A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

by Wing-Tsit Chan

  K’ang fled to Hong Kong, and thence to Japan, the South Seas, America, and Europe, traveling for a period of sixteen years. While in Canada in 1899, he founded the Party to Preserve the Emperor who was then virtually under house arrest. With the establishment of the Republic in 1912, K’ang returned to China. In 1914 he advocated Confucianism as the state religion and in 1917 took part in the abortive attempt to restore the deposed Hsüan-t’ung emperor (r. 1909-1912) to the throne. He tried restoration and failed again in 1924. A radical reformer turned arch-reactionary, he died in disgrace, but because of his great scholarship and loyalty to Confucianism, he has been called Sage K’ang from his youth. For details of his life, see Lo, Jung-pang, ed., K’ang Yu-wei.

  2--For this translation, see Appendix, comment on Jen.

  3--Legendary rulers of 3rd millennium b.c.

  4--Liang Ch’i-ch’ao, Intellectual Trends in the Ch’ing Period, p. 94.

  5--See above, ch. 14, sec. E, 4.

  6--Mencius, 2A:6.

  7--See ibid., 7A:45.

  8--See above, ch. 14, n.41.

  9--Confucius’ native state.

  10--For a description of this system, see above, ch. 3, no. 81. There is no evidence that the system was ever practiced, though many Confucianists and Neo-Confucianists insisted that it was the practice in high antiquity and urged its revival.

  11--Namely, the Books of History, Odes, Changes, Rites, Music (now lost) and the Spring and Autumn Annals. Since the Sung dynasty (960-1279) the Book of Music has been replaced by the Chou-li (Rites of Chou).

  12--Mencius, 4B:11.

  13--The Mean, ch. 29.

  14--Hsia, Shang, and Chou

  15--Book of Rites, “Confucius at Home at Ease.” Cf. Legge, trans., Li Ki, vol. 1. p. 282.

  16--The word wei here does not mean only but is interchangeable with wei (to become).

  17--Literally, “borrow a way.”

  18--This refers to Mencius, 2A:6, on which K’ang’s present remarks are a commentary.

  19--This is the definition given by Cheng Hsüan (127-200) in his commentary on The Mean, ch. 20.

  20--Chuang Tzu, ch. 24, nhcc, 8:21b. Cf. Giles, trans., Chuang Tzu, 1961 ed., p. 233.

  21--This refers to Mencius, 7A:45.

  22--For discussions on jen, see above, ch. 30, sec. 1; ch. 31, secs. 1 and 11; ch 32, sec. 42; ch. 34, treatise no. 1.

  23--Fung, History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 686.

  24--See n.22 and also Chan, “K’ang Yu-wei and the Confucian Doctrine of Humanity (Jen),” in Lo, Jung-pang, ed., K’ang Yu-wei.

  THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMANITY (JEN) IN T’AN SSU-T’UNG

  1--He was from Hunan. His courtesy name was Fu-sheng. After the Sino-Japanese war of 1895, he promoted new learning in Hunan. Attracted by the Society for National Strength and New Learning founded by K’ang Yu-wei in Peking, he went there to see him. K’ang had left for his native Kwangtung, but T’an met the secretary of the society, Liang Ch’i-ch’ao. In 1896 he was put on the waiting list to become a prefect, spending the year at Nanking where he studied Buddhism. In the next year he and Liang promoted modern education in Hunan. When the reform of 1898 was started by K’ang in Peking, they were called there to help. T’an was appointed one of four secretaries in the Grand Council to supervise the reforms. He was sent to persuade Yüan Shih-k’ai (1858-1916), commander of an army guarding the capital, to help the reformers and eliminate the opposition. Yüan promised him but betrayed the reformers. As a result T’an was arrested and executed. For greater details see Hummel, ed., Eminent Chinese, pp. 702-705.

  2--Liang Ch’i-ch’ao, Yin-ping-shih wen-chi (Collection of Literary Works of Yin-ping Study), 1st collection, 1936. 3:51a.

  3--On the question of K’ang’s influence of T’an, see Chan, “K’ang Yu-wei and the Confucian Doctrine of Humanity (Jen),” in Lo, Jung-pang, ed., K’ang Yu-wei.

  4--For comments on jen, see above, ch. 30, sec. 1; ch. 31, secs. 1 and 11; ch. 32, sec. 42; and ch. 34, sec. 1.

  5--For the translation of this term, see Appendix, comment on Fa.

  6--See above, ch. 36, sec. 6.

  7--For this concept, see above, ch. 24, n.19.

  8--Changes, “Random Remarks on the Hexagrams.” Cf. Legge, trans., Yi King, p. 443. Ko and ting are the 49th and 50th hexagrams in the Book of Changes.

