle for assigning ranks of nobility, positions, privileges and salaries for service in the army and military merits; equal opportunities for promotion to administrative positions; clear gradation within the ruling class; unification (from Latin unus - one and fazio - I do; bringing to uniformity) of the thinking of bureaucrats; personal responsibility of an official; censorial supervision over the activities of government employees.
In the Han era (206 BC - 220 AD), Confucianism assimilated (from the Latin assimilation - assimilation, fusion, assimilation) the ideas of legalism, became the official ideology, and legalism ceased to exist as an independent teaching .
Introduction
The topic of my test is “Characteristics of ancient Chinese philosophical schools.” The topic is relevant because the philosophical development of China is unique, just as the Chinese civilization itself is unique, having been in a state of isolation and self-isolation for thousands of years. China became the birthplace of very original socio-philosophical doctrines. Philosophers lived on the soil of this country, whose names became symbols of wisdom not only on a narrow national, but also on a global scale. China is the second, along with India, great cultural center of the East, whose spiritual development has gone beyond the boundaries of mythological consciousness and acquired mature philosophical forms.
Objectives of the work: to consider the main philosophical schools of ancient China; study the features of ancient Chinese philosophical schools; understand the significance of ancient Chinese philosophy in history. The objective of the work is to analyze the characteristics of ancient Chinese philosophical schools, their main ideas and directions, forms and ways of thinking of Chinese philosophers.
This test consists of an introduction, main part, conclusion and bibliography. The main part examines the sources and schools of Chinese philosophy, as well as their characteristics.
The philosophical tradition of China is based on numerous treatises, the very study and commentary of which has become the professional occupation of many generations of educated people. The only teaching that came to China from outside and assimilated into Chinese culture is Buddhism. But on Chinese soil, Buddhism acquired a very specific appearance, far from Indian and at the same time not influencing traditional Chinese doctrines. Like India, China attracted the attention of Europeans. It is known that this country was visited by the famous traveler Marco Polo, who wrote its first description. Europeans, mainly Christian missionaries, continued to penetrate into China, despite its isolationist policies. As a result, the thought of this country becomes accessible to scientific research. Like Indian, Chinese “wisdom” and practices based on it are gaining popularity in Europe and America, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. Topics related to Chinese monasteries and the martial arts practiced there have become the property of mass culture and have gained enormous popularity, which was greatly facilitated by American cinema (numerous films with the participation of Bruce Lee) and the growing Chinese diaspora throughout the world.
1. The origin of Chinese philosophy, its national characteristics
Chinese philosophy originated and developed during the Shang (XVIII - XII centuries BC) and Zhou (XI - III centuries BC) dynasties. It has its roots in mythological thinking. Already within the framework of mythology, the highest principle governing the world order stands out. During the Shang dynasty, the shangdi (Supreme Emperor) was considered such a supreme principle, the deity who created everything that exists, and during the Zhou dynasty, the idea of the “will of Heaven” arose as the omnipotent origin and root cause of all things.
Simultaneously with the spread of the religious worldview, philosophical thinking began to emerge and develop. Already during the Shang Dynasty, ideas about dark and light principles emerged. Dark and light began to be viewed as properties inherent in objects, the opposition of which causes development and changes in things and processes. These views were first recorded in inscriptions on fortune-telling books and bones, in which a sunny day was called bright, and a cloudy day - not bright. These and similar ideas, as they develop, begin to be filled with deeper meaning and broader content. The light principle began to express not only the “bright day”, but also the properties of the sky, sun, hardness, strength, man, etc., and the dark beginning - the properties of the earth, moon, night, cold, softness, weakness, woman, etc. .d. Gradually, ideas about dark and light acquire abstract meaning.
During the Shan era and the Yin era that followed it (1700 - 1030 BC), China was a conglomerate of slave states. The most important period of Chinese history was the Zhou era (1030 - 221 BC). China of this era is a monarchical country with state ownership of land and a communal organization of the peasantry. Officials played a big role in her life. In the history of the Zhou, periods of centralization were followed by disintegration and confrontation between small kingdoms. The most significant in this regard was the Zhanguo period, or the period of the Warring States, which completely shook the foundations of the Celestial Power, as China was called in those days. At the crest of these events, a rethinking of the country’s history and its life principles is taking place. It was at this time (VI – V centuries BC) that famous philosophical and ethical Chinese doctrines, primarily Confucianism, emerged and took shape. The interregnum ends with the victory of the Qin dynasties (221 - 207 BC), which turned China into a powerful centralized state, and the Han (206 BC - 220 AD). The decline of the Han Empire ended the ancient history of China.
The origins of Chinese philosophical thought go back to the so-called “mythological period,” during which the most important features and characteristics of the Chinese worldview were laid down. Without understanding them, it is hardly possible to understand the ways and principles of the further development of philosophy itself. Among such important features, we note the cult of Heaven, traditionalism, dualism of worldview, paternalism (the cult of fatherhood, which was based on the veneration of the mythical progenitor of the Shandi nation). With all their diversity, these features turn out to be organically fused and mutually conditioned, and the “cementing” principle is the traditionalism of the life and thinking of the Chinese.
Chinese tradition identifies six main schools in Chinese history: natural philosophy (Yin-Yang jia), Confucianism, Moism, the school of nominalists (names), the school of law (legism) and Taoism. These schools had different historical destinies and different significance in history: some of them (natural philosophy, Moism, the school of names and legalism) did not exist as independent schools for long - two or three centuries of the ancient period of Chinese history), others - especially Confucianism and partly Taoism - continued function both in the ancient and medieval periods, and Confucianism, having absorbed the essential features of other schools (in particular, natural philosophy and legalism), became the dominant philosophical movement of Chinese spiritual and political culture over the past two millennia. It was this direction of Chinese philosophical thought, represented by the set of the “Thirteen Canons” most revered by Confucianism (Shisan jing - “Thirteen Canons”), that was assigned the name “Chinese classical philosophy”, which, together with the other schools mentioned above, constituted the so-called traditional Chinese philosophy.
