Chinese culture cannot be separated from Confucianism, not only Confucianism, but also hundreds of schools of thought. They can be said to be the origin of Chinese philosophy.
One possible option for how to get started in Chinese philosophy is Feng Youlan's History of Chinese Philosophy. Based on my experience in understanding philosophy in the history of Western philosophy, I have made a different choice and started with Introduction to Chinese Philosophy.
This "Introduction to Chinese Philosophy" belongs to the Overseas Volume of Contemporary Chinese Academic Literature, because the editors are professors of philosophy in Taiwan, such as Zeng Chunhai and Ye Haiyan.
The structure of the book is modeled after the classification of Western philosophical disciplines, from metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, logic, to ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy.
I didn't expect this kind of arrangement system to be so divided into Chinese philosophy. Can it be so divided? Actually, it's just like that, and I'm quite surprised. Especially in the theory of logic, I have the impression that the logic in Chinese philosophy is not very profound.
However, this arrangement is not difficult for those familiar with Western philosophy to understand.
Metaphysics, in Western philosophy, metaphysics is the exploration of the most basic, unified, and holistic laws that transcend form and matter.
Due to the difference between Eastern and Western languages. The meaning of being in Western languages includes: there is, yes. But in Eastern languages, there is yes, yes is yes, and the two are incompatible with each other. Therefore, in the metaphysical question, the East and the West have completely different qualities.
The metaphysics of the East actually pays more attention to the relationship between the universe and man. It explores the meaning of one's own life, the relationship with others and nature, and ultimately realizes the happiness of the unity of nature and man.
The book mentions the three major traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and Confucianism pursues self-cultivation and finally transcendent sanctification. Taoism pursues the transformation of metaphysical wisdom into reality, while Buddhism is the wisdom of dependent arising emptiness to transform knowledge into wisdom.
Therefore, the characteristic of Chinese philosophy is that it is concerned with the meaning and value of life everywhere. Therefore, it is also based on the relationship between heaven and man, and does not separate behavior from the relationship between life.
Chinese philosophy is more pragmatic, it will not depart from the vision of natural philosophy, but only observe the universe as a state that already exists, so it will not study natural philosophy more.
The metaphysical is the way, and the metaphysical is the instrument. Form is the image of all things, it is a model, the instrument is the concrete existence defined by form, and the Tao is the principle of all things in the world and the objective law of operation.
In fact, there are six schools of Chinese metaphysics, namely Yinyangism, Taoism, Confucianism, Huayanism, Tiantai, and Zen. In general, it is Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
The Chinese metaphysical approach takes the form of an implicit knowledge of inner life, or a way of self-experience. It can be described as round and divine, while Western metaphysics, because it tends to use rational system arguments, its characteristics can only be said to be intellectual.
Of course, the limitation of Chinese metaphysics is that it does not pay attention to logic, and attaches too much importance to kung fu and realm, so it is difficult to develop an interest in the study of the world of shapes. So there is no development of natural sciences.
Ontological research explores the existence of all things in heaven and earth and human beings in order to study the ultimate reality of all beings, their essence and attributes.
Taoist ontology regards the Tao as the root of the common biochemistry of man and all things in heaven and earth and the return of the biochemical process. Tao is not only a figurative attribute of the existence of all things, but also a law that can give internal motivation and follow.
That is to say, all things are real, the traces of the formation of the Tao, and the Tao is the cause of the formation of all phenomena, and it is a void that does not have the nature of feeling.
Confucianism, on the other hand, believes that the way of heaven is the essence. In Zhou Yi's ontology, beings are interdependent and have an internal organic connection, so Yin and Yang Taiji is the ultimate that governs people and the fundamentals of all things in heaven and earth, and unites the existence of all beings.
In the easy-to-learn ecological universe, each existence is not isolated and static, but is connected with other people's bloodlines through a vertical and horizontal metaphysical network, sharing weal and woe, and jointly constructing the existence of the world.
Yin and Yang are the integral teachings, and Tai Chi has the elements of Yin and Yang. Two and one refers to the yin and yang that make up the whole of Tai Chi. These two indispensable elements are organically combined to form the whole body of Tai Chi.
Buddhism teaches that dependent arising voidness. This voidness is a momentary dynamic, a certain point in the space-time and temporal changes of the existence of things, and the existence that arises from the causal relationship with other things at this point, is instantaneous and cannot be eternal.
Therefore, the emptiness of Buddhism and the Tao of Taoism look similar on the surface, but the emptiness of Buddhism is essentially emptiness without nature, while the Tao of Taoism is the ultimate existence of all things, not emptiness.
