On Ethics and History
Page 24
3 Compare Laozi, chapters 18 and 38.
4 Yang Zhu was a contemporary of Mengzi. He taught a form of egoism caricatured by Confucians as a doctrine of selfishness. Mozi, a contemporary of Kongzi, taught “impartial care” for all. Confucians rightly saw this as a threat to their views about the central importance of the family and their system of graded concern. See Mengzi’s criticisms of Yang Zhu and Mozi in Mengzi 3B9 and 7A26.
5 Such Daoist claims are based upon stories in various sources. See for example the series of stories in “The Turning of Heaven” chapter in the Zhuangzi. Watson, The Complete Works, pp. 161—66.
6 Some Buddhists claimed that Kongzi, his favorite disciple Yan Hui, and Laozi as well were Bodhisattvas. For example, see the Pure Dharma Method Sutra (Qingjing faxingjing ).
7 Examples include Laozi’s “biography” in the Record of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. For the latter, see D. C. Lau, tr., Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (Middlesex, England: Penguin Classics, 1963): 8—10; and “The Questions of Zengzi” chapter of the Liji. For a translation, see Legge, The Li Ki, pp. 325, 339—40, and 342. Compare Han Yu’s own claim that Kongzi studied with Laozi in his “A Treatise on Teachers” below.
8 That is, they do not search for the beginning signs of these virtues, nor do they work to develop them and understand their subtleties. Compare Mengzi’s teachings about the four “sprouts” of virtue in Mengzi 2A6.
9 The traditional four classes were merchants, farmers, artisans, and scholars (which for Han Yu meant Confucians). The additional two classes that Han Yu has in mind are the Daoist and Buddhist clergy
10 Originally, Han Yu claims, there was only Confucianism; later there were Daoism and Buddhism as well.
11 Compare Part I of “The Great Declaration” chapter of the Book of History and Mengzi 1B3. For the former, see Legge, The Shoo King, p. 286.
12 For accounts of the world-ordering feats of the mythical sages, see Mengzi 3A4 and 3B9 and chapter 2 of the Great Appendix.
13 See chapter 10 of the Zhuangzi. For a translation, see Watson, Complete Works, 110—11.
14 The Three Dynasties were the Xia, Shang, and Zhou. King Yu reigned during the Xia, King Tang in the Shang, and kings Wen and Wu, the Duke of Zhou, and Kongzi all are regarded as belonging to the Zhou.
15 Han Yu is referring to the Daoist belief in a kind of primitive utopia, an age in which all things followed their natural inclinations and so there was no need for striving, intentional action, or human cleverness. This is the ideal of “effortlessaction” (wuwei ) and the perfect state of “spontaneity” or “naturalness” (ziran ). See, for example, chapter 80 of the Daodejing or the similar picture offered in chapter 10 of the Zhuangzi. For a translation of the latter, see Watson, Complete Works, p. 112.
16 This is the opening section of the Great Learning, which originally appeared as chapter 39 of the Book of Rites. For a translation, see Legge, The Li Ki, pp. 411—12.
17 In other words, they are intentional and hence not examples of wuwei.
18 The idea that Daoists and Buddhists ignore the practical affairs of life is a common criticism, but the point here is that in doing so they violate the natural order.
19 For example, see the entry for Duke Xi, twenty-seventh year, and the Commentary of Zuo, which says, “Duke Huan of Qi paid a court-visit but used the rituals of the Yi. This is why he is referred to [in the Spring and Autumn Annals] as ‘The Viscount of Qi.’” The idea is that Kongzi purposely “demoted” him by lowering his title. Yi is the name of a barbarian tribe.
20 Analects 3.5. The Yi and Di are two barbarian tribes.
21 See the Book of Odes, Mao no. 300. The Rong, Di, Jing, and Shu are four barbarian tribes.
22 Han Yu has Buddhism, a religion whose origin lies outside of China, in mind here.
23 These dietary practices serve to distinguish them from both Daoists and Buddhists, who avoided certain commonly consumed foods.
24 Xunzi was the second great Confucian after Mengzi, whom he criticized sharply. Yang Xiong was singled out by Han Yu almost certainly because he proposed a theory of human nature as a mixture of good and bad in his Model Sayings. For Yang and this work, see Essay 11, note 2.
