Chinese Philosophy
Early Chinese Thought

“Early Chinese religion shares much in
common with the other early tribal
religions of the world. There was a
belief in spirits and in reverencing their
ancestors. There was the universal
belief in “animism,” which is the belief
that everything is alive.”
Shang Dynasty

“During the Shang dynasty (1500? 1100 B.C.E.) the omnipotent power that
was believed to rule the world was
called Shang Di and was thought of as
a personal god, capable of being
contacted by diviners.”
Zhou Dynasty

“During the Zhou dynasty (1100-256
B.C.E.) the conception of an impersonal
power called Tian (usually translated as
“Heaven”) came into common parlance.
Tian was seen as an impersonal divine
force that controls events on earth and
as a cosmic moral principle that
determines right and wrong.”
Patterns in Nature

“To survive, the Chinese people had to
learn that while they could not often
control nature they could learn to work
with it when they understood its
underlying patterns. Taoism may be
traced back to this concern for findingand working with-natural patterns.”
Yin and Yang

“After about 1000 B.C.E. the Chinese
commonly thought that the universe
expressed itself in opposite but
complementary principles: light and
dark, day and night, hot and cold, sky
and earth, summer and winter. The
names for the two complimentary
principles are yang and yin.”
Yin and Yang

“The yin and yang principles are not the
same as good and evil. Yang is not
expected to win over the force of yin, or
vice versa; rather the ideal is a dynamic
balance between the forces.”
Yin and Yang

“The emblem of balance is the yin-yang
circle, divided into what looks like two
intertwined commas. One half is light,
representing yang; the other is dark
representing yin.”
Yin and Yang

“Inside each division is a small dot of
the contrasting color that represents the
seed of the opposite. The dot suggests
that everything contains its opposite and
will eventually become its opposite.”
Yin and Yang

“Both forces are dynamic and in perfect
balance as they change, just as day and
night are in balance as they progress.
We can think of yang and yin as
pulsations or waves of energy, like a
heartbeat or like breathing in and out.”
Ancestor Reverence

Chinese have felt
that the people we
love who die can
influence our lives
for the better or
worse and therefore
it is important to
respect them and do
rituals to keep the
peace.
A Mysterious Force

The Chinese did not
have a personal
monotheist God, but
they did have a
sense of a great and
mysterious force,
perhaps something
like the Hindu
Brahman.
Tian

“All things ultimately
derived from Tian,
but it was more a
personification of
natural law than a
real personality and
was not directly
worshipped. Heaven
was understood as
being remote.”
A Hierarchy of Being

There was a
perceived hierarchy
of being from the
human and natural
world to the
ancestors and then
the forces of nature
until eventually you
reached Tian.
Unity

“One basic principle
that has run through
Chinese thought
from the beginning
is that the universe
is a unity in which all
things fit together. If
humanity aligns
itself with it, all will
be in harmony.”
The Goal

The ultimate goal
will always be to find
a way to bring one’s
life into harmony
with this greater
unity. That is the
place of
contentment and
serenity.
The Tao

“The unity in which
all things fit together
harmoniously is
called the Tao.”
The Experience of Tao

“The Chinese
believed there were
three realms where
Tao could be
experienced: nature,
human society, and
one’s own inner
being.”
Temperaments

Those seeking
solitude would find
themselves leaning
in the direction of
Taoism and those
needing to interact
and serve others
would lean toward
Confucianism.
Taoism
Tao (Dao)

“The mysterious origin of the universe,
which is present and visible in
everything. This is the name for
whatever mysterious reality makes
nature to be what it is and to act the
way it does.”
Tao (Dao)

“The Chinese character for Tao is
commonly translated as “way,” but it has
also been translated as “existence,”
“pattern.” and “process.” Primarily, the
Tao is the way that nature expresses
itself-the natural way. Human beings
can unite themselves with the Tao in the
way they live.”
Laozi (Lao Tzu) 600 B.C.E.

The legendary founder of Taoism. His
name means “old master” or “old child.”
In the most famous picture of Laozi, he
rides an ox as he leaves China.
Tao Te Ching

The classic scripture of Taoism. Its
teachings fostered the most liberal
thinkers in ancient China.
Yang

The active aspect of reality that
expresses itself in speech, light, and
heat.
Yin

The receptive aspect of the universe
that expresses itself in silence,
darkness, coolness, and rest.
Zhuangzi (Chuang-Tzu)
300 B.C.E.

Author of the Zhuangzi, a book of
whimsical stories that express themes
of early Taoist thought. In his famous
dream, he was not certain that he was
not a butterfly.
Wu Wei

“No action,” no strain”; doing only what
comes spontaneously and naturally; the
ideal of effortlessness.” It is the way of
nature.
Wu Wei

“If we look at nature, we notice that
many things happen quietly, effortlessly:
plants grow, birds and animals are born,
and nature repairs itself after a storm.
Nature works to accomplish only what is
necessary, but no more.”
Qi (ch’i)

The life force. Working with qi is very
important in Chinese medicine like
acupuncture, which tries to free up
blocked qi so that it can circulate freely
throughout the body.
Philosophical Taoism

Taoism today contains elements of both
philosophical and religious Taoism. But
for our purposes we will be focusing on
the philosophy of Taoism. “Early
Taoism, while possibly influenced by
shamanism, created literature that was
philosophically oriented. Later, an
organized religion emerged.”
Tao Te Ching

