The time of the formation and development of the Chinese philosophical tradition falls approximately on the same time as Indian philosophy, i.e. on the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Since familiarization with written culture in traditional China had a high social status, then from its very inception philosophy played a very significant role in society. Educated intellectual philosophers (zhu) were oriented towards understanding social life and the personal destiny of a person.
A distinctive feature of Chinese philosophy itself was, firstly, its recourse to a strictly defined set of canonical books, which served as the source and theoretical basis for philosophical reasoning. This canon, which formed the Wu Jing (Five Books) of Chinese erudition, included some of the earliest monuments of Chinese written culture: the Shu Jing (Book of History, or Canon of [documentary] writings), the Shi Jing (Book of Songs, or Canon of Poems), the Zhou Yi (Changes of Zhou, also known as the I Jing, or Book of Changes), the Li Jing (Canon of Decency, or Book of Rituals), and the chronicle Lu Shi Chun Qiu (The Springs and Autumns of Lord Lu). These texts were composed mainly in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e and contained information about historical events, written monuments, social structure, customs and rituals, various traditions and legends, as well as philosophical and socio-political teachings that existed in China. The Pentateuch contained some themes and concepts that later became the subject of philosophical consideration by Chinese thinkers and teachers. Secondly, when presenting their own views and teachings, Chinese authors tried to take into account all previous points of view, and due to this circumstance, they acted primarily as historians of philosophy, exegetes-interpreters and commentators. They saw their task primarily in transmitting true knowledge to students and followers, and not in creating new theories and teachings. Thirdly, Chinese philosophical works, as a rule, had a literary and artistic form due to their close connection with historical chronicles and literary works, such as, for example, the Shi Jing and Shu Jing. Fourthly, in terms of content, Chinese philosophy was determined by the dominance of various naturalistic teachings and ideas, and in terms of methodology, by an orientation toward numerological constructions, which played the role of a formal-logical apparatus in Chinese classical philosophy.
Numerology in China was a strictly formalized system of three types of objects, connected by special associative (not formal logical) and symbolic chains: 1) symbols – geometric forms: hexagrams and trigrams; 2) numbers-digits; 3) forces (yin and yang – dark and light) and 5 elements of the universe (water, fire, metal, wood, soil), also correlated with hieroglyphs. The tradition counted 64 hexagrams – special graphic symbols containing 6 lines of two types, whole and broken, located one above the other – in all possible combinations. According to this tradition, reflected primarily in the I Ching, the entire world universe is an alternation of situations caused by the interaction and struggle of the forces of light and darkness, tension and compliance, and each of these situations is symbolically depicted by one of the hexagrams.
Main schools. At the initial stage of development (6th-3rd centuries BC), philosophy in China is represented by a variety of views and doctrines, which is why this period is characterized as the “rivalry of a hundred schools.” The most authoritative and perhaps the earliest classification of the first actual philosophical schools is given by Sima Tan (2nd century BC) in the 130th chapter of “Shi Ji”, where he presents 6 teachings: 1) “school of yin and yang” (yinyang jia) – a natural philosophical school of the relationship between dark and light principles; 2) “school of scholars” (zhu jia) – Confucianism; 3) “school of Mo” (mo jia) – Mohism, the teachings of Mo Di; 4) “school of names” (ming jia); 5) “school of laws” (fa jia) – Legalism; 6) “School of the Way and Grace” (daode jia) – Taoism. This scheme served as the basis for subsequent classifications, which over time expanded due to the inclusion of new directions and currents of Chinese thought.
School of Yin and Yang
No works by thinkers of this school have survived to this day. The main ideas of the school are known from partial expositions of the teachings in the Shi Jing, Zhou Yi and Lu Shi Chun Qiu. The central teaching of the school, which influenced the entire traditional culture of China, consisted in the assertion of the presence in the world of two opposite, conflicting forces yin and yang (dark and light, female and male, lower and upper, earthly and heavenly, soft and hard), and the interaction of five elements (water, fire, metal, wood, soil). Until the second half of the 1st millennium BC, these ideas existed in a scattered form. Then, according to tradition, they united into a common doctrine of the only major representative of the yin and yang school, Zou Yan (4th-3rd centuries BC), who applied the interpretation of the “five elements” to the interpretation of the historical process. According to Zou Yan, history is a circular process of changing the dominance of one element over others as the “five graces” (wu de). In the 2nd century BC, Dong Zhongshi systematized and developed the main ideas of the school, inscribing them in the Confucian context. The further development of the Yin and Yang school was associated with Taoism and Neo-Confucianism.