25 Han Yu’s description of “what needs to be done” recalls Mengzi’s views about the need to resist and overcome the teachings of Mozi and Yang Zhu. See Mengzi 3B9. Of course, this seems to imply that Han Yu is equal in moral character and ability to Mengzi.
26 That is to say, return monks and nuns to lay life.
27 This is a close paraphrase of the “Evolution of the Rites” chapter of the Book of Rites. For a translation, see Legge, The Li Ki, p. 365.
Notes to Appendix 2
1 Compare Analects 7.20 and 16.9. Kongzi, though, believed that some exceptionally gifted individuals are born with knowledge. So perhaps Han Yu means “human beings in general.”
2 Classical Chinese texts did not contain any punctuation marks to indicate grammatical structures such as sentences and phrases. It requires great skill simply to parse the words of such texts properly in order to read them.
3 See Analects, 19.22.
4 From Tanzi, Kongzi learned how his ancestors arranged their officials according to local customs. See the Commentary of Zuo, Duke Zhao, 17th year. For a translation, see Legge, The Ch’un Ts’ew, p. 668. Chapter 19 of the Book of Rites tells us that Kongzi studied music with Chang Hong. For a translation, see Legge, The Li Ki, vol. 2, p. 122. He studied the lute with Music Master Xiang. See chapter 35 of the Family Sayings of Master Kong and chapter 47 of the Records of the Grand Historian. Kongzi purportedly consulted with Laozi on several occasions. For some of these references, see note 7 of Han Yu’s “On the Dao” (Appendix 1 above).
5 See Analects, 7.22.
6 Li Pan earned the “presented scholar” degree in 803.
7 Han Yu meant two related things by the term “ancient style” (guwen ). First, it was a free style of prose in contrast to the strictly regimented contemporary style, which was characterized by parallel phrases of equal length. Second, it was inspired by and meant to revive the style, thought, and life of the classical period. For a discussion of Han Yu’s use of this term, see Charles Hartman, Han Yu and the T’ang Search for Unity.
Notes to Appendix 3
1 Li Yi won the presented scholar degree in 802. This letter is dated 9 August 801.
2 For the word de, see note 2 of Han Yu’s “On the Dao” (Appendix 1 above).
3 Paraphrasing Analects 19.23. Compare Analects 11.15.
4 This refers to a famous passage in the Commentary of Zuo that talks about three ways to achieve this-worldly immortality. See the Introduction, note 47.
5 Han Yu is likening the cultivation of literary talent to the nurturing of a plant or the filling of a lamp with oil.
6 For the Three Dynasties, see Essay 1, note 43.
7 See Analects 13.25 for the idea that cultivated people are hard to please, while petty people are easy to please. The idea is that the former are pleased only by the Way, while the latter are pleased with lower forms of pleasures.
8 “Vital energy” is the translation for qi , a term with a wide range of meanings. Here it refers to the vitality and strength inspiring and informing one’s writing. The metaphor of water and floating objects recalls a passage in chapter 1 of the Zhuangzi. For a translation, see Watson, Complete Works, pp. 29—30. The idea that good writing requires one to cultivate one’s qi recalls Mengzi 2A6. There, Mengzi describes how the development of “flood-like vital energy” (haoran zhi qi ) plays an integral part in moral self-cultivation. Compare the line above about how Han Yu’s writing “flooded forth” (hao hu ).
9 Han Yu’s point is that vital energy is more important than any structural features of writing. “Tones” refers to the different tones of the Chinese language.
10 See Analects 2.12 for the idea that gentlemen are not tools.
Selective Bibliography
Cang Xiuliang and Ye Jianhua . A Critical B
iography of Zhang Xuecheng (Zhang Xuecheng ping zhuan ). Nanjing: Nanjing da xue chu ban she, 1996.
Demiéville, Paul. “Chang Hsüeh-ch’eng and His Historiography.” In W. G. Beasley and E. G. Pulleyblank, eds. Historians of China and Japan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962. 167—85.
