History of the origin of Chinese philosophy. Philosophy of Ancient China: Wise Men of the Celestial Empire
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 collection of fortune-telling dating from 2800 BC, which indicated some of the fundamental tenets of Chinese philosophy. The age of Chinese philosophy can only be estimated approximately (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. One more characteristic feature 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 the place of man in space.
Four schools of thought
Four particularly influential schools of thought emerged during the classical period 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. During the reign of Mao Tse-tung, 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 cyclicality 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 one. Archaeological excavations from this period indicate an increase in literacy and a partial departure from the Shang-ti faith. Ancestor worship became commonplace, 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). 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, founder of Legism 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 widespread 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 has a 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 call etiquette today. 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 the Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu) and Chuang Tzu;
2) Chinese folk religion.
"Tao" literally means "path", but in the religion and philosophy of China, this word has taken on a more abstract meaning. Philosophy of Ancient China, short description which is presented in this article, has drawn many ideas from this abstract and seemingly simple concept of "path".
Yin and Yang and the theory of the five elements
It is not known exactly where the idea of the two principles of 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 harmony 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 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 has its origins in the ideas of the Chinese philosopher Xun Tzu (310-237 BC), who believed that ethical norms 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 a person seeks to avoid punishment and achieve personal gain, since people are inherently selfish and evil. Thus, if people begin to freely manifest 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. 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 newcomers, nomadic people from the western regions and Central Asia.
In a sense, Buddhism has never been accepted in China. At least not in a 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 delayed gratification provided for in 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 have seen some of the 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 the 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 into China, the concept of Shunyata was changed from "Emptiness" 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 universal 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.
Philosophy of Ancient China: Lao Tzu The Book of Changes, the works of thinkers Lao Tzu and Confucius - without these three things, the philosophy of ancient China would resemble a building without a foundation - so great is their contribution to one of the deepest philosophical systems in the world.
The I Ching, that is, the Book of Changes, is one of the earliest monuments of the philosophy of Ancient China. The title of this book has a deep meaning, which lies in the principles of the variability of nature and human life as a result of the natural change in the energies of Yin and Yang in the Universe. The sun and moon and other celestial bodies in the process of their rotation create all the diversity of the constantly changing celestial world. Hence the name of the first work of the philosophy of Ancient China - "The Book of Changes".
The Book of Changes occupies a special place in the history of ancient Chinese philosophical thought. For centuries, almost every ancient Chinese thinker tried to comment on and interpret the contents of the "Book of Changes". This commentary and research activity, which dragged on for centuries, laid the foundations of the philosophy of Ancient China and became the source of its subsequent development.
The most prominent representatives of the philosophy of Ancient China, who largely determined its problems and the issues studied for two millennia ahead, are Lao Tzu and Confucius. They lived during the 5-6 century. BC NS. Although Ancient China also remembers other famous thinkers, the legacy of these two people is considered the foundation of the philosophical quest of the Celestial Empire.
Lao Tzu - "The Wise Old Man"
The ideas of Lao Tzu (real name - Li Er) are stated in the book "Tao Te Ching", according to ours - "Canon of Tao and Virtue". This work, consisting of exactly 5 thousand hierglyphs, Lao Tzu left to the guard on the border of China, when at the end of his life he went to the West. The significance of the Tao Te Ching can hardly be overestimated for the philosophy of ancient China.
The central concept that is considered in the teachings of Lao Tzu is "Tao". The main meaning of the hieroglyph "Tao" in Chinese is "path", "road", but it can also be translated as "root cause", "principle".
"Tao" in Lao Tzu means the natural path of all things, the universal law of development and change in the world. "Tao" is the immaterial spiritual basis of all phenomena and things in nature, including humans.
With these words Lao Tzu begins his Canon of Tao and Virtue: “You cannot know Tao just by speaking about It. And it is impossible to call the beginning of heaven and earth by a human name, which is the mother of all that exists. Only one who is freed from worldly passions is able to see Him. And the one who preserves these passions can only see His creations. "
Lao Tzu then explains the origin of the concept "Tao" he uses: “There is such a thing, formed even before the appearance of Heaven and Earth. She, independent and unshakable, changes cyclically and is not subject to death. She is the mother of everything that exists in the Celestial Empire. I don't know her name. I will call it Tao. "
Philosophy of ancient China: the hieroglyph "Tao" (ancient mark) consists of two parts. The left side means “go ahead”, and the right side means “head”, “primary”. That is, the hieroglyph "Tao" can be interpreted as "to follow the main road" Lao Tzu also says: "Tao is immaterial. It is so vague and vague! But in this nebula and uncertainty there are images. It is so vague and indefinite, but this nebula and uncertainty hides things in itself. It is so deep and dark, but its depth and darkness conceals the smallest particles. These smallest particles are characterized by the highest reliability and reality. "
Speaking about the style of government, the ancient Chinese thinker considers the best ruler to be the one about which the people only know that this ruler exists. Slightly worse is the ruler whom people love and exalt. Even worse is the ruler who instills fear in the people, and the worst are those whom people despise.
Great importance in the philosophy of Lao Tzu is given to the idea of rejection of "worldly" desires and passions. Lao Tzu spoke about this in the Tao Te Ching by his example: “All people indulge in idleness, and society is filled with chaos. I am the only one who is calm and does not expose myself to the public. I am like a child who was not born at all in this idle world. All people are seized with worldly desires. And I alone gave up everything that is valuable to them. I am indifferent to all this ”.
Lao Tzu also cites the ideal of a perfectly wise person, with an emphasis on achieving "non-action" and modesty. “A wise person gives preference to non-action and remains at rest. Everything around him happens as if by itself. He has no attachment to anything in the world. He does not appropriate what he has done. As the creator of something, he is not proud of it. And since he does not extol himself and does not boast, does not strive for special respect for his person - he becomes pleasant for everyone. "
In his teaching, which big influence to the philosophy of ancient China, Lao Tzu urge people to strive for Tao, telling about a certain blissful state, which he himself achieved: “All Perfect people flock to the Great Tao. And you follow this Path! … I, being in non-action, wander in the boundless Tao. It is beyond words! Tao is the most subtle and blissful. "
Confucius: the immortal teacher of the Celestial Empire
The subsequent development of the philosophy of ancient China is associated with Confucius, the most popular Chinese thinker, whose teachings today have millions of admirers both in China and abroad.
The views of Confucius are set forth in the book "Conversations and Judgments" ("Lunyu"), which was compiled and published by his students based on the systematization of his teachings and sayings. Confucius created an original ethical and political doctrine, which guided the emperors of China as an official doctrine for almost the entire subsequent history of the Middle Kingdom, before the conquest of power by the communists.
The basic concepts of Confucianism, which form the foundation of this teaching, are “ren” (humanity, philanthropy) and “li” (reverence, ceremonies). The basic principle of "Ren" is not to do to others what you would not wish for yourself. "Lee" covers wide circle rules that, in essence, regulate all spheres of society - from family to state relations.
Moral principles, social relations and the problems of government are the main topics in the philosophy of Confucius.
With regard to knowledge and awareness of the world around him, Confucius, mainly, echoes the ideas of his predecessors, in particular, Lao Tzu, in some way even yielding to him. An important component of nature in Confucius is fate. Fate is spoken of in the teachings of Confucius: “Everything was originally predetermined by fate, and there is nothing to add or subtract. Wealth and poverty, reward and punishment, happiness and misfortune have their roots, which cannot be influenced by the power of human wisdom. "
Analyzing the possibilities of cognition and the nature of human knowledge, Confucius says that by their nature people are similar to each other. Only the highest wisdom and extreme stupidity are unshakable. People begin to differ from each other through upbringing and as they acquire different habits.
As for the levels of knowledge, Confucius offers the following gradation: “Higher knowledge is the knowledge that a person has at birth. Below is the knowledge that is acquired in the process of studying. Even lower is the knowledge gained as a result of overcoming difficulties. The most insignificant one who does not want to learn an instructive lesson from difficulties. "
Philosophy of Ancient China: Confucius and Lao Tzu
Sima Qian, a famous ancient Chinese historian, describes in his notes how two philosophers once met each other.
He writes that when Confucius was in Sioux, he wanted to visit Lao Tzu in order to hear his opinion on the rituals ("li").
Note, - said Lao Tzu to Confucius, - that those who taught the people have already died, and their bones have decayed long ago, but their glory, nevertheless, has not faded away. If circumstances are favorable to the sage, he rides in chariots; and if not, he will begin to carry a load on his head, holding on to its edges with his hands.
I heard, - continued Lao Tzu, - that experienced merchants hide their goods, as if they had nothing. Likewise, when a sage has high morality, his appearance does not express this. You need to give up your pride and various passions; get rid of your love for the beautiful, as well as your inclination to sensuality, since they are useless to you.
This is what I am telling you, and I will not say anything more.
When Confucius said goodbye to Lao Tzu and came to his disciples, he said:
It is known that birds can fly, fish can swim in water, and animals can run. I also understand that snares can catch those who are running, nets - floating, and snares - flying. However, if we talk about the dragon, I don't know how to catch it. He rushes through the clouds and rises to the sky.
I saw Lao Tzu today. Maybe he is a dragon? ..
From the above account of Sima Qian, you can see the difference in the depth of thought of both philosophers. Confucius believed that the wisdom of Lao Tzu and his profound teachings were incomparable with his own. But one way or another, both thinkers - both Lao Tzu and Confucius - laid a powerful foundation for the development of the philosophy of Ancient China for 2 thousand years in advance with their creativity.
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CHINESE PHILOSOPHY... Chinese philosophy arose at about the same time as ancient Greek and ancient Indian philosophy, in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Certain philosophical ideas and topics, as well as many terms that later formed a large part of the lexicon of traditional Chinese philosophy, were already contained in the oldest written monuments of Chinese culture - "Shu Jine" ("Canon of [documentary] scriptures"), "Shi Jine" ("Canon of Poems"), "Zhou and" ("Zhou Changes"), which took shape in the 1st half. 1st millennium BC, which sometimes serves as the basis for statements (especially by Chinese scientists) about the emergence of philosophy in China at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. This point of view is also motivated by the fact that the composition of these works includes separate independent texts that have a developed philosophical content, for example. "Hong Fan" ("Majestic Pattern") from "Shu Jing" or "Xi Tsi Zhuan" ("Commentary on the Anchored Words") from "Zhou Yi". However, as a rule, the creation or final design of such texts dates back to the 2nd floor. 1st millennium BC
GENETIC AND GENERAL THEORETICAL FEATURES. The first historically reliable creator of philosophical theory in China was Confucius (551–479 BC), who realized himself as an exponent of the spiritual tradition of zhu - scientists, educated people, intellectuals, whose name later became a terminological designation for Confucianism .
According to traditional dating, Confucius's oldest contemporary was Lao Tzu , founder Taoism - the main opposition to Confucianism of the ideological trend. However, it has now been established that the first proper Taoist works were written after the Confucian ones, even, apparently, were a reaction to them. Lao Tzu, as a historical person, most likely lived later than Confucius. Apparently, the traditional idea of the pre-Qin (until the end of the 3rd century BC) period in the history of Chinese philosophy as an era of equal polemics of the “hundred schools” is also inaccurate, since all philosophical schools that existed at that time self-determined through their attitude to Confucianism.
It is no coincidence that this era ended with the "antiphilosophical" repressions of Emperor Qin Shih Huang in 213–210. BC e., directed precisely against the Confucians. From the very beginning of Chinese philosophy, the term “zhu” has denoted not only and not so much one of its schools as philosophy as a single ideological complex that combined the features of philosophy, science, art and religion. In different eras, the balance of these features was different.
In the 2nd century. BC NS. Confucianism achieved the official status of orthodox ideology, but even before that it had informally such a status. Consequently, the entire history of Chinese philosophy is associated with a fundamental division of philosophical schools on the basis of correlation with orthodoxy. This theologically relevant classification principle had universal significance in traditional China, spreading to all spheres of culture, incl. on scientific disciplines.