The traditional identification and naming of “schools” in the history of Chinese philosophy was not subject to any single criterion. They received their names either by the name of the founder (the Mohists - the school of Mo Tzu), or from the basic concept of Tao, the school of law - fa jia - from the concept of fa, law. Natural philosophers - the Yin-Yang school - from the categories Yin and Yang, the school of names - ming jia - from the concept of ming, name), or from the professional or social status of those who shared the ideas of this school (the Chinese name for Confucianism - zhu jia, the school of zhu - came from the word zhu, meaning “scribe”, “educated person”, “intellectual”, “scientist”). Nevertheless, this difference in the criteria for the traditional classification of philosophical schools in China does not at all mean that they are substantively vague and amorphous: these schools, regardless of their origin and name, were truly independent, original trends in the philosophical thought of China with their own conceptual apparatus, philosophical stylistics and ideological positions. It should also be noted that the term jia (“school”) had another important meaning for the self-identification of philosophical thought in China. The fact is that until the beginning of the twentieth century. in China there was no term “philosophy!”, similar to the ancient Greek concept (“love of wisdom”). The Chinese word zhexue, which appeared at that time in the meaning of “philosophy” and is still used, was borrowed from Japanese sinological literature to designate a set of classical texts of Chinese thinkers that were to be collected and studied at the philosophical faculties of Chinese universities that were created at that time, i.e. it had a purely disciplinary and bibliographic purpose. Before this, to denote the concepts of “philosophical teaching” and “current” in Chinese philosophical literature, the word “jia” was used, etymologically going back to the meaning of “house”, “family”, and then acquiring the meaning of “current of thought”, “school”, “ secular teaching." Not having the substantive meaning of the ancient Greek concept of “philosophy,” the term “jia,” nevertheless, although purely formal, still pointed to the specifics of the type of intellectual activity it designated, playing the role of its unique classifier. Subsequently, the meaning of “philosophical school” was firmly assigned to this term.
Being an integral part of world philosophical culture, Chinese classical philosophy also has a number of significant national characteristics that allow us to speak of it as a special historical type of reflection.
First of all, it is a specific categorical apparatus, the language of philosophy, which has formed a special way of thinking, different from the Western philosophical tradition. The formation of this apparatus was decisively influenced by hieroglyphic writing, which determined the emergence of concepts-images - in contrast to the purely logical categories of the philosophical culture of the West. Hieroglyphic, symbolic writing, especially at the early stage of its development, when the main philosophical schools of China were formed, which later formed the basis of classical Chinese philosophy, left a noticeable imprint on the way, style and form of thinking of the Chinese.
The peculiarities of Chinese writing, the iconic nature of the Chinese language, the absence of quantitative features in the hieroglyph-word itself were the reason that Chinese philosophy, starting from antiquity, was unable to develop a formal-logical system similar to Aristotle’s, which would serve as a general formal methodology for Chinese philosophy. philosophy, and science in general.
The form and way of thinking of the Chinese and, consequently, the style of Chinese philosophy were also significantly influenced by the specific environment of agricultural culture in the depths of which Chinese philosophy was born. It was formed as a response to the general ideological questions of this culture, was closely connected with economic and political practice, which gave Chinese philosophy from the first steps of its formation individual objects, natural phenomena (seasons, calendar, material elements of the world - wood, metal, soil, water, fire, etc.) gradually turned into philosophical concepts that formed the basis of Chinese natural philosophy, and then entered the categorical apparatus of other philosophical schools. In the history of Chinese philosophy, traditions not only played the role of a connecting link between different generations of philosophers, but also became the spiritual framework on which new philosophical ideas were strung, not in the form of pure innovations, but as just a new commentary on what was already known, “generally accepted” thinking material.
2. Sources of Chinese philosophy
The sources for studying the actual philosophical heritage of China are both the books of the Pentateuch, in which there is a significant mythological element, and philosophical literature itself.
The ancient Chinese worldview was documented in a series of philosophical texts and treatises commonly referred to as the Pentateuch. It includes the following treatises: “The Book of Songs” (Shi Jing), “The Book of History” (Shu Jing), “The Book of Rituals” (Li Jing), “The Book of Changes” (I Jing), as well as the chronicle of Chun Qiu. The origin of the Pentateuch is not entirely clear. Tradition attributes the creation of some of his texts to Confucius (“Book of Songs” and “Book of History”). Textual analysis of these books indicates that they were compiled during the 1st millennium BC. and were repeatedly edited until they acquired a canonical form.
As for the “Book of Changes,” it is associated with the name of one of the mythical rulers of the past, Fu Xi, who was also considered a cultural hero. Tradition tells that he taught people hunting and fishing, and also created hieroglyphic writing. The idea of a bright beginning was developed in the “Book of Changes.” The title of the book refers to the changes taking place. This is a fortune-telling book, which explores the changes occurring with the dark and light principles, and makes fortune-telling about happy and unlucky events. Although the “Book of Changes” is filled with mysticism, it has already developed a conceptual apparatus that will be used in the future by Chinese philosophy. “The Book of Changes” is one of the main sources that contains the basic principles for the development of philosophical thinking in China. Its texts were created at different times (XII – VI centuries BC). In the “Book of Changes” one can trace the transition from a mythological reflection of the world to its philosophical understanding. The text of this book reflects the ancient myths of China about two principles (spirits) - Yin and Yang, which here acquire a conceptual form. Yang is a masculine, bright and active principle. It rules the sky. Yin is the feminine, dark and passive principle. It rules the earth. In this case, we are not talking about a dualistic, but rather a dialectical connection between them, because Yang and Yin can not act in isolation from each other, but only in interaction, in combining their forces. The alternation of Yang and Yin is called the path (Tao) that all things pass through. “The Book of Changes” traces the Tao - the way of things and the way of the world in motion. One of the main tasks of a person is to understand his place in the world, “to unite his strength with heaven and earth.” Thus, already in the “Book of Changes” the naive dialectic of Chinese philosophical thought is set out, which is associated with the affirmation of the contradictory nature of the world, mutual attraction and mutual alienation of light and dark, development and change of the world.
The philosophical thinking of this country receives its development in the doctrine of the five elements. It is set out in the “Book of History” (“Shu Jing”), written at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. According to this teaching, the entire material world ultimately consists of five elements or primary elements: water, fire, wood, metal, earth.
It should be noted that this materialist doctrine developed further. In particular, it was a major theme in the philosophy of Zou Yan (3rd century BC). He created a whole concept of the development of the Universe, which is based on the five named primary elements, which are interconnected and replace each other in their interaction. The connection between the five elements is dialectical in nature and acts as a connection of “life and death”: wood gives birth to fire, fire - earth (ash), earth - metal, metal - water (dew accumulates on metal objects), water - wood. Thus, the circle of life closes. A similar circle exists regarding death: wood defeats earth, earth defeats water, water defeats fire, fire defeats metal, metal defeats wood. This change of elements corresponds to the change of rule of dynasties in society. Each dynasty rules under the sign of a specific element.
The heyday of ancient Chinese philosophy occurred in the 6th – 3rd centuries. BC. Such works as “Tao Te Ching”, “Lun Yu”, “Zhuang Zi”, “Guan Zi”, “Li Zi” and others belong to this time. It was during this period that the formation of the main philosophical schools of Ancient China took place and the activities of famous Chinese philosophers - Lao Tzu, Confucius, Mo Tzu, Zhuang Tzu, Xun Tzu, Shang Yang and many others - took place.