Confucianism
Confucius. The founder of Confucianism was a sage named Kong Fu-tzu (Latinized form – Confucius) – “teacher Kong”, or Kong-tzu, born in 552/551 BC and died in 479 BC in the kingdom of Lu. Kong Fu-tzu – the first historically reliable philosopher of China – came from a very noble, albeit impoverished family, dating back to the Yin dynasty, overthrown in the 11th century BC. The founder of Confucianism himself characterized the stages of his life very expressively: “At fifteen, I turned my thoughts to study. At thirty, I gained independence. At forty, I freed myself from doubts. At fifty, I learned the will of heaven. At sixty, I learned to distinguish truth from untruth. “At the age of seventy, I began to follow the desires of my heart and did not violate the ritual” (2: 1, 143). Having begun to lead the life of a professional teacher (he could charge a fee for teaching: “even if they bring me a bundle of dried meat, I will not refuse to teach”, 2: 1, 154), Kong-tzu became famous as a teacher of more than 3 thousand students. In 496 BC, Kong-tzu became the first adviser in his native kingdom of Lu and tried to implement his ideas about the ideal structure of society, but was soon forced to leave his homeland and go traveling with his closest students. Kong Fu-tzu spent his last years in Lu, teaching his doctrine and editing the works of Chinese classical writing. Based on the instructions and conversations with Kong Fu-tzu, his students and followers compiled the book “Lun Yu” (“Conversations and Reasoning”, or “Judgements and Conversations”), knowledge of which later became a necessary element of Chinese education.
Heaven. Kong Fu-tzu followed the traditional Chinese concept of Heaven (tian), which he understood as the highest divine, non-personal force that governs the world. Heaven sets the four seasons in motion and “gives birth to a hundred things.” It does not directly manifest its will, for it is “silent,” but nevertheless it sends down predestination (ming), which can and must be cognized by man, since only in this case can man fulfill his destiny: “If you know the right path in the morning, you can die in the evening” (2: 1, 148). Although a supporter of the traditional cult of ancestors and the veneration of spirits, Kong Fu-tzu nevertheless emphasized that without serving people, one cannot learn to properly honor ancestors: “Without learning to serve people, is it possible to serve spirits?” (2: 1, 158).
Man. Kong Fu-tzu does not have a clearly formulated teaching on the nature of man (xing). Apparently, from the point of view of this Chinese teacher, man is by nature neither good nor evil. People are one from birth, the difference between them lies in upbringing and acquired qualities: “By nature, people are close to each other; by their habits, people are far from each other” (2: 1, 171). Man is capable and must change and improve himself, knowing the will of Heaven, since “only the smartest and the stupidest cannot change” (2: 1, 171). The former have already acquired the necessary qualities, becoming the embodiment of the Confucian ideal – the “noble man” (jun-tzu); while the latter represent the complete opposite of the former, personifying the “low (or small) man” (xiao ren). The main quality that distinguishes the noble man from the insignificant is “humanity” or “humaneness” (ren). On the one hand, possession of ren implies love for people, which a noble man always possesses, regardless of the vicissitudes of his life and circumstances: “A ‘noble man’ possesses philanthropy even while eating. He must follow philanthropy even when he is extremely busy. He must follow philanthropy even when he suffers failures” (2: 1, 148). On the other hand, humanity is also manifested in following rituals, observing and cultivating the norms of decency (li): “If a person does not possess philanthropy, then how can he observe ritual? If a person does not possess philanthropy, then what kind of music can we talk about?” (2: 1, 145). Decency-li in Kong Fu-tzu is closely connected with the universal “golden rule” of morality (zhong yong – “golden mean”), or, in other words, “reciprocity” (shu): “Do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself.” Based on this principle, the “noble husband” avoids extremes and sets an example of proper behavior.
The antipode of the “noble man” is the “low man”. If the former is guided by a sense of duty, cares about morality, is demanding of himself, lives in harmony with other people, although he does not follow them, does not show bias, fears the commands of Heaven, great people and the words of the perfectly wise, then the latter cares only about personal gain and his own benefit, starts arguments and makes demands on others, follows other people, but does not live in harmony with them, shows bias and does not treat everyone equally, “does not know the commands of heaven and is not afraid of it, despises high people who occupy a high position; ignores the words of a wise man” (2: 1, 170). In addition to purely moral virtues, the “noble man” is distinguished from commoners and “low people” by the desire to possess culture (wen), which Kong Fu-tzu associates with writing, book learning, ritual and music. Only the one who improves himself, “cultivates”, “civilizes” natural human nature by becoming involved in civilization and culture can be considered a true person (i.e. one who possesses humanity-ren).
The ideal of the “noble man” pertains not only to the sphere of personal self-improvement and private life. Kong Fu-tzu extends it to the sphere of socio-political relations as well. In the context of social relations, jun-tzu acts as a true representative of the aristocracy or a genuine ruler: “A noble man is not extravagant in kindness; does not provoke anger in forcing labor; is not greedy in desires; is not proud in greatness; and does not inspire respect without being cruel” (2: 1, 174). The main characteristic of jun-tzu in the social context in Confucius is “justice” or “duty” (yi), expressed in the unity of true knowledge (zhi) and proper action (xing). “To know” means to know people first of all. From the point of view of Kong Fu-tzu, it is necessary to study only what is true, since “the study of incorrect views is harmful” (2: 1, 144). Knowledge must be supplemented by reflection, for “to learn without reflection is to waste time” (2: 1, 144), and must be manifested in appropriate actions. The unity of knowledge and action is expressed by the category of “due justice” (yi). The implementation of justice by a “noble man” is possible only if he follows ritual decency, expressed in the principle of “respect” or “honor” (xiao). Relationships between father and son, elder and younger brothers, husband and wife, elder and younger, sovereign and subject must be based on respect, for without it the manifestation of true humanity is impossible: “Respect for parents and respect for elder brothers is the basis of philanthropy” (2: 1, 141).
