Ancient Chinese thinkers. Philosophy of ancient China. Basic principles of legalism
We invite your attention to the philosophy of Ancient China, a summary. Chinese philosophy has a history of several thousand years. Its origin is often associated with the Book of Changes, an ancient book of fortune-telling dating back to 2800 BC, which indicated some of the fundamental tenets of Chinese philosophy. The age of Chinese philosophy can only be estimated roughly (its first flowering, as a rule, is attributed to the 6th century BC), since it goes back to the oral tradition of the Neolithic times. In this article, you can find out what the philosophy of Ancient China is, briefly get acquainted with the main schools and directions of thought.
For centuries, the philosophy of the Ancient East (China) has focused on practical concern for a person and society, questions about how to properly organize life in society, how to live an ideal life. Ethics and political philosophy often prevailed over metaphysics and epistemology. Another characteristic feature of Chinese philosophy was reflections on nature and personality, which led to the development of the theme of the unity of man and Heaven, the theme of man's place in space.
Four schools of thought
Four particularly influential schools of thought emerged during the classical period of Chinese history, which began around 500 BC. These were Confucianism, Taoism (often pronounced "Taoism"), monism and legalism. When China was unified in 222 BC, Legalism was adopted as the official philosophy. The emperors of the late (206 BC - 222 AD) adopted Taoism, and later, around 100 BC, Confucianism. These schools remained central to the development of Chinese thought until the 20th century. Buddhist philosophy, which emerged in the 1st century AD, spread widely in the 6th century (mainly during the reign of
In the era of industrialization and in our time, the philosophy of the Ancient East (China) began to include concepts taken from Western philosophy, which was a step towards modernization. Under Mao Tse-tung's rule, Marxism, Stalinism, and other communist ideologies spread throughout mainland China. Hong Kong and Taiwan have revived interest in Confucian ideas. The current government of the People's Republic of China supports the ideology of market socialism. The philosophy of Ancient China is summarized below.
Early beliefs
At the beginning of the Shang dynasty, thought was based on the idea of \u200b\u200bcyclicality arising from direct observation of nature: the change of day and night, the change of seasons, the rise and fall of the moon. This idea has remained relevant throughout China's history. During the reign of the Shang, destiny could be ruled by the great deity Shang-di, translated into Russian - "the Most High God". Ancestor cult was also present, there were also animal and human sacrifices.
When the new political, religious and "Mandate of Heaven" was overthrown. According to it, if the ruler does not correspond to his position, he can be overthrown and replaced by another, more suitable. Archaeological excavations from this period indicate an increase in literacy and a partial departure from the Shang-ti faith. Ancestor worship became common and society became more secular.
One hundred schools
Around 500 BC, after the Zhou state weakened, the classical period of Chinese philosophy began (almost at this time the first Greek philosophers also appeared). This period is known as the Hundred Schools. Of the many schools established during this time, as well as during the next Warring States period, the four most influential were Confucianism, Taoism, Moism, and Legalism. During this time, Cofucius is believed to have written the Ten Wings and a series of commentaries on the Ching.
Imperial era
The founder of the short-lived Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) united China under the rule of the emperor and established legalism as the official philosophy. Li Xi, the founder of Legalism and Chancellor of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang, suggested that he suppress the freedom of speech of the intelligentsia in order to unite thought and political beliefs and burn all the classics of philosophy, history and poetry. Only books from the Li Xi school were to be allowed. After he was deceived by two alchemists who promised him long life, Qin Shi Huang buried 460 scientists alive. Legism retained its influence until the emperors of the late Han Dynasty (206 BC - 222 AD) adopted Taoism, and later, around 100 BC, Confucianism. as official doctrine. However, Taoism and Confucianism were not the defining forces of Chinese thought until the 20th century. In the 6th century (mainly during the Tang Dynasty), Buddhist philosophy gained general acceptance, mainly due to its similarities with Taoism. This was the philosophy of Ancient China at that time, summarized above.
Confucianism
Confucianism is the collective teaching of the sage Confucius, who lived in 551-479. BC.
The philosophy of Ancient China can be presented as follows. It is a complex system of moral, social, political, and religious thinking that has greatly influenced the history of Chinese civilization. Some scholars believe that Confucianism was the state religion of imperial China. Confucian ideas are reflected in the culture of China. Mencius (4th century BC) believed that a person possesses dignity that must be cultivated in order to become "good." considered human nature as initially evil, but which through self-discipline and self-improvement can be transformed into virtue.
Confucius did not intend to found a new religion, he only wanted to interpret and revive the unnamed religion of the Zhou Dynasty. The ancient system of religious rules has exhausted itself: why do the gods allow social problems and injustice? But if not the spirits of genus and nature, what is the basis of a stable, uniform and lasting social order? Confucius believed that this basis is a reasonable policy, implemented, however, in the Zhou religion, its rituals. He did not interpret these rituals as sacrifices to the gods, but as ceremonies embodying civilized and cultural patterns of behavior. They embodied for him the ethical core of Chinese society. The term "ritual" included social rituals - courtesies and accepted norms of behavior - what we today call etiquette. Confucius believed that only a civilized society can have a stable and lasting order. The philosophy of ancient China, schools of thought and subsequent teachings took a lot from Confucianism.
Taoism
Taoism is:
1) a philosophical school based on the texts of Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu) and Chuang Tzu;
2) Chinese folk religion.
"Tao" literally means "path", but in China's religion and philosophy, this word has taken on a more abstract meaning. The philosophy of Ancient China, a brief description of which is presented in this article, drew many ideas from this abstract and seemingly simple concept of the "path".
Yin and Yang and the theory of the five elements
It is not known exactly where the idea of \u200b\u200bthe two principles Yin and Yang originated, probably, it arose in the era of ancient Chinese philosophy. Yin and Yang are two complementary principles, the interaction of which forms all phenomenal phenomena and changes in space. Yang is active and Yin is passive. Additional elements, such as day and night, light and darkness, activity and passivity, masculine and feminine, and others, are a reflection of Yin and Yang. Together, these two elements make up harmony, and the idea of \u200b\u200bharmony is spreading in medicine, art, martial arts and social life in China. The philosophy of Ancient China, schools of thought also absorbed this idea.
The concept of Yin-Yang is often associated with the theory of the five elements, which explains natural and social phenomena as the result of the combination of five basic elements or agents of the cosmos: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The philosophy of Ancient China (the most important thing is summarized in this article) certainly includes this concept.
Legalism
Legalism is rooted in the ideas of the Chinese philosopher Xun Tzu (310-237 BC), who believed that ethical standards were necessary to control the evil inclinations of a person. Han Fei (280-233 BC) developed this concept in a totalitarian pragmatic political philosophy based on the principle that man seeks to avoid punishment and achieve personal gain, since people are inherently selfish and evil. Thus, if people begin to freely show their natural inclinations, it will lead to conflicts and social problems. The ruler must maintain his power through three components:
1) law, or principle;
2) method, tactics, art;
3) legitimacy, power, charisma.
The law must severely punish violators and reward those who follow it. Legism was chosen by the philosophy of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), which unified China for the first time. Unlike the intuitive anarchy of Taoism and the virtue of Confucianism, Legism considers the demands of order more important than others. The political doctrine was developed during the brutal time of the fourth century BC.
The Legists believed that the government should not be deceived by the godly, unattainable ideals of "tradition" and "humanity." In their opinion, attempts to improve life in the country through education and ethical precepts are doomed to failure. Instead, people need a strong government and a carefully crafted body of laws, as well as a police force that requires strict and impartial adherence to rules and punishes violators severely. The founder of the Qin dynasty had high hopes for these totalitarian principles, believing that the reign of his dynasty would last forever.