“The Tao Te Ching is the great classic of
Taoism, accepted by most Taoists as a
central scripture, and one of the world’s
greatest books. Its title can be
translated as “the classical book about
the Way and its power.”
Tao Te Ching

“The eighty-one short chapters of the
Tao Te Ching are probably the
compilation of the work of many people,
rather than a single author. The book
shows some repetition, has no clear
order, and exhibits a clear lack of clarity.
In form, each chapter is more poetry
than prose.”
Tao Te Ching

“It is possible that the Tao Te Ching was
a political handbook, religious
guidebook, or practical guide for living in
harmony with the universe. Part of the
genius of the book is its brevity and use
of paradox; its meaning depends on
who is interpreting it.”
The Tao

“The first chapter of the Tao Te Ching
begins by saying, “The Tao that can be
told is not the eternal Tao.” In other
words, we cannot really put into words
exactly what the Tao is-a fact that is
ironic since the book itself uses words.”
The Tao

“Yet the book goes on to tell us that the
Tao is “nameless; that is, it is not any
individual thing that has a name-such as
a door, a tree, a bird, a person. The Tao
cannot be named because it has no
form.”
The Tao

“But the Tao can be experienced and
followed by every individual thing that
has a name. The Tao Te Ching says that
the Tao is the origin of everything and
that all individual things are
“manifestations” of the Tao.”
The Tao

“Although the Tao is the origin of nature,
it is not “god,” because it does not have
personality. It neither cares about
human beings nor dislikes them-it only
produces them, along with the rest of
nature. Because the Tao makes nature
move the way it does, it can be called
the way or the rhythm of nature.”
Experiencing the Tao

“To experience the Tao, we must leave
behind our desires for individual things,
a concept that runs counter to everyday
concerns. The Tao cannot be “known” in
the same way that we see a car or hear
a sound.”
Experiencing the Tao

“It cannot be perceived directly but
rather by intuition, like the difference
between hearing only musical sounds
and recognizing a song.”
Images of the Tao

“The Tao Te Ching presents several
powerful images wherein the Tao seems
most active and visible. Contemplating
them can help us experience the Tao,
and by taking on some of the qualities
of these images, we begin to live in
harmony with the Tao that inhabits
them.”
Images of the Tao: Water

“Water is gentle, ordinary, and lowly, but
strong and necessary. It flows around
every obstacle. Chapter eight praises it:
“The highest good is like water.” It
assists all things “and does not compete
with them.”
Images of the Tao: Woman

“The female is sensitive, receptive, yet
effective and powerful.”
Images of the Tao: Child

“The child is full of energy, wonder, and
naturalness.”
Images of the Tao: Valley

“The valley is yin, and it is mystery.”
Images of the Tao: Darkness

“Darkness can be safe, full of silence
and possibility.”
Images of the Tao: Simplicity

“Taoism urges its followers to eliminate
whatever is unnecessary and artificial
and to appreciate the simple and
apparently ordinary.”
Images of the Tao: Gentleness

“Because Taoists pursue the gentle
way, they hate weapons and war. The
wise person loves peace and restraint
and avoids all unnecessary violence.”
Images of the Tao: Relativity

“People see things from a limited point
of view that is based on their own
concerns. They see things in terms of
divisions: I-you, good-bad, expensivecheap, valuable-worthless, beautifulugly.” The Taoist wants to be aware of
this duality and try to keep things in
perspective.
Taoist View On: Education

“Give up learning, and put an end to
your troubles.” Formal education is not
a Taoist value, whereas in Confucianism
it is a very strong value.
Taoist View On: Death

“Death is a predictable transformation of
nature.” Therefore acceptance, rather
than fear, is the most helpful attitude.
Taoist Practice

Taoist meditation puts an emphasis on
the values of wu wei (“effortlessness”),
simplicity, gentleness, and relativity.
“Taoists believe that it is necessary to
attain a vision of things that goes
beyond apparent opposites.”
Taoist Practice

“The canon of Taoist literature includes
recommendations for many types of
arm and body movements, breathing
regulation, diet, massage, and a
practice called internal alchemy.”
Taoist Practice

“Internal alchemy aims at transforming
and spiritualizing the life force (ch’i) of
the practitioner. Some later forms of
internal alchemy teach exercises that
move the life force from its origin at the
base of the spine upward to the head.
From there it circles back, via the heart,
to its origin.”
Taoist Practice

“Taoist meditation methods have many
points in common with Hindu and
Buddhist systems. The primary hallmark
of Taoist meditation is the generation,
transformation, and circulation of
internal energy.”
Taoist Practice

“The two primary guidelines in Taoist
meditation are jing (quiet, stillness,
calm) and ding (concentration, focus).
The purpose of stillness, both mental
and physical, is to turn attention inwards
and cut off external sensory input,
thereby muzzling the “Five Thieves”.”
Taoist Practice

“Within that silent stillness, one
concentrates the mind and focuses
attention, usually on the breath, in order
to develop what is called “one-pointed
awareness,” a totally undistracted,
undisturbed, undifferentiated state of
mind which permits intuitive insights to
arise spontaneously.”
Taoist Practice

Taoists teach that as one leaves behind
the desires for individual things, one will
see things differently.
Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.)

“The Confucian
tradition