Confucius and the first philosophers - zhu - saw their main task in the theoretical understanding of the life of society and the personal fate of a person. As carriers and disseminators of culture, they were closely associated with social institutions responsible for the preservation and reproduction of written, incl. historical and literary documents (culture, writing and literature in the Chinese language were designated by one term - "wen"), and their representatives - scribamish. Hence, there are three main features of Confucianism: 1) on the institutional level - communication or active striving for communication with the administrative apparatus, constant claims to the role of official ideology; 2) in terms of content - the dominance of socio-political, ethical, social science, humanitarian issues; 3) in the formal sense - the recognition of the textological canon, that is, compliance with strict formal criteria of "literary", as a methodologically significant norm.
From the very beginning, Confucius' program setting was "to transmit, not create, believe in antiquity and love it" ( "Lunyu" , VII, 1). At the same time, the act of transferring ancient wisdom to future generations had a cultural and creative character, if only because the archaic works (canons) on which the first Confucians relied were already incomprehensible to their contemporaries and required meaningful interpretations. As a result, commentary and exegesis of ancient classical works became the dominant forms of creativity in Chinese philosophy. Even the most daring innovators have tended to appear as mere interpreters or restorers of ancient ideological orthodoxy. Theoretical innovation, as a rule, not only was not accentuated and did not receive explicit expression, but, on the contrary, was deliberately dissolved in the mass of commentary (quasi-commentary) text.
This feature of Chinese philosophy was determined by a number of factors - from social to linguistic. Ancient Chinese society did not know the polis democracy and the type of philosopher generated by it, consciously detached from the empirical life around him in the name of comprehending being as such. Introduction to writing and culture in China has always been determined by a fairly high social status and determined it. Already from the 2nd century. BC, with the transformation of Confucianism into an official ideology, an examination system began to take shape, consolidating the connection of philosophical thought both with state institutions and with "classical literature" - a certain set of canonical texts. Since ancient times, such a connection was determined by the specific (including linguistic) difficulty of obtaining an education and access to the material carriers of culture (primarily books).
Due to its high social status, philosophy was of great importance in the life of Chinese society, where it has always been the "queen of sciences" and never became the "servant of theology." However, it is related to theology by the immutable use of a regulated set of canonical texts, which form an inescapable source for all kinds of speculative speculation. On this path, which presupposes taking into account all previous points of view on the canonical problem, Chinese philosophers inevitably turned into historians of philosophy, and in their writings, historical arguments prevailed over logical ones.
Moreover, the logical was historicized, just as in Christian religious-theological literature the Logos turned into Christ and, having lived a human life, opened a new era of history. But in contrast to "real" mysticism, which denies both the logical and the historical, claiming to go beyond both conceptual and space-time boundaries, in Chinese philosophy the tendency to complete immersion of mythologemes in historical specifics prevailed.
That which Confucius was going to "transmit" was recorded by Ch.O. in historical and literary monuments - "Shu Jing" and "Shi Jing". Thus, the specificity of Chinese philosophy was determined by a close connection not only with historical, but also with literary thought. In philosophical works, the literary form traditionally reigned. On the one hand, philosophy itself did not strive for dry abstractness, but on the other hand, literature was saturated with the "finest juices" of philosophy. In terms of the degree of fictionalization, Chinese philosophy can be compared with Russian philosophy. Chinese philosophy as a whole retained these features until the early 20th century, when, under the influence of acquaintance with Western philosophy, non-traditional philosophical theories began to emerge in China.
The specificity of Chinese classical philosophy in the substantive aspect is primarily determined by the dominance of naturalism and the absence of developed idealistic theories such as Platonism or Neoplatonism (and even more so classical European idealism of the New Age), and in the methodological aspect - the absence of such a universal general philosophical and general scientific organon as formal logic (which is a direct consequence of the underdevelopment of idealism). We are talking about naturalism, and not about materialism, because the latter is correlative to idealism and outside this correlation the term "materialism" loses its scientific meaning. Researchers of Chinese philosophy often see the concept of the ideal in the categories y - "absence-non-being" (especially among the Taoists; see. Yu - u ) or whether - "principle-reason" (especially among the neo-Confucians). However, "y" at best can denote some analogue of Platonic-Aristotelian matter as a pure possibility (actual non-being), or "whether" expresses the idea of an ordering structure (regularity or "rightful place") immanently inherent in every single thing and devoid of a transcendental character.
In classical Chinese philosophy, which did not develop the concept of the ideal as such (ideas, eidos, forms of forms, transcendental deity), not only was the "line of Plato" absent, but also the "line of Democritus", since the rich tradition of materialistic thought was not formed in a theoretically meaningful opposition clearly expressed idealism and independently did not give rise to atomistics at all. All this testifies to the undoubted dominance in classical Chinese philosophy of naturalism, typologically similar to democratic philosophizing in Ancient Greece.
METHODOLOGICAL SPECIFICITY. One of the consequences of the general methodological role of logic in Europe was the acquisition by philosophical categories, first of all, of logical meaning, genetically going back to the grammatical models of the ancient Greek language. Chinese analogs of categories, genetically going back to mythical ideas, images of fortune-telling practice and economic ordering activity, acquired, first of all, a natural philosophical meaning and were used as classification matrices: for example, binary - Yin Yang , or lian and - "two images"; ternary - tian , ren, di - "sky, man, earth", or san tsai - "three materials"; fivefold - woo xing - "five elements". The modern Chinese term "category" (fan-chow) has a numerological etymology, derived from the designation of a square nine-cell (9 - chow) construction (according to the model of a magic square 3 × 3 - lo shu; see. He tu and Luo shu ), on which Hong Fan is based.
The place of logic in China was occupied by the so-called. numerology (see. Xiang shu zhi xue ), those. a formalized theoretical system, the elements of which are mathematical or mathematical-shaped objects - numerical complexes and geometric structures, interconnected, however, Ch. O. not according to the laws of mathematics, but otherwise - symbolically, associatively, factually, aesthetically, mnemonically, suggestively, etc. As shown at the beginning of the 20th century. one of the first researchers of ancient Chinese methodology Hu Shi , its two main varieties were the Confucian logic, set forth in Zhou and, and the Moist logic, set forth in chapters 40–45 "Mo-tzu" , those. numerology and protology. The most ancient and canonical forms of self-comprehension of the general cognitive methodology of Chinese classical philosophy, realized, on the one hand, in the numerology of Zhou Yi, Hong Fan, Tai Xuan Jing, and on the other, in the protology of Mo-Tzu, Gongsun Long Tzu ", "Xun Tzu" , now arouse increased interest in the entire world sinology.
Hu Shi strove to demonstrate the existence of a "logical method" in ancient Chinese philosophy, including both protology and numerology on equal terms. Hu Shi's remarkable achievement was the "discovery" of a developed general cognitive methodology in ancient China, but he failed to prove its logical nature, which was rightly noted in 1925 by Academician V.M. Alekseev. In the 1920s. The most prominent European sinologists A. Forke and A. Maspero showed that even the teaching of the late Moists, which is closest to logic in ancient Chinese methodology, is, strictly speaking, eristic and, therefore, has the status of protology.
In the mid-1930s. the understanding of "Zhou and" as a logical treatise was convincingly refuted by Yu.K. Shchutsky. And at the same time, Shen Zhongtao (Ch.T. Song) in an expanded form showed that the numerology "Zhou Yi" can be used as a general scientific methodology, since it is a harmonious system of symbolic forms reflecting the universal quantitative and structural laws of the universe. Unfortunately, Shen Zhongtao left aside the question of the extent to which this potential was realized by the Chinese scientific and philosophical tradition.
The methodological role of numerology in the broadest context of the spiritual culture of traditional China was brilliantly demonstrated at the same time by the outstanding French Sinologist M. Granet, who considered numerology as a kind of methodology of Chinese "correlative (associative) thinking". Granet's works contributed to the emergence of modern structuralism and semiotics, but for a long time, despite their high authority, did not find their proper continuation in Western Sinology.
The theory of "correlative thinking" was most developed in the works of the largest Western historian of Chinese science J. Needham, who, however, fundamentally divided "correlative thinking" and numerology. From his point of view, the former, due to its dialectic nature, served as a breeding ground for genuine scientific creativity, while the latter, although derived from the former, rather slowed down than stimulated the development of science. The internal inconsistency of Needham's position is outwardly smoothed out by the narrowing of the concept of Chinese numerology to just the mysticism of numbers (naturally, which does not have a general methodological status). This position was criticized by another outstanding historian of Chinese science, N. Sivin, who, using the material of several scientific disciplines, specifically showed the inherent organic nature of their numerological constructions.
The most radical views in the methodological interpretation of Chinese numerology are held by Russian sinologists V.S.Spirin and A.M. Karapetyants, who defend the thesis of its full scientific character. Spirin sees in it first of all logic, Karapetyants - mathematics. In a similar way, a researcher from China, Liu Weihua, interprets the numerological theory "Zhou Yi" as the world's oldest mathematical philosophy and mathematical logic. Spirin and Karapetyants propose to abandon the term "numerology" or use it only when applied to obviously unscientific constructions. Such a distinction, of course, is possible, but it will reflect the worldview of a modern scientist, and not a Chinese thinker who used a single methodology in both scientific and unscientific (from our point of view) studies.
The foundation of Chinese numerology is made up of three types of objects, each of which is represented by two varieties: 1) "symbols" - a) trigrams, b) hexagrams (see. Gua ); 2 ) "Numbers" - a) he tu, b) lo shu (see. He tu and Luo shu ); 3) the main ontological hypostases of "symbols" and "numbers" - a) yin yang (dark and light), b) ying (five elements). This system itself is numerologized, since it is built on two initial numerological numbers - 3 and 2. It reflects all three main types of graphic symbolization used in traditional Chinese culture: "symbols" - geometric forms; "Numbers" are numbers; yin yang, wu xing - hieroglyphs. This fact is explained by the archaic origin of Chinese numerology, which has been performing a cultural modeling function since time immemorial. The most ancient examples of Chinese writing are extremely numerologized inscriptions on oracular bones. Therefore, in the future, canonical texts were created according to numerological standards. So in a purely traditionalist society, the most significant ideas were inextricably intertwined with iconic clichés, in which the composition, number and spatial arrangement of hieroglyphs or any other graphic symbols were strictly established.
Over its long history, numerological structures in China have reached a high degree of formalization. It was this circumstance that played a decisive role in the victory of Chinese numerology over protology, since the latter did not become either formal or formalized, and therefore did not possess the qualities of a convenient and compact methodological tool (organon).
The Chinese protology was both opposed to numerology and strongly dependent on it. So, being under the influence of the numerological conceptual apparatus, in which the concept of "contradiction" ("contradictory") was dissolved in the concept of "opposite" ("contrariness"), protological thought failed to distinguish terminologically between "contradiction" and "opposition". This, in turn, had the most significant effect on the character of Chinese protology and dialectics, since both the logical and the dialectical are defined through their attitude to contradiction. The central epistemological procedure - generalization - in numerology and numerologized protology was based on the quantitative ordering of objects and the value-normative selection of the main thing from them - the representative - without the logical abstraction of the set of ideal features inherent in this entire class of objects. Generalization is essentially interconnected with the axiological and normative nature of the entire conceptual apparatus of classical Chinese philosophy, which led to such fundamental features of the latter as fictionalization and textological canonicality.
On the whole, in classical Chinese philosophy, numerology prevailed with the theoretical undeveloped opposition "logic - dialectics", undifferentiated materialistic and idealistic tendencies and the general dominance of combinatorial-classification naturalism, the absence of logical idealism, as well as the conservation of the symbolic polysemy of philosophical terminology and conceptual-normative hierarchy.