Buddhism
And China has a lot in common. Although Buddhism originated in India, it was of great importance in China. It is believed that Buddhism originated in China during the Han Dynasty. About three hundred years later, during the reign of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), it experienced an explosion in popularity. During these three hundred years, the adherents of Buddhism were mainly visitors, nomadic people from the western regions and Central Asia.
In a sense, Buddhism has never been accepted in China. At least not in purely Indian form. The philosophy of Ancient India and China still has many differences. Legends abound with stories about Indians, such as Bodhidharma, who planted various forms of Buddhism in China, but they do not mention the inevitable changes that the teaching undergoes when it is transferred to foreign soil, especially to such a rich one as China was at that time. relation to philosophical thought.
Certain features of Indian Buddhism were incomprehensible to the practical Chinese mind. With its tradition of asceticism inherited from Hindu thought, Indian Buddhism can easily take on the form of the deferred gratification of meditation (meditate now, achieve Nirvana later).
The Chinese, heavily influenced by a tradition that encourages hard work and satisfaction of life's needs, could not accept this and other practices that seemed otherworldly and irrelevant to everyday life. But, being practical people, many of them saw some good ideas of Buddhism in relation to both individuals and society.
The War of the Eight Princes was a civil war between the princes and kings of the Jin Dynasty from 291 to 306, during which the nomadic peoples of northern China, from Manchuria to eastern Mongolia, were included in large numbers in the ranks of mercenary forces.
Around the same time, the level of China's political culture declined noticeably, the teachings of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu revived, gradually adapted to Buddhist thought. Buddhism, which appeared in India, took on a completely different form in China. Take, for example, the concept of Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna (150-250 AD), Indian philosopher, the most influential Buddhist thinker after Gautama Buddha himself. His main contribution to Buddhist philosophy was the development of the concept of Shunyatu (or "emptiness") as an element of Buddhist metaphysics, epistemology and phenomenology. After being imported to China, the concept of Shunyata was changed from "Void" to "Something Existing" under the influence of traditional Chinese thought Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.
Moism
The philosophy of Ancient China (briefly) Moism was founded by the philosopher Mozi (470-390 BC), who contributed to the spread of the idea of \u200b\u200buniversal love, the equality of all beings. Mozi believed that the traditional concept is controversial, that human beings need guidance in order to determine which traditions are acceptable. In Moism, morality is not defined by tradition; it is rather related to utilitarianism, the desire for the good for the greatest number of people. Moism holds that government is the instrument for providing such leadership and for stimulating and encouraging social behavior that benefits the greatest number of people. Activities such as song and dance were considered a waste of resources that could be used to provide people with food and shelter. The Moists created their own highly organized political structures and lived modestly, leading an ascetic lifestyle, practicing their ideals. They were against any form of aggression and believed in the divine power of heaven (Tian), which punishes people for immoral behavior.
You have studied what the philosophy of Ancient China is (summary). For a more complete understanding, we advise you to get to know each school in more detail separately. The features of the philosophy of Ancient China were briefly outlined above. We hope this material helped you understand the main points and was helpful to you.
Introduction
1. Thinkers of Ancient China
The Three Greatest Thinkers of Ancient China
2.1 Lao Tzu
2 Confucius
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
China is a country of ancient history, culture, philosophy.
Ancient China arose on the basis of Neolithic cultures that developed in the 5-3 millennia BC. in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The Yellow River basin became the main territory for the formation of the ancient civilization of China, which for a long time developed in conditions of relative isolation. Only from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. the process of expansion of the territory begins, in a southern direction, first to the Yangtze basin area, and then further south.
On the verge of our era, the state of Ancient China extends far beyond the Yellow He basin, although the northern border of the ethnic territory of the ancient Chinese remains almost unchanged.
Ancient Chinese class society and statehood was formed somewhat later than the ancient civilizations of Ancient Western Asia, but nevertheless, after their emergence, they begin to develop at a fairly rapid pace and high forms of economic, political and cultural life are created in Ancient China, which lead to the formation of the original socio-political and cultural system.
Chinese philosophy is part of Eastern philosophy. Its influence on the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan is tantamount to the influence of ancient Greek philosophy on Europe. Thus, the relevance of the topic lies in the fact that the thinkers of Ancient China left their mark on history, whose experience is being used today.
The purpose of this work: to study the greatest thinkers of ancient China and describe the main provisions of their teachings.
... Thinkers of Ancient China
The religions of China have never existed in the form of a rigidly centralized “church”. The traditional religion of ancient China was a mixture of local beliefs and ceremonies, united into a single whole by the universal theoretical constructions of pundits.
Nevertheless, among the educated strata of the population and among the peasants, three great schools of thought, often called the three religions of China: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, have won the greatest popularity. All these teachings are more philosophical than religious, in contrast to ancient Indian philosophy, which has always been closely associated with the religious tradition.
Ancient Chinese philosophy arose around the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The ideas that formed the basis of philosophy were formed in the monuments of the ancient Chinese literary tradition such as "Shu jing" ("Book of documentary scriptures"), "Shi jing" ("Book of poems"), "I ching" ("Book of changes").
Ancient Chinese philosophy has features that are not characteristic of other Eastern philosophical traditions. It must be said that the ancient Chinese had no idea about the transcendental God, about the creation of the world by God out of nothing, had no idea about the dualism of the ideal and material principles of the world. In ancient China, traditional for the West, India, and the Middle East, the concept of the soul as a kind of immaterial substance that is separated from the body after death did not take shape. Although ideas about the spirits of ancestors existed.
The Chinese worldview is based on the concept of qi. Qi is understood as a kind of vital energy that permeates absolutely everything in the world. Everything in the world is Qi transformations.
Qi is a kind of quasi-material substance that cannot be defined only as material or spiritual.
Matter and spirit are inseparable, they are consubstantial and mutually reducible, that is, spirit and matter are in a state of constant mutual transition.
At the heart of existence is the Primordial Qi (Infinite, Chaos, One), which is polarized into two parts - yang (positive) and yin (negative). Yang and Yin are interchangeable. Their passage constitutes the great Tao path.
The negative potentially contains the positive and vice versa. Thus, the Yang force reaches its limit and passes into Yin and vice versa. This position is called the Great Limit and is depicted graphically in the form of the "Monad".
Considering all that exists as a unity of opposing principles, Chinese thinkers explained the endless process of movement by their dialectical interaction. Filling the Universe, giving rise to and preserving life, these primary substances or forces determine the essence of the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Soil.
Actually, these views underlie ancient Chinese philosophy and are supported by all Chinese thinkers, with some differences in interpretation.
Differences between Chinese philosophy and Western: integral (holistic) perception instead of analytical and cyclical processes instead of their static, linearity. The three greatest thinkers of ancient China, whom we will focus on in the next chapter:
Lao Tzu - covered with a halo of mystery;
Confucius - revered by all;
Mo-tzu - now little known, who, however, more than four centuries before the birth of Christ, formulated the concept of universal love.
Acquaintance with the views of these thinkers is facilitated by the fact that there are three texts directly associated with their names.
2. The Three Greatest Thinkers of Ancient China
.1 Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu is a nickname meaning "old teacher" - the great sage of Ancient China, who laid the foundations of Taoism - the direction of Chinese thought that has survived to this day. Approximately the time of Lao Tzu's life is attributed to the 7th-6th centuries BC. He is considered the author of the main treatise of Taoism "Tao Te Ching", which became the most popular test of ancient Chinese philosophy in the West.
