中国文化资料Unit 1 Wisdom and Beliefs

Unit 1 Wisdom and Beliefs

Human beings have only one home under the heavens. How we arrange our domestic lives and how we live together in harmony is the essence of traditional Chinese thinking. First and foremost, Chinese culture regards human life as part of nature and, as such, the only way for us to survive is to live in harmony with nature. The fundamental significance of civilization lies in the creation of a peaceful world, which also requires avoiding conflict between humans and nature. Instead of dictating to nature, people should hold nature in awe and gratitude. A second characteristic of Chinese culture is its emphasis on harmonious human relationships. An individual cannot live without community and society. Thus Chinese culture strives to build a world of harmony based on friendship between individuals, mutual assistance between families, and respect between nations. Thirdly, Chinese thinking stresses self-reflection. People should not only understand the external world, but also and more importantly, improve their internal state of mind. Only after humans have cleared away any intentions of combating nature, are we able to live up to the philosophy of living in harmony with nature.

Passage 1 Confucian Thought on Heaven and Humanity

1

Confucius l (551-479 BC), known in China as Kongzi, given name Qiu and alias Zhongni, was a native of Zouyi (present-day Qufu in Shandong Province) of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period2 (770-476 BC). A great thinker, educator and founder of Confucianism, Confucius is an ancient sage（圣人） to the Chinese people. His words and life story were recorded by his disciples（弟子） and their students in The Analects3 (Lunyu). 2

An enduring classic of Chinese culture, The Analects has influenced all thinkers, writers and politicians in the over-2,000-year-long history of China after Confucius. No scholar could truly understand this long-standing culture or the inner world of the ancient Chinese without this book. 3

Much of Confucian thought on Heaven and people represents universal human values. This is perhaps why Confucian thought in the 21st century still retains the interest of not only the Chinese but also people in other parts of the world.

Confucius on Heaven: the Source of Everything 4

In the Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou4(1046-256 BC) dynasties, the prevalent concept of “Heaven” was that of a personified god, which influenced Confucius. Generally, however, Confucius regarded “Heaven” as nature. He said, “Heaven does not speak in words. It speaks through the rotation of the four seasons and the growth of all living things.” Obviously, Heaven equaled nature, in the eyes of Confucius. Moreover, nature was not a lifeless mechanism separate from humans; instead, it was the g, great world of life and the process of creation of life. Human life was part and part parcel of nature as a whole.

5 Confucius? equation of Heaven with the creation of life was an innovative（革新的）idea in his time. The natural process of life creation was the “way of Heaven”. This idea was later developed in The Book of Changes 5 (Yijing), as it stated “Continuous creation of life is change.”

6 As the natural process of creation of life, Heaven was the source of all living things and the source of all values. This was the “virtue of Heaven”. Thus, The Book of Change said, “The great virtue of Heaven and Earth is creating life.”

7 In the natural process of creation of life, Heaven had its inner purpose in creating all things as well as protecting and improving life. Heaven had originated humanity, and humans were obliged to accomplish this purpose. In other words, humans are born with a sense of “heavenly mission”, and this is the meaning of human life.

8 Confucian “Heaven” also had a certain sacred element, which was related to its being the source of life. Thus Confucius required people to hold Heaven in awe. He said that a person of virtue must “respect his heavenly mission”, listen to and live out the purpose of Heaven by caring for and improving life.

9 Under the influence of Confucius, the ancient Chinese developed a sense of awe and belief in Heaven. To them, Heaven was the highest sacred being; with its profoundmystery ever to be fully understood by mortals. It was not a supernatural, personified deity（神）but was the world of ever-generating life. As the most intelligent of all beings, humanshould take to heart the purpose of Heaven by cherishing life. If one remained “ignorant and disrespectful of one?s heavenly mission” by killing or maiming (残害) life, one would be punished by Heaven. Confucius said, “He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray.” The Confucian respect for and belief in Heaven represented a form of religious spiritualism of the ancient Chinese.

10 In the 21st century, the Confucian caveat（告诫） of “standing in awe of the ordinances of

Heaven” still holds true, as human society begins to pay greater attention to ecological civilization. Humans should indeed listen to the voice of nature, respecting and loving it as the world of life. This is our sacred mission and gives value to all human life.