The study of ancient Chinese philosophy involves the need to comprehend a number of categories of the traditional Chinese worldview. Among them, the primary one is the concept of “sky” (in Chinese “tian”). These also include “path” (“dao”), “manifestation” (“de”), “Great limit” (“taiji”), “law”, “principle” (“li”), “reason ” (“xin”), “material origin” (“qi”), “virtue” (“de”) and a number of others. These concepts are formed within the framework of mythological consciousness and initially function not as philosophical abstractions, but as mythologems. In some respects, they are similar to such widespread mythologies of European consciousness as “mother earth”, “daily bread”, “tree of life”, “heaven”, etc. Their semantics, although connected with a certain material object, expresses something different, greater than the object itself, reveals a deep vision of the world. The initially mythologemic nature of the above Chinese concepts is indicated by their widespread use in the toponymy of the country, which usually does not happen with philosophical terms.
The most important category of the Chinese worldview is the category of Heaven. The sky in the minds of the Chinese people is not just a physical object. This is the fundamental principle of the world, embodying the masculine, paternal positive and creative principle. At the same time, Chinese Heaven is the highest universality, abstract and cold, impersonal and indifferent towards man. It is impossible to love her and senselessly fear her, it is impossible to merge with her, she is inaccessible to admiration. What is Heaven, and why is it, then, so essential to the Chinese worldview? This is the supreme principle, symbolizing and embodying order in the world, its organization. Here we should pay attention to this most important idea of the Chinese worldview. The world of the ancient Chinese is in some ways close to the Greek cosmos due to the idea of its organization and order. But if in antiquity the basis of this idea was objective harmony in nature and the polis nature of social relations, then in China a similar basis was Heaven. It sanctioned order in the rest of the world and, above all, in Chinese society itself. The social order, which included hierarchical relationships, regulation of functions and responsibilities, power, controllability, now becomes an indisputable value, sacralized by Heaven itself. During the Zhou era, the official state cult of Heaven was established, which had not so much a sacred-mystical, but a moral and ethical character. According to Chinese tradition, Heaven's function was to establish order and therefore to punish and reward each person according to his moral character. Thus, the concept of Heaven is combined with the concept of virtue (de). Heaven itself remains the embodiment of the highest order, reason, expediency, justice and integrity, and its cult acquires a traditional character.
The sky is combined with its opposite - the Earth, which determines another important principle of the Chinese worldview - the principle of dualism. The dual origin of the world is expressed by the paired concepts of “Yang” and “Yin”, and is symbolically represented in the form of a circle divided into two equal parts of a curve. The graphic symbol itself speaks of the dualism of the world, in which Heaven and Earth, masculine and feminine principles are combined, opposed and mutually transferred. light and shadow, beginning and end, good and evil, movement and rest, etc. Thus, Chinese dualism had a dialectical character and initially included, on a mythological level, the identity of opposites.
In a similar way, other important concepts of the Chinese worldview are formed in the mythological consciousness. Very close to the concept of “tian” is “li”, or “law”; the interaction of "Yang" and "Yin" forms the "Tao", or "path". They express the natural nature of the dynamics of being. An important place in the ancient Chinese worldview belongs to the concept of “qi,” which denotes the material primary element of the world (something close to the ancient atom) as well as the primary elements formed by the interaction of particles: earth, water, wood, fire, metal. Such was the arsenal of mythological concepts, ideas and ideas from which, over time, original philosophical doctrines were formed.
3. Confucius and his teachings
Confucius is the Latinized name of the great Chinese thinker Kung Tzu (Kung Fu Tzu) (551 - 479 BC). All authors presenting the teaching take the socio-political situation in China in the 6th – 5th centuries as the starting point of consideration. BC. At that time, the country was fragmented into many independent states, which were in a state of continuous internecine war. The Zhou Dynasty lost real political power and only nominally reigned in a country that no longer existed. The internal situation of each Chinese kingdom was not the best: the struggle for power, conspiracies and murders, corruption, which destroyed the usual order of things, devalued the traditional values of the Celestial Empire. In the history of China, this difficult era received the poetic name of Spring and Autumn and immediately preceded the even more tragic period of the Warring States (463 - 222 BC). The leading American specialist in the history of Chinese philosophy, Benjamin Schwartz, compares this era with feudal Europe during the period of its extreme fragmentation and internal conflicts and views it as a kind of social challenge, the answer to which was the teachings of Confucius. This is one of the most important areas of development of Chinese philosophy, covering the periods of ancient and medieval Chinese society.
Confucius himself spent his life in the small kingdom of Lu, which, compared to other warring kingdoms, was also very weak. Although his ruling house was connected by dynastic ties with the Zhou family, which had very important cultural consequences for Lu, the same thing happened in the political life of Lu as in other Chinese kingdoms: princely power was usurped by the three most noble families - Ming, Chi and Shu, who in turn fell victims of their own subjects. Confucius lived in this environment and witnessed all these events. He himself belonged to a noble family. But he experienced a state of decline, and spent his life, in the words of B. Schwartz, in “elegant poverty.” His origin prescribed him the status of a “service man” and the need to perform bureaucratic functions. However, according to biographers, most of Confucius’ life was spent on his estate, and he himself never achieved a significant position at court.
It should be borne in mind that he was not driven by ambition or a thirst for power. Confucius was completely sincerely confident that chaos could be stopped. It is enough just to convince the rulers of this and help them with wise advice. But his attempts to achieve recognition in neighboring principalities with that. For local rulers to heed his advice and restore traditional order, they were unsuccessful. Confucius sought to be useful to his society and time. But it turned out to be unclaimed. He wanted to change the country for the better, appealing to the reason of its rulers, but failed. As a result, he had no choice but to become, like Socrates, a lonely sage-teacher. It was then that his name Kunzi, which means Teacher Kun, gained popularity. He becomes a kind of “cultural hero” of Ancient China, and his activity as a “teacher of the nation” is unprecedented in world history both in its concept and in the influence that he had on the subsequent course of Chinese development. This role is all the more significant because, unlike Socrates and other “lonely sages,” Confucius had no predecessors. As the first “private” sage-teacher, Confucius addressed his views directly to intellectual students, bypassing political structures. In China itself, both in ancient times and now, Confucius is considered the embodiment of the “Chinese spirit”, and his teaching is considered the foundation of Chinese culture.
The views of Confucius are expressed in his numerous writings. However, today, after two and a half thousand years, it is difficult to reliably determine what was created by the Teacher himself, and what by his students and followers. In any case, his “Conversations and Judgments” (Lun Yu) are recognized as the authentic treatise of Kunzi. In terms of its genre, it is a recording of the sayings and maxims of Confucius, as well as his conversations with his students.