  9--ibid., “Appended Remarks,” pt. 1, ch. 5. Cf. Legge, ibid., p. 356.

  CHANG TUNG-SUN’S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

  1--He was a native of Chekiang. Some say he was bom in 1884. He did not study in Tokyo University as sometimes stated but did spend some time in Japan. After serving as an editor of various newspapers and magazines and as a university professor in Shanghai and Canton, he became a professor in Yenching University in Peking. Originally a leader of the Progressive Party, he later became a leader of the State Socialist Party and as such was opposed to both the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party. During World War II, he was imprisoned by the Japanese in Peking. After the war he left his party and joined the leftist Democratic League. In 1949 he became a member of the Central Committee of the People’s Government in Peking. Soon afterward he retired. He died in 1962

  2--These and the following parentheses are Chang’s own.

  3--Ch’eng I (Ch’eng I-ch’uan, 1033-1107), preface to the I chuan (Commentary on the Book of Changes), in eccs.

  THE NEW RATIONALISTIC CONFUCIANISM: FUNG YU-LAN

  1--He is from Honan. After graduating from Peking University in 1919, he went to Columbia University and obtained a Ph.D. in 1923. Returning to China, he was a professor in various universities and from 1928 on was professor and dean of Tsing-hua University in Peking. In 1933, he lectured in England. During World War II, he was dean at the Southwest Associated University. He has been visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Hawaii and has an LL.D. from Princeton. He is now professor at Peking University.

  2--See Bibliography.

  3--See also his Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, p. 204.

  4--ibid., p. 205. For comments on the translation of the terms li and ch’i see Appendix.

  5--ibid., p. 205; Fung, Short History of Chinese Philosophy, p. 335.

  6--Hsin li-hsüeh, p. 53; Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, p. 205.

  7--Hsin li-hsüeh, p. 43.

  8--ibid., pp. 10, 27-28.

  9--ibid., pp. 38, 42, 47, 53-55, 61-62; Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 205-207.

  10--Hsin li-hsüeh, pp. 63-68.

  11--Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 207-209.

  12--Chou Tun-i (Chou Lien-hsi, 1017-1073), T’ai-chi t’u-shuo (An Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate). See above, ch. 28, sec. 1.

  13--A term originating from the Great Learning, ch. 2.

  14--Hsin li-hsüeh, pp. 97, 99, 100, 109-121; Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 209-211.

  15--Hsin li-hsüeh, pp. 36-38.

  16--Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, p. 211.

  17--Hsin li-hsüeh, p. 40; Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, p. 212.

  18--ibid., p. 213.

  19--Short History of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 338-339.

  20--Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, ch. 10; Short History of Chinese Philosophy, p. 335.

  21--Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 203-204.

  22--See his “I discovered Marxism-Leninism,” People’s China, 1, 1950, no. 6, p. 11.

  23--“Hsin li-hsüeh ti tzu-wo chien-t’ao (Self-appraisal about the New Rational Philosophy),” Kuang-min jih-pao (Bright Light Daily), Oct. 8, 1950; reprinted in Hsin-hua yüeh-pao (New China Monthly), 3, 1950, no. 1, pp. 193-197.

  24--“Philosophy in New China According to Fung Yu-lan,” East and West, July. 1952, pp. 105-107. For a digest of the article, see Far East Digest, no. 66, 1952, pp. 12-13.

  25--Fung, “Problems in the Study of Confucius,” People’s China, 1957, no. 1, pp. 21-22, 27-31. The quotation is from Analects, 12:11.

  26--Ode no. 260.

  27--I-shu (Surviving Works), 18:9a, in eccs.r />
  28--See above, ch. 30, sec. 1. See Chang Tzu ch’üan-shu (Complete Works of Master Chang), sppy, 1:7a, Chu Hsi’s comment following the Western Inscription.

  29--For this doctrine, see above, ch. 34, sec. 116.

  30--For Chang’s doctrine of material force, see above, ch. 30, secs. 2-9, 16, 30, 36, 42, 43.

  31--See above, ch. 32, sec. 63; ch. 34, secs. 57, 66, 69.

  32--Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, p. 209.

  33--See above, ch. 34, sec. 100.

  34--See above, ch. 32, sec. 21.

  35--See above, ch. 34, sec. 100.

  36--Fung’s own note.

  37--See above, ch. 4, Chu Hsi’s commentary on sec. 5.

  38--Lao Tzu, chs. 16, 40, and 78; Changes, commentary on hexagram no. 11, t’ai (successfulness). See Legge, trans., Yi King, p. 81.