Cosmology studies the question of how heaven and earth are structured, and how all things in heaven and earth are formed, and focuses on generation.
The cosmogenesis theory of Laozi and Zhuangzi is discussed from the relationship between the Tao and all things in heaven and earth. The Tao is a chaotic being, which contains the possibility of giving birth to all things and is all-encompassing.
Virtue is the way in which the Tao is in the inner part of all things, and has a direct relationship with all things. All things are the nature of Shunde and merge into the Tao. Virtue is separated from the Tao and is an individualized concrete thing from its own nature.
The Tao is the objective and independent law that is inherent in the comprehensive operation of all things in the universe to carry all things. The process of returning to the Tao is called resurrection, which is the unchanging law that the Tao shows through the operation of all things.
Zhuangzi used qi as a medium to explain how the Tao generates all things. All things are generated and changed by the accumulation and dispersion of qi, which is the earliest qi monism.
Yin and yang are the two different attributes of qi, and heaven and earth are the largest of the tangible objects generated by qi. Tao is the order that regulates qi in an orderly manner, and it is the subordinate concept of qi. Qi pervades the heavens and the earth, and is the medium through which the Tao generates all things. Heaven and earth are the places where all things appear, exist, and move. The Tao can generate all things, and there is the Tao in all things.
Zhou Yi's cosmology is endless, that is, the composition of the natural world is interactive, and the most significant is the gossip. The Yin and Yang Fish Tai Chi diagram symbolizes the Yin and Yang Community, which means that one Yin and One Yang are in mutual attraction and interaction, the virtue of eternal birth, and the wonderful use of all things to biochemistry is endless.
The theory of gasification cosmology is the use of gas to explain the composition of the universe. Qi is the most basic concept: Qi is the most subtle and flowing element that generates all existence.
Yuan Qi refers to the chaotic and undivided Qi before the division of heaven and earth, and is the basic element of the generation of all things in the universe. The interpretation of yin and yang as two contrasting properties divided into qi is the core concept of gasification cosmology.
The gasification cosmology is a characteristic of Huang Lao Taoism, which was popular throughout the middle and late Warring States period and throughout the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty's gasification cosmology is characterized by the combination of the five elements of yin and yang. It is divided into the natural induction theory of the organism and the mysterious celestial induction theory.
The former believes that human beings and all things in heaven and earth are generated by the vitality and the five elements of yin and yang that they differentiate, so the structural functions of human life are consistent with the structural functions of heaven.
The latter pointed out that the intermediary of natural induction is qi, and the quality accumulated by man's virtue will affect qi and sense heaven and earth, and heaven will also convey the joy and anger of induction to people through the change of qi, and then there will be good luck and evil retribution.
The Buddhist cosmology talks about dependent arising voidness. The so-called world, the world refers to the time that is constantly moving, and the world refers to the space in all directions.
The world is composed of the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, and the world is infinite, with large worlds and small worlds. The Void Feng Shui Earth forms a four-layer structure in turn.
The world is a process of constant movement and change, from one world to the next, there are four stages of formation, dwelling, deterioration, and emptiness, which are called the four eons.
Epocalypse is a unit that represents a long period of time. The tribulation is the time when the world has just been established, the dwelling eons refer to the period when the world is in a stable existence, the bad tribulation is the period of world destruction, and the empty tribulation is the period of emptiness and desert when the world is completely destroyed.
In the Buddhist cosmology, the world is cyclical and harmonious.
This book still focuses on the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, but at the same time, it will also talk about Mohist and Legalism in different chapters, mainly looking at the philosophical disciplines corresponding to the theories of each school. For example, in ethics, Mohism is discussed, and political philosophy cannot avoid Legalism.
In epistemology, it focuses on how the ancients saw the classification of knowledge and how the ancient Chinese discussed cognitive models. For example, for Wang Yangming's unity of knowledge and action, the author explains that it is a narrow cognitive model, mainly focusing on morality, and the knowledge of morality is combined with human action.
The aesthetic part is a bit like general education, with a general introduction to art such as calligraphy and painting, architecture, and poetry. In the part of political philosophy, one part tells the thinking of different philosophical schools on political philosophy, and the other part tells the propositions of political philosophy by figures of different dynasties.
As far as getting started, it's still good to see, the only requirement is to meditate, after all, there are a lot of ancient texts in it. If you can't calm down, it's easy to get distracted.
The most important thing is whether the book can be bought, and I don't think it's very likely. At least I'm a second-hand buyer.
Wen Yun Jiuyi].
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