Kong Fu-tzu did not consider his teaching as something fundamentally new for the Chinese tradition; on the contrary, he emphasized in every way that he himself was only restoring antiquity to its rights: “I transmit, but do not create, I believe in antiquity and love it” (2: 1, 153).
Correction of names. The teaching of the Chinese thinker on the “correction (or rectification) of names” (zheng ming) is also based on a genuine return to ancient times, when decency was observed, humanity reigned and respectfulness flourished. The essence of this teaching comes down to the requirement that words and deeds, names and designated things and situations, the actual position and behavior of a person correspond to his status: “The sovereign must be a sovereign, a dignitary – a dignitary, a father – a father, a son – a son” (2: 1, 160). It was precisely with the “correction of names”, bringing deeds into conformity with their names, that Kong Fu-tzu was going to begin his activity if he were attracted to governing the state. Confucius saw the need for such a step in the fact that “if the names are incorrect, then the words have no basis. If the words have no basis, then the deeds cannot be carried out. If the deeds cannot be carried out, then the ritual and music do not flourish. If ritual and music do not flourish, punishments are not applied properly. If punishments are not applied properly, the people do not know how to behave” (2:1, 161-162). Only when words correspond to deeds is it possible to govern the country wisely, to follow the prescribed norms of behavior and ritual, and to be able to demonstrate one’s “humanity” – ren.
Mencius. This representative of Confucianism, whose real name was Meng Ke, lived more than a hundred years later (approximately 372 – 289 BC) than the founder of the teaching in the same kingdom of Lu as Kong Fu-tzu and, according to legend, even studied with the latter’s grandson, Zi Si. Mencius spent his life wandering, hoping to apply his views on government in practice. The rest of Mencius’ life, like the founder of Confucianism, devoted entirely to developing his teaching and teaching. Based on the conversations and instructions of Mencius, his closest students and followers compiled the work “Mencius”, although the final text of this treatise was formed after the death of the teacher himself.
Man. Since Kong Fu-tzu himself did not give a clear formulation of the doctrine of human nature, subsequent Confucians offered their own interpretations of this problem. Mencius defended the thesis of the originally good nature of man in a polemic with another Confucian, Gao-tzu, who taught that human nature is essentially neutral, like a seething stream of water: “open [it a path] to the east – it will flow to the east, open [it a path] to the west – it will flow to the west. Human nature is not divided into good and bad, just as water in its [flow] does not distinguish between east and west” (2: 1, 243). Mencius responded to this very ingeniously that “water really does not distinguish between east and west. But does it not distinguish where is up and where is down?” Just as water tends to flow downwards, so man tends to do good, although he can be forced to do evil. Initially, every person has a sense of compassion, shame and indignation, respect and honor, truth and untruth, which form the basis of philanthropy, justice, ritual and knowledge, respectively. These qualities, according to Mencius, are not something external to man, but are always inherent in people. Moreover, an ordinary person and a perfect sage are one and the same, for all people have a single good nature. However, Mencius understands that, despite the common nature for everyone, people can commit various, including unkind, deeds. This is explained, firstly, by the pressure of external circumstances (crop failure or famine, for example); and, secondly, by the fact that not everyone can fully use their natural qualities. The latter directly depends on the knowledge of human nature. In such self-knowledge, the Chinese philosopher sees the meaning and purpose of man: “He who uses his mental abilities to the end, he knows his nature. He who knows his nature, he knows heaven. To preserve his mental abilities, to care for his nature – this is [the way] to serve heaven. When [a person] does not care about premature death or longevity and [he], improving himself, awaits the command of heaven – this is [the way] to find his destiny.” Society. Based on the assertion that all people manifest their abilities and qualities differently, Mencius explained the difference between the rulers and the ruled: “some strain their minds, others strain their muscles. Those who strain [their] minds, rule people. And those who strain [their] muscles, are ruled [by other people]. The ruled contain those who rule them. And those who rule people are contained by those whom they rule.” In other words, everyone fulfills their duties, and this is the basis of order in the world and society. A true ruler must show concern for the people, be guided by moderation in collecting taxes, observe ritual in relation to subordinates and act fairly. Mencius understands the sense of justice as a kind of all-encompassing principle that permeates the entire space between heaven and earth, which is manifested through proper actions,corresponding to reason. Justice must be cultivated, and in no case “the affairs of the people should be treated with negligence.” Following justice and ritual in relations between superiors and inferiors ensures the prosperity of the state. Following Confucius, Mencius likens the relations of superiors and inferiors to the relations of father and son – the former should love the latter as their children, and the latter, in turn, respect the superiors as elders and fathers.