Confucius created an original philosophical and ethical system, taking into account the mythological concepts traditional to the Chinese worldview and already familiar to us: “Tao”, “Li”, “Tian”, as well as “Zhen” and “Yi”, giving them a categorical status. The most important among these concepts is “Tao”, or “way”. In his sayings, statements such as “Tao no longer dominates the world”, “No one observes Tao”, etc. are repeatedly found. In this case, Tao is a fairly broad-level abstraction that denotes a normative socio-political order, including the correct fulfillment of appropriate roles (family, state, etc.) by members of society. The Tao also includes prescriptions for “correct” roles and norms. This also includes ritual, which has always played an important role in the practice of behavior in both private and public life. Tao is thus a very broad category to designate an all-encompassing normative social order. Meanwhile, the modernity in which Confucius lived. She was far from the ideal of Tao. Everyone - kingdoms, rulers, and ordinary people - has deviated from the right path. By asserting this, Confucius takes a position of conservatism and looks for an ideal in the past. Confucius sees the ideal era when Tao truly dominated in China in the Zhou era and the Shan and Sa eras preceding it. In these three kingdoms, Tao was fully realized, but then lost. Turning to the past. Confucius was convinced that humanity had already acquired its most perfect achievements and highest values, and they should only be restored.
Confucius never considered himself a reformer; rather, on the contrary, he often spoke of himself as a keeper and transmitter of ancient wisdom. Here are just some statements of this kind from Lun Yu: “I only explain, but do not create. I believe in antiquity and love it” or “My teaching is nothing more than the knowledge that was taught and left in antiquity; I add nothing to it and take nothing away from it.” Confucius set the task of restoring the lost social “paradise”, and for this he needed ideas and concepts that expressed such a goal. The most important among them are the concepts of “ren” and “li”. The first is usually translated as “humanity” and includes a whole range of virtues: modesty, justice, restraint, nobility, selflessness. Humanity and much more. A generalized expression of ren is the following thesis of Confucius: “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to people.” Like any other ideal, ren existed in the past. Then everything was better: the rulers were wise, the officials were selfless, and the people lived happily. Ren, or humanity, finds its concretization in the concept of “li”. Li is a duty understood in the broadest sense of the word. It includes respect for antiquity, the desire for knowledge, the need to comprehend wisdom, and many other components of social regulations that embrace all aspects of human life. Duty is based on knowledge and high moral principles. Confucius illustrates them with his numerous aphorisms and maxims, for example: “A noble person thinks about morality, a low person thinks about benefit.”
Implementation of the principles of ren and li in everyday life leads to the formation of an ideal personality, or “junzi”. Based on a rationally created ideal of personality. Confucius also constructed a certain ideal of social order. The effort to bring this ideal into reality is called “name correction.” In accordance with this ideal, each person must correctly fulfill his social role: “The sovereign must be a sovereign, a dignitary must be a dignitary, a father must be a father, a son must be a son.” This means that in a world of chaos and turmoil, each person must take his place, must do what is intended for him. Such “correction of names” is possible only as a result of education (“suz”), comprehension of knowledge (“zhi”) and upbringing, to which Confucius paid exceptionally great attention. If “the names are wrong, the speech is inconsistent; when speech is contradictory, things do not succeed.” It is important to note that Confucius did not separate word and deed, but considered them in unity. It is enough to quote his famous aphorism: “I listen to people’s words and look at their actions.” Based on the nature of knowledge acquisition. Confucius identified four categories of people: those with knowledge from birth, those who acquire them through study, those who learn with difficulties, and those who are unable to learn. Hence the social gradation in society, where as natural as the acquisition of knowledge and a high moral character are for some, physical labor, greed, and low morality are just as natural for others. It is characteristic that such a criterion destroyed the boundary that separated the classes, characteristic of China. From now on, it was not the nobility of origin and wealth that should determine a person’s status, but his knowledge and moral character. Among other things, the norm of social life, according to Confucius, should be the subordination of younger people to elders both in the family and in the state. One of the most important theses of the thinker is that the family is a small state, and the state is a large family. Another norm of this order is the cult of ancestors and its flip side is filial piety. Thus, traditional Chinese paternalism was rationally justified and sanctified by the authority of Confucius. The manifestation of ren is all the moral qualities of a person, but the basis of ren is xiao, which occupies a special place among other categories. Xiao means filial piety, respect for parents and elders. Xiao is also the most effective method of governing the country, which was considered by Confucius as a big family.
Unlike the first period of development of Chinese philosophy, Confucius was little interested in the problems of the material world and cosmogony. And although the category of “Heaven” is the main one for him, the sky itself is no longer only a part of nature, but, first of all, the highest spiritual determining power and force. Therefore, “whoever has committed a crime before Heaven will have no one to pray to.” Confucius considers the sky primarily in connection with man, and not nature; it is man who is the main subject of his philosophy, which has a pronounced anthropocentric character. At the center of his teaching is man, his mental and moral development and behavior. Concerned about the decay of his contemporary society and the decline of morals, Confucius pays main attention to the issues of educating the ideal person (jun-tzu), which should be carried out in the spirit of respect for the people around him and society. It should include the development of appropriate rules of behavior and the obligation for each person to fulfill his functions, and the person himself is considered by Confucius as a functional element of society, as a human function subordinate to society.
Confucius's anthropocentrism is associated with his assertion of collectivism, which was fully consistent with the state of contemporary Chinese society. Consanguineous relations in him seemed all-pervasive, the state appeared in the form of a large family, and the individual dissolved in the collective. The basis of all social and moral norms of behavior and education for Confucius is religious ritual. Essentially, the entire text of Lun Yu is his description. It can be said that in ritual Confucius discovered a new type of wisdom and philosophy. The core of wisdom is the observance of ritual, and the essence of philosophy is its correct explanation and understanding. And here the difference between the understanding of philosophy itself and the Western European tradition is very clearly revealed. In accordance with the importance of religious ritual for a person, Confucius considered the impoverishment of religious feelings and non-observance of ritual to be the cause of unrest in society. He considered the unifying universal principle of all people and their unity with the cosmos to be a respectful attitude towards Heaven, a feeling of divine unity. And God was for him Heaven, as a sacred moral element that governs the whole world. The king himself had the title “Son of Heaven” and was seen as a mediator between Heaven and people. According to Confucius, the manifestation of this divine moral power on earth is a ritual, which initially had a sacred character. As the founder of a school for the education of noble men, Confucius sought to put into practice his philosophical principles for the education of man. At the same time, he saw his main function in that. To connect people with Heaven (God). To understand what is the essence of raising an ideal person, a noble husband, one should pay attention to the most important category in the philosophy of Confucius, ren, in which not only ethical but also all other categories of his teaching are expressed.
In raising an ideal person, Confucius attached great importance to order as the norm of relations between people. The basis of order is divine unity, which is achieved due to the fact that Heaven, as a universal principle, united all people among themselves, as well as man and the cosmos. Moreover, order is a category that includes the rules of etiquette, which in turn is associated primarily with the concepts of norm, rule, and ritual. You should also pay attention to the concept of the “golden mean” of Confucius. “The path of the golden mean” is one of the main elements of his ideology and the most important principle of virtue, for “the golden mean, as a virtuous principle, is the highest principle.” And it must be used in governing the people to mitigate contradictions, without allowing either “excess” or “lag.” Here the thinker is actually talking about affirming the need for compromise in social management.