BASIC SCHOOLS. In the initial period of its existence (6–3 centuries BC), Chinese philosophy in the conditions of categorical undifferentiation of philosophical, scientific and religious knowledge presented a picture of the extreme diversity of views and directions, which were presented as “the rivalry of a hundred schools” (bai jia zheng ming ). The first attempts to classify this diversity were undertaken by representatives of the main philosophical trends (Confucianism and Taoism) in an effort to criticize all their opponents. The 6th chapter ("Fei shi-er tzu" - "Against twelve thinkers") of the Confucian treatise "Xun-tzu" is specially devoted to this. In it, in addition to the propagandized teachings of Confucius and his student Tzu-Gong (5th century BC), the author singled out "six teachings" (lyu sho), presented in pairs by twelve thinkers, and subjected them to sharp criticism. In the 21st chapter of his treatise, Xun-tzu, giving the teachings of Confucius the role of “the only school that achieved the universal Tao and mastered its application (Yun, see. Tu– young )» , also singled out six "disorderly schools" (luan jia) that opposed him.
An approximately synchronous (although, according to some assumptions, even later, up to the turn of the new era) and typologically similar classification is contained in the final 33rd chapter ("Tien-Xia" - "Celestial Empire") Chuang Tzu (4th - 3rd centuries BC), where the core teaching of the Confucians inheriting the ancient wisdom is also highlighted, which is opposed to "one hundred schools" (bai jia), divided into six directions.
These structurally similar sixfold constructions, emanating from the idea of the unity of truth ( tao ) and the variety of its manifestations, became the basis for the first classification of the main philosophical teachings as such (and not just their representatives), which was carried out by Sima Tan (2nd century BC), who wrote a special treatise on the "six schools" (liu jia) , which was included in the final 130th chapter of the first dynastic history "Shi Ji" ("Historical Notes") compiled by his son Sima Qian (2nd - 1st centuries BC). This work lists and describes: 1) "the school of the dark and light [world-forming principles]" ( yinyang jia ), in Western literature also called "natural philosophical"; 2) "school of scholars" (zhu jia), ie. Confucianism; 3) "school Mo [Di]" ( mo jia , moism); 4) "school of names" ( min jia ), in Western literature also called "nominalist" and "dialectical-sophistic"; 5) "school of laws" (fa jia), ie. legalism and 6) “school of the Way and grace” (Tao de Jia), ie. Taoism. Highest grade awarded the last school, which, like Confucianism, in the classifications of "Xun-tzu" and "Chuang-tzu", is presented here synthesizing the main advantages of all other schools.
This scheme was developed in the classification and bibliographic work of the outstanding scientist Liu Xin (46 BC - 23 AD), which formed the basis of the most ancient in China, and possibly in the world, the corresponding catalog "Yi wen zhi" (" Treatise on Art and Literature "), which became the 30th chapter of the second dynastic history" Han Shu "(" The Book [of the] Han Dynasty ") compiled by Ban Gu (32–92). First, the classification has grown to ten members - four new ones have been added to the six available: the diplomatic "school of vertical and horizontal [political alliances]" ( zongheng jia ); eclectic-encyclopedic "free school" ( ja jia ); "Agrarian school" (nong jia) and folklore "school of small explanations" (xiao sho jia). Secondly, Liu Xin proposed a theory of the origin of each of the "ten schools" (shi jia), covering "all philosophers" (zhu tzu). This theory assumed that in the initial period of the formation of traditional Chinese culture, i.e. in the first centuries of the first millennium BC, the bearers of socially significant knowledge were officials, in other words, “scientists” were “officials”, and “officials” were “scientists”. Due to the decline of the "path of the true sovereign" (wang Dao), i.e. weakening of power ruling house Zhou, the centralized administrative structure was destroyed and its representatives, having lost their official status, were forced to lead a private lifestyle and provide their own existence with the implementation of their knowledge and skills already as teachers, mentors, and preachers. In the era of state fragmentation, representatives of various spheres of the once unified administration who fought for influence on specific rulers formed different schools of thought, the very general designation of which "jia" (this hieroglyph literally means "family") testifies to their private nature.
Confucianism was created by people from the education department, who "helped the rulers follow the yin yang forces and explained how to exercise educational influence", relying on the "written culture" (wen) of the canonical texts "Liu yi", "Wu Jing" , "Shi San Jing" and prioritizing humanity ( ren ) and due fairness ( and ). Taoism (Tao Jia) was created by immigrants from the department of chronography, who "compiled chronicles about the path (Tao) of success and failure, existence and death, grief and happiness, antiquity and modernity", thanks to which they comprehended the "royal art" of self-preservation through "purity and emptiness "," Humiliation and weakness. " "School of dark and light [world-forming principles]" was created by people from the department of astronomy, who followed the celestial signs, the sun, moon, stars, cosmic landmarks and the alternation of times. Legism was created by members of the judiciary who complemented governance based on "decency" ( whether ) awards and punishments determined by laws ( F ). The “school of names” was created by people from the ritual department, whose activities were conditioned by the fact that in ancient times the nominal and the real did not coincide in ranks and rituals, and the problem of bringing them into mutual correspondence arose. Moism was created by immigrants from the temple watchmen who preached frugality, "all-encompassing love" (jian ai), the promotion of "worthy" (xian), respect for the "navs" (tui), the denial of "predestination" (min) and "uniformity" (tun; cm. Yeah tun ). The diplomatic "school of vertical and horizontal [political alliances]" was created by people from the embassy department, who were able to "do things as they should and be guided by instructions, not words." The eclectic-encyclopedic "free school" was created by the natives of the councilors, who combined the ideas of Confucianism and Moism, the "school of names" and legalism in the name of maintaining order in the state. The "agrarian school" was created by people from the Department of Agriculture, who were in charge of the production of food and goods, which in the "Hong Fan" are assigned respectively to the first and second of the eight most important state affairs (ba zheng). The "School of Small Explanations" was created by natives of low-grade officials, who were supposed to collect information about the mood among the people on the basis of "street gossip and road rumors."
Assessing the last school (which was more folklore than philosophical in nature, and produced "fiction" - xiao sho) as not worthy of attention, the authors of this theory recognized the ten remaining schools "mutually opposite, but forming each other" (xiang fan er xiang cheng ), i.e. going to the same goal in different ways and based on a common ideological basis - "Six canons" ("Liu Ching", see. "Shi San Jing" ). It followed from the conclusion that the diversity of philosophical schools is a forced consequence of the collapse of the general state system, which is naturally eliminated when it is restored and philosophical thought returns to a unifying and standardizing Confucian channel.
Despite the refusal to consider the "school of small explanations" as a philosophical one, in the "Yi wen zhi" the decimal nature of the set of philosophical schools is implicitly preserved, since the "military school" is further highlighted in a special section ( bin jia ), which, in accordance with the general theory, is represented by educated people from the military department. The origins of this decimal classification can be traced in the encyclopedic monuments of the 3rd and 2nd centuries. BC. "Lü-shih chun qiu" ("Mr. Liu's Spring and Autumn") and Huainan Tzu ("[Treatise] of a Teacher from Huaynan").
Created during the formation of the centralized Han empire, whose name became the ethnonym of the Chinese people themselves, who call themselves "Han", the theory of Liu Xin - Ban Gu has acquired the status of classical in traditional science. Later, throughout the history of China, its development continued, a special contribution to which was made by Zhang Xuecheng (1738–1801) and Zhang Binglin (1896–1936).
In Chinese philosophy of the 20th century. it was strongly criticized by Hu Shi, but, on the contrary, was supported and developed Feng Yulanem , who came to the conclusion that the six main schools were created by representatives of not only different professions but also different personality types and lifestyles. Confucianism was formed by intellectual scientists, Moism - by knights, i.e. wandering warriors and artisans, Taoism - hermits and hermits, "school of names" - rhetoricians-polemicists, "school of dark and light [world-forming principles]" - occultists and numerologists, legism - politicians and advisers to rulers.
Although after the creation of the Liu Xin - Ban Gu classification, schemes arose with an even greater number of elements, in particular, in the official history of the Sui dynasty (581–618) "Sui shu" (7th century), fourteen schools of thought were listed, a really significant role in the historical and philosophical process played six of them, allocated already in "Shi Jing" and are now recognized as such by the majority of specialists.
THE CORE ROLE OF CONFUCIANCE. And in the "pivotal time" of the emergence of Chinese philosophy, and in the era of "rivalry of a hundred schools", and even more so in subsequent times, when the ideological landscape lost such a magnificent diversity, Confucianism played a central role in the spiritual culture of traditional China, therefore its history is pivotal for the entire history of Chinese philosophy, or at least that part of it that begins with the Han era. From the emergence to the present, the history of Confucianism in the very general view divided into four periods; the beginning of each of them is associated with a global socio-cultural crisis, the way out of which Confucian thinkers invariably found in theoretical innovation, clothed in archaized forms.
First period: 6–3 centuries. BC. The original Confucianism arose in the middle of the 1st millennium BC, when China was torn apart by endless wars, which the isolated decentralized states waged with each other and with the attackers from different sides"Barbarians". Spiritually, the early Zhou religious ideology was decomposing, undermined by relics of the Sub-Zhou (Yin) beliefs, neo-Shamanist (proto-Taoist) cults and foreign-cultural trends conveyed to the Middle States by their aggressive neighbors. The reaction to this spiritual crisis was the canonization by Confucius of the ideological foundations of the early Chou past, embodied primarily in the text of the Scriptures (Shu) and Poems (Shi), and the result was the creation of a fundamentally new cultural education - philosophy.
Second period: 3 c. BC. - 10 c. AD The main incentive for the formation of the so-called. Han Confucianism was the desire to restore the ideological supremacy lost in the struggle with the newly formed schools of thought, primarily Taoism and Legalism. The reaction was, as before, retrograde in form and progressive in essence. With the help of ancient texts, primarily "Changes" ("I") and "Majestic model" ("Hong Fan"), the Confucians of this period, led by Dong Zhongshu (2nd century BC) significantly reformed their own teaching, integrating into it the problems of their theoretical competitors: methodological and ontological - the Taoists and the yin-yang school, political and legal - the Moists and Legists.
Third period: 10–20 centuries. Emergence neo-Confucianism was caused by the next ideological crisis caused by the confrontation of officialized Confucianism with a new competitor - Buddhism (see. Bozho xue , Sanlun School , Weishi school , Huayan School , Chan school , Tiantai School , Jingtu school ), as well as Taoism, which was transformed under his influence. In turn, the popularity of these teachings, especially in their religious and theoretical incarnations, was due to the socio-political cataclysms taking place in the country. Confucians' response to this challenge was again the advancement of original ideas with references to the founders of their teachings, primarily Confucius and Mencius .
The fourth period is the last and incomplete, which began in the 20th century. Appeared at this time new Confucianism was a reaction to global catastrophes and global information processes, expressed, in particular, in the rooting of foreign Western theories in China. For their innovative rethinking, the Confucians again turned to the old arsenal of Confucian and neo-Confucian constructions. The last, fourth form of Confucianism is most different from all the others that preceded it, primarily because extremely alien, even essentially opposite, spiritual material fell into the sphere of its integrative intentions.
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· Introduction.
China is one of the oldest civilized states in the world. In the distant past, four thousand years ago, following the birth of the slave system, the history of the development of Chinese philosophy begins. Philosophical ideas in China, originating in the depths of centuries, are extremely rich in content and are a huge storehouse of ideas in the history of knowledge of all mankind.
· The origin of philosophy in China.
In the Shan-Yin era (XVIII-XII centuries BC), the religious and mythological worldview was dominant.