Management. Insisting on the priority of the people’s interests, Mencius formulated the theory of “humane management” (ren zheng), the main provision of which is as follows: “The people are the most important in the state, followed by the spirits of the earth and grain, and the sovereign occupies the last place. Therefore, only by winning the favor of the people can one become a son of heaven” (2: 1, 247). Heaven presents the sovereign to the people, heaven expresses its will and commands through the behavior and actions of the ruler. If affairs in the state are in order, and the people accept the ruler, then such is the will of heaven. Following the ancients, Mencius asserts that heaven looks in accordance with how the people look. In other words, the will of the people is the will of heaven. Therefore, subjects have the right to overthrow a vicious ruler.
Xun Tzu. Another follower of Kong Fu Tzu, known as Xun Kuang (IV – III centuries BC). According to legend, Xun Tzu was a younger contemporary of Mencius – when the latter died, Xun Kuang was over twenty. He received a good education and, like his predecessors, was engaged in teaching, instructing students and followers. It was on the basis of conversations with the teacher that his students compiled a treatise called “Xun Tzu”.
Heaven. While sharing Confucius’s idea that the source of all things is Heaven (tian), Xunzi nevertheless understood “heaven” to be a purely natural reality, devoid of any supernatural qualities. He also denied the idea of the will of Heaven (tian zhi), which influences the fate of people and the state of affairs in the state. Everything that happens is accomplished according to the natural laws of the universe. Xunzi sees the reason for the deification of heaven in man’s inability to directly observe the causes of natural phenomena: “Man does not see this [process], he sees only its result and therefore calls it “coming from the spirit”. Man knows only what things achieve in their development, and does not imagine these invisible changes themselves – therefore he calls them heavenly” (3: 305). What man perceives as unusual and mysterious is in fact a change in the forces of yin and yang. Therefore, Xunzi concludes, every event or phenomenon occurs due to natural causes, and heaven does not influence what happens to man in any way. Thus, relying on common sense, the Chinese philosopher substantiates man’s responsibility for his own destiny and suggests that man himself actively intervene in the course of events: “instead of exalting heaven and reflecting on it, wouldn’t it be better to subjugate heaven ourselves by multiplying things? Instead of serving heaven and praising it, wouldn’t it be better to use heaven ourselves in our own interests by overcoming heavenly fate?.. Rather than expecting things to multiply themselves, wouldn’t it be better to change things ourselves by using [man’s] capabilities?” (2: 2, 173).
Man. On the issue of interpreting human nature (xing), Xunzi defended a position directly opposite to the views of Mencius. While the latter insisted on the good nature of man, Xunzi was convinced of the original depravity (e) of human nature: “first the flesh, then the spirit” (2: 2, 168). Man is naturally dominated by the desire for sensual pleasures and profit, for both are his innate qualities. “Natural”, i.e. inherent in man’s nature, greed leads to people becoming evil. In support of his position and in refutation of Mencius’s idea, Xunzi provides a strong argument: if man were good by nature, there would be no need for education, ritual, laws, debt, or even the state itself. It is education and training that allow a person to instill worthy qualities and peacefully coexist in society with other people. Along with the innateness of bad qualities, Xun Tzu also recognized the innate desire for knowledge in humans: “The ability to know things is an innate property of man, the possibility of being known is the law of things” (2: 2, 191). The goal of human knowledge is to penetrate and understand the essence of the phenomena and events occurring in society and the world, the result of which is “correct thinking” and “insight in affairs”. At first, a person perceives with the help of the five senses, and then the mind-heart helps the natural senses to distinguish the true from the false. Xun Tzu considers the one-sided consideration of things (when a part is taken for the whole) and the incorrect use of names to be the sources of error and false knowledge. Only a “noble man” (jun Tzu) can achieve complete true knowledge, with which the Chinese thinker identifies the teachings of Kong Fu Tzu. Xunzi considered the activities of schools other than Confucianism to be extremely harmful, because, in his opinion, they strove to deliberately sow confusion and mislead people. Xunzi insisted on unanimity.
Society. In order to curb and correct the evil nature of man, the perfectly wise rulers created social institutions: “the perfectly wise, after long reflection and study of people’s actions, introduced the norms of ritual and [the concept of] a sense of duty and created a system of laws” (2: 2, 203). Only with the help of ritual-decency (li) and duty (yi) can one overcome the original human essence. Equality is based on the awareness of natural inequality and a hierarchy of relations is built in a state that is governed by laws. While recognizing the need for coercion in the sphere of state governance, Xun Tzu nevertheless gave preference to persuasion, personal example and decency: “if in governing [the state] one resorts only to threats, intimidation and cruelty and does not strive to magnanimously lead people, the lower classes will be frightened, will not dare to get close [to the ruler], will be secretive and will not dare to reveal to him [the true picture of affairs in the country]. In this case, great affairs [in the state] will be neglected, and small ones will be ruined” (2:2, 151). The Chinese thinker compared the sovereign to a root, and the people to leaves, and saw the task of the ideal ruler in winning the sympathy of the people. The wisdom and justice of the ruler are manifested in the prudent spending and distribution of wealth and ensuring prosperity for the people.
Over time, Confucianism spread widely throughout the Far East and has not lost its influence to this day.