Thus, Confucius not only developed general principles of social order and gave them a rational philosophical and ethical justification. Almost all elements of the social system were in his field of vision: family, state, power, structure of society, upbringing, education, tradition, ceremonies and rituals and much more. As a result, his system became comprehensive. Confucius was more than just a moralist and social visionary. He was a philosopher in the true sense of the word. His socio-ethical concept was rooted in the traditional culture of the Chinese. His sociology and ethics were organically connected with the ontological foundations of the Chinese worldview. However, Teacher Kun did not have a chance to see the results of putting his system into reality. He lived a long life. But if his life had been even longer, he would have had much more reason for disappointment: the Celestial Empire was sliding more and more steeply into the dark era of the Warring States, and the calls and instructions of the old Teacher were like the voice of one crying in the desert.
Confucius left behind his teachings and disciples. Among them are such prominent representatives of Confucianism. Like Meng Zi, Zi Si and Xun Zi. The end of civil strife and the formation of the Han state led to the need to search for an ideology that would cement its foundations. Three hundred years after the death of Confucius, they turned to his teachings. It turned out to be most adequate to both the Chinese spirit and the political needs of the Han Empire, which led to the establishment of Confucianism as its official ideology. Confucianism was canonized in the 2nd century. BC, and its founder was awarded divine status: pagoda temples were built in his honor, statues were dedicated to him, prayer services and other ritual activities were held. Thus, while remaining a philosophical doctrine, Confucianism over time turned into a very specific Chinese religion. The ideas of Confucius played a major role in the development of all aspects of the life of Chinese society, including the formation of a philosophical worldview. He himself became an object of worship, and in 1503 he was canonized. Philosophers who support and develop the teachings of Confucius are called Confucians, and the general direction is Confucianism. After the death of Confucius, Confucianism split into a number of schools. The most significant of which were: the idealistic school of Mencius (about 372-289 BC) and the materialistic school of Xunzi (about 313-238 BC). However, Confucianism remained the dominant ideology in China until the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
4. Taoism
Taoism (from Chinese: Tao jia - school of Tao) is the most important philosophical school in China, which arose in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. The name “Taoism” is associated with the main treatise in which its principles were outlined and which is called “Tao Te Ching”. The very title of this treatise contains the classical Chinese term “tao”, denoting the natural way of things, a kind of universal law of existence. Its founder is considered to be Lao Tzu, although the most important representative was Zhuang Tzu. Like Confucius, they were engaged in understanding the fundamental problems of human existence and did this using traditional mythological concepts. However, the results of this understanding turned out to be fundamentally different in many ways than the Confucian system. The reason for this discrepancy, the divergence of schools that seemingly grew up on a common spiritual basis is the following. If Confucianism is an extremely rationalized concept that leaves no room for mysticism, superstition, and visions. Excluding the action of unconscious motives and impulses, Taoism appeals precisely to these aspects of spiritual life and builds a concept based on the idea of the mystical merging of the human spirit with the “Tao”. This circumstance made Taoism as popular as Confucianism. Like Confucianism, Taoism in certain periods of history acquired the status of an official ideology (in old China there was even a theocratic state of Taoist popes-patriarchs) and gradually transformed into a kind of religion.
The founder of Taoism himself is Lao Tzu (Philosopher Lao), aka Li Er. Lived in the 6th – 5th centuries. BC. He was a contemporary of Confucius and may have met him. However, his life and teachings turned out to be shrouded in a veil of mystical legends and traditions. In the book “The World of Thought of Ancient China” B. Schwartz, analyzing the text “Tao Te Jing”, notes that this is one of the most complex and problematic texts in all Chinese literature. This is connected not only with the authorship of the treatise. Although La Tzu is considered its author, this work itself, in all likelihood, was created in the 4th - 3rd centuries. BC. It is common to state that this text is nothing more than “a textbook of secular philosophy of life, a treatise on political strategy, an esoteric treatise on military strategy, a utopian treatise, and even a text justifying a scientific naturalistic attitude towards the cosmos.” However, B. Schwartz, J. Needham. other researchers tend to view this work primarily in its mystical dimension. And in this aspect, the concept of “Tao” again turns out to be central to this work and the entire teaching, but as the most important concept of Chinese mysticism. If in Confucianism Tao expressed the social and natural order of things, then in Taoism Tao is “something” - beyond, great, transcendental. “Here is a thing that arises in chaos, born before heaven and earth! O silent one! O formless one! She stands alone and does not change. It works everywhere and has no barriers. She can be considered the mother of the Celestial Empire. I don't know her name. Denoting it with a hieroglyph, I will call it Tao.” In this regard, the concept of “Tao” acquires the meaning of the Absolute and turns out to be close to the Indian Brahman. Tao is the highest absolute to which everyone submits. Tao is the invisible universal natural law of nature, human society, behavior and thinking of an individual. Tao is inseparable from the material world and governs it. In the Tao Te Ching we read: “Man follows the laws of the earth. The earth follows the laws of heaven. Heaven follows the laws of Tao, and Tao follows itself.” Tao, thus, turns out to be not only the fundamental principle of the world, but also the cause of itself. Tao is associated with the concept of “de”. In its most general form, de is an “emanation” of Tao, its manifestation, materialization. What, then, is the mysticism of Taoist teaching? With all the diversity of Taoist concepts, they contain a common thought concerning the ultimate prospects, goals and capabilities of man. Its main task is a mystical merging with Tao, which is possible through asceticism, contemplative life, “inaction,” that is, a passive attitude towards the world. Mysticism is also manifested in the way of knowing the Tao: “Without leaving the yard, the sage learns the world. Without looking out of the window, he sees the natural Tao. The further he goes, the less he learns. Therefore, a wise person does not walk, but learns. Without seeing things, he names them.” Thus, the epistemological problems of Taoism are mystified. The problem of knowledge is the problem of super-experienced and super-rational comprehension of Tao.
One of the features of Taoism is its doctrine of immortality. The hieroglyph “Shu” itself, denoting longevity, was revered by the Taoists as a sacred symbol. In search of immortality, the Taoists equipped expeditions to the mysterious islands. In order to obtain the “elixir of immortality,” they conducted all kinds of alchemical experiments. But the most curious element of Taoist doctrine and practice were the monasteries and the systems of exercises developed in them. The doctrine of Tao reveals elements of the original dialectic: Tao is empty and at the same time inexhaustible; it is inactive, but thereby does everything; rests and moves at the same time; it is a beginning for itself, but it has neither beginning nor end, etc. Knowledge of Tao is identical to knowledge of the universal, internal law of self-development of nature and its self-organization. In addition, knowledge of Tao presupposes the ability to comply with this law.