One of the distinctive features of Chinese myths was the zoomorphic nature of the gods and spirits operating in them. Many of the ancient Chinese deities had a clear resemblance to animals, birds or fish, they were semi-animals - semi-humans. The ancient Chinese believed that everything in the world depends on the predestination of the sky and that the “will of the sky” is comprehended through fortune-telling, as well as omens. Religious and mythological representations sanctified the system of domination of the clan nobility. The sovereign, the ruler appeared before his subjects as a son of heaven.
The most important element of ancient Chinese religion was the cult of ancestors, which was based on the recognition of the influence of the spirits of the dead on the life and fate of descendants. This cult also included the veneration of the mythical heroes of antiquity. Myths portrayed them as great benefactors of humanity. The veneration of ancestors was also adapted to strengthen the position of the clan nobility. The ancient Chinese religion was also characterized by sacrifice to the spirits of nature and ancestors. The supreme mediator between spirits and people was the sovereign. Only he could make sacrifices to the spirits of heaven and earth, sacrifices to their ancestors remained for the lot of noble people.
In mythology, there was also its own explanation of the origin of the world, nature. In ancient times, when there was still no heaven or earth, the Universe was a dark, formless chaos. According to one myth, two spirits were born in the formless darkness - yin and yang who set about ordering the world. Subsequently, these spirits were divided: spirit yang began to rule the sky, and the spirit yin- land. According to another myth, the mythical first man Pan-gu struck the darkness with an ax, as a result of which everything light and pure immediately rose up and formed the sky, and the heavy and dirty fell down and formed the earth. In the myths about the origin of the Universe, the rudiments of natural philosophy are visible.
The mythological form of thinking existed until the first millennium.
Many mythological images pass into later philosophical treatises. Philosophers who lived in the V-III centuries. BC e., often turn to myths in order to substantiate their concepts of true government and the norms of correct human behavior. Philosophy arose in the depths of mythological concepts, used their materials.
Like the philosophies of other peoples, ancient Chinese philosophy is closely related to mythology. However, this connection had some peculiarities arising from the specificity of mythology in China. Chinese myths appear as historical legends about past dynasties, but they contain relatively little material reflecting the views of the Chinese on the formation of the world and its relationship with man. Therefore, natural philosophical ideas did not occupy the main place in Chinese philosophy. However, all natural philosophical teachings of Ancient China, such as the teachings of the "five primary elements", of the "great limit" - tai chi, about forces yin and yang and even the doctrine of Tao, originate from the mythological constructions of the ancient Chinese about heaven and earth, about the "eight elements".
Along with the emergence of cosmogonic concepts based on forces yin and yang, there are concepts that were associated with the "five primary elements." Living contemplation of natural phenomena led the most ancient Chinese thinkers to accept such interrelated principles as water, fire, metal, earth, wood. “Heaven has created five principles, and the people use them all. One thing is worth abolishing. And life will become impossible. "
In the VII-III centuries. BC NS. in the ideological life of ancient China, new phenomena appear, qualitatively different from what the Chinese thought of the previous period knew, and what was caused by serious social changes.
During this period, major economic and social changes took place in Ancient China, due to the emergence of private ownership of land, the development of productive forces, the expansion of types of crafts, the use of new tools and tools in agriculture and industry, and the improvement of the methods of tillage.
This period of Chinese history is also characterized by an acute social struggle within the kingdoms that have advanced by their economic and military might, a bloody war between them, which, according to sources, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The unified Zhou state actually collapsed. The struggle for domination between the kingdoms led in the second half of the 3rd century. BC NS. to the destruction of the "Warring Kingdoms" and the unification of China into a centralized state under the auspices of the strongest kingdom of Qin.
Deep political upheaval - the collapse of the ancient united state and the strengthening of individual kingdoms, a sharp struggle between large kingdoms - were reflected in the stormy ideological struggle of various philosophical, political and ethical schools. This period is characterized by the flourishing of culture and philosophy.
The hereditary slave-owning-clan nobility, as before, clung to the religious ideas of “heaven”, “fate”, albeit modifying them in relation to the peculiarities of the struggle of that time. New social groups that were in opposition to the tribal aristocracy put forward their views, opposing belief in "heaven" or putting a completely different meaning into the concept of heavenly fate. In these teachings, attempts were made to comprehend historical experience, to develop new rules for the relationship between various social groups of the population, to determine the place of an individual, a country in the surrounding world, to determine a person's relationship with nature, the state and other people.
It was during this period that the formation of Chinese philosophical schools - Taoism, Confucianism, Moism, Legalism, natural philosophers - took place, which then had a huge impact on all subsequent development of Chinese philosophy. It was during this period that those problems, those concepts and categories arose, which then became traditional for the entire subsequent history of Chinese philosophy, right up to modern times.
· Features of the development of philosophy in China.
The history of philosophy clearly reveals the process of man's assimilation of nature, his attempts to comprehend his place in the universe, reveals the multifaceted sides of the creative human genius. At the same time, the history of the formation and development of philosophy, be it Chinese, or Greek, or Indian, is inextricably linked with the class struggle in society, reflects this struggle. The opposition of philosophical ideas reflected the struggle of various classes in society. Ultimately, the clash of views and points of view resulted in a struggle between two main directions in philosophy - materialistic and idealistic - with varying degrees of awareness and depth of expression of these directions.
The specificity of Chinese philosophy is directly related to its special role in the acute socio-political struggle that took place in numerous states of Ancient China. The development of social relations in China did not lead to a clear division of spheres of activity within the ruling classes, as was the case, for example, in Ancient Greece. In China, a kind of division of labor between politicians and philosophers was not clearly expressed, which led to a direct, direct subordination of philosophy to political practice. Philosophers, founders and disseminators of various schools, wandering Confucian preachers, representing a very influential social stratum, were often ministers, dignitaries, ambassadors. This led to the fact that the issues of governing the country, relations between different classes and social groups of the population in society, regulation of relations between the “top” and “bottom”, as well as within the ruling class, questions of ethics took a dominant place in Chinese philosophy and determined a purely practical approach to the life of society. Therefore, Chinese thinkers of both antiquity and the Middle Ages paid much attention to the problems of governing the country.
Another feature of the development of Chinese philosophy is associated with the fact that the natural scientific observations of Chinese scientists did not find, with a few exceptions, more or less adequate expression in philosophy, since philosophers did not consider it necessary to turn to the materials of natural science. The only exception to this kind was the school of Moists and the school of natural philosophers, which, however, ceased to exist after the Zhou era. The traditions laid down by the Moists for combining philosophical reflection and natural scientific observations, carried out to confirm general philosophical conclusions, did not receive further development. The canonization of Confucianism, which from the very beginning, in the person of Confucius, expressed its extremely disdainful attitude towards all natural scientific observations and applied knowledge, which considered the main task of self-improvement of human morality, created an ideological barrier for attracting the data of natural sciences in philosophy and political judgments, belittled the social status of natural scientific observations and applied knowledge.
They were tacitly recognized as the lot of lower people, devoid of lofty ideas. Philosophy and natural science existed in China, as if fenced off from each other. Thus, Chinese philosophy deprived itself of a reliable source for the formation of an integral all-round worldview, and natural science, despised by the official ideology, remained the lot of loners and seekers of the elixir of immortality.
Thus, the isolation of Chinese philosophy from specific scientific knowledge narrowed its subject matter. Because of this, natural philosophical concepts, explanations of nature, as well as problems of the essence of thinking, questions of the nature of human consciousness, logic did not receive much development in China. They were only put in a general way by representatives of the materialist direction, primarily by representatives of the school " Yin Yang", or natural philosophers, moists and, to a certain extent, Taoism. These are some of the features of ancient Chinese philosophy.
· Schools in Chinese Philosophy.
In “Historical Notes” by Sima Qian, the first classification of the philosophical schools of ancient China is given. Six schools are named there: “supporters of the doctrine of yin and yang"(Natural philosophers)," school of service people "- zhujia(school of Confucians), "school of Moists", "school of nominalists" (school of sophists), "school of legalists" (legists) and "school of supporters of the doctrine of Tao and Te”- Taoists.
Despite all the specifics of philosophy in ancient China, the relationship between the schools of thought was ultimately reduced to the struggle between two main tendencies - materialistic and idealistic.
In the early stages of the development of Chinese philosophy, for example, even during the time of Confucius and Mo-chi, the attitude of these thinkers to the main issue of philosophy was not expressed directly. Questions about the essence of human consciousness and its relationship to nature, the material world were not clearly defined. Often, the views of those philosophers whom we refer to as materialists contained significant elements of religious, mystical ideas of the past, and, conversely, thinkers who generally held idealistic positions gave materialistic interpretations to individual issues. This especially applies to the question of understanding the sky, the relationship between "names" (concepts) and reality, the origin of all things, Tao, the role of spirits, fate, etc.
I now turn to an examination of the schools of thought in Ancient China.
· Taoism.
The founder of Taoism was Lao Tzu. The main hallmark philosophy of Lao Tzu, which characterizes the followers of Taoism, is that Tao is considered as the source of the origin of all things, as a universal law governing the world, on the basis of which an ideological system arose, the highest category of which is Tao .
Hieroglyph Tao consists of two parts: show-head and zou - walk, therefore the main meaning of this hieroglyph is the road that people walk, but later this hieroglyph acquired a figurative meaning and began to mean a pattern, a law. Lao Tzu, accepting Tao for the highest category of his philosophy, gave it not only the meaning of a universal law, but also considers it as the source of the origin of the world. He believed that Tao- this is the "root of heaven and earth", "the mother of all things" that Tao lies at the heart of the world. Lao Tzu said: “ Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all beings ", which is a characteristic of the process of the origin of all things from Tao .
From the further text: “Everything that exists carries in itself a dark and light beginning, emits qi and creates harmony “- it is clear that“ one ”means the primordial cosmogonic chaos, when the dark and light beginnings have not yet separated; under “two” I mean the separation of chaos and the appearance of dark and light beginnings, and under “three” - a dark beginning, a light beginning and harmony (that is, a single body).
It should be noted that, as Lao Tzu believed, "one" is not the source of the origin of all things, since Tao compared to the “one” of earlier origin. So what is it Tao in Lao Tzu's understanding?
The first paragraph of his essay says: “ Tao, which can be expressed in words, is not a constant Tao ”. Tao has no form, does not make sounds, does not have a form, in one word, Tao- this is "emptiness" or "nothingness".
The fourth paragraph says: “ Tao empty, but it doesn't overflow when used. " "Emptiness" is the same as non-being, from which Tao gives birth to everything that exists, which is formulated in the statement: "All things in the Celestial Empire are born in being, and being is born in non-being."
“Being” and “non-being” are the two main categories in the philosophy of Lao Tzu, and Tao in his understanding arose on the basis of these categories. It should be noted that in Lao Tzu's understanding of the relationship between "being" and "non-being" there are certain dialectical ideas, but he was unable to carry them out from beginning to end, as a result of which he exaggerated the role of "non-being", tearing it away from "being" and turning into an independent essence of the universe. Tao in the philosophy of Lao Tzu - this is an abstract and exaggerated idea of "nothingness".
Lao Tzu believed that all concrete objects represent a single whole of “being” and “non-being”, and “being” is the essence of the object, and “non-being” is emptiness, or vacuum. He says: “Thirty spokes are connected in one wheel hub, and since (in the hub) there is a void, it becomes possible to use the chariot. Vessels are made of clay, and since the vessels inside are empty, it becomes possible to use them. Doors and windows are hollowed out to build a house, and since the house is empty inside, it becomes possible to use it. Therefore, the presence of objects is beneficial, and the emptiness in them makes them fit for use. "
In the composition of Lao Tzu, there are many contradictory concepts, for example: high and low position, misfortune - happiness, beauty - ugliness, good - evil, life - death, top - bottom, host - guest, strong - weak, wise - stupid , filled - empty, being - non-being, etc.
Lao Tzu believed that both sides of these contradictory concepts are opposed to each other, but at the same time coexist and mutually pass into each other.