Moism
Mo-tzu. The founder of Mohism was Mo Di, or Mo-tzu (“teacher Mo”) (468/478 – 376/400 BC), after whom this school is named. There is an assumption that Mo Di was a dignitary in the Song kingdom. According to legend, he traveled a lot, became famous as a skilled orator, an experienced diplomat, and an expert in defensive structures. Like many ancient Chinese sages and philosophers, he had many students. Mo-tzu’s views are set out in a work of the same name. Mohism was in many ways an ideological opponent of Confucianism.
Heaven. For Mo Tzu, Heaven (tian) is a certain reality that sees and hears everything, has feelings and desires. It determines what is good and what is evil. The criterion for such a distinction is the will of Heaven (tian zhi), which acts as a kind of model, likened by the Chinese thinker to a goniometer or a craftsman’s compass. Based on the will of Heaven, which is “broad and selfless”, “gives a lot, but takes nothing in return”, the wise rulers establish social and moral norms. Heaven is a model of love between people and mutual benefit: “How do we know that heaven adheres to universal love and brings benefit to everyone? This is evident from the universality of heaven, from the fact that it feeds everyone … If heaven is universal, nurtures universal love and feeds everyone, then how can we say that it does not want people to love each other and benefit each other” (2: 1, 180). Heaven expects man to behave in accordance with this principle. A man who strives for true good must follow the “heavenly model.” Only in this way can he achieve the desired results. Therefore, for
Mo Tzu the reason for a person’s moral behavior is rooted in his proper desires. Recognizing the will of heaven as the dividing criterion of good and evil, Mo Tzu rejected the idea of fate – Heaven does not predetermine anything, it only wants people to love each other. Respecting predestination makes no sense and is contrary to justice, since it deprives a person of the opportunity to make decisions for himself and act as he sees fit.
Man. What Confucius and his followers considered to be the distinctive feature of a true man — humanity (ren) — Mo Tzu called “pseudo-love” (be ai), “separate love,” which he compared to the feeling of a thief who loves his own home but calmly robs someone else’s. Whereas, according to Mo Di, “separate love and selfish gain must be replaced by universal love and mutual benefit” (2: 1, 197). For the Chinese philosopher, there is no doubt that when personal and public interests clash, the personal and private must be sacrificed for the common good. A person’s highest merit is the benefit he brings to society. It is characteristic that Mo Di correlates not only the criterion of good with society, but also the criterion of truth in cognition. The truth is that which, firstly, the people know; secondly, corresponds to the deeds of the perfect wise rulers of antiquity; and, thirdly, has practical benefit. Mo-tzu denies the possibility of innate knowledge, which the Confucians insisted on. The subject of knowledge is the deeds of wise rulers, the ideas of contemporaries, relations between people, principles of government and rules of reasoning. The ultimate goal of any knowledge should be considered to be an understanding of the rational principles of government, based on knowledge of “where disorder originates.”
Society. Like the Confucian Mencius, Mo Di believed that the will of the people is the will of heaven itself. He condemned the cruelty of rulers and, like most Chinese philosophers, advocated for due justice (yi) in governing the state. Worthy and wise people should be promoted to high positions regardless of their origin – this is the main tenet of Mo Tzu’s teaching on “honoring talents.” Chaos and lawlessness in human society will cease with the accession of the wisest ruler to the throne. Candidates for other positions should also be selected according to the principle of dignity. Society will follow the laws when and insofar as everyone is engaged in the work that corresponds to his abilities. Moreover, dignitaries should not always be noble, and commoners – not noble. Such equality is a condition for “honoring the unity” of the people and the ruling power in pursuing justice. Mo Tzu’s teaching on universal love results in his negative attitude towards all kinds of wars and conflicts. War ruins the state’s resources: grain, forests, destroys cities and villages, and many families are left without breadwinners. Wars are beneficial only to a small handful of people, while they bring misfortune and suffering to the people. However, despite his deep conviction in the destructiveness of military actions, Mo Tzu insisted on the need to defend his own country from invading invaders, saying that “the country’s defense must be strong.” According to legend, Mo Tzu and his students personally came to the aid of those states that were being invaded by the enemy. After the 3rd century BC, Mohism practically disappeared in China, and interest in it was revived only in the 19th – early 20th centuries.