In Taoism, heaven, like everything else, depends on the will of Tao, which is a self-sufficient principle. Here “man depends on the earth, the earth on the sky, the sky on the Tao, and the Tao on itself.” In Taoism, everyone needs to abide by the principle of following the Tao as the universal law of the spontaneous arising and disappearing of the entire universe. Connected with this is one of the main categories of Taoism - inaction, or non-action. While observing the law of Tao, a person can remain inactive. Lao Tzu therefore denies any effort by the individual or society in relation to nature, for any tension leads to disharmony and increasing contradictions between man and the world. And those who seek to manipulate the world are doomed to failure and death. The main principle of personal behavior is maintaining the “measure of things.” Therefore, non-action (wu wei) is one of the main and central ideas of Taoism; it is this that leads to happiness, prosperity and complete freedom. From here, a wise ruler follows the Tao, without doing anything to rule the country, and then the people prosper, and order and harmony naturally reign in society. In Tao, everyone is equal to each other - noble and slave, ugly and handsome, rich and poor, etc. Therefore, the sage looks equally at both one and the other. He strives to connect with eternity and not regret life. Not about death, because he understands their inevitability, i.e. he looks at the world as if from the outside, detached and detached.
Taoism, like Confucianism, had a significant influence on the further development of culture and philosophy in China.
5. Moism
Moism (Mohist school) - got its name from its founder Mo-tzu (Mo Di) (about 475-395 BC). In his early years, Mo Tzu was a follower of Confucius, but then he broke with his school and founded a new, opposite movement - Mohism. At one time, Mo Tzu enjoyed the same fame as Confucius; the “famous scholars Kun and Mo” spoke about both. Mohism spread to China in the 5th-3rd centuries. BC. This school was like a strictly structured paramilitary organization. The members of which strictly followed the orders of its head.
The titles of the chapters of the treatise “Mo Tzu” (“Treatise of Teacher Mo”) reflect the main provisions of the philosopher’s concept: “veneration of wisdom”, “honor of unity”, “universal love”, “on saving in expenses”, “denial of music and entertainment”, “denial of the will of Heaven”, etc. The main ideas of Mozi's philosophy are universal love, duty, prosperity and mutual benefit. According to his teachings, universal love and humanity should be obligatory for all people in the state and everyone should be concerned about mutual benefits. He affirms the unity of philanthropy and duty with the benefits they bring and thereby diverges from the Confucians. Considering benefit as the content and goal of philanthropy and duty, Mo Tzu develops the concept of utilitarianism.
Mo Tzu paid main attention to social ethics. Which, through strict organization, is associated with the despotic power of the head of state. Arguing against Confucius, he argued that theorizing is a futile exercise. The main thing is the pragmatic expediency of work activity.
Mo Tzu also decisively opposed the Confucian concept of the “will of Heaven,” putting forward the theory of “denial of the will of Heaven.” In his opinion, the theory of “the will of Heaven” has, among others, the significant drawback that in it “poverty and wealth, peace and danger, peaceful rule and unrest depend on the will of Heaven and nothing can be added to it, nothing can be taken away from it.” And although people will make every effort. They. According to the “will of Heaven” theory, they will not be able to do anything to improve their position in society. This is one of the main differences in the views of teachers Kuhn and Fr. the views of the first are clearly conservative. They condemn a person to conformist behavior, submissive submission to the will of Heaven. The views of the second are connected with the affirmation of human activity, the desire to change the existing social order. Which at that time was characterized by unrest and unrest in China.
6. Nominalism
The speculative Mohists are joined by Chinese philosophers, who in the West were called nominalists, i.e. school of names In Chinese it is ming-jia. Representatives of the Ming Chia school are also called sophists, because they played with words and took this game to the point of absurdity. Unfortunately, the works of these philosophers themselves have hardly survived - and we know about their teaching mainly from their critics. In the minds of their opponents, the Chinese nominalists sought more to surprise naive people than to achieve the truth. Let us dwell on such Chinese nominalists as Hui Shi and Gongsun Long.
The main source about Hui Shi is chapter 33 of the Taoist book “Zhuang Tzu”, where Hui Shi is spoken of disapprovingly. Although “Hui Shi himself considered his sayings to be a great vision,” however, “his teachings were contradictory and confused, and his words did not hit the target.” He was able to win people's mouths, not their hearts. This meant that naive people could not refute Hui Shi with words and reasoning, but nevertheless felt that something was wrong here. The best reasoning of Hui Shi: “If half of a stick one Chi long is cut off every day, then [even after] ten generations [its length] will not be exhausted.” “In the rapid [flight] of an arrowhead there is a moment when it does not move or stand still.”
Gongsun Long was more fortunate than Hui Shi: some of his work has survived. Gongsun Long argued that the “white horse” is not a “horse”. His reasoning is: "Horse" is what denotes shape, "white" is what denotes color. What color [and shape] denotes is not what form denotes. That’s why I say: “white horse” is not “horse”.
7. Legalism
This school arose and took shape in the 6th – 2nd centuries. BC. Legalism is the teaching of the legalist school. In which the ethical and political concept of human management is revealed. Society and state. The most prominent representatives of his Shang Yang, Shen Buhai. Shen Dao, Han Fei. Its most prominent representative is Han Fei, who completed the construction of a theoretical system of legalism.
The formation of legalism took place in a sharp struggle with early Confucianism. Although both schools sought to create a powerful, well-governed state, they substantiated the principles and methods of its construction in different ways. The legalists proceeded from the laws, arguing that politics was incompatible with morality. In their opinion, the ruler should exercise his main influence on the masses through rewards and punishment. In this case, punishment plays the main role. Management of the state and its development should be carried out not on the basis of good wishes, but through the development of agriculture. Strengthening the army and at the same time fooling the people.
State concept. Created by legalists, it was the theory of a despotic state. Everyone must be equal before the law. Except for the ruler himself, who is the only creator of laws. It was Legalism that played a decisive role in the formation of the imperial-bureaucratic system of government in China, which lasted until the beginning of the twentieth century. Instead of the traditional principle of inheritance of positions, they proposed a systematic renewal of the state apparatus by appointing officials to positions, equal opportunities for promotion to administrative posts, unification of the thinking of officials, and their personal responsibility.
Since the 3rd century. BC. There is a process of merging Legalism and early Confucianism into a single teaching. This found its expression primarily in the teachings of Xunzi. Who came to the conclusion that there are no significant contradictions between Legalism and Confucianism and that these two schools should be combined, since they actually complement each other.
8. Buddhism
In the I-II centuries. AD Buddhism entered China. Which became widespread in the 4th century. and took root in the country for a long time. The spread of Buddhism was facilitated by harsh living conditions and social unrest. At the same time, in the hands of the rulers, it became an effective ideological means of control, so the ruling class actively supported Buddhism and contributed to its establishment. And in the 4th century. it was declared the state religion, as a result of which it turned into a powerful ideological force.
Followers of Buddhism strongly supported its basic idea of the indestructibility of the spirit, the position of that. That a person’s actions in a previous life inevitably influence his present life and other ideas. The most prominent representative of Chinese Buddhism was Hui-yuan (638-713). Claiming that the spirit is not destroyed. And it exists forever, he opposed the materialist trend in Chinese philosophy. Buddhism has had a great influence on the entire culture of China.