In general, in the philosophy of Lao Tzu, there are primitive dialectical ideas, but due to the limited platform of the dying class on which Lao Tzu stood, they did not lead to progressive conclusions, but, on the contrary, ended up in the grip of a negative ideological system.
Philosophy Lao Tzu as an ideological system, its positive and negative sides had a huge impact on the development of philosophy in the following centuries.
· Confucianism.
Confucius' theory of knowledge is full of contradictions and mostly dualistic. Where does knowledge come from? This is the first question to which any theory of knowledge must first of all give an answer. Confucius said: “Those possessing knowledge from birth are above all; those who have knowledge, by virtue of teaching, follow them; those who have embarked on the teaching, finding themselves in a difficult position, follow them; those who, finding themselves in a difficult situation, do not study are the lowest among the people. " In the above quote, the main idea of Confucius's theory of the source of knowledge is outlined, and it expresses the general principles of the theory of knowledge.
The theory of knowledge of Confucius is characterized by a pronounced dualism. On the one hand, he recognizes the existence of “those who have knowledge from birth”, on the other hand, he does not deny that along with “those who have knowledge from birth” there are opposing ones “who have knowledge through learning” This is a clearly expressed position of naive materialism.
Confucius was mainly engaged in pedagogical activity, and in the process of pedagogical work, he emphasized the meaning of "knowledge acquired through learning", and not "knowledge from birth." With the accumulation of experience in pedagogical activity, Confucius put forward many ideas and proposals imbued with the spirit of materialism; for example, “knowing something, consider that you know; not knowing anything, consider that you do not know - this is the correct attitude to knowledge ”.
One of the key points in the ideology of Confucius is a methodology called the “path of the golden mean”. Confucius said: "The golden mean, as a virtuous principle, is the highest principle, but the people have long ceased to possess it." The concept of "golden mean" is used in "Lunyue" only once in the above quote. Only in the comments to "Lunyu" is it explained: "To hold in the hands of two extremes, but to use the middle between them for the people." This is the principle “Keep two ends, but use the middle”, according to which the “middle way” is chosen between two opposing contradictions. In fact, this is a theory of compromise and a theory of mitigating contradictions.
Based on the idea of "walking in the middle", Confucius opposed anything that could be called extremism or extreme. He said: "Great hatred for a person devoid of humanity leads to troubles." In other words, the manifestation of great hatred towards a person devoid of humanity can lead to trouble.
The ideas expressed by Confucius about the implementation of governance based on virtue, love for people, generosity and the provision of mercy - all these are concrete expressions of the concept of "Golden mean", the purpose of which was to soften contradictions and suppress resistance.
As the founder of the "service school", the thinker and teacher Confucius left a rich ideological legacy in the history of China.
· Moism.
The Moists were a political group with a strict organization that bears the character of a scientific institution. They were disseminators and practitioners of Moism, and led a modest lifestyle. As for their teaching, it was as follows.
The Moists first of all correctly identified the connection between “as we know” and “what we know”, thus laying the materialistic basis for the theory of knowledge. In the first part of the "Canon" it is written: "Knowledge requires ability." In other words, knowledge is acquired due to the peculiarities of the human sense organs. As a further development of this thought, the first part of the Canonical Speeches says: “The attainment of knowledge means the acquisition of knowledge through the ability to do so, but (the ability) is not yet knowledge itself. It is similar to seeing the sun, because I have clear vision. " The above quote says that each person has the ability to master knowledge, therefore knowledge arises in him, and in this he is like a sighted person whose eyes allow him to see images.
However, the presence of a person “abilities” that make it possible to obtain knowledge does not necessarily lead to the emergence of knowledge and does not answer the question of how knowledge appears in this case. The first part of the Canon says: "Knowledge is the result of contact with the outside world," and the first part of Canonical Speeches explains: before your eyes. Hence it follows that “contact” should be understood as contacts with objects and sensory perception of objectively existing objects, which is expressed by the words “contact with things”. Later Moists believed that sensory knowledge appears as a result of the contact of the senses with objectively existing objects, just as the eyes give a visual reflection, which is a copy of the object.
They believed that there is a criterion for true and false, and in disputes there is both a winner and a loser. The second part of "Canonical Speeches" says: "In a dispute, some say the truth, others - false, but the speaker of the truth wins." Of the two parties involved in the dispute, someone is right, someone is not, someone wins, someone loses, but the criterion for determining the winner is the compliance of the given arguments with the truth. The words “truth-speaker wins” is a primitive materialistic view of truth.
The Moists also put forward the concept of "action." The first part of “Canonical Speeches” explains: “Intentions and deeds are actions,” that is, conscious actions pursuing a goal are “actions,” and these words express a primitive understanding of the role of practice. How are “actions” manifested? According to the first chapter of the Canon, they manifest themselves in six areas: "Action is preservation, loss, exchange, ruin, ordering, change." Judging by the specific explanations given in the first chapter of the Canonical Speeches, the main content of the six types of “actions” is the conscious “preservation” of something, “elimination” of something, “exchange” of something, “destruction” of something. or, “helping” something and “changing” something. All these are “intentions and actions”, ie. "actions"
If we discard the specific content of actions, and speak only about their nature, then they show the meaning of the subjective for the objective, indicate the meaning of practice and the changes occurring in the processes, emphasize the importance of the subject's activity and, as the author notes, are conscious “actions”. This interpretation is fundamentally different from the interpretation of “actions” as a moral category among the Confucians and shows that only the later Moists reached such heights in the materialist theory of knowledge.
In the philosophical system of the late Moists, primitive dialectical ideas occupy an important place. Their dialectical ideas manifested themselves mainly in discussions about such opposite concepts as identity and difference, whole and part, cause and effect, benefit and harm, loss and profit, anciently and the Universe, immobility and continuity, exhaustion and inexhaustibility, etc. , in which they clearly revealed the dialectical unity of contradictions.
One of the important dialectical conclusions drawn by the later Moists is the idea that "the identical and the different complement each other." The question of the relationship between "identity" and "difference" was a subject of controversy even in pre-Qin philosophy, and especially in the middle and late Zhanguo period. Two erroneous opinions were expressed: one group of philosophers, represented by Gongsun Long, emphasized “differences” and did not notice “identity”, the other, represented by Chuang Tzu, saw only “identity” and ignored “differences”. The first group belonged to absolutism, the second to relativism. In contrast to these groups, the late Moists dialectically approached the interpretation of the connection between "identity" and "difference", putting forward the concept of "the identical and the different mutually complement each other."
The statement “the identical and the different receive from each other” says that in the identical there is different, and in the different there is identity, and both are mutually dependent on each other. The thesis “a sword in a scabbard and a drawn sword are different names” just says that there are differences in identity, and the thesis “poplar and peach are like trees” shows that there is identity in different.
To clarify the dialectical connection between "identical" and "different" in the first part of "Canonical speeches" a number of examples are given, for example, "comparison is the measurement of many and little." We are talking about the measurement of homogeneous objects in order to establish which are many and which are few, in other words, about quantitative differences with the qualitative identity of objects. Millet grains are one and the same, but there are quantitative differences between them.
In contrast to the primitive dialectics of Lao Tzu, the dialectical positions of the late Moists were built on the basis of the materialist theory of knowledge combined with primitive materialism. This positive feature their dialectical thinking was closely related to the achievements of production and natural sciences.
Bibliography:
1. "History of Chinese Philosophy". per. Titarenko. Moscow "Progress", 1989
2. "Ancient Chinese philosophy". Anthology. Moscow, 1968
3. "Confucius: life, teaching, destiny." L.S.Perelomov. Moscow "Science", 1993
Philosophy of Ancient and Medieval China
THE BEGINNINGS OF PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
Chinese philosophy has created an original idea of man and the world as consonant realities. The beginning of Chinese philosophical thinking, just as it was later in Ancient Greece, is rooted in mythological thinking. In Chinese mythology, we meet with the deification of heaven, earth and all nature as realities that form the environment of human existence. From this mythologized environment, the highest principle stands out, which rules the world, communicates existence to things. This principle is sometimes understood personally as the highest ruler (shandi), but more often it is represented by the word “heaven” (tien).
All nature is animated - every thing, place and phenomenon has its own demons. It is the same with the dead. The veneration of the souls of deceased ancestors subsequently led to the formation of the ancestor cult and contributed to the conservatism of thinking in ancient China. Spirits could open a veil over the future for a person, influence the behavior and activities of people. The roots of the most ancient myths go back to the depths of the 2nd millennium BC. NS.
At this time, a fortune-telling practice with the use of magic formulas and communication with spirits became widespread in China. For these purposes, with the help of pictographic writing, questions were applied to the bones of cattle or a turtle shell (second half of the 2nd millennium BC). Some of these formulas, or at least fragments of them, we find on bronze vessels, and later in Book of Changes. The collection of the oldest Chinese myths contains Book of Mountains and Seas (Shan hai jing), dating back to the 7th - 5th centuries. BC NS. A feature of the development of Chinese philosophical thought is the influence of the so-called wise men (sages) (first half of the 1st millennium BC). Their names are unknown, but it is known that it was they who began to go beyond the limits of the mythological vision of the world and strove for its conceptual comprehension. The sages who create the line of communication between myth and conceptual ontology will subsequently often be referred to by Chinese philosophers.
The communal organization of society, whether they were tribal communities or communities of early feudalism, preserved social relations. Hence the interest in the problems of managing society and state organization. The formulation of ontological questions, thus, was determined by a philosophical and anthropological orientation, which manifested itself, especially among neo-Confucian thinkers, in the development of problems of ethical and social hierarchization and substantiation of the conservation of certain social relations that contribute to the formation of the state.
Chinese philosophy is internally unusually stable. This stability was based on the emphasis on the exclusiveness of the Chinese way of thinking, on the basis of which a sense of superiority and intolerance towards all other philosophical views were formed.
Classical books of Chinese education.
These books originated in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. NS. and during the period of one hundred schools (VI - II centuries BC). A number of these books contain the most ancient poetry, history, legislation and philosophy. Basically, these are works by unknown authors, written at different times. Particular attention was paid to Confucian thinkers, and, starting from the II century BC. e., these books became the main ones in the humanitarian education of the Chinese intelligentsia. Knowing them was a sufficient prerequisite for passing the state examinations for the position of an official. All philosophical schools in their reasoning up to the XX century. turned to these books; constant references to them were characteristic of the entire cultural life of China.
In the 1st century. BC NS. after the discovery of these books, which differed from the texts written in the so-called new letter, a dispute began about the interpretation of their content, about the meaning of the old and new texts. The creator of orthodox Confucianism as a state ideology, Dong Zhongshu, considered Confucius himself the author of the classic books. However, the adherents of the old texts assigned Confucius only the role of an interpreter. The debate about the origin and interpretation of classic books flares up again and again until the beginning of the 20th century.
Book of songs
(Shih jing - XI-VI centuries BC) is a collection of ancient folk poetry; also contains cult chants and, according to some commentators of the “Book of Changes,” a mystical explanation of the origin of tribes, crafts and things.
She became a model for Chinese poetry in its further development.
History book
(Shu jing - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC) - also known as Shang shu (Shan documents) - is a collection of official documents, descriptions of historical events. She had a great influence on the formation of the later official writing.
Order book
(Li shu - 4th - 1st centuries BC) includes three parts: the Order of the Zhou era (Zhou li), the Order of ceremonies (Yi li) and Notes on the order (Li Ji). Contains a description of the correct organization, political and religious ceremonies, norms of social and political activity. Idealizes the most ancient period of Chinese history, which he considers a model and measure of further development.
(Book) Spring and Autumn
(Chun qiu), together with the commentary by Zuo (Zuo Zhuan - IV century BC) is a chronicle of the state of Lu (VII-V centuries BC), later served as a model and measure for solving ethical and formal - literary questions.