Elman, Benjamin A. From Philosophy to Philology: Intellectual and Social Aspects of Change in Late Imperial China. Second printing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.
Hu Shi , with emendations by Yao Mingda . Chronological Biography of Mister Zhang Xuecheng (Zhang Shizhai Xiansheng nianpu ). Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1931.
Ivanhoe, Philip J. “Whose Confucius? Which Analects?: Diversity in the Confucian Commentarial Tradition.” In Bryan W Van Norden, ed. Essays on the Analects of Confucius. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 119—33.
————. “Lessons from the Past: Zhang Xuecheng and the Ethical Dimensions of History.” Dao: A journal of Comparative Philosophy 8.2 (2009): 189—203.
Liao Xiaoqing . A Master Among Historians: Zhang Xuecheng and Historical Writing (Shi lin ju jiang: Zhang Xuecheng yu shi zhu ). Shenyang: Liao hai chu ban she, 1997.
Lin Shimin . Traditional Chinese Historical Criticism: Liu Zhiji and Zhang Xuecheng (Zhongguo chuan tong shi xue de pi ping zhu yi: Liu Zhiji yu Zhang Xuecheng : ). Taibei: Taiwan xue sheng shu ju, 2003.
Luo Simei . A Study of Zhang Xuecheng’s Literary Theory (Zhang Shizhai wen xue li lun yan jiu Taibei: Taiwan xue sheng shu ju, 1976.
Mann, Susan. “Women in the Life and Thought of Zhang Xuecheng.” In Philip J. Ivanhoe, ed. Chinese Language, Thought, and Culture: Nivison and His Critics. La Salle, IL: Open Court Press, 1996. 94—120.
————. tr. “Women’s Learning.” In Kang-I Sun Chang and Haun Saussy, eds. Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999. 783—99.
————. tr. “Two Biographies by Zhang Xuecheng (1738—1801)” in Susan Mann and Yu-Yin Cheng, eds. Under Confucian Eyes: Writings on Gender in Chinese History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001. 217—29.
Momose Hiromu. “Chang Hsüeh-ch’eng.” In Arthur W Hummel, ed. Eminent Chinese of the Chang Period (1644—1912). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1943—44. 38—41.
Naito Torajirō . The History of Chinese Historiography (Shina shigakushi ). Tokyo: Kōbundō, 1949.
Ng On-cho. “A Tension in Ch‘ing Thought: ‘Historicism’ in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Chinese Thought.” Journal of the History of Ideas 54.4 (1993): 561—83.
Nivison, David S. The Life and Thought of Chang Hsüeh-ch’eng. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1966.
————. “Reply to Yu Yingshi.” In Philip J. Ivanhoe, ed. Chinese Language, Thought, and Culture. 297—303.
————. “The Philosophy of Zhang Xuecheng.” In Bryan W Van Norden, ed. The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Chicago: Open Court Press, 1996. 249—60.
————. “Two Kinds of ‘Naturalism’: Dai Zhen and Zhang Xuecheng.” In Bryan W Van Norden, ed. The Ways of Confucianism. 261—82.
Qian Mu . A History of Chinese Thought over the Past Three Centuries (Zhongguo jin san bai nian xue shu shi ). Reprint. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1986.
Song Tianhan . An Account of Zhang Xuecheng’s Theory and Study of Local History (Lun Zhang Xuecheng de fang zhi li lun yu “fang zhi xue” < >). Yonghe: Hua mu lan wen hua gong zuo fang, 2005.
Vermeer, Eduard. “Notions of Time and Space in the Early Ch‘ing: The Writings of Ku Yen-wu, Hsü Hsia-k’o, Ku Tsu-yü and Chang Hsüeh-ch’eng.” In Chunchieh Huang and Erik Zürcher, eds. Time and Space in Chinese Culture. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1995.
Wang, Edward Q. “Time, History, and Dao: Zhang Xuecheng and Martin Heidegger.” Dao: A journal of Comparative Philosophy 1.2 (2002): 251—76.
Wu Tianren . Zhang Xuecheng’s Historiography (Zhang Shizhai de shi xue Taibei: Taiwan shang wu yin shu guan, 1979.