Little is known about the life of this sage and the authenticity of the available information is often criticized by scientists. But it is known that he was the custodian of the imperial archives of the Zhou court - the greatest book depository of ancient China. Therefore, Lao Tzu had free access to various ancient and contemporary texts, which allowed him to develop his own teaching.
The fame of this sage went throughout the Celestial Empire, so when he decided to leave the kingdom of Zhou, he was stopped at the outpost and asked to leave his teaching in written form for his kingdom. Lao Tzu compiled a treatise "Tao Te Ching", which translates as "The Canon of the Way and Grace." The entire treatise talks about the category of Tao.
Tao translated from Chinese means "Way". According to Lao Tzu, the Tao is the foundation of the world and the world realizes the Tao. Everything in the world is Tao. Tao is inexpressible, it can be comprehensible, but not verbally. Lao Tzu wrote: "The Tao that can be expressed by a word is not a permanent Tao." The teaching of Tao is closely related to the teaching of the mutual transition of opposites.
Lao Tzu, who lived before two other great Chinese thinkers (6th-5th centuries BC), is not easy to understand, not only because his basic concept of "Tao" is very ambiguous: it is both "the main thing over many things" and "mother earth and sky "," the first principle of the world ", and" root "and" path "; but also because in comprehending this concept we do not have the opportunity (as, for example, in ancient Indian and other cultures) to rely on any mythological images that would facilitate assimilation. Tao is as vague in Lao Tzu as the concept of Heaven is in all of Chinese culture.
Tao is the source of all things and the basis for the functioning of being. One of the definitions of Tao is “root”. The root is underground, it is not visible, but it exists before the plant that emerges from it. The invisible Tao, from which the whole world is produced, is also primary.
Tao is also understood as a natural law of the development of nature. The main meaning of the hieroglyph "Tao" is "the road on which people walk." Tao is the path that people follow in this life, and not just something outside of it. A person who does not know the path is doomed to delusion, he is a deluded person.
Tao can also be interpreted as unity with nature through subordination to the same laws. "The path of a noble husband begins among men and women, but his deepest principles exist in nature." As long as this universal law exists, there is no need for any moral law - both in the natural law of karma and in the artificial law of human society.
Ecologists point to the proximity of Taoism to the emerging new understanding of nature. Lao Tzu advises adapting to natural cycles, points to self-movement in nature and the importance of balance, and perhaps the concept of "Tao" is the prototype of modern ideas about cosmic information belts.
Tao is sought in itself. "He who knows himself will be able to find out [the essence of things], and who knows people, he is able to do things." To know Tao, one must free oneself from one's own passions. The one who has cognized Tao achieves "natural balance" because all opposites harmonize and attain self-satisfaction.
Tao desires nothing and strives for nothing. People should do the same. Everything natural happens as if by itself, without much effort of the individual. The natural course is contrasted with the artificial activity of a person pursuing his own selfish, selfish goals. Such activity is reprehensible, therefore, the main principle of Lao Tzu is not the act (wuwei) - "non-interference", "non-resistance." Wuwei is not passivity, but rather non-resistance of natural
Another fundamental concept of Taoism, closely related to the concept of qi and the yin-yang principle, is the concept five primary elements, which in their importance are located as follows: water, fire, wood, earth and metal. These primary elements are of great importance in all traditional Chinese philosophy, science, astrology and medicine; they are often mentioned in Chinese texts; without them we cannot imagine Chinese folklore, and, to one degree or another, they have an impact on the everyday affairs of the Chinese.
THE STUDY OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS
Any person who has tried to seriously study the Taoist postulate of the five primary elements will inevitably come across an unusual mixture of mystery, superstition and logical constructions full of common sense. And the realization that this conglomerate of concepts has puzzled many of the best minds in the West, and even some thinkers in China itself, can hardly serve as sufficient consolation. The attitude of modern Chinese to the five elements is similar to the attitude of Western Europeans to the texts of the Old Testament: many unconditionally believe in what is written there, others tend to interpret them critically. And although the Chinese are ardent adherents of traditions, at the same time they are also characterized by pragmatism of thinking; it is unlikely that many of them perceive all the provisions of their traditional teaching without a certain amount of skepticism.
WHAT ARE FIVE ELEMENTS?
When defining the conceptual essence of the five primary elements, it is easier to identify what they are not, rather than what is hidden under these categories. They are unequivocally inadequate to the four elements of the ancient Greeks - air, earth, fire and water, which were considered as the main components of the entire material universe. They cannot in any way be linked to the hundreds of elements that modern chemistry operates with, such as oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, sulfur, iron, etc., and which, in their various combinations, are capable of forming a great variety of complex compounds. The five primary elements of the Chinese are intangible and poorly correlated with real entities. In other words, fire is not fire as such, water is not water, and so on.
These elements can be briefly and far from exhaustively presented as some properties and influences. So, for example, those things that have the property of emitting heat, heating, be it feverish heat or sunlight, are considered bound or caused by the element of fire. And with this approach, it is perfectly understandable why the ancient Chinese philosophers describe the sun as a "fiery force", but it is much more difficult to explain why they call the heart a "fiery organ" - although the warmth of the human body is maintained by the circulation of blood provided by the pulsation of the heart. Likewise, the kidneys and the sense of taste are associated with the element of water, because both urine (produced by the kidneys) and seawater taste equally salty. Metals often have a luster, and therefore other objects, such as glass or polished surfaces, are associated with metal, or the luster of these objects is attributed to the influence of this element.
Ancient Chinese philosophers also used these five elements to explain phenomena that, although they were not fully understood by them, existed in reality - the changing seasons, planetary movements, some body functions, as well as those concepts that are denoted by letters in modern Western science from the Greek alphabet (for example, ψ) or special terms used to formulate the laws of nature in astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology, etc.
ESSENCE OF LANGUAGE
Although the origin of the five primary elements is hidden by a veil of mystery, it is reasonable to assume that their development coincided with the development of language, being an elementary idea thousands of years ago. There is evidence that yin-yang symbols were inscribed on the shells of turtles at a time when most people were very far from any kind of education. The simple word "fire", the meaning of which is clear to everyone without exception, was used to denote such concepts as warmth, warmth, temperature, dryness, excitement, passion, energy, etc., the subtle semantic differences between which were simply not accessible to people. In the same way, the word “water” concentrated in itself the concepts: coldness, humidity, dampness, dew, current, etc.
ESSENCE OF PHILOSOPHY
The Huai Nan Zu, or Book of Huai Nan, written for one of the ancient princes and consisting of 21 volumes, explains how heaven and earth became yin and yang, how the four seasons arose from yin and yang, and how yang gave birth to fire, the quintessence of which was embodied in the sun.
Confucian sage Zhou Dunyi (1017-73) wrote this about yin and yang:
Yin arises from inaction, while yang arises from action. When inaction reaches its climax, action is born, and when action reaches its maximum, inaction occurs again. This alternation of yin and yang gives rise to the five primary elements: water, fire, wood, metal and earth; and when they are in harmony with each other, the seasons smoothly replace each other.
In the treatise Shujing it is said that the purpose of water is to soak and fall; the purpose of fire is to warm and rise; the purpose of the tree is to bend or be straight; the purpose of the metal is to obey or change; the purpose of the land is to influence sowing and harvest. Accordingly, the five primary elements also correspond to the five tastes recognized by the Chinese - salty, bitter, sour, dry and sweet.
Such explanations may seem far-fetched, but they also contain some logic. And it should be remembered that the ancient sages built their concepts without having the knowledge that is available to modern man.