Book of Changes
(I Ching - XII-VI centuries BC), from our point of view, is the most important. It contains the first ideas about the world and man in Chinese philosophy. In her texts, written at different times, one can trace the beginning of the transition from the mythological image of the world to its philosophical comprehension. It reflects the most ancient solutions to ontological issues, developed a conceptual apparatus used by subsequent Chinese philosophy. The world, however, is not understood in it as a world of rational manipulation.
Around the "Book of Changes" a number of historical, philosophical and philosophical disputes have arisen and still arise, covering the entire history of Chinese thought and Chinese philosophy. The “Book of Changes” lays the foundations and principles for the development of philosophical thinking in China.
As already mentioned, the texts of the “Book of Changes” were created at different times. The so-called original text originated between the XII-VIII centuries. BC NS.; the texts of the commentaries, which, however, are an organic part of the book, appeared in the 8th-6th centuries. BC NS. The original text, in addition to its origin from fortune telling on turtle shells, animal bones and plants shi , is also an echo of the myths about the elements yin and yang, which take on a conceptual form here.
The source texts are based on 64 hexagrams, i.e. symbols formed by combinations of six lines (lines). For example, a hexagram:
|
__________________ |
Creativity (Qian) |
|
|
________ _________ |
Execution (Kun) |
|
|
__________________ __________________ ________ _________ __________________ ________ _________ |
It's not over yet! (Wai ji) |
Comments are given to the hexagrams, as well as to the position of their individual lines (lines), in each of the combinations. It was according to the change in the positions of the lines in the hexagrams that the “Book of Changes” got its name. In the comments we read: “Change is what is depicted. Hexagrams are what it depicts. The decision to take action is based on a natural basis. Prophetic lines (lines) correspond to the movement of the world. This is how happiness and unhappiness appear, pity and shame become apparent. "
The predictions, according to the “Book of Changes,” contain some hints of an ontological explanation of the world, which is important: the appeal of the subjective opinions of broadcasters to a clear prediction set out equally for the whole country. This makes possible the centralization of thinking in the form of general concepts, a departure from the arbitrariness of subjective diversity. This unity also points to the need to understand the universal unity of the world.
For commentators (now unknown), hexagrams gradually ceased to be only accessories of predictions and began to perform the functions of 64 categories of the world in the movement towards universal unity. Thus, commentaries as part of the “Book of Changes” for the first time in the history of Chinese philosophy become a conceptual interpretation of the world, its dynamic principles and the place of man in it. The “Book of Changes” thus “closes the obvious and reveals the dark. Gives names to different things. " Principles yin and yang are involved in the relationship between heaven and earth (by which the world is limited), in the affairs of this limited world and in the movement of the world. Yang is defined as something active, all-pervading, illuminating the way of knowing things; for yin, the passive role of expectation, the dark beginning, is defined. However, we are not talking here about a dualistic explanation, for yin and yang cannot reveal their action without each other. "Yin and yang join forces, and whole and broken lines take on a form representing the relationship between heaven and earth." These principles change their influence and "mutually penetrate", but "what remains hidden in the action of yin and yang is incomprehensible." The movement of yin and yang is a dialectical movement of changes in one. "Change, as well as the cohesion of things, lies in change." Change, as a consequence of movement, has its own way. "The alternation of yin and yang is called the path (" tao "), and this" path is experienced by all things. " From the mutual “friendly” penetration of yin and yang, six main categories arise, reflecting the interaction of yin and yang. The authors of the “Book of Changes” use a naturalistic name for natural phenomena: “There is nothing faster than thunder to set all things in motion. For throwing all things into anxiety, nothing is more suitable than the wind. Nothing is drier than fire to dry all things. For the tranquility of all things, there is nothing quieter than a lake. There is nothing wetter than water to moisturize all things. For the arising and ending of all things, there is nothing more complete than a return. After all, this is the filling of all things ”. The Book of Changes traces Tao - the way of things and the way of the world in motion. It especially highlights the “three givens” that move along their own paths, but always together: heaven, earth, man.
All human cognition is aimed at distinguishing, designating and understanding everything - that is. “An educated husband learns to be able to connect everything. An educated husband asks in order to be able to discern everything. He leaves everything as it is, so that he can be in everything. " A person should think about his place in the natural world, he should “unite his power (de) with heaven and earth, his radiance with the sun and moon, with the four seasons of his activity”. He must “know both the formation and the decline” and “not lose the truth of all this”.
HUNDRED SCHOOLS - THE PERIOD OF THE FLOWER OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY In 221 BC. NS. in China, the Qin dynasty came to power. The time of her reign was very short (until 207 BC), but significant, since during this time the unification of China took place again and the formal imperial power was filled with real content. China was united by a single power and during the reign of the next dynasty - the Han - until 220 AD. NS.The century preceding the Qin dynasty was a period of state and social decay, in which the dying clan nobility and the growing oligarchy competed in the struggle for power. The clan nobility sought to return to the previous order that had developed during the Zhou Dynasty (1021 - 404 BC). The oligarchy, whose strength in society was based on the economic principles of ownership, demanded the need for a legal law (fa), according to which social relations would be regulated without discounts on origin.
The unified state disintegrated, and a skeptical view interpreted nature, the world and man in a new way. This radical reappraisal led to a departure from the state religion of the Zhou era. Many philosophical texts have not survived, however, those that have come down to us confirm the scope of thought in this era, and their significance for the further development of philosophy in China is similar to the role and significance of Greek ancient philosophy.
Historians who have dealt with this era (the era of "warring states") define this flowering of philosophy as the rivalry of a hundred schools. The Han historian Sima Qian (died 110 BC) identifies the following six philosophies:
1) the school of yin and yang (yin yang jia);
2) school of Confucians, writers (zhu jia);
3) school of moists (mo jia);
4) school of names (min jia);
5) school of lawyers, legalists (fa jia);
6) the school of the way and strength, the Taoists (dao te jia, dao jia).
We will use this classification in the future. The principles of the yin and yang school have already been partially discussed (the volume of work does not allow us to investigate this issue in more detail), it is necessary at least to mention the eclectics and the school of the five elements.
Confucianism
Confucianism is not a whole teaching. Some of its elements are closely related to the development of ancient and medieval Chinese society, which it itself helped to form and preserve, creating a despotic centralized state. As a definite theory of the organization of society, Confucianism focuses on the ethical rules, social norms and regulation of government, in the formation of which it was very conservative. Confucius said about himself: "I expound the old and do not create the new." It was also characteristic of this doctrine that questions of an ontological nature were secondary in it.
Confucius (551 - 479 BC), his name is the romanized version of the name Kun Fu-tzu (teacher Kun). This thinker (proper name Kun Qiu) is considered the first Chinese philosopher. Naturally, his life story was enriched with later legends. It is known that at first he was the lowest official in the state of Lu, later he traveled through the states of Eastern China for a number of years. I devoted the end of my life to my disciples, their teaching and the ordering of some classical books (jing). He was one of the many philosophers whose teachings were prohibited during the Qin Dynasty. He acquired great authority and almost deification in the era of the Han dynasty and until modern times was revered as a sage and the first teacher.
Confucius' thoughts were preserved in the form of his conversations with his students. Records of the sayings of Confucius and his students in the book "Conversations and Judgments" (Lunyu) are the most reliable source for researching his views. Confucius, worried about the decay of society, focuses on educating a person in a spirit of respect and deference to others, to society. In his social ethics, a person is a person not “for himself,” but for society. Ethics of Confucius understands a person in connection with his social function, and upbringing is bringing a person to the proper performance of this function. This approach was of great importance for the socio-economic ordering of life in agrarian China, but it led to a reduction in individual life, to a certain social status and activity. The individual was a function in the social organism of society.
The original meaning of the concept order, (li) Confucius elevates to the level of an exemplary idea as norms of concrete relations, actions, rights and obligations in the era of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Order is established for him thanks to the ideal universality, the relationship of man to nature and, in particular, the relationship between people. Order acts as an ethical category, which also includes the rules of external behavior - etiquette. True observance of order leads to the proper performance of duties. "If a noble man (zun tzu) is accurate and does not waste time, if he is polite to others and does not disturb the order, then the people between the four seas are his brothers." virtue (de): “The teacher said about Tzu-chan that he has four of the virtues that belong to a noble husband. In private behavior, he is polite, in the service - accurate, humane and fair to people. "
Such execution of functions on the basis of order necessarily leads to the manifestation of humanity (ren). Humanity is the main requirement for a human being. Human existence is so social that it cannot do without the following regulators: a) help others achieve what you yourself would like to achieve; b) what you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. People differ depending on family and then social status. Confucius deduced the principle of filial and brotherly virtue (xiao ti) from family patriarchal relations. Social relationships are parallel to family relationships. The relationship of a subject and a ruler, a subordinate and a boss is the same as the relationship of a son to a father and a younger brother to an elder.
To maintain the subordination and order, Confucius develops the principle of justice and serviceability. Fairness and serviceability are not associated with an ontological understanding of truth, which Confucius did not specifically deal with. A person must act as ordered by order and position. Good behavior is behavior with the observance of order and humanity, for a noble husband understands what is good, just as little people understand what is beneficial. This is the way (Tao) of the educated who possess moral strength (de) and who should be entrusted with the management of society.
Mencius (Meng Ke - 371 - 289 BC) was the successor of Confucius, defended Confucianism from attacks from other schools of that time. As part of the development of Confucianism, Mencius developed the concept of human nature; he developed the thoughts of Confucius about the moral good and the attitude of the educated to this good. Good is an abstract ethical category, which means order (whether) while following the path (Tao). According to Mencius, human nature is endowed with boon, although this nature does not always manifest itself. So, a person can deviate from the order of things, from the path, and this happens under the influence of the circumstances in which he lives, because in a person there are also low biological instincts. The good in every person can be realized by four virtues, the basis of which is knowledge, because knowledge of the order of things, the world and a person leads to the realization in society: 1) humanity (ren), 2) serviceability (i), 3) politeness (li), 4 ) knowledge (zhi).
In the concept of Mencius, the principle of filial and brotherly virtue (xiao ti) put forward by Confucius is consistently carried out. In this principle, Mencius also includes a ruler who must be knowledgeable, wise and possess moral strength (de) to the hierarchy of five connections. His power is characterized by the principle of humanity (ren zheng). If the ruler ignores this principle, and replaces the personal power emanating from knowledge with tyranny (ba), the people have the right to overthrow him. This essentially political program is also closely related to a person's belonging to the world, addressed to the sky(tian). Mencius understands the sky as an ideal force that endows a person with existence and social function (hence, power). Man exists thanks to the sky and therefore is a part of it, just like nature. The difference between tian, which communicates to man the nature of his existence, and man can be overcome by cultivating, improving this nature to a pure form.
Xun Tzu , real name - Xun Qin (III century BC), arguing with Mencius, put forward opposite views on the essence of heaven, opposed the concept of human nature. Xun-tzu was the most prominent Confucian of the period of one hundred schools. He understood the sky as permanent, having its own way (Tian Tao) and endowed with the power that communicates essence and existence to a person. Together with the earth, the sky unites the world into a single whole. It follows from this that man is a part of nature. Moreover, in contrast to Mencius, he puts forward the thesis about the bad nature of man, and all his abilities and good properties are the result of upbringing. People organize and unite in society to overcome nature. They do this, however, with a strict delineation of functions and relationships. “If we define the boundaries of moral consciousness, then we have harmony. Harmony means unity. Unity multiplies strength ... If strong man, he can conquer things ”.