Confucius on People: ren（仁） and li (礼)

11 Ren and li are the two core concepts of Confucius? doctrine about people.

12 When his student Fan Chi asked him about ren, Confucius replied, “Love people.” This is

Confucius? most important interpretation of ren. Love for the people is universal love. Confucius further emphasized that this kind of love should “begin with the love for one?s parents”. He believed no one could love people in general if they did not even love their own parents. Confucius regarded“filial（子女的）piety and fraternal（兄弟的）duty”as the essence of ren. The Doctrine of the Mean 6 (Zhongyong) quotes Confucius as saying, “The greatest love for people is the love for one?s parents.” He also said, “Children shou7d not travel far

while their parents are alive. If they have no choice but to do so, they must retain some restraint.” He did not mean that children should not leave their parents at all. What he meant was that children should not make their parents anxious about them while away from home. Confucius said again, “Children should think often of the age of their parents. They should feel happy for the health and longevity of their parents. They should also feel concern for the aging of their parents.”

13 By ren, Confucius meant universal love based on love for one?s parents. How should people

love one another then? Confucius said, “One should be aware that other people may havesimilar desires as oneself. While fulfilling one?s desires, allow others to fulfill their desiresas well.” He further said, “Do not do toward others anything you would not want to bedone to you.” Thus from oneself to one?s family, from family to society, one should extend love to all people. Mencius7 (c. 372-289 BC), a great Confucian scholar, best summarized ren as, “10ving one?s parents, loving the people, loving everything in the world.”

14 Today, the Confucian doctrine of “Do not do toward others anything you would not want to

be done to you” still holds true for humankind.

15 Li refers to rituals, traditions and norms in social life. Of these, Confucius regarded burial

rituals and ancestral worship rituals as the most important, because they arose from human feelings. He said, “ A child should not leave his parents? bosom（胸；怀）until he is three years old.” He naturally loved his parents. The ritual of wearing mourning for a deceased（已死的） parent for three years was an expression of the child?s love and remembrance. 16 Confucius placed emphasis on li with the aim of preserving social order, stability and

harmony. The Analects says, “The role of li is to maintain harmony among people.” 17 Li also has philosophical implications. While individuals have a limited lifespan, life in

nature is everlasting. Life is given by one?s parents and extended through one?s children. In this way, a limited, individual life becomes merged with the limitless life of nature; the individual dream of eternal life can thus come true. Through burial rituals and ancestral worship rituals, people are able to experience the everlasting continuity of life, appreciating the value and meaning of life. This gives people metaphorical solace（安慰）.

Confucius on the State of Life

18 Before Confucius, only the nobility had the right to education. He was the first figure in

Chinese history to initiate private education. According to historical records, Confucius taught for many years and trained 3,000 disciples. A total of 72 0f them excelled in the“six arts”, i.e., ritual, music, archery（箭术）, (carriage) driving, calligraphy（书法），and mathematics. A great educator, Confucius has been admired by later generations as the “sage of sages”.

19 Confucius believed the basic goal of education was to cultivate “persons of virtue”,

whoshould have sound character and uplifted minds. Such persons should be able to

shoulder important social responsibilities and to make contributions to society. Confucius regarded lofty ideals, great virtue, love of people, and the “six arts” as the general principles of education. Of these, virtue was the most important. His students were involved in a variety of professions, including politics, trade, education, diplomacy, ritual ceremony, and classifying ancient books. Whatever they did, they all wanted to improve their learning of the humanities and to enhance their virtue.

20 Confucius emphasized aesthetic education. He said, “Studying The Book of Songs8 (Shijing)

inspires the spirit and helps one appreciate beauty. Studying The Book of Rites9 (Zhouli) enables one to behave properly as a person of enlightenment. Studying music lifts the spirit and helps one to enjoy life.” He also said, “Simply knowing the highest standard of virtue (i.e., love for people) is not as good as setting it as one?s goal. Setting it as one?s goal is not as good as enjoying the practice of it.”

21 On one occasion, Confucius asked several of his disciples to talk about their aspirations. Zi

Lu10 and Ran You11 wanted the opportunity to administer a state. Gongxi Chi wanted to become a master of rituals. Zeng Dian12 said, “My aspiration is different from theirs.”“That is acceptable,” said Confucius. “We are only talking about our own aspirations.”Zeng Dian then said, “(My dream is) to wear spring robes in late spring and to swim in the YiRiver13 with five or six adults and six or seven children. We shall enjoy the breeze where people pray for rain. Then we shall go home, singing all the way.” Confucius sighed, “Ah, I share Dian?s aspiration.” The different aspirations of the four students reflected their different outlooks on life. Confucius? agreement with Zeng Dian indicates that while he stressed individual contribution to society, he regarded the highest state of life as harmony among people and harmony between people and nature. His was a true aesthetic outlook on life. 22 Under the influence of Confucius, Chinese thinkers of later generations all believed that

students and scholars should not only increase their knowledge, but also and more importantly, broaden their minds and enhance their spiritual ethos（精神特质）. In other words, they should continually seek the greater meaning and value of life. Many modern scholars think the theory on the perspective on life is the most valuable feature of Chinese philosophy. It all began with Confucius.