RELATIONS
The table below shows how the five elements relate to different concepts. But if the parallel between fire, Mars, red and bitterness is obvious, then some other associative chains are not so easy to explain logically.
| Water | Fire | Wood | Metal | Earth |
| Mercury | Mars | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn |
| the black | red | green | white | yellow |
| salty | bitter | sour | dry | sweet |
| fear | pleasure | anger | anxiety | passion |
| rotten | caustic | rancid | disgusting | fragrant |
| cold | hot | windy | dry | wet |
| six | seven | eight | nine | five |
| pig | horse | cock | dog | bull |
| kidneys | heart | liver | lungs | spleen |
ESSENCE OF MEDICINE
In traditional Chinese medicine, the five elements, along with the five colors, are used to represent the connection between treatments and different organs, since vital organs are associated with certain emotions, herbal remedies taste differently, and some disease states may be accompanied by a characteristic odor emanating from the human body. Such symbolic connections were certainly useful in a time when doctors had limited scientific knowledge.
It is clear that the first healers in China were shamans, or witch doctors. Their treatment was reduced to a combination of sound therapy and various magical effects. And naturally, the sick, unless they were shamans themselves, had to believe that the elements had a beneficial effect.
ESSENCE OF ASTROLOGY
The five primary elements are of great importance in Chinese astrology, which is based on a 60-year cycle, which, in turn, is composed of two shorter cycles, the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches. Each of the Ten Heavenly Stems is denoted by one of the five elements of both the yin nature and the yang nature. And the Twelve Earthly Branches bear the names of twelve animals, each of which corresponds to one year of the so-called 12-year “animal” cycle. Moreover, each "animal" year also corresponds to one of the five primary elements and can be of both the nature of yin and the nature of yang. For example, 1966, marked by the horse, fire and yang, symbolized the essence of a horse with a hot temperament. 1959 was the year of the pig, earth and yin, and embodied the essence of the just and impartial pig. Within a 60-year cycle, 60 different combinations are possible. Moreover, each combination is repeated only once every sixty years. So, 1930 was the year of the horse, metal and yang. The year 1990 passed under the same signs.
The characteristics of the "animal" years are given in more detail in the section.
The Chinese tradition, in contrast to the Indian one, is least of all connected with religion. The efforts of the Chinese, their abilities and work were focused on earthly life, on the desire to realize themselves in this world. Such features of Chinese culture as sobriety, rationalism, stability, high appreciation of life, love for clear organization and order determined the specific features of ancient Chinese philosophy.
Ancient Chinese philosophy is, first of all, practical philosophy. It is addressed to the practice of today, to the earthly, and not the afterlife. In contrast to the Indians, the Chinese were keenly interested in socio-political problems. The philosophers of ancient China focused on government and ethics.
Ancient Chinese philosophy is naturalistic philosophy... Naturalism manifested itself, first of all, in the fact that traditional Chinese thought was directed towards the natural course of things. It lacked the concept of purely spiritual entities. This circumstance was associated with the undeveloped formal logic in ancient China.
The beginning of ancient Chinese philosophy was laid by commentaries on one of the earliest literary monuments of Ancient China - "Book of Changes" ("I Ching").
The ancient Chinese believed in an impartial, supreme regulatory power - tian , which establishes a sacred social order in accordance with the cosmic order of Heaven. To find out the desire of Heaven, what awaits a person in the future, the Chinese turned to soothsayers. Those were guided in their predictions trigrams, which were built with the help of two lines (solid and discontinuous), symbolizing the duality of cosmic forces. Trigrams formed the basis of the Book of Changes. However, this book was used not only as a practical guide to predictions. It laid the foundations of the doctrine, which was perceived by ancient Chinese philosophers.
Dual cosmic forces The "Book of Changes" calls yang and yin: yang is indicated by a solid line (-), and yin is indicated by a broken line (- -). These concepts have replaced such more ancient designations of the forces of space, such as heaven and earth, sun and moon, etc.
Yang - positive, masculine, active, light, solid beginning. Yin - negative, feminine, passive, dark, soft beginning. The Book of Change describes yang and yin as forces that perpetuate the universe through an endless chain of transformations. The interaction of yang and yin is determined by the Tao. Tao (The Highest Path) represents the natural order, the highest degree of organization of nature and at the same time the path that a person must go through in his life.
Those who have brought their lives in line with the yin-yang rhythms of the Tao live happily ever after. Those who shied away from this doomed themselves to misfortune and premature death. Those who lived in harmony with nature accumulated large amounts of qi - the life force that periodically fills the Universe. The accumulation of this force leads to an increase de - not only a person could have De, birds and animals, plants and stones could have it. For example, it was believed that the tortoise possesses a large number of te and lives for a long time, and the pine is a storehouse for te and does not fade.
It was also argued that de forms a connection between the dead and the living. Representatives of the ruling class have a large supply of te, which they inherited from their ancestors and which they will pass on to their descendants. After the death of a person, one of his souls - by - remains in the body until its decomposition, and the other - hun- ascends to heaven and feeds on sacrifices that are made by descendants, so that de ancestors do not decrease. In this case, the descendants are guided by whether (rituals, ceremonies), that is, the established rules of conduct.
Ordinary people did not have a cult of ancestors, so they had a small number of te. In their behavior they are guided by su (customs). The most important thing for them is not to violate the customs of the natural order, to maintain constant contact with the forces of nature. Su were expressed in seasonal festivals, where the spirits of the earth, mountains, rivers were pacified.
Many concepts from the "Book of Changes" have become common to all areas of traditional Chinese philosophy.
Ancient Chinese philosophy during its heyday, in the I-III centuries. BC, was represented by many competing schools ( confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Moism, natural philosophy school, school of namesand etc.). In a later period, only two of these schools survived as independent directions - Taoism and Confucianism. At the beginning of the new era, Buddhism, which came from India, was added to them. As a result, the so-called "triad of teachings" was gradually formed, which has existed in China up to the present time.
The concept of Tao gave its name to the school taoism... Moreover, the ancient Taoists themselves did not call their teachings that way. This name appeared later in
Lao Tzu (604-531 BC) was an ancient Chinese philosopher. His real name is Li Er. He was nicknamed the Elderly Infant (Lao-Tzu), for, according to legend, his mother carried him in the womb for 81 years, and he was born a wise old man. There is no reliable information about his life. It is believed that he served as an archivist at the Zhou court and met with Confucius. Leaving China forever, he left with the head of the border outpost an exposition of his teachings entitled “ Tao Te Ching " ("The Highest Path and its Good Power"). Lao Tzu is considered the founder of Taoism, which became both a philosophical school and a religion.historical writings to designate the philosophy of the Tao Way, the founder of which was Lao Tzu.
Lao Tzu understood Tao as the highest first principle and first cause of the world and called it "the mother of all things." He spoke of Tao as generating things and as “nourishing” them, denoting the latter with the concept of “de” (Good power). At the same time, Tao does not interfere with the natural course of things, giving them the opportunity to develop in a predetermined order. Lao Tzu expressed this idea as follows: "Tao does nothing, but nothing remains undone."
Deviation from Tao violates the primordial simplicity of the naturalness of being. Lao Tzu opposed to naturalness an artificial human society. In his opinion, human labor activity led him to a contradiction with the world, alienated him from nature. The Taoist thinker put inaction above action and preached the principle of "non-action" ("wu-wei") , following which always brings peace. People's commitment to knowledge and the creation of social institutions (family, state) interfere with Tao and generate all kinds of misfortune. Lao Tzu advocated a return to the golden age, when there was no arbitrary division into good and bad, since people lived in perfect harmony, did not interfere with the natural course of things and did not know such concepts as good and evil.