At the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th centuries. Fan Zhen (c. 445-515) criticized Buddhism from the positions of materialism and atheism. His philosophy occupies an important place in the history of Chinese thought. He considered poverty and wealth, nobility and low position not as the result of karma, a reward for good deeds in a previous life, as Buddhists argued, but as random phenomena that had nothing to do with the past. This position had great social significance for criticizing the privileged position of noble houses.
9. Neo-Confucianism
His offensive in China was prepared during the Tang Dynasty (618-906). One of the prominent representatives of philosophical thought of this period was Han Yu (768-824), who strenuously fought against Buddhism and Taoism. At the center of his philosophy are the problems of human nature, philanthropy, justice, virtue, which Confucius and Mencius wrote about.
Han Yu expanded the meaning of the Confucian principle ren (humanity, humanity) to the concept of universal love. “Love for everyone” is, first of all, philanthropy. And its manifestation in actions is justice. The philosopher criticizes Buddhism and Taoism for separating the path (Tao) from humanity and justice. Both teachings, he believes, require that a person follow “the path of renunciation of their rulers and servants, renunciation of their fathers and mothers, prohibition of giving birth and raising each other in order to achieve the so-called pure nirvana.” But such an idea of a person’s “path,” according to Han Yu, is purely subjective. The purely personal opinion of one person, and not the “general opinion of the entire Celestial Empire.” Therefore, such opinions should be fought in every possible way.
Having adopted the ideas of Confucianism. Han Yu argues that governance based on virtue should be the necessary and primary means of regulating social relations and power. At the same time, he sharply opposes Buddhism and Taoism. Which lead the people to “the abandonment of the state, the destruction of the rules governing relations between people,” to the fact that children cease to honor their fathers, servants cease to honor the ruler, and the people cease to engage in business. All this, in his opinion, is a clear expression of the “laws of foreigners”, which are incompatible with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. It is not difficult to notice that Han Yu, with his theory, supported the feudal hierarchical system of China and tried to strengthen the power of landowners.
Han Yu's teachings had a profound influence on Neo-Confucianism, a movement in Chinese philosophy that arose during the Sun Dynasty (960-1279). Unlike Confucianism of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), whose representatives were mainly engaged in commenting on the texts of Confucius, Neo-Confucians developed new ideas and concepts. First of all, these include such as and or li (due and law) and xing and ming (nature and fate). The most prominent representatives of neo-Confucianism were Zhu Xi (1130-1200), Lu Jiuyuan (1139-1192), Wang Yangming (1472-1528) and other thinkers. This trend remained dominant in China until 1949.
Conclusion
Having studied the materials on the topic “Characteristics of ancient Chinese philosophical schools,” I came to the conclusion that in most schools practical philosophy, associated with the problems of worldly wisdom, morality and management, prevailed. This almost entirely applies to Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism, the ideological foundations of whose political and ethical teachings were either weak or borrowed from other schools, for example from Taoism - the most philosophical of the six schools of ancient Chinese philosophy.
Ancient Chinese philosophy was unsystematic. This is explained by the fact that it was weakly connected even with the science that existed in China, as well as the weak development of ancient Chinese logic. China did not have its own Aristotle, and the rationalization of ancient Chinese philosophy was weak. The ancient Chinese language itself, without suffixes and inflections, made it difficult to develop an abstract philosophical language, but philosophy is a worldview that uses philosophical language.
Chinese philosophy was, as it were, an intellectual “cast” of Chinese civilization, expressing its spirit, values, and most important principles in a concentrated and discursive form. Therefore, Chinese philosophy turns out to be a kind of key to understanding the nature of Chinese culture, its characteristics, its achievements and contradictions. While paying tribute to the antiquity and undeniable originality of Chinese culture, especially its architecture, literature, the art of calligraphy, the organization, efficiency and professionalism of the Chinese, one cannot ignore such moans of the culture of this society as oriental despotism and the traditional cult of personality that follows from it, the suppression of individuality and etc.
Chinese philosophy belongs to the oldest layer of world culture. Having emerged in the middle of the 1st millennium BC, it became an integral part of the spiritual civilizations of not only China, but also a number of countries in East and Southeast Asia.
In the entire history of China, no one has been able to eclipse the glory of Confucius.
He was neither a discoverer nor an inventor, but every inhabitant of the planet knows his name thanks to his outstanding philosophical teachings.
From the biography of Confucius:
Little is known about this outstanding man, but this does not prevent us from believing that Confucius is an influential figure in the development of China.
Confucius (real name Kong Qiu) is an ancient sage and philosopher of China. He was born around 551 BC. e. His mother Yan Zhengzai was a concubine and was only 17 years old at the time. Shuliang He's father was already 63 years old at that time; he was a descendant of Wei Tzu, the emperor's commander. The boy was given the name Kong Qiu at birth. When the child was one and a half years old, the father died.
After the death of little Confucius’s father, serious quarrels occurred between the two wives and the young concubine, which forced the boy’s mother to leave the house. Having moved to the city of Qufu, Yan Zhengzai began to live on her own with her son. Confucius had a difficult childhood; from a young age he had to work. Yan Zhengzai's mother spoke about his ancestors and their great activities. This was a huge incentive to regain the great title that had been lost. Listening to his mother's stories about his father and his noble family, Confucius understood that in order to be worthy of his family it was necessary to educate himself.
To begin with, he studied the basis of the education system for young aristocrats - the six arts. In this he succeeded, and he was appointed to the post of official manager of barns, then - official responsible for livestock. At about 19 he got married and had two children.
He began his successful career at about 20 years old. + At the same time, Confucius received recognition and created an entire doctrine - Confucianism, which was of great importance for the development of China. He became the founder of the first university and wrote rules for all classes. He taught 4 disciplines: literature, language, politics and morality in his own private school, which accepted everyone who wanted independence from class and material wealth.
Around 528 BC, his mother dies, and according to tradition, he must leave government work for 3 years. During this period, Confucius was completely immersed in thoughts of creating an ideal state.
When Confucius was 44 years old, he took over the seat of the Principality of Lu. He was very active in his post and was an experienced and skillful politician. +Soon big changes began in the country. The stable reigns of dynasties were replaced by corrupt, greedy officials, and internecine strife began. Realizing his hopelessness, Confucius resigned and, together with his students, began traveling around China. At this time, he tried to convey his ideas to the governments of different provinces. Confucius began to preach philosophical teachings together with his followers. His idea was to preach knowledge to the poor, the ploughmen, the old and the young.
Confucius took a nominal fee for his studies and lived on funds allocated by wealthy students. He began teaching new students and systematizing the ancient books Shi Jin and I Jin. The students themselves compiled the book of Lun Yu. It became the fundamental book of Confucianism, which contains brief sayings, notes, and actions of their teacher.