  39--These three points are derived from Changes, “Remarks on Certain Trigrams,” ch. 1, and became common topics in Neo-Confucianism. Cf. Legge, Yi King, p. 422.

  40--See above, ch. 32, sec. 49.

  41--Quoting from Changes, “Appended Remarks,” pt. 1, ch. 5. Cf. Legge, p. 356.

  42--Huang-chi ching-shih shu (Supreme Principles Governing the World), sppy, 5:5b.

  43--Mencius, 4A:2.

  44--I-shu, 2A:3a.

  THE NEW IDEALISTIC CONFUCIANISM: HSIUNG SHIH-LI

  1--He was a native of Hupei. He was at first interested in political revolution and science but later shifted to the study of Buddhism and Indian philosophy. As a young man he studied the Ch’eng wei-shih lun (Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only) at the Institute of Buddhism at Nanking. But he soon became dissatisfied and turned to the Book of Changes. He became professor of philosophy at Peking University in 1925. He continued to write and died in Mainland China in 1968.

  2--This book is in three parts. The first deals with consciousness and transformation, the second with function, and the third with mind and matter. The first two parts were in classical Chinese and printed for private circulation in 1932. They were translated into colloquial Chinese and published in 1942. Later the third part was added and the whole book was published in Chungking in 1944 and again in Shanghai in 1947, both in one volume. In the same year, it was published in four volumes in Shanghai as part of the Shih-li ts’ung-shu (Hsiung Shih-li Collection), 1947.

  3--For this see Chan, Religious trends in Modern China, pp. 126-135.

  4--Published in two volumes in Shanghai. The first volume deals with “kingliness without” and the second volume with “sageliness within,” the twofold ideal in Chinese, especially Confucian, philosophy.

  5--Referring to Changes, “Appended Remarks,” pt. 1, ch. 11. Cf. Legge, trans., Yi King, p. 372.

  6--For the Buddhist doctrines of ālaya and seeds, see above, ch. 23, sec. 3.

  7--See above, ch. 34, sec. 116.

  8--“Appended Remarks,” pt. 1, ch. 5. Cf. Legge, p. 356.

  9--The Mean, ch. 31.

  10--A reference to hexagram no. 1, ch’ien (Heaven) of the Book of Changes. See Legge, p. 213.

  11--This refers to the general philosophy of the Book of Changes rather than to any particular saying in the book.

  12--Lao Tzu, ch. 5.

  13--Chuang Tzu, ch. 6, nhcc, 3:17a. Cf. Giles, trans., Chuang Tzu, 1961 ed., p. 79.

  CHINESE PHILOSOPHY IN COMMUNIST CHINA

  1--These are included in his Selected Works, vol. 1, New York, International Publishing Co., 1954, pp. 282-297, and vol. 3, pp. 106-156, respectively.

  2--ibid., vol. 1, p. 297.

  3--See above, ch. 32, comment on sec. 38.

  4--ibid., vol. 3, pp. 154-155.

  5--Hou Wai-lu, Short History of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 108-169.

  6--See the preceding chapter.

  7--Che-hsüeh yen-chiu (Studies in Philosophy), 1958, no. 5, p. 42.

  8--These are made from the Chung-kuo che-hsüeh shih wen-t’i t’ao-lun chuan-chi (Proceedings of the Discussions on Problems Concerning the History of Chinese Philosophy), Peking 1957.

  9--Mencius, 6B:2. Yao and Shun were legendary sage emperors of 3rd millennium b.c.

  10--Wang Yang-ming, Ch’uan-hsi lu (Instructions for Practical Living), sec. 313.

  11--A common saying in Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism.

  12--See above, ch. 15.

  13--Mao Tse-tung, Selected Works, vol. 1, 1954, pp. 282-297.

  14--By Liu Shao-ch’i, written in 1949. English translation entitled How to Be a Good Communist, 2d ed., rev., 1952.

  15--Mao, Selected Works, vol. 2, 1954, pp. 11-53.

  16--Cf. Ho-kuan Tzu, sec. 5, the last sentence.

  17--cf. Lao Tzu, ch. 2.

  18--Chang Tsai, Chang Tzu ch’üan-shu (Complete Works of Master Chang), sppy, 2:4b.

  19--Selected Works, vol. 3, p. 154.

  APPENDIX

  ON TRANSLATING CERTAIN CHINESE PHILOSOPHICAL TERMS

  1--See above, ch. 6, n.31.

  2--Two Chinese Philosophers, 1958, p. 35.

  3--In Fung, History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 2, 1953, p. 450.

  4--Neo-Confucian Thought, 1957, p. 157.