School of Names
The works of the thinkers of the School of Names have not survived to this day. The teachings of this tradition are known from the evidence of texts of other schools of Chinese philosophical thought. The main problem that was in the center of attention of the thinkers of the School of Names was the problem of the relationship between the name (ming) and the thing (shi), the name and the designated object. The main directions within this school were the so-called “school of similarities and differences” and the “school of separating the hard from the white”. The main representative of the first was considered to be Hui Shi (4th – early 3rd century BC), who insisted on the universal connection between phenomena and objects. His teaching is expressed in 10 theses contained in the 33rd chapter of the Taoist treatise “Zhuang Tzu” (4th-3rd centuries BC), in which the author of this work characterizes the teachings of Hui Shi as confused and contradictory, whose words never hit the mark; and the Ming Jia teachers themselves “could only win people’s mouths, but could not conquer their hearts” (2: 1, 293). The first of the cited theses reads: “The greatest magnitude, outside of which there is nothing, I call the great unity; the smallest littleness, inside of which there is nothing, I call the small unity” (2: 1, 292). In essence, there is no difference between them. The world is a “Great One” (da yi), outside of which there are no things. The next four propositions express the same idea. The fifth thesis states: “The great identity differs from the small identity – this I call the small difference of identities. The whole host of things are absolutely identical and absolutely different – this I call the great difference of identities” (2: 1, 292). Although it is customary to distinguish two types of identity – small and large, it is more reasonable to treat things either from the position of the “flourishing of differences” or from the point of view of the “flourishing of identity”. The tenth proposition sums up everything that has been said above: “Universal love [should be extended] to the whole host of things, for heaven and earth [represent] one body” (2: 1, 293). One must not separate oneself from the rest of the world, for, despite existing differences, the entire world universe is like a single human body. In other words, what strives for the “flourishing of differences” in reality gravitates toward the “flourishing of identity.” Hui Shi confused his simple-minded listeners with various kinds of paradoxes such as: “fire is not hot,” “in the swift [flight] of an arrowhead there is a moment when it does not move and does not stand still,” “fingers do not touch a thing, and when touching, they do not come off it” (2: 1, 293), etc.
The representative of the “school of separation of hard from white” Gongsun Long emphasized the existence of constant connections between names and things and the independence of various qualities of a thing from each other. Gongsun Long’s most famous arguments are as follows: “a white horse is not a horse” and “a hard and a white stone are two stones.” The word “horse” is understood as a certain bodily form, and “white” as a certain color; and since a certain form is not a certain color, then a white horse is not a horse. The second assertion is substantiated in a similar way: since hardness is not determined by sight, and whiteness by touch, Gongsun Long concludes that they denote two completely different things.
Legalism
The founder of the legalist school is considered to be Guan Zhong (8th-7th centuries BC), although the greatest contribution to the development of the doctrine of this school was made by Shang Yang (4th century BC) and Han Fei (3rd century BC). Shang Yang, in addition to his theoretical contribution, became famous for his reforms, which he carried out as an adviser to the ruler of the Qin Empire. The essence of his innovations was that he introduced private ownership of arable land and created a system of universal denunciation. Han Fei studied with the Confucian Xun Tzu and inherited his theory of the inherently evil nature of man, incorporating it into the doctrine of Legalism. The central concept of the legalist school, from which it received its name, is law (fa). Philosophers of this school of Chinese thought contrasted the single legal law with Confucian decency-li.
Society. Relations in the state, from the point of view of the theorists of Legalism, should be built strictly on the basis of coercion and fear of punishment. Unlike the Confucians, who likened society to a large family in which the power of the father-ruler is based on the respect (xiao) of the children-subjects, the legalists consider the state to be a soulless mechanism. The task of an autocratic and sole ruler is “to weaken the people”, therefore it is necessary to limit their education and completely subordinate the well-being of the people to the power of the sovereign. Representatives of Legalism saw centralized autocracy as a guarantee of the power and prosperity of China. The main methods of governing society for the legalists were rewards and punishments, with an emphasis on punishments: “first of all, it is necessary to have laws on punishments” (2: 2, 221). The main virtues of a person are loyalty to the sovereign and readiness to go to death for him, unconditional submission to the law and military merit, on the basis of which the ruler appoints officials to the appropriate positions. However, when making an appointment, neither the ruler himself nor his officials should be guided by personal whims, but only by the benefit, the advantage for the whole country as a whole, and in such a way as to take into account the material interests of the subjects.
Polemics with Confucianism. The main opponents of the Legalists were the Confucians. If the followers of Kong Fu-tzu extolled antiquity, then the representative of Legalism Shang Yang argued: “in order to benefit the state, it is not necessary to imitate antiquity”, since “the wise create laws, and the foolish are limited by them; the gifted change the ritual, and the worthless are bound by ritual” (2: 2, 213). Only the ruler of the state can be the creator of the law (fa), and, unlike li, laws can be changed in accordance with the pressing needs of society at the moment. If the Confucians considered philanthropy/humaneness (ren) to be the main virtue, then for Shang Yang “kindness and philanthropy are the mother of offenses”, and true virtue is based entirely on the fear of punishment and can be achieved only “through capital punishment and reconciling justice with violence” (2: 2, 223).
Another influential representative of Legalism, Han Fei-tzu, a student of the Confucian Xun-tzu, based on his teacher’s thesis about the evil nature of man, insisted that human nature cannot be changed by education (as Xun-tzu believed), but must be suppressed by punishments and fear of them. From his Confucian teacher, Han Fei-tzu also borrowed the position on the need to introduce complete unanimity in the state, but turned this thesis not only against philosophical teachings, calling them “stupid and false, confused and contradictory” (2: 2, 277), but also against Confucianism itself, which “undermines the laws with culture” (2: 2, 267). If we rely on the intellectual scribes, Han Fei-tzu reasoned, “we cannot achieve that the common people work hard and talk less” (2: 2, 278).
Legalism has proven to be a very influential doctrine in Chinese history, gaining the status of official ideology in the Qin Empire under Emperor Qin Shi Huang (3rd century BC), and its provisions have subsequently been used in one way or another by Chinese rulers and statesmen up to the present day.