The principle of "non-action" expresses not passive inaction, but adherence to the natural order of things, agreement with one's own inner nature and implies non-interference in the nature of all that exists, refusal to alter, restructure the world. This principle works like water flowing around stones in its path. According to a prominent representative of Taoism Chuang Tzu(c. 369 - 286 BC), the mind that has mastered the principle of "wu-wei" flows like water, reflects like a mirror and repeats like an echo. The true way of human life is to fit into the world, and not to break the established order in it.
Thus, "non-action" aims at a sensitive, careful attitude towards nature, which is especially important today, when violations of ecological cycles and balance in nature are obvious. Nature, according to Taoism, does not exist in order to be studied and altered, but in order to be experienced, to derive pleasure from communication with it, to live in harmony with it.
Lao Tzu extended the principle of wu-wei to the field of social phenomena, noting that when the government is active, people become unhappy. He considered an absolutely wise ruler who does not interfere in anything and allows everything to take its course, in a natural way. therefore "The best ruler is the one about whom the people only know that he exists."
In the natural unity of man with nature, the Taoists saw the guarantee of a serene and happy life. Solving the problem of how to live better, they developed the doctrine of zhi. Zhi (literally: "breath") is a special kind of energy that flows through each person. A person must free himself from everything that pollutes and weakens Zhi, first of all, from vanity. The way through which you can feel zhi in yourself is meditation, during which you should expel any thoughts about personal aspirations and emotions.
Some of the Taoists tried, completely immersed in thought, to achieve unity with the primitive forces of nature. Others preferred witchcraft and magic to meditation, as well as elements of the yoga system such as restriction of food, physical and breathing exercises. Their goal was to achieve longevity and physical immortality. They conducted alchemical experiments on the invention of the elixir of life, were engaged in astrology and geomancy. As a result, the Taoists made a significant contribution to the development of science. Studies in alchemy led to the invention of gunpowder, and geomancy led to the invention of the compass.
In the second half of the 1st century BC. troubled times came in China: the ruling Zhou dynasty (11th-3rd centuries BC) was gradually degenerating, political changes followed one after another. During this period, the power of the military acquired great importance, and special attention was paid to the art of government. Many middle-class military personnel sought to become state decision-making advisers at the courts of ancient Chinese princes. For 13 years, the "traveling officer" ("yu shi") was Confucius,who hoped to convince the rulers of the need to observe moral principles. But Confucius's ideas were too moral to be accepted by the rulers of his time. Only after several centuries did they find support from the rulers of the Han dynasty. In the II century. BC. Confucianism became the official state ideology in China and played an extremely important role in Chinese culture and socio-political history.
Confucius (from Kun Fu-tzu, that is, "wise teacher Kun") is an ancient Chinese philosopher. Born 551 BC e. in an aristocratic but impoverished family. For a long time he worked in the royal book depository in Zhou, where, according to legend, he met and talked with Lao Tzu. Upon returning to his homeland, to the kingdom of Lu, he opened his own school and became the first professional teacher in the history of China. From p to. BC. he was revered as the Great Sage. The main source of information about the teachings of Confucius is "Lunyu" ("Judgments and Conversations"), which are records of his sayings and conversations made by his students and followers. In 1957, in the philosopher's hometown of Qufu, where his distant relatives still live, the annual celebrations in his temple resumed. Confucius shared the traditional view of Heaven as the supreme power governing the world, and accepted faith in the spirits of ancestors. He considered the modern society to be inappropriate to what Heavens intended for all that exists. He idealized the past and advocated the restoration of communal-patriarchal relations in which people understood morality. It is through moral norms, and not by natural forces, as the Taoists argued, that society should, in his opinion, be governed. Compliance with morality, the principles of duty was defining for Confucius. Therefore, Confucian philosophy is primarily a teaching about morality.
All issues, including those related to public administration, which are daily involved in agricultural, commercial and financial affairs, were considered by Confucius from an ethical standpoint. His teaching was based on the idea of \u200b\u200ban ideal society that would correspond to ancient models. He saw his task in the revival of the principles of society that existed in ancient times, for then the earth was ruled by perfectly wise rulers who owned Tao. The philosopher understood Tao as the path of moral improvement and governance based on ethical standards.
Confucius urged to sacredly honor ancestors, observe ancient customs and ceremonies, during which the emperor - the Son of Heaven - played the role of a mediator between the infinity of space and the finiteness of earthly existence. Confucius saw a panacea for all troubles in unswerving adherence to the customs of antiquity, and he considered himself the bearer of forgotten ancient wisdom.
In Confucianism, a whole system of complex rituals was developed for all occasions. The fact that the Confucians strictly observed the established order is evidenced by the proverb that has come down to us about Confucius: "If the mat is not level, the Teacher will not sit on it."
In an ideal society, the principle of moral improvement should be harmoniously combined with activities aimed at streamlining the state. “If there is virtue in the heart,” Confucius said, “then there will be beauty in character. If there is beauty in character, then there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the country. If there is order in the country, there will be peace on earth ”.
Confucius developed the concept noble husband (tszyun-tzu).A noble husband, or ideal person, is one who knows how to combine disinterestedness and sensitivity in private life with courtesy in public life. In his desires, he is not greedy and unlike "Little man" thinks not about profit, but about debt. A person is not born noble, but becomes one thanks to the education of the highest moral qualities in himself.
A noble husband should have Ren and follow Li in his behavior. The concepts of ren and li are the most important in the philosophy of Confucianism. Ren (literally: "philanthropy") - this is the law that determines the ethical relationship of people, gives an orientation to love for people. It is formulated as follows: "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others." Subsequently, this rule in the history of philosophy was expressed in various ways and received the name "The golden rule of morality"... The manifestations of Ren are justice, loyalty, sincerity, mercy, etc.
Lee (ceremonial, ceremonies) means ethical and ritual decency and represents a wide range of rules governing the behavior of people in various life situations. Without "li" social order is impossible and, consequently, the prosperity of the state. It is thanks to "li" that there are differences between the sovereign and his subjects. A properly organized state, according to Confucius, consists of the upper and lower classes: those who think and govern, and those who work and obey.
Confucius saw the main means of streamlining relations between members of society in straightening (correcting) names, which was aimed at ensuring that everything in society remained unchanged. Names - these are designations of the social, political and legal statuses of various persons in the hierarchical system of society and the state. Everyone must have a name corresponding to him, so that the sovereign is a sovereign, a dignitary is a dignitary, a father is a father, a son is a son, a subject is a subject. For all deviations from the norm, you should return to it. Thus, the meaning of Confucius's teachings about straightening of names consisted in the fact that each person must correspond to his purpose, social status in the state hierarchy.
So, for each member of society, Confucius determined a particular place in the social hierarchy, in accordance with which it was necessary to act and conduct business. The criterion for dividing society into upper and lower classes should have been not nobility of origin and wealth, but abilities, virtues, knowledge and labor. The philosopher was convinced that the economic prosperity and stability of both society and the individual depend to a large extent on the hard daily work and on the exertion of the abilities and efforts of each citizen.
Confucius considered the basis of the state to be a close-knit and well-organized family, and the state itself was understood by him as a big family. Therefore, a special place in his philosophy is occupied by the concept of xiao - filial piety, which determines the relationship between father and child, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, older friend and younger friend, ruler and subjects. The essence xiao consists in the assertion that blind obedience to the will, word, desire of the elder is an elementary norm for the younger within the family and subjects within the state.
According to the Confucian teaching, any person in Ancient China could count on social assistance and a minimum of social benefits, subject to strict adherence to ethical standards recognized in the state, maintaining order, respecting and obeying the authority of elders and obeying the rulers.
Confucianism defined the way of life and social structure of the Chinese, and to this day it remains a living intellectual and spiritual tradition in China.
