History of Philosophy: Chinese Philosophy
By Pratyeka, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=593480
Chinese philosophy is typically divided into four periods, pre-Qin, from the Qin dynasty to the Song dynasty, to the end of the Qing dynasty, and modern, with three main schools, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, and two others that are influential, Mohism, and Legalism. We will explore the first two periods, which will cover from about the 6th century BCE through 960 CE. Chinese philosophy tends to blend what would be in Western thought religion and philosophy as the Dao and ancestor worship were established concepts and flowed into philosophy.
The pre-Qin period covers from the 6th century BCE through 221 BCE. During this time period, Daoism and Confucianism developed. Both taught about the concept of Dao, or 'the Way', but also 'the source and fundamental principle of the universe'. Mohism and Legalism were also prevalent during this time, the four forming the most influential of the Hundred Schools of Thought of the period.
Confucianism developed around the teachings of Kǒngzǐ, Confucius, who lived from about 551-479 BCE, which focused on 'moral, social, political, and religious thought that has had tremendous influence on Chinese history, thought, and culture down to the 20th century' and its 'influence also spread to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and many other Asian countries'. Major focuses of Confucian philosophy are filial piety, or 'the virtue of exhibiting love and respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors', loyalty, li, or rite 'originally referred to as religious sacrifice but has come to mean "ritual" in a broad sense', ren, or 'the good quality of a virtuous human when reaching for higher ideals or when being altruistic', and rectification of names, or 'to ensure everything is what its name implies it should be'. With this was the concept of 'yīn-yáng', that there are 'two opposing forces that are permanently in conflict with each other, leading to perpetual contradiction and change', as well as the idea that one should 'never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself' and the reflection of it as '[i]f one acts with a vigorous effort at the law of reciprocity, when he seeks for realization of perfect virtue, nothing can be closer than his approximation to it'. Confucius taught that where the subunits of a society, such as a family, succeeded formed the foundation of success for the whole society up to the country level and that education in ethics, reverence, and societal behavior were critical.
Taoism, founded by Laozi, who lived sometime between the 6-4th century BCE, and Zhuang Zhou, who lived about 369-286 BCE, and is both a religion and philosophical school with the philosophy sometimes called Taology or philosophical Taoism. Taoist philosophy focuses on concepts such as wúwéi, which is translated as 'not-acting or non-doing, variously interpreted and translated as actionlessness, inaction, or effortless action',zìrán, or literally '"of its own" or "by itself" and thus "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly"', yīn-yáng, wújí, or "non-duality", tàijí, 'the mutually reinforcing, codependent interactions between the two opposing forces of yīn and yáng', and biànhuà, or 'transforming from one type to another, such as from a caterpillar to a butterfly'. Taoist philosophy tends to be more heterogeneous than other philosophies as 'Taoists did not generally regard themselves as followers of a single religious community that shared a single set of teachings, or practices' and 'developed out [of] a widely diverse set of Chinese beliefs and texts, that over time were gathered together into various synthetic traditions. These texts had some things in common, especially ideas about personal cultivation and integration with what they saw as the deep realities of life'. The Daodejing, gathered sometime by the 3rd century BCE 'possibly from a tradition of oral sayings and is a loose collection of aphorisms on various topics which seek to give the reader wise advice on how to live and govern, and also includes some metaphysical speculations'. It encourages a state of meditative awareness, that sages 'concentrate their internal energies, are humble, pliable, and content; and they move naturally without being restricted by the structures of society and culture' and advises rulers, such as 'never standing out, keeping weapons but not using them, keeping the people simple and ignorant, and working in subtle unseen ways instead of forceful ones'.
Mohism began with Mozi, who lived from about 470-391 BCE, and was seen as 'a major rival to Confucianism' and was folded in with Taoism 'in the wake of the cultural transformations of the Qin dynasty after 221 [BCE]'. They were 'highly structured political organization[s] that tried that tried to realize the ideas they preached' which 'consisted of a network of local units in all the major kingdoms of Chiina at the time, made up of elements from both the scholarly and working classes…led by a juzi (literally, "chisel"—an image from craft making)'. Each group, or unit, was kept to 'a frugal and ascetic lifestyle'. They believed in supporting defensive warfare against larger and domineering states, developing 'the sciences of fortification and statecraft, and wrote treatises on government, with topics ranging from efficient agricultural production to the laws of inheritance'. They 'worked concertedly and systematically to invent and synthesise measures of benefit to defence, including defensive arms and strategy, and their corresponding logistics and military mobilisation. Many were actually applied, and remained an aspect of military affairs throughout history. The Mozi is hence highly respected by modern scholars, and ranks as a classic on military matters on a par with Sunzi's Art of War, the former of defensive strategy, the latter of offensive strategy'. Other important tenets included 'impartial caring', that 'a person should care equally for all other individuals, regardless of their actual relationship to them', consequentialism, or 'the basic goods in Mohist consequentialist thinking are…order, material wealth, and increase in population…[which are] interrelated: An example of this would be, more basic wealth, then more reproduction; more people, then more production and wealth…if people have plenty, they would be good, filial, kind, and so on unproblematically', and meritocratic government, that is one where positions were assigned based on merit rather than on familial relationships, and that a person who is qualified to a task should be able to keep it, regardless of family, and those incapable should be demoted, even if they were 'a close relative of the ruler'. Rulers 'should be in close proximity to talented people, treasuring talents and seeking their counsel frequently. Without discovering and understanding talents within the country, the country should be destroyed…Talented people are difficult to manage, but they can bring respect to their rulers', as well as against fatalism, or 'the belief that all outcomes are predestined or fated to occur' and to believe so is 'irresponsible…espoused by those who refuse to acknowledge that their own lack of responsibility or the western view of sinfulness has caused the hardships of their lives'.
Legalism, synthesized by Han Fei, who lived from 280-233 BCE, proposed that a 'ruler should govern his subjects by the following trinity:
Fa (法; fǎ): law or principle.
Shu (術; shù): method, tactic, art, or statecraft.
Shi (勢; shì): legitimacy, power, or charisma.'
It was critical of both Confucianism and Mohism, holding that a ruler should '[s]et clear strict laws, or deliver harsh punishment', that the ruler 'possessed authority regarding reward and penalty, enacted through law' and 'promoted absolute adherence to the law, regardless of the circumstances or the person', perhaps leading to 'militaristic autarky' or self-sufficiency with a strong military.