Taoism
“Tao Te Ching”. The main text of the Taoist philosophical tradition is the treatise “Tao Te Ching” (“Canon of Tao and Te”, or “Book of the Path and Grace”, 4th-3rd centuries BC), the authorship of which is attributed to the legendary sage Lao Tzu (literally: “Aged Sage”, “Aged Infant”, “Old Infant”). According to legend, Lao Tzu wrote “Tao Te Ching” in response to a request from the head of the border outpost Yin Xi before heading to the West. Subsequently, Lao Tzu was declared the embodiment of the Tao that existed from the beginning, and began to be revered as the highest deity in Taoism under the name Lao Jun (“Sovereign Lao”, “Aged Emperor”). The text of the Tao Te Ching contains 81 chapters, has 5 thousand hieroglyphs and is divided into two sections: the “book of Tao” (Tao Ching) and the book of De (De Ching). This work is written in the form of paradoxical and often deliberately obscure aphorisms and sayings, extremely difficult to understand and interpret.
Tao. At the center of the teachings of Taoism are the main paired categories of the entire Chinese philosophy, Tao and De. Tao (literally: “Way”, “approach”, “method”, “principle”, “function”, “truth”, “morality”) in early Taoism, presented in the Tao Te Ching, is understood as a kind of origin of all that exists, i.e., that from which everything arose: “the mother of all things” (2: 1, 115), “the deepest gate of birth” (2: 1, 116). Tao is also called “ancestor”, “root”, and even “rhizome”. However, Tao is not only the source of all things and phenomena, but also the goal of everything that happens: “[in the world] there is a great variety of things, but [they all] return to their beginning” (2: 1, 119). Along with the beginning and the end, the source and the limit of everything, the Dao also denotes the primary basis, the essence: “the Dao is the deep [foundation] of all things” (2: 1, 133). Acting as such a basis for the world, the Dao is eternal, uncreated and permeates all that exists: “the great Dao flows everywhere” (2: 1, 125). It even precedes the heavenly ruler. The most difficult to interpret in the “Dao Te Ching” is the teaching on the existence of two hypostases of the Dao, which can be constant, separated from everything, lonely, inactive, at rest and inaccessible to perception, giving rise to Heaven and Earth, nameless and inexpressible in words. At the same time, the Tao can act as an all-encompassing, all-pervading like water, changing with the world, active principle, accessible to knowledge and perception, and also expressible in signs and symbols. In addition, the just – “heavenly” Tao is opposed to the vicious – human. The author of the “Tao Te Ching” also recognizes the possibility of deviation from the Tao and even its complete absence in society. In the Tao, as the primary source of all that exists, all things and symbols are contained in a state of some special psychic vital energy (qi) and seed (jing). Therefore, any thing can act as a formless symbol, identical to the all-pervading “absence/non-existence” (wu). At the same time, the Tao is understood as a function, an active manifestation of “presence/existence” (yu). Despite the fact that “non-being permeates everywhere and everywhere” (2: 1, 128), being and non-being mutually generate each other: “in the world everything is born in being, and being is born in non-being” (2: 1, 127). The nameless Dao is related to non-being, and the named one is related to being. However, the two hypostases of the Dao are two names of the same original in its nature and inner essence: “both of them are of the same origin, but with different names” (2: 1, 115) and “[the transition] from one to the other is the door to everything wonderful” (2: 1, 115). The main pattern of the Dao is return, movement in a circle (celestial movement, since the sky was thought of as round, and the circle is a symbol of perfection).
De. If in the Tao Te Ching the Tao refers to the hidden and original law, the root cause of the existence of things, then the manifestation of the Tao, its materialization is designated by the word de (lit.: “grace”, “good force”, “virtue”, “perfection”, “dignity”, “valor”). Not a single thing is possible without connection with the Tao and de: “The Tao gives birth to things, the de feeds them” (2: 1, 128). If the Tao is absolute, and therefore impersonal, then the de is relative and individual – what some evaluate as a virtue, others may consider a disadvantage. In general, in the Taoist tradition, de is understood as a set of various forces that can come into conflict with each other, therefore, in Taoism, the general concept of grace is often specified using certain characteristics: “ultimate”, “great”, etc. For example, what is personal “grace” for an individual can be unholy, dark, bad de for society. The good power of de is inherent in Tao, it is through it that Tao manifests itself in the world, and things act as forms or embodiments of the highest source of being.
Wu wei. From this interpretation of the Tao as the origin of all that exists follows the principle of “naturalness” (zi ran), or the spontaneity of the Tao, and “non-action” (wu wei). The latter is considered, on the one hand, as the absence of purposeful activity that contradicts the spontaneous course of events and transforms the natural properties of things. In this sense, wu wei is the principle of non-interference in the natural order of being. On the other hand, in the Tao Te Ching, wu wei is also understood as a special, inconspicuous type of activity, “the implementation of non-action” in agreement and conformity with the Tao, when the action is hidden, “disguised”: “the sage, when doing deeds, prefers non-action; when implementing the teaching, does not resort to words; when causing changes in things, [he] does not implement them himself; when creating, does not possess [what is created]; when setting in motion, does not make efforts to do so; “When he successfully completes [something], he is not proud” (2: 1, 115).