Control questions:
1. What are the features of ancient Indian philosophy?
2. What are the Vedas?
3. How do the orthodox schools of ancient Indian philosophy differ from the unorthodox ones?
4. What are the main ideas of Vedanta?
5. What is the difference between mimamsa and Vedanta?
6. What is the specificity of the Sankhya philosophical school?
7. How are the theory and practice of yoga related?
8. What is the difference between the philosophy of the Charvaks and the philosophy of all other ancient Indian schools of thought?
9. What is "samsara", "karma", "nirvana" in the philosophy of Buddhism?
10. What is the content of the Four Noble Truths?
11. What are the characteristic features of ancient Chinese philosophy?
12. What is "Tao" in ancient Chinese philosophy?
13. What is the meaning of the Taoist principle of "non-action"?
14. What is the essence of the philosophical teachings of Confucius?
15. What is the meaning of the Confucian straightening of names?
16. What is the principle of Xiao in Confucianism?
Main literature:
Introduction to philosophy: Textbook for universities. / Author: Frolov I.T. et al. 2nd ed., rev. and add. M., 2002.
Kanke V.A. Philosophy: Historical and Systematic Course. M., 2001.
Kuznetsov V.G., Kuznetsova I.D., Momdzhyan K.Kh., Mironov V.V. Philosophy. M., 2009.
B.V. Markov Philosophy. SPb., 2009.
Spirkin A.G. Philosophy. M., 2006.
Philosophy: textbook / ed. A.F. Zotova, V.V. Mironova, A.V. Razin. M., 2009.
Additional literature:
Anthology of World Philosophy. T. 1. Part 1. M., 1969.
Vasiliev L.S. History of the religions of the East. M., 1983.
Ancient Chinese philosophy: Collection of texts: In 2 volumes. M., 1972.
Manu's laws. M., 1960.
Lukyanov A.E. Lao Tzu (philosophy of early Taoism). M., 1991.
Lukyanov A.E. Formation of philosophy in the East. M., 1989.
Lysenko V.G. An Introduction to Buddhism: Early Buddhist Philosophy. M., 1994.
L.Z. Nemirovskaya Philosophy. M., 1996.
Oliver M. History of Philosophy. Minsk, 1999.
Perelomov L.S. Confucius: life, teaching, destiny. M., 1993.
E.A. Torchinov Taoism. M., 1993.
Chatterjee S., Dutta D. Indian philosophy. M., 1994.
Kuznetsov V.G. Dictionary of philosophical terms. M., 2009.
New philosophical encyclopedia: In 4 volumes. M., 2000-2001.
Philosophy: encyclopedic dictionary / under. ed. A.A. Ivina. M., 2009.
Chanyshev A.N. A course of lectures on ancient philosophy. M., 1981.
Databases, information and reference and search systems:
Portal "Humanitarian Education" http://www.humanities.edu.ru/
Federal portal "Russian Education" http://www.edu.ru/
Federal repository "Unified collection of digital educational resources" http://school-collection.edu.ru/
Introduction
1. Thinkers of Ancient China
The Three Greatest Thinkers of Ancient China
2.1 Lao Tzu
2 Confucius
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
China is a country of ancient history, culture, philosophy.
Ancient China arose on the basis of Neolithic cultures that developed in the 5-3 millennia BC. in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The Yellow River basin became the main territory for the formation of the ancient civilization of China, which for a long time developed in conditions of relative isolation. Only from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. the process of expansion of the territory begins, in a southern direction, first to the Yangtze basin area, and then further south.
On the verge of our era, the state of Ancient China extends far beyond the Yellow He basin, although the northern border of the ethnic territory of the ancient Chinese remains almost unchanged.
Ancient Chinese class society and statehood was formed somewhat later than the ancient civilizations of Ancient Western Asia, but nevertheless, after their emergence, they begin to develop at a fairly rapid pace and high forms of economic, political and cultural life are created in Ancient China, which lead to the formation of the original socio-political and cultural system.
Chinese philosophy is part of Eastern philosophy. Its influence on the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan is tantamount to the influence of ancient Greek philosophy on Europe. Thus, the relevance of the topic lies in the fact that the thinkers of Ancient China left their mark on history, whose experience is being used today.
The purpose of this work: to study the greatest thinkers of ancient China and describe the main provisions of their teachings.
... Thinkers of Ancient China
The religions of China have never existed in the form of a rigidly centralized “church”. The traditional religion of ancient China was a mixture of local beliefs and ceremonies, united into a single whole by the universal theoretical constructions of pundits.
Nevertheless, among the educated strata of the population and among the peasants, three great schools of thought, often called the three religions of China: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, have won the greatest popularity. All these teachings are more philosophical than religious, in contrast to ancient Indian philosophy, which has always been closely associated with the religious tradition.
Ancient Chinese philosophy arose around the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The ideas that formed the basis of philosophy were formed in the monuments of the ancient Chinese literary tradition such as "Shu jing" ("Book of documentary scriptures"), "Shi jing" ("Book of poems"), "I ching" ("Book of changes").
Ancient Chinese philosophy has features that are not characteristic of other Eastern philosophical traditions. It must be said that the ancient Chinese had no idea about the transcendental God, about the creation of the world by God out of nothing, had no idea about the dualism of the ideal and material principles of the world. In ancient China, traditional for the West, India, and the Middle East, the concept of the soul as a kind of immaterial substance that is separated from the body after death did not take shape. Although ideas about the spirits of ancestors existed.
The Chinese worldview is based on the concept of qi. Qi is understood as a kind of vital energy that permeates absolutely everything in the world. Everything in the world is Qi transformations.
Qi is a kind of quasi-material substance that cannot be defined only as material or spiritual.
Matter and spirit are inseparable, they are consubstantial and mutually reducible, that is, spirit and matter are in a state of constant mutual transition.
At the heart of existence is the Primordial Qi (Infinite, Chaos, One), which is polarized into two parts - yang (positive) and yin (negative). Yang and Yin are interchangeable. Their passage constitutes the great Tao path.
The negative potentially contains the positive and vice versa. Thus, the Yang force reaches its limit and passes into Yin and vice versa. This position is called the Great Limit and is depicted graphically in the form of the "Monad".
Considering all that exists as a unity of opposing principles, Chinese thinkers explained the endless process of movement by their dialectical interaction. Filling the Universe, giving rise to and preserving life, these primary substances or forces determine the essence of the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Soil.
Actually, these views underlie ancient Chinese philosophy and are supported by all Chinese thinkers, with some differences in interpretation.
Differences between Chinese philosophy and Western: integral (holistic) perception instead of analytical and cyclical processes instead of their static, linearity. The three greatest thinkers of ancient China, whom we will focus on in the next chapter:
Lao Tzu - covered with a halo of mystery;
Confucius - revered by all;
Mo-tzu - now little known, who, however, more than four centuries before the birth of Christ, formulated the concept of universal love.
Acquaintance with the views of these thinkers is facilitated by the fact that there are three texts directly associated with their names.
2. The Three Greatest Thinkers of Ancient China
.1 Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu is a nickname meaning "old teacher" - the great sage of Ancient China, who laid the foundations of Taoism - the direction of Chinese thought that has survived to this day. Approximately the time of Lao Tzu's life is attributed to the 7th-6th centuries BC. He is considered the author of the main treatise of Taoism "Tao Te Ching", which became the most popular test of ancient Chinese philosophy in the West.
Little is known about the life of this sage and the authenticity of the available information is often criticized by scientists. But it is known that he was the custodian of the imperial archives of the Zhou court - the greatest book depository of ancient China. Therefore, Lao Tzu had free access to various ancient and contemporary texts, which allowed him to develop his own teaching.