The division of nature in Xun-tzu deserves attention: 1) inanimate phenomena, consisting of qi - material substance; 2) living phenomena, consisting of material substance and possessing sheng- life; 3) phenomena consisting of material substance, living and possessing zhi- consciousness; 4) a person consisting of material substance, living, possessing consciousness, having, in addition, and moral consciousness - and. A person forms names in order to name things, relationships and concepts, to distinguish and clearly define the phenomena of reality. Here you can see the echo of the "Book of Changes". Xun Tzu also touches upon the issues of the ontology of language. Conceptual assimilation of reality occurs with the help of reason. Sensual contact with reality is the first step of cognition, the next step is intelligent cognition (blue - literally: heart). The mind must satisfy three basic conditions, of which the main one is the “purity” of the mind from all psychologizing hindrances.
Xun Tzu, although he is considered a Confucian, overcomes the classical understanding of order in Confucian social ethics. A person's abilities are not fatally, or hereditarily, predetermined, they must correspond to the upbringing received. This approach, as well as the emphasis on the absolute authority of the ruler, brings him closer to the school of legists.
Taoism
One of the most important directions in the development of philosophical thought in China, along with Confucianism, was Taoism. The focus of Taoism is nature, space and man, but these principles are not comprehended in a rational way, by constructing logically consistent formulas (as is done in Confucianism), but with the help of direct conceptual penetration into the nature of existence. The world is in constant motion and change, develops, lives and acts spontaneously, without any reason. In ontological doctrine, it is the concept of the path - tao - is central. The goal of thinking, according to Taoism, is the “fusion” of man with nature, since he is a part of it. No distinction is made here in the subject-object relationship.
Lao Tzu (old teacher) is considered an older contemporary of Confucius. According to the Han historian Sima Qian, his real name was Lao Dan. He is credited with the authorship of the book "Tao Te Ching", which became the basis for the further development of Taoism (the book received this name in the era of the Han dynasty). The book consists of two parts (the first talks about the path tao, in the second - about strength te) and represents the basic principles of Taoist ontology.
Tao is a concept with the help of which it is possible to give a universal, all-encompassing answer to the question of the origin and mode of existence of all that exists. It is, in principle, nameless, manifests itself everywhere, for there is a “source” of things, but it is not an independent substance, or essence. Tao itself has no sources, no beginning, it is the root of everything without its own energetic activity. “The Tao that can be expressed in words is not a permanent Tao; a name that can be called is not a permanent name ... Identity is the depth of mystery ”. In him, however, everything happens (is given), it is the all-pervading path. “There is something - incorporeal, formless, but, however, ready and complete. How silent it is! Out of shape! It stands by itself and does not change. It penetrates everywhere, and nothing threatens it. You can consider him the mother of all that exists. I don't know his name. Indicated as “Tao”. I have to give him a name, I call him perfect. Perfect - that is, elusive. Elusive - that is, receding. Departing, that is, returning ”. Tao, however, does not define theological meaning in things. The ontology "Tao Te Ching" is atheistic, because, according to Tao, the world is in a spontaneous, undefined movement. Tao is identity, sameness, which presupposes everything else, namely: Tao does not depend on time, as a period of origin, development and destruction of the Universe, but it is also a fundamental and universal unity of the world. As a concept expressing existence, Tao exists constantly, everywhere and in everything, and above all, it is characterized by inaction. Nor is it a means or cause of some constant, ordered emanation of things.
Everything in the world is in motion, in motion and change, everything is impermanent and finite. This is possible thanks to the already known principles of yin and yang, which are in dialectical unity in every phenomenon and process and are the cause of their changes and movement. Under their influence, things develop, for "everything carries yin and embraces yang." The provisions on yin and yang contained in the Tao Te Ching seem to be based on earlier teachings (see The Book of Changes) and were developed by other schools (see Zou Yan). Tao (path) is inherent in its own creative power te, through which Tao is manifested in things under the influence of yin and yang. The understanding of de as an individual concretization of things for which a person is looking for names is radically different from the anthropologically directed Confucian understanding of de as a moral force of a person.
The ontological principle of the same, when a person, as a part of nature, from which he came out, must maintain this unity with nature, is also postulated epistemologically. It is about harmony with the world on which a person's peace of mind is based. Lao Tzu rejects any effort not only by the individual, but also by the society. The efforts of society, generated by civilization, lead to a contradiction between man and the world, to disharmony, for, “if someone wants to master the world and manipulate it , that will fail. For the world is a sacred vessel that cannot be manipulated. If anyone wants to manipulate him, he will destroy him. If anyone wants to take it, he will lose it. ”
Observance of the “measure of things” is the main life task for a person. Not doing, or rather acting without violating this measure (wu wei), is not an encouragement to destructive passivity, but an explanation of the human community and the world on a single basis, which is Tao. Sensual knowledge relies only on particulars and turns a person off-road. Stepping aside, detachment characterize the behavior of the sage. The comprehension of the world is accompanied by silence, in which an understanding husband takes possession of the world. This is radically opposed to the Confucian concept of a noble husband ”(an educated husband) who must exercise in teaching and managing others.
Chuang Tzu (369 - 286 BC), real name - Zhuang Zhou, - the most prominent follower and propagandist of Taoism. In the field of ontology, he proceeded from the same principles as Lao Tzu. However, Chuang Tzu does not agree with his ideas about the possibility of a “natural” ordering of society based on the knowledge of the Tao. It individualizes the cognition of Tao, that is, the process and the final result of comprehending the nature of the existence of the world, up to the subjective subordination of the surrounding reality. A fatalism that was alien to Lao Tzu is inherent in Chuang Tzu. He considers subjective indifference, first of all, as getting rid of emotions and interest. The value of all things is the same, for all things are embedded in Tao and cannot be compared. Any comparison is an emphasis on individuality, particular and therefore one-sided. Knowledge of truth, truth is not given to a knowing person: “Does it happen that someone is right and the other is wrong, or so that both are right or both are wrong? Neither you, nor me, nor other people who seek the truth in the darkness can know this. " “We say about something that it is true. If what is truth were to be so, inevitably, then there would be no need to talk about how it differs from untruth. "
Chuang Tzu, with all his skepticism, developed a method of comprehending the truth, as a result of which man and the world form a unity. This is a necessary process forgetting (van), which starts from oblivion of the differences between truth and untruth up to the absolute oblivion of the whole process of comprehending the truth. The pinnacle is “knowledge that is no longer knowledge”.
The later absolutization of these thoughts brought one of the branches of Taoism closer to Buddhism, which established itself on Chinese soil in the 4th century. and especially in the 5th century. n. NS.
Le Tzu is the following from Taoist texts and is attributed to the legendary philosopher Le Yuikou (VII-VI centuries BC), was recorded in about 300 BC. NS.
Wen Tzu (VI century BC) was allegedly a student of Lao-tzu and a follower of Confucius.
From the point of view of later development, in general, three types of Taoism are distinguished: philosophical (Tao Jia), religious (Tao Jiao), and Daoism of the immortals (Xian).
School of names
With the historical changes in social structures, the inadequacy of the existing naming of things was revealed. In the rich nutrient medium of the heyday of a hundred schools, a line of thought arose that focused on solving the problems of linguistic expression of reality. It is clear that this trend was also stimulated by the development of abstract thinking in China at that time. The school of names investigated the relationship of things and the very expression of these relationships, and then the correspondence of judgments and names.
Hui Shi (350 - 260 BC) was the main representative of those who paid attention to the significant inadequacy of the purely external characteristics of things, for each name reflecting the nature of a thing occurs when it is compared with other things. Only fragments included in the book of Chuang Tzu have survived from the works of Hui Shi. The relativity of human judgment concerns equally temporal and spatial determinations. Awareness of the relationship between individual objects is determined by their ontological unity: “When very identical things differ from things with which they are little identical, this is called the identity of the different. However, all things are in the end both identical and different, which is called the great identity of the different ”.
Gongsun Long (284 - 259 BC) investigated the issues of the correctness of the naming of things, as can be concluded from the treatises preserved in the book of Gongsun Long-tzu.
Philosophers of the school of names drew attention to the need to explain the naming of things from themselves, to the inaccuracy of the purely external naming of things only by individual sensory signs. Other philosophers of this school include Yin Wen-tzu and Deng Xi-tzu; the latter precisely formulated the purpose of the school of names: “ True , revealed by the study of names, is the highest truth. Names revealed by truth are common names. When these two ways are mutually connected and complemented, a person acquires things and their names ”.
Moism
The Moist school was named after the founder Moe Di(479 - 391 BC). The main attention in it is primarily paid to the problems of social ethics, which is associated through strict organization with the despotic power of the head. Physical labor at the school was the basis for the subsistence of its novices. The teachings of the Moists are the radical opposite of the teachings of Confucius. The whole point was in ideas universal love (jian ai) and prosperity, mutual benefit. A common measure of mutual humanity should be obligatory for all people in society, everyone should be concerned about mutual benefit. Theoretical research is a useless luxury; pragmatic expediency inherent in labor activity is a necessity. Mo Dee in his teaching recognized heavenly will, which was supposed to influence the establishment of the Moist principles. After his death, the Moists also turn to questions of knowledge. They are interested in the process of cognition itself, and in the prerequisites for the strength and reliability of knowledge. Cognition is accomplished through sensory contact with reality, as well as by understanding what is perceived by the senses. The Moists formulate the requirement for the adaptation of names to things, establish a category of small and large causes of the appearance of things, emphasize the need to test judgments by experience.
Zou Yan and the Five Elements
In the “Book of History” and in other ancient texts, one can find judgments about the elements of a material nature. Five elements (wu xing) - water, fire, wood, metal, earth - are the central theme of philosophy Zou Yan(III century BC). His works, however, have not survived. The Han historian Sima Qian gives the most complete information about Zou Yan and his teachings.
Zou Yan speculatively created the concept of the development of the world, based on five changing elements. The elements change according to your character, which is determined by strength. With her help, they overcome each other's resistance in the following order: earth; the tree that conquers the earth; metal that beats wood; fire that conquers metal; water that conquers fire, and again earth that conquers water. The nature of the forces of mutual overcoming was attributed to the five elements in terms of their use by man.
This change of elements corresponds to the change of dynasties in society - each dynasty rules under the sign of a certain element. The speculative mechanism also manifests itself in the ontological aspects of manipulation with the five elements. Spatial, temporal and other characteristics are combined into groups of five, which correspond to certain elements. Thus, the whole world is in harmony. If a violation occurs in any of these groups, the entire mechanism of the world is in a state of disharmony.
The concept of the school of five elements resonates with the further development of Chinese philosophy, in particular, thanks to Dong Zhongshu.
Legism
Legism is formed almost exclusively as a doctrine that has focused its main attention on issues of socio-political change in the era of "belligerent states." Its representatives dealt with problems of social theory (in the area of interests of the old despotic agrarian state) and problems associated with public administration. Patriarch of Legists is considered Shen Buhai(400 - 337 BC); his theory government controlled was used during the Han Dynasty and is included in the content of Confucianism. The radical views and innovations that the Legists introduced into the life of the state and society at the same time as the sharp criticism of Confucianism as their main enemy is evidenced by the "Book of the Lord of Shang" (Shang jun shu, 3rd century BC), attributed to Shang Yan.“Those who are intelligent make laws, those who are stupid are limited by laws. Those who are capable change the order, those who are incapable are bound by order. You shouldn't talk about business with a person who is bound by order, and you shouldn't talk about changes with a person who is limited by laws ” Han Fei-tzu(d. 233 BC) - the most prominent representative of legalism. Disciple of the Confucian Xun-tzu. His ideas were put into practice by the Emperor Qin Shi-huang. Han Fei often uses concepts developed by other schools, interprets them in his own way and fills them with new content. This applies, in particular, to traditional Confucian categories - order (whether), virtue (de) and humanity (ren). He devotes a lot of time to the interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. In the ontological aspect, Han Fei seeks to combine the different concepts of these schools into a new system. “The Way (Tao) is what makes things the way they are, it is what forms the order (s). Order is what forms the face of things ... Things cannot be filled once, and this is where yin and yang are manifested ”. Order in society is only a purely external concealment of shortcomings. It is necessary to re-adjust the relationship between people, and, in particular, between the ruler and society. So, the ruler only publishes the laws (fa) and decrees (min), into the depths of the interests of society does not penetrate (wu wei), because within the framework of these laws, only a system of rewards and punishments has been developed. Han Fei further develops Xun-tzu's idea of the evil nature of man. A person strives for personal success, and this should be used in public relations. The subject sells his abilities in order to get something useful and profitable in return. Laws serve to regulate these relationships. “If the laws (fa) and decrees (min) change, then the benefits and disadvantages change. Benefits and disadvantages are changing, and the direction of people's activities is changing too ”. So, not just order, but the laws the ruler "creates" people. The place of the ruler is determined by the divine heavens. Han Fei contrasts his understanding of the law with similar concepts of other schools, interpreting them in his own way.