At about the age of 60, he finished his wanderings, Confucius returned to his homeland, which he did not leave until his death. The rest of his life he works on his creations: “Books of Songs”, “Books of Changes” and many others. + Interestingly, according to scientists, he had approximately 3,000 students, but there are approximately 26 by name.
Although Confucianism is considered a religion, it has nothing to do with theology. It reflects the principles of creating a harmonious society. The basic rule that Confucius formulated is: “Do not do to a person what you do not wish for yourself.” +Confucius died in the 73rd year, before which he predicted his imminent death, which he told his students about. He died around 479, and there is an opinion that before that he simply slept for 7 days. He was buried in the cemetery where his followers were supposed to be buried. +On the site of the house after his death, a temple was built, which was rebuilt more than once and its area was increased. The House of Confucius has been under the protection of UNESCO since 1994. In China, it is customary to give the Confucius Prize for achievements in the field of education.
Of course, legends have been partially created around the life and biography of Confucius, but the fact of the influence of his teachings on future generations should not be underestimated.
He was one of the first to propose the idea of building a highly moral and harmonious society. His teaching found such a wide response among people that it was accepted as an ideological norm at the state level, and it remained popular for almost 20 centuries. The lessons of Confucius are easy for everyone to understand, which is probably why they inspire people so effectively.
Confucius was an ordinary person, but his teachings are often called religion. Although issues of theology and theology as such are not important for Confucianism at all. All teaching is based on morality, ethics and life principles of human interaction with man.
25 interesting facts from the life of Confucius:
1.The family tree of Confucius, with a history of approximately 2500 years, is the longest in the world. To date, the tree spans 83 generations of the Confucius clan.
2. Confucius is also known by the names: “Great Sage”, “Wisest Teacher Departed”, “First Teacher” and “Forever Exemplary Teacher”.
3. Qiu (“Qiū”, literally “Hill”) is the real name of Confucius, given to him at birth. The second name of the teacher was Zhong-ni (仲尼Zhòngní), that is, “Second of Clay.”
4. Confucianism, founded by Confucius and developed by his followers, is one of the most widespread and ancient teachings in China and throughout the world.
5. The laws issued by Confucius were based on his teachings and were so successful that crime in the kingdom of Lu came to naught.
6. Confucius believed that every citizen should respect and honor their ancestors.
7. At the age of 19, Confucius married a girl named Ki-koan-shi from the Qi family, who lived in the kingdom of Song. A year later they had a son, who was named Lee.
8. At the age of 50 (501 BC), Confucius took the post of judge. All the law and order of the kingdom of Lu was concentrated in his hands.
9. Students of Confucius, based on the teacher’s sayings and conversations, compiled the book “Sy Shu” or “Four Books”.
10. “The Golden Rule” of Confucius says: “Do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself.” He is also credited with the saying: “What you cannot choose for yourself, do not impose on others.”
11. The name “Confucius” arose at the end of the 16th century in the writings of European missionaries, who thus conveyed the combination Kong Fuzi (Chinese: 孔夫子, pinyin: Kǒngfūzǐ) in Latin (lat. Confucius), although the name is more often used 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ) with the same meaning “Teacher [from the clan/surname] Kun.”
12. According to Confucius, a person must overcome himself, cultivating his personality through morality and humanity, and destroy the barbarian and egoist within himself.
13. According to the Confucius Family Genealogy Committee, operating in Hong Kong and China, the genealogical books listing the descendants of Confucius are considered the largest in the world: they number 43 thousand pages and include the names of more than 2 million people.
14. Confucius served as a judge for five years, but the machinations of spiteful critics led to his resignation in 496 BC.
15. Confucius returned to teaching and over the next 12 years as a teacher won universal love and respect.
16. He believed that the country's elite would become a positive example for the rest of the nation. Thus, peace and harmony will reign in society.
17. He considered honesty, goodwill, humility, politeness and common sense to be the most important human qualities. Confucius encouraged people's leaders to be models of good behavior.
18. Confucius taught students the ideas of ancient Chinese sages, which he himself studied in order to achieve reforms in the government, which at that time was mired in corruption and autocracy.
19. Confucius’s mother died when he was 23. A year later (in 527 BC), Confucius changed his career and took up teaching.
20. When Confucius was one and a half years old, his father Shuliang He, a military officer, died. The boy grew up in poverty, but was able to get a good education.
21. At the age of 60, Confucius left work and returned to his small homeland. 12 years later, November 21, 479 BC. he died.
22. One of the most prominent students of Confucius and his spiritual heir is the Chinese philosopher Mengzi. The thinker's most beloved student was Yan Hui.
23. Several tens of thousands of descendants of the “teacher of all Chinese” live outside of China in Korea (34 thousand) and Taiwan.
24. From early childhood, Confucius had to work hard to feed his family. Starting as a simple worker, he rose to the rank of official responsible for issuing and receiving grain. Later, livestock also came under his control.
25. Confucius (birth name Kong Qiu) was born in 551 BC. in the city of Ceou (now the city of Qufu in Shandong province), which belonged to the kingdom of Lu.
25 wisest quotes from Confucius:
1. In fact, life is simple, but we persistently complicate it.
2. Three things never come back - time, word, opportunity. Therefore: do not waste time, choose your words, do not miss the opportunity.
3. In ancient times, people studied in order to improve themselves. Nowadays people study in order to surprise others.
4. A noble person is serene at heart. A low person is always preoccupied.
5. He is not great who has never fallen, but he is great who has fallen and gotten up.
6. Intemperance in small things will ruin a great cause.
7.If they spit in your back, it means you are ahead.
8. Three paths lead to knowledge: the path of reflection is the noblest path, the path of imitation is the easiest path and the path of experience is the most bitter path.
9. Happiness is when you are understood, great happiness is when you are loved, true happiness is when you love.
10.People in ancient times did not like to talk much. They considered it a shame for themselves not to keep up with their own words.
11.Gemstone cannot be polished without friction. Likewise, a person cannot become successful without enough hard attempts.
12.Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a single day in your life.
13. Try to be at least a little kinder, and you will see that you will not be able to commit a bad act.
14.You can curse the darkness all your life, or you can light a small candle.
15. There is beauty in everything, but not everyone can see it.
16.We accept advice in drops, but give it out in buckets.
17. In a country where there is order, be bold in both actions and speeches. In a country where there is no order, be bold in your actions, but careful in your speech.
18. Give instructions only to those who seek knowledge after revealing their ignorance.
19. A noble person makes demands on himself, a low person makes demands on others.
20. Misfortune came - man gave birth to him, happiness came - man raised him.
21.I don’t get upset if people don’t understand me, I get upset if I don’t understand people.
22. Before you take revenge, dig two graves.
23.If you hate, it means you have been defeated.
24.You can overcome bad habits only today, not tomorrow.
25.Only when the cold comes, it becomes clear that pines and cypresses are the last to lose their decoration.
Temple of Confucius
from Wikipedia, photo from the Internet