注释： 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Confucius:孔子。名丘，字仲尼，春秋时期鲁国人。伟大的思想家，教育家，儒家学派创始人。 the Spring and Autumn Period:春秋时期。简称春秋，东周的一个时期，因鲁国编年史《春秋》而得名。 The Analects:《论语》。儒家经典之一，由孔子门徒及再传弟子编纂，主要记载了孔子及其弟子的言行。 Zhou:周朝。中国历史上继商朝之后的朝代，可分为西周和东周两个时期，其中东周时期又称“春秋 战国”，分为“春秋”及“战国”两部分。

The Book of Changes:《易经》。也称《周易》，儒家重要经典，包括《经》和《传》两部分，通过八卦 的形式，推测自然和社会的变化，提出了若干富有朴素辩证法的观点。

The Doctrine of the Mean:《中庸》。儒家经典之一，原属《礼记》的—篇，宋代把它和《礼记》中的《大 学》独立出来，同《论语》、《孟子》合称“四书”。

Mencius:孟子。邹（今山东邹县）人，孔子之孙孔伋的再传弟子，孔子学说的继承者与捍卫者，发扬

了孔子的思想，后世常以“孔孟”并称，著有《孟子》一书。 8

The Book of Songs:《诗经》。中国古代第一部诗歌总集，编成于春秋时代，分为“凤”、“雅”、“颂” 三大类，保存了西周到春秋中期的诗歌作品305首，原称舷拗，汉以后列为儒家经典之一，称为《诗经》。 9 10 11 12 13

The Book of Rites:《礼记》。中国古代一部重要的典章制度书籍，儒学经典之一，所收文章是孔子的学 生及战国时期儒学学者的作品，此书由西汉礼学家戴德和他的侄子戴圣编定。

Zi Lu:子路(前542 –前480)。仲由，鲁国卞之野人（今山东平邑县仲村人），孔子得意门生，七十二贤 者之一，以政事见称。

Ran You:冉有。春秋时儒者，冉氏，名求，字子有，鲁国人，孔丘弟子，七十二贤者之一。青年时曾 做过鲁国季氏的家臣，后随孔子周游列国，孔子晚年归隐鲁国，冉有出力不久。

Zeng Dian:曾点。字子皙，亦称曾皙，春秋时期鲁国武城（今山东省平邑县魏庄乡南武域）人，孔门 弟子七十二贤之一。

The Yi River:沂河；又名沂水，淮河重要支流，发源于山东，经江苏流入黄海，是山东临沂的母亲河。

Comprehension

I. Skimming and Scanning

Go through the passage quickly and answer the following questions briefly. 1) What is The Analects mainly about? 2) What is Confucius? view on Heaven?

3) What is Confucius?innovative idea about Heaven?

4) What does the “heavenly mission” in Paragraph 7 refer to?

5) How is Confucius? concept of Heaven related to the modern ecological civilization? 6) What is Confucius? interpretation of ren?

7) According to Confucius, what is the most important part of li? 8) What qualities are “persons of virtue” supposed to have?

9) Why do people need to study music according to Confucius? 10) What did Confucius think of Zeng Dian?s aspiration?

II. Careful Reading

1. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

1) All the following are the titles of Confucius EXCEPT__________.

A. an educator B. a biologist C. a scholar D. a philosopher 2) The expression “filial piety” most probably means being__________.

A. loyal to the state B. obedient to sister(s) B. responsible for the family D. dutiful to parents

3) Which of the following can best describe Confucius? view on the relationship between

man and nature/Heaven?

A. Brothers. B. Husband and wife. C. Doctor and patient. D. Mother and son.

4) Through burial and ancestral worship rituals, people can learn that ________.

A. nature is lifeless so it will never die

B. individual?s life can be everlasting by joining nature

C. they should be grateful to their parents for giving them lives

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