Yu Yingshi . On Dai Zhen and Zhang Xuecheng (Lun Dai Zhen yu Zhang Xuecheng ). Taibei: Huashi chu ban she, 1980.
————. “Zhang Xuecheng Versus Dai Zhen: A Study in Intellectual Challenge and Response in Eighteenth-Century China.” In Philip J. Ivanhoe, ed. Chinese Language, Thought, and Culture. 121—54.
Zhang Fenglan . Zhang Xuecheng’s Theory and Practice of History (Zhang Xuecheng di shi xue li lun yu fang fa ). Taibei: Li ren shu ju, 1998.
Zhou Qirong , and Liu Guangjing . “Ordering the World with Learning: Zhang Xuecheng’s Views on Literature and History and His Theory of Statecraft” (Xueshu jingshi: Zhang Xuecheng zhi wenshilun yu jingshi sixiang : ) in Zhongyang yanjiuyuan jindaishi yanjiusuo. ed. Proceedings of the Conference on the Theory of Statecraft of Modern China (Jinshi zhongguo jingshi sixiang yantaohui lunwenji ). Taipei: Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, 1984.
Zhu Jingwu . Zhang Xuecheng’s Philosophy of Historical Culture (Zhang Xuecheng di li shi wen hua zhe xue ). Taibei: Wen jin chu ban she, 1996.
Index
achievements, establishing
action: and dao and historical context and knowing public and private and understanding and words See also deeds; non-action
age: and status of teachers
agriculture, origins
ahistoricity See also historical context.
Ai, Duke
annotation
Approaching What is Correct
architecture, origins
astrology
astronomy
baguwen (“eight-legged essay”)
Ban Gu Works: History of the Han Dynasty
barbarians
benevolence (ren) origins
Bian He
biographies
Bo Ya
Bo Yi
Bohun Wuren
book-burning
Book of Changes
Book of History
Book of Music
Book of Odes
Book of Rites
Bozhou
Buddhism: appropriation of Kongzi and Laozi by Chan, and writing Chan, transmission of disapproval of as foreign teaching Li Hua and and “recorded conversation” genre
bureaucracy: educational and music origins Qing and ritual as teachers Zhou
calendar
Cao Cao
Chang Hong
characters, Chinese
Chen Jianting, Letter 4
Chen Shou. Works: Records of the Three Kingdoms
Cheng Hao
Cheng Yi and learning and literary art praised on sages
Chi You
Chineseness
cixin (“this mind”)
classes of people
Classical disciplines, Six
classics: commentaries on (see commentaries); and dao editing of imitation of as records of bureaucratic activity study of style of
clergy laicization of
cliquishness
codification See also particularlism, ethical
commentaries on classics and other works
Commentary of Zuo
competition
Complete Collection of the Four Treasuries
“complete orchestra,”
composition
Confucianism See also neo-Confucianism
Confucius. See Kongzi
context, historical: and ethical judgment
convictions, conventional, vs. “real knowledge,”
crafts, origins
creating (zuo)
creativity
daemon and the daemonic
Dai Dongyuan. See Dai Zhen
Dai, Duke
Dai Zhen
dance
dangran (things as they should be)
dao (the Way): all-inclusiveness and classics as common not private property evolution of essential to humanness examination system as obstacle to pursuit of as goal of learning and historiography immateriality of invisibility of and literary art manifestation
of, in actual things and affairs manifestation of, in various disciplines misunderstanding of nature of paths to perfection of realization of, in one’s own age and scholars schools of interpretation (see also philosophy: schools of); and self of teachers transmission of understanding of understanding of, and history See also separation of teaching and governing; yuan dao (defining, or explaining origin of, the dao)
Daodejing
Daoism: disapproval of and Heaven and reason
daoxue (learning of the Way)
de (Virtue): definition of establishing in family in governing in historians, Essay inauspicious and individual opinion in kings in litterateurs, Essay 9; separated from power and literary style shu (sympathetic concern) as part of ; and status womanly in youths
deeds, establishing
Demieville, Paul
destiny
dictionaries
Doctrine of the Mean
Dong Zhongshu
doubt
Dragon Boat Festival
Du Yun
earth (deity)
education. See learning
eight-legged essay