The fame of this sage went throughout the Celestial Empire, so when he decided to leave the kingdom of Zhou, he was stopped at the outpost and asked to leave his teaching in written form for his kingdom. Lao Tzu compiled a treatise "Tao Te Ching", which translates as "The Canon of the Way and Grace." The entire treatise talks about the category of Tao.
Tao translated from Chinese means "Way". According to Lao Tzu, the Tao is the foundation of the world and the world realizes the Tao. Everything in the world is Tao. Tao is inexpressible, it can be comprehensible, but not verbally. Lao Tzu wrote: "The Tao that can be expressed by a word is not a permanent Tao." The teaching of Tao is closely related to the teaching of the mutual transition of opposites.
Lao Tzu, who lived before two other great Chinese thinkers (6th-5th centuries BC), is not easy to understand, not only because his basic concept of "Tao" is very ambiguous: it is both "the main thing over many things" and "mother earth and sky "," the first principle of the world ", and" root "and" path "; but also because in comprehending this concept we do not have the opportunity (as, for example, in ancient Indian and other cultures) to rely on any mythological images that would facilitate assimilation. Tao is as vague in Lao Tzu as the concept of Heaven is in all of Chinese culture.
Tao is the source of all things and the basis for the functioning of being. One of the definitions of Tao is “root”. The root is underground, it is not visible, but it exists before the plant that emerges from it. The invisible Tao, from which the whole world is produced, is also primary.
Tao is also understood as a natural law of the development of nature. The main meaning of the hieroglyph "Tao" is "the road on which people walk." Tao is the path that people follow in this life, and not just something outside of it. A person who does not know the path is doomed to delusion, he is a deluded person.
Tao can also be interpreted as unity with nature through subordination to the same laws. "The path of a noble husband begins among men and women, but his deepest principles exist in nature." As long as this universal law exists, there is no need for any moral law - both in the natural law of karma and in the artificial law of human society.
Ecologists point to the proximity of Taoism to the emerging new understanding of nature. Lao Tzu advises adapting to natural cycles, points to self-movement in nature and the importance of balance, and perhaps the concept of "Tao" is the prototype of modern ideas about cosmic information belts.
Tao is sought in itself. "He who knows himself will be able to find out [the essence of things], and who knows people, he is able to do things." To know Tao, one must free oneself from one's own passions. The one who has cognized Tao achieves "natural balance" because all opposites harmonize and attain self-satisfaction.
Tao desires nothing and strives for nothing. People should do the same. Everything natural happens as if by itself, without much effort of the individual. The natural course is contrasted with the artificial activity of a person pursuing his own selfish, selfish goals. Such activity is reprehensible, therefore the main principle of Lao-tzu is not an act (wuwei) - "non-interference", "non-resistance." Wuwei is not passivity, but rather non-resistance to the natural course of events and acting in accordance with it. This is the principle, following which, a person maintains his own integrity, while at the same time gaining unity with existence. This is the way of realizing one's own Tao, which cannot be distinguished from the universal Tao. Finding your own Tao is the goal of every Taoist and should become the goal of every person, but this is difficult to achieve and requires a lot of effort, although at the same time it takes away from all effort.
For a better understanding of Lao Tzu's teachings, it is necessary to plunge into reading his treatise and try to understand it at the inner intuitive level, and not at the level of logical-discursive thinking, which is always addressed by our Western mind.
.2 Confucius
taoism philosophical thinker Confucius
Lao Tzu's younger contemporary Confucius or Kun Tzu "Teacher Kun" (c. 551 - c. 479 BC) pays tribute, traditional for Chinese culture, to Heaven as the creator of all things and urges to unquestioningly follow fate, but pays the main attention to conscious construction social ties necessary for the normal functioning of society. Confucius is the founder of the doctrine known as confucianism.
The "teacher Kun" was born into a poor family, he was left an orphan early and knew the need, although, according to legend, his family was aristocratic. The men of this family were either officials or the military. His father was already at an old age (70 years old) when he married a young girl (16 years old), so it is not surprising that when Confucius, or as he was called in the family, Qiu was 3 years old, his father passed away.
From a young age, Qiu was distinguished by his prudence and desire to study. When he was seven years old, his mother sent him to a public school, where he already amazed teachers with his intelligence and wisdom. After training, Qiu entered the government service. At first, he was a commercial bailiff, overseeing the freshness of market products. His next job was the service of an inspector of arable fields, forests and herds. At this time, the future teacher Kun is also engaged in science and is improving his ability to read and interpret ancient tests. Also at the age of 19, Qiu marries a girl of noble family. He has a son and a daughter, but family life did not bring Confucius happiness. The service began to bring popularity to Confucius among officials and they began to talk about him as a very capable young man and it seemed he was waiting for a new promotion, but his mother suddenly dies. Confucius, as if following the traditions, was forced to leave the service and observe a three-year mourning.
After he returns to work as a serviceman, but he already has students who have learned about the wisdom and knowledge of the great traditions, Confucius. At the age of 44, he took the high post of governor of the city of Chzhong-du. The number of students grew. He traveled a lot and everywhere found people willing to join his wisdom. After long travels, Confucius returns to his homeland, and the last years of his life he spends at home, surrounded by numerous students.
The main work of Confucius "Lunyu" ("Conversations and Sayings") was recorded by his students and enjoyed such popularity throughout the subsequent history of China that he was even forced to memorize in schools. It begins with a phrase that almost literally coincides with the well-known to us: "Learn and from time to time repeat what you have learned."
The activity of Confucius falls on a difficult period for Chinese society, the transition from one formation - slave-owning, to another - feudal, and at this time it was especially important to prevent the collapse of social foundations. To this goal, Confucius and Lao Tzu followed different paths.
The primacy of morality, preached by Confucius, was determined by the desire of the Chinese spirit for stability, tranquility and peace. The teachings of Confucius are devoted to how to make the state happy through the growth of morality, first of all, of the upper strata of society, and then of the lower ones. “If you lead the people through laws and maintain order through punishments, the people will seek to evade punishment and will not feel ashamed. If you lead the people through virtue and maintain order through rituals, the people will know shame, and they will correct themselves. " The moral model for Confucius is a noble man: devoted, sincere, loyal, just. The opposite of a noble husband is a low man.
Striving for realism led Confucius to follow the rule “ golden mean»- avoidance of extremes in activity and behavior. "A principle like the golden mean is the highest principle." The concept of the middle is closely related to the concept of harmony. The noble husband “... strictly adheres to the middle and does not lean in either direction. This is where true strength lies! When order reigns in the state, he does not abandon the behavior that he had before ... When there is no order in the state, he does not betray his principles until his death. " The Greek philosophers responded in the same way. But a noble husband is not reckless. When order reigns in a state, his words promote prosperity; when there is no order in the state, his silence helps him to preserve himself.
Of great importance both in the history of China and in the teachings of Confucius is following certain rules and ceremonies established once and for all. “The use of ritual is valuable because it brings people to agreement. The ritual recognizes only those actions that are sanctified and tested by tradition. Devotion without ritual leads to fussiness; caution without ritual leads to fearfulness; courage without ritual leads to turmoil; straightforwardness without ritual leads to rudeness. " The purpose of the ritual is to achieve not only social harmony within, but also harmony with nature. “The ritual is based on the constancy of the movement of the sky, the order of phenomena on earth and the behavior of the people. Since celestial and earthly phenomena occur regularly, then the people take them as a model, imitating the clarity of heavenly phenomena, and is consistent with the nature of earthly phenomena ... But if this is misused, then everything will get confused and the people will lose their natural qualities. Therefore, a ritual was created to support these natural qualities. "
The ritual, in a picturesque expression, "is the brilliance of duty." What is a person's duty? The father should show parental feelings, and the son should be reverent; the elder brother is kindness, and the younger is friendliness, the husband is justice, and the wife is obedience, the elders are mercy, the younger ones are humility, the sovereign is philanthropy, and the subjects are loyalty. These ten qualities are called human duty.