In a similar way, an explanation of the essence of the development of society is given. You cannot repeat the past. New historical reality must correspond to new methods of management. Glances of order in the Confucian sense are useless and conflict with the nature of the new laws. Han Fei spoke out against other schools of praise of the past and rejection of modernity. Emperor Qin Shih-huang, the most prominent of the rulers of the Qin dynasty, respected Han Fei very much and therefore, on pain of death, banned the activities of other schools and teachings. Their books were burned. Han Fei himself committed suicide in this atmosphere of violence and cruelty associated with his name.
Eclectics
These thinkers are characterized by the desire to combine the views and concepts of various schools in one system. They argued that each of the schools comprehends reality in its own way and it is necessary to combine these methods into such an integrity that would be a new universal system of interpreting the world. A number of representatives of this direction can be called: Guan Tzu, who wrote the text of "Guan-tzu", Lu Buwei, who created the book "Lü shi chun qiu" ("Spring and Autumn of Mr. Liu"). The latter was the chief minister in the state of Qin (d. 235 BC). His book is a collection of texts from various schools. The book has the value of a purely historical document.
PHILOSOPHY IN THE ERA OF THE HAN DYNASTY With the beginning of the Han dynasty (2nd century BC - 1st - 2nd centuries AD), the spiritual life of society began to revive again. First of all, Taoism played an important role in this process. At the end of the II century. BC NS. Confucianism is returning to its positions, which significantly adapts to new social conditions and becomes a state ideology. So, it includes some concepts of both legalism (concerning the practice of public administration), Taoism, and mechanistic naturalism in the interpretation of the world (the doctrine of the five elements and yin and yang).Dong Zhongshu (179 - 104 BC) - the main renovator of Confucianism in those conditions. An idealistic interpretation, in particular, of the doctrine of the five elements and functions of yin and yang, leads him to a metaphysical and religious explanation of the world. Divine heavens consciously and purposefully determine the development and change of reality, the order (whether) of the world, inform people of moral laws, and the path (Tao) of things follows the highest in the hierarchy the way of the sky (tian dao). Dong Zhongshu dualistically divides the immanent influence of yin and yang inherent in things into pairs in which the bond of subordination prevails. He transfers the same to human society, in which, according to the classical Confucian scheme, there are five norms of filial virtue (xiao ti): 1) humanity (ren); 2) truthfulness (s); 3) politeness (whether); 4) wisdom (tszhi); 5) sincerity, sincerity (blue). The inorganic combination of things and concepts is completed by their mystical classification using five elements, which completes the theological-mystical philosophy of the universal connection of all things. Dong Zhongshu played an important role in the establishment of Confucianism as a unified state doctrine and draws arguments from the authorities of the past. “Whoever doubts modernity, let him investigate antiquity. Those who do not understand the future, let them turn their eyes to the past ”. He relies on the authority of classical books, which he interprets in the spirit of his metaphysics. Comments on classic Books inscribed with a new letter. Later, in the second half of the 1st century BC. BC, when Liu Xin translates the texts of the classics, written in the old script (up to the 3rd century BC), thinkers were divided into adherents of schools of old and new texts. The school of new texts adopts the mystical views of Dong Zhongshu, the school of old texts radically rejects this mysticism, requires an accurate philological presentation of the texts and continues the rationalistic interpretation of Confucian ethics.
Huaychan Tzu - one of the Taoist works of the II century. BC e., attributed to Liu Aniu. It rejects any divine influence of heaven and reinterprets the concept of “qi” (energy). Qi - an expression of the human nature of life, and since it is a material principle, it provides a person with a natural connection with the world.
Yang Xiong (53 BC - 18 AD) - a supporter of the old texts, opposes the mystical interpretation of Confucianism. With Confucian social theory, he combined the Taoist ontological interpretation of the world. His disciple Huan tan(43 BC - 28 AD) continues the teacher's efforts to bring some aspects of the ontology of Taoism to the social ethics of Confucianism. He openly criticized the modern era and the associated Dong Zhongshu system. His views are close to those of Wang Chun.
Wang Chun (27 - 107) continues the line of the teachings of Huan Tang, to whom he pays homage in his extensive work "Critical Judgments" (Lun Heng). The criterion of truth as the only epistemological criterion, criticism of teleological interpretations of reality, deification of nature and mysticism of Dong Zhongshu make Wang Chun the most respected philosopher of the Han era.
The need for direct cognition, the verification of this direct contact with reality and “precise thinking serving as the last argument” are the highest stage of the process of acquiring knowledge. Reliance only on feelings leads to mistakes, the mind, only he, can cognize things. Truth is not some kind of ideal construction, but is contained in things and in the world. "One should be guided by reality and never by human principles."
The world is a connection sky and land, their material energy(neither). No teleological principle or direction is laid either in the sky or in the earth. “Things are born by themselves. This is naturalness. " A very ancient term "qi", which in the meaning of "breath", "air" has already been found in inscriptions on bronze (the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), in the "Book of Changes" and in Lao Tzu, Wang Chun acquires the meaning of material energy inherent in everything. Such a connection of man with the world is "natural" and ensures the cognizability of things, for "between heaven and earth, man is a creature."
According to Wang Chun, the internal movement of things and the external orderliness of relations in the world between things arise due to the influence of the principles of "yin" and "yang". These principles operate in the same way in society. This emphasizes the natural development of a person who is part of the world. It should be noted that the classical Confucian scheme of social relations is based on the influence of the same principles.
Wang Chun ends a period of critical research and marks the beginning of the subsequent development of Chinese philosophy in the era of neo-Confucianism.
PHILOSOPHY IN III-X centuries This time is characterized by instability arising from the disintegration of a single state, the strengthening of the influence of Taoism and Buddhism. They are united by a focus on the problems of subjectivity, which, presumably, was a reaction to the absence of the problem of human individuality in all systems before that time.
Taoism in the III-X centuries.The so-called neo-Daoism (xuan xue) characterizes tao how deepest (xuan) incomprehensible. Several tendencies can be distinguished here: "confession of non-being", "confession of being" and instinctism. Their interpretations have been preserved for the most part in the form of commentaries on the books of antiquity - "The Book of Changes", "Chuang Tzu", "Tao Te Ching", "Conversations and Judgments" by Confucius. The first tendency interprets Tao as non-being (with reference to Lao Tzu), as a special non-material entity opposed to all that exists. In accordance with this, social and individual problems of a person concern only daily life. Only absolute indifference, non-action, helps a person to be in harmony with non-being, which is Tao. This trend is represented by Wang Bi and Heh Yang(first half of the 3rd century).
Pei Wei (d. 300), Go Xiak and Xiang Xiu proceed from the position that "nothing can be before things." Everything arises naturally and develops by itself, and a person should only take care of a positively understood being. It follows from this that the “non-action” (wu wei) preached by Lao Tzu is not absolute inaction, it is an expression of the natural attitude towards things and the world. Likewise, each individual must act naturally, by himself, without external influence and coercion.
Ge Hun(284 - 363) expounds his views in the text "Baobu-tzu". Important for that time is his denial of the deification of the thinkers of the past. He develops the Confucian socio-ethical teaching and the Taoist requirement for a natural attitude to the world, which take on the form of a desire to return to nature. A person can return to nature with the help of alchemy, for human nature is identical with nature.
According to instinctives, a person should live like a “wave of water driven by the wind”, focusing on instantaneous movements and instincts, without reflection and without being bound by social norms.
Buddhism
Buddhism penetrated into China in the 1st - 2nd centuries AD. NS. Widespread in the IV century. and is the only outside philosophy and religion that has long been rooted in China.
In the VI century. Emperor Wu-di proclaims Buddhism even as a state (official) teaching. Buddhism leaves noticeable traces in literature, the visual arts, as well as in philosophy. However, he never interrupted the natural atheistic tradition in Chinese philosophy. The so-called school of emptiness and Chan Tsung school (Japanese Zen).
According to the Ch'an school of Buddhism, the highest truth cannot be expressed in symbols and signs. Illumination, nirvana (no-pan) is not achieved by exercise, but appears suddenly as an inner experience that unfolds in an instant. Achieving such penetration into the truth is possible when a person lives without goals (wu xin) and without directed action (wu wei), i.e. without any volitional manifestations. The teachings of the Ch'an school came from India, and gave him a complete form Hui-neng (638- 713).
Neo-confucianismCriticism of Buddhism, in particular in matters of the essence and way of human existence, was very strong. In the VI century. such criticism comes out, in particular, Fan Zhen, who in “Discourse on the Destruction of the Soul” (Shen me lun), based on the thesis “The body is the material basis of the soul, the soul is a manifestation of the body”, opposes the dualistic interpretation of man and affirms his natural origin. Confucian renaissance begins with criticism of Buddhist dualism (Han Yu (768 - 824),Li Ao(d. 844) and Lin Shen-shi(about 840 - 880). This period - the era of the Tang dynasty (618 - 906) - prepared the way for neo-Confucianism.
Neo-Confucianism (Tao Xue, i.e., the doctrine of Tao, but not in the Taoist sense, but as a continuation of the Confucian tradition) is represented primarily by two different directions: 1) li xue- the doctrine of whether (order) as the essence of the world; 2) xin xue - the doctrine of xin (thinking) as the basis of the world (which is spoken of in the same way as a school xing li). Neo-Confucianism is based on some of the provisions of Taoism, set forth in the "Book of Changes", as well as on the position of those Confucians, whose views coincide with those of Wang Chun.
Zhu Xi (1130 - 1200) was the most prominent representative of the first direction. He solves ontological questions with the help of categories whether and qi. Li represents the basis of existence, it, however, does not rise above things as an absolute mind. If something exists, does it have, "this means that all phenomena and things have their own ways of being." Qi represents the material form of things. “Lee is only one, but his manifestations are endless. Li is the path (Tao) of all phenomena, qi is the material energy of which every thing is composed ... whether it has never been separated from qi "for the unity of the world ensures the unity of things on their own path, whereas" li and qi are present in all things together. " Material energy (qi) is ordered in things under the influence of yin and yang, participating in the movement within things and in the world. And due to the fact that the thinking of a person (xin) contains how it is present in all other phenomena, the world can be cognized by a person.
Lu Juyuan (1139 - 1192) was a prominent philosopher of the second direction. Thinking (xin) does not know the world, but the world is contained in thinking, so a person can distinguish things and classify them. This subjective idealism of Lu Juyuan further develops Wang Yangming(1472 - 1528), according to which thinking cannot exist outside of man, for it does not manifest itself outside of human thought. There is only that world that a person cognizes and which is controlled by his thought. The human spirit is at the same time world spirit (tian xin). He accompanies people everywhere, and thus self-knowledge of the world is an innate quality of people. Therefore, in cognition, a person must be guided by intuition.
With neo-Confucianism, we end this brief survey of Chinese philosophy. Undoubtedly, it was also an impetus for the development of European philosophy, where ideas were drawn from it, in particular, Leibniz and Wolff. Europe gets acquainted with neo-Confucianism and with all Chinese philosophy at the end of the 17th and 18th centuries.
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