Man. He who allows the Dao to manifest in himself, returns to naturalness and carries out wu wei, is called in the Dao Te Ching “perfectly sage” (sheng ren). The “perfectly sage” of the Daoists differs from the “noble man” of the Confucians. If the former follows naturalness, through wu wei allowing the Dao to manifest itself; then the latter ennobles his human nature, joining the written, book culture, following the ritual and carrying out philanthropy. According to the idea of the author of the Dao Te Ching, various virtues-de appear in a person after the loss of the Dao: “philanthropy – after the loss of de; justice – after the loss of philanthropy; ritual – after the loss of justice. Ritual is a sign of the lack of trust and loyalty” (2: 1, 126). The author of the Tao Te Ching characterizes the ethical ideal of the followers of Kong Fu Tzu as “a man with lower de,” whose virtues—filial piety, philanthropy, justice, etc.—appear when and insofar as society, having lost its original perfection, departs from the Tao. The Confucian principle of “reciprocity” is also unacceptable to the Taoists, since from the Taoist point of view it represents only an exchange of services, but not genuine virtue. Book learning is interpreted as superstition and false knowledge. The written culture of the Confucians, understood as an artificial processing of human nature, is contrasted with Taoist naturalness, “the simplicity of undyed silk and untreated wood.” Ultimately, genuine knowledge is only an introduction to the nameless Tao, therefore: “he who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know” (2: 1, 131). Having realized the Taoist ideal, the perfect sage becomes above the opposition of being and non-being, good and evil, life and death. Having comprehended the Tao, he becomes a participant in the original source of all that exists, thereby gaining immortality.
Society. The author of the Tao Te Ching also extends the idea of the principle of wu wei to the sphere of social relations. The wise ruler follows the Tao, relying on the natural course of things: “the best ruler is the one about whom the people know only that he exists” (2: 1, 119), since “when the government is calm, the people become simple-minded. When the government is active, the people become unhappy” (2: 1, 132). The penultimate chapter of the Tao Te Ching describes the ideal society as imagined by the author of the treatise, and subsequently by his numerous followers: “Let the state be small and the population sparse. If [the state] has various tools, they should not be used. Let people not go far [from their places] until the end of their lives. If [the state] has boats and chariots, they should not be used. Let the people again begin to weave knots and use them instead of writing. “Let his food be tasty, his clothing beautiful, his home comfortable, and his life joyful. Let neighboring states look at each other, listen to each other’s cocks crowing and dogs barking, and let people not visit each other until old age and death” (2: 1,138).
“Zhuangzi”. The further development of the ideas contained in “Tao Te Ching” is connected with the treatise “Zhuangzi” (IV – III centuries BC), the author of which is Zhuang Zhou.
Continuing to defend the Tao Te Ching’s idea of the Tao as the origin of all things, Zhuangzi brings the Tao closer to the idea of “non-existence/absence” (wu), the highest form of which is the absence of absence itself (wu). The latter assertion is the basis for the thesis that the Tao “reifies things, but is not a thing.” For Zhuangzi, true reality is a chaotic but simple integrity in which all things are interconnected and interpenetrated. However, things are not dissolved, although they are not opposed to each other. Zhuangzi compares the existence of the world to a dream or illusion, while simultaneously affirming the relativity of life and death, sleep and wakefulness: “it is not known whether Zhuang Zhou dreamed that he was a butterfly, or whether the butterfly dreamed that it was Zhuang Zhou” (2: 1, 261). Like the author of the Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi advocates the idea of an ideal society of people living in natural, artless unity with nature and views Confucian ethics as a consequence of the loss of the Tao.
At the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, Taoism spread throughout the Far East, where it remains an influential philosophical and religious movement to this day.
Literature
1. Anthology of World Philosophy. Ancient East. Minsk; M., 2001.
2. Ancient Chinese philosophy: In 2 volumes. M., 1994.
3. Chinese philosophy. Encyclopedic dictionary / Edited by M. L. Titarenko. Moscow, 1994.
4. Lysenko V. G., Terentyev A.
5. Shokhin V.K. Early Buddhist philosophy. Philosophy of Jainism. Moscow, 1994.
6. Martynov A.S. Confucianism. St. Petersburg, 2002.
7. New philosophical encyclopedia: In 4 volumes. Moscow, 2001.
8. Radhakrishnan S. Indian Philosophy. Moscow, 1993. Vol. 1, 2.
9. Torchinov E. A. Taoism. St. Petersburg, 1998.
10. Torchinov E. A. Introduction to Buddhology. St. Petersburg, 2000.
11. Shokhin V.K. The first philosophers of India. M, 1997.
12. Shokhin V.K. Stratifications of reality in the ontology of Advaita Vedanta. Moscow, 2004.
13.Dasgupta SN History of Indian Philosophy. Cambridge, 1969. Vol. 1-5.
Potter K. N. The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies. Delhi ao 1974-1996, vol. 1-7.
14. Schwartz BI The World of Thought in Ancient China. Cambridge, 1985.