Confucius proclaimed a principle that runs through the entire history of ethics: "Do not do to people what you do not wish for yourself." He was not the first to formulate this moral maxim, later called the "golden rule of ethics." It is found in many more ancient cultures, and then among the philosophers of modern times. But this dictum expresses the essence of the basic concepts of Confucius - philanthropy, humanity.
We meet with Confucius and many other thoughts regarding the rules of community. Do not be sad that people do not know you, but be sad that you do not know people. " "Do not enter into the affairs of another, when you are not in his place." "I listen to the words of people and watch their actions."
Realizing the meaning of knowledge, Confucius warned against exaggerating the idea of \u200b\u200bhis own knowledge: “Knowing something, consider that you know; not knowing, consider that you do not know - this is the correct attitude to knowledge. " He emphasized the importance of combining learning with reflection: "Learning without thought is in vain, thought without learning is dangerous."
The similarity between Lao Tzu and Confucius is that both of them, in accordance with the archetype of Chinese thought, sought constancy, but Lao Tzu found it not in deed, but Confucius in constancy of activity - in ritual. The call for limiting needs was also common.
The difference between them is in what they considered more important. But Lao Tzu also wrote about philanthropy, and Confucius said: "If you know the right way in the morning, you can die in the evening."
.3 Mo-tzu
Mo-tzu (Mo Di) - the founder of the doctrine and school of Moists, identified wisdom and virtue, and by his preaching of love was close to Christ.
The years of Mo-tzu's life are approximately 479 - 381 years. BC. He was born in the kingdom of Lu and belonged to "Xia", that is, itinerant warriors or knights. "Xia" were often recruited not only from the impoverished houses of the nobility, but also from the lower strata of the population. Mo-tzu was originally an admirer of Confucianism, but then departs from it and creates the first oppositional teaching. The critical attitude towards Confucianism was due to dissatisfaction with the existing traditional and rather burdensome system of rules of behavior and ritual. Compliance with all the rules of the ritual often required not only internal efforts, but also external ones. The ritual was time-consuming and sometimes forced to spend a lot of money on its exact observance. As a result, Mo-tzu comes to the conclusion that ritual and music is a luxury that is inaccessible to the lower strata or the impoverished nobility, and therefore requires abolition.
Mo Tzu and his followers organized a highly disciplined organization that was even capable of conducting military operations. Mo Tzu was "perfectly wise" in the eyes of his disciples.
Mo Dee preached the principle of universal love and the principle of mutual benefit. Mo-tzu formulated the principle of universal love in a clear form, opposing love "not knowing differences but the degree of kinship", separate, selfish love, that each person should love the other as the closest, for example, as his father or mother. Note that love (in the understanding of Mo-tzu) concerns relations between people, and not to God, as in Christianity.
The principle of mutual benefit assumed that everyone should share their sorrows and joys, as well as poverty and wealth with everyone, then all people will be equal. These principles were implemented within the framework of the organization established by Mo Dee.
Lao Tzu and Confucius emphasized the importance of the will of Heaven as the highest power. According to Mo-tzu, the events of our life do not depend on the zero of Heaven, but on the efforts made by a person. However, Heaven has thoughts and desires. “To follow the thoughts of Heaven means to follow the universal mutual love, the mutual benefit of people, and this will certainly be rewarded. Speeches against the thoughts of Heaven sow mutual hatred, induce harm to each other, and this will certainly entail punishment. " The authors of The History of Chinese Philosophy correctly write that Mo Tzu used the authority of Heaven as an ideological weapon to substantiate the truth of his views. Later, Marx also used the idea of \u200b\u200bthe objective laws of social development.
Like all the great utopians, Mo-tzu created his own concept of an ideal state and even the idea of \u200b\u200bthree successive phases of social development: from the era of "disorder and disorder" through the era of "great prosperity" to the society of "great unity". But after all, not all people want the transition from disorder and disorder to prosperity and unity.
Mo-tzu's views were very popular in IV-III. cc. BC, but then the realism of Confucius won out in the practical soul of the Chinese. After the death of Mo Dee, at the end of the 4th century BC. Mo Dee's school is undergoing a split into two or three organizations. In the second half of the 3rd century BC. there was a practical and theoretical disintegration of the organization and teachings of Mo Di, after which she could no longer recover and later this teaching existed only as the spiritual heritage of Ancient China.
The teachings of Confucius are also striving towards the ideal, but the ideal of moral self-improvement. Mo Tzu was a social utopian and wanted to enforce universal equality. Confucius took a place between Lao Tzu, with his non-deed, and Mo-Tzu, with his violence; and his concept turned out to be a "golden mean" between passivity and extremism.
Conclusion
The most prominent philosophers of Ancient China, who largely determined its problems and development for centuries to come, are Lao Tzu (second half of the 6th - first half of the 5th century BC) and Confucius (Kun Fu-tzu, 551-479 BC. BC), as well as other thinkers, and primarily the philosophical heritage of Mo-tzu. These teachings give a fairly objective idea of \u200b\u200bthe philosophical quest of ancient Chinese thinkers.
Lao-tzu is an ancient Chinese philosopher of the 6th-4th centuries BC, one of the founders of the teachings of Taoism, the author of the treatise "Tao Te Ching" ("Canon of the Way and Grace"). The central idea of \u200b\u200bthe philosophy of Lao Tzu was the idea of \u200b\u200btwo principles - Tao and Te. The word "Tao" literally means "the way"; in this philosophical system, it received a much broader metaphysical content. "Tao" means both the essence of things and the total existence of the universe. The very concept of "Tao" can be interpreted materialistically: Tao is nature, the objective world.
Confucius is an ancient thinker and philosopher of China. His teachings had a profound impact on the life of China and East Asia, becoming the basis of the philosophical system known as Confucianism. Although Confucianism is often called a religion, it does not have the institution of the church, and theological issues are not important for it. Confucian ethics are not religious. Confucius's teachings dealt mainly with social and ethical issues. The ideal of Confucianism is the creation of a harmonious society according to the ancient model, in which every personality has its own function. A harmonious society is built on the idea of \u200b\u200bdevotion, aimed at preserving harmony and this society itself. Confucius formulated the golden rule of ethics: "Do not do to a person what you do not wish for yourself."
Mo-tzu is an ancient Chinese philosopher who developed the doctrine of universal love. The religious form of this teaching, Moism, has competed in popularity with Confucianism for several centuries.
So, we can say with good reason that Laozi, Confucius and Mo-tzu, with their philosophical creativity, laid a solid foundation for the development of Chinese philosophy for many centuries to come.
Bibliography
1.A.A. Gorelov Fundamentals of philosophy: textbook. allowance. - M .: Academy, 2008 .-- 256 p.
2.History of Chinese Philosophy / Ed. M.L. Titarenko. - M .: Progress, 1989. - 552 p.
3.Lukyanov A.E. Lao Tzu and Confucius: The Philosophy of Tao. - M .: Vostochnaya literatura, 2001 .-- 384 p.
.Rykov S. Yu. The doctrine of knowledge among the late Moists // Society and state in China: XXXIX scientific conference / Institute of Oriental Studies RAS. - M. - 2009. - p. 237-255.
.Shevchuk D.A. Philosophy: lecture notes. - M .: Eksmo, 2008 .-- 344 p.
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