  5--“Mencius and Sun-dz on Human Nature,” pew, 6 (1956), p. 219.

  6--Chu Hsi and His Masters, 1923, p. 74.

  7--Neueren chinesischen Philosophie, 1938, p. 170.

  8--See also discussion on the title by Olaf Graf, Dschu Hsi Djin-sï Lu, vol. 1, 1953, pp. 19-20.

  9--Waley, Analects of Confucius, 1938, 19:6.

  10--History of Chinese Scientific Thought, 1956, p. 459.

  11--Neo-Confucian Thought, p. 50.

  12--“The Mind and the Moral Order,” mf.b, 10, 1955, p. 352.

  13--Legge, Confucian Analects, 19:6.

  14--Hsing-li tzu-i (Meanings of Neo-Confucian Philosophical Terms), pt. 2, sections on ching and kung-ching, and Liu Shih-p’ei (1884-1919), Li-hsüeh tzu-i t’ung-shih (General Explanation of the Meanings of Neo-Confucian Terms), 1936, p. 20a-b.

  15--Neo-Confucian Thought, pp. 197 and 222.

  16--Two Chinese Philosophers, p. 67.

  17--“Neo-Confucianism of the Sung-Ming Period.” sr, 18 (1951), p. 389.

  18--Philosophy of Human Nature by Chu Hsi, 1922, p. 439ff.

  19--Analects, 4:15.

  20--See above, ch. 2, comment on 4:15.

  21--For the meaning of fa-men, see above, ch. 24, n.12.

  22--Cf. translation by Legge, Yi King, p. 377.

  23--See Bodde, “On Translating Chinese Philosophic Terms,” feq, 14 (1955), 232-233. Also J. J. L. Duyvendak, trans., Tao Te Ching, The Book of the Way and its Virtue, 1954, p. 73.

  24--Far Eastern Quarterly, 13 (1954), p. 377.

  25--See above, ch. 34, sec. 101.

  26--Daikanwa jiten, vol. 9, p. 167.

  27--Creel, “The Meaning of Hsing-Ming,” Bernhard Karlgren Dedicata, pp. 199-211.

  28--See, for example, Han Fei Tzu, chs. 5, 7, 8, sptk, 1:8b, 2:5a, 6b, 7a.

  29--Yin Wen Tzu, sptk, pp. 1b and 2b, respectively.

  30--Bernhard Karlgren Dedicata, p. 205.

  31--ibid., p. 204.

  32--ibid., p. 205.

  33--Mo Tzu, ch. 8, sptk, 2:1a.

  34--See above, ch. 34, sec. 135.

  35--Bernhard Karlgren Dedicata, p. 210.

  36--For comments on these interpretations, see above, ch. 30, sec. 1; ch. 31, secs. 1 and 11; ch. 32, sec. 42; ch. 34, treatise 1; ch. 40, Introduction.

  37--Analects of Confucius, p. 83.

  38--Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, p. 13. Lucius Porter and Bodde also used this translation. See Fung. History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 1, p. 69.

  39--“On Translating Chinese Philosophic Terms,” feq, 14 (1955), 235-237.

  40--“The Development of Altruism in Confucianism,” pew, 1 (1951), 48-49.

  41--See above, ch. 34, treatise 1.

  42--Mencius, 4B:28.

  43--“The Semasiology of Some Primary Confucian Concepts,” pew, 2 (1953), 327-330; also book review in feq, 13 (1954), p. 334.<
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  44--Wisdom of Confucius, p. 184.

  45--For a succinct but excellent discussion on jen and Neo-Confucian interpretations, see Ch’en Ch’un, Hsing-li tzu-i, pt. 1, sections on jen.

  46--op.cit., pt. 2, entry on kuei-shen.

  47--See above, ch. 30, sec. 10.

  48--See Hu Shih, “The Natural Law in the Chinese Tradition,” in Natural Law Institute Proceedings, 1953, 5:142-145. Hu is not inclined to accept the equation by Kenneth Scott Latourette and Joseph Needham, but he believes that li has time and again played the role of a higher law.

  49--“The Semasiology of Some Primary Confucian Concepts,” pew, 2 (1953), pp. 326-327.

  50--The Way and Its Power, 1934, p. 33.

  51--See above, ch. 19, sec. 3.

  52--op.cit., pp. 335-336.

  53--Peter Boodberg, “Philosophical Notes on Chapter One of the Lao Tzu,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 20 (1957), pp. 598-618.

  54--For example, Chuang Tzu, chs. 2, 6 and 12, sptk, 1:33b-34a, 3:15a; 5:9a. Cf. Giles, trans., Chuang Tzu, 1961 ed., pp. 41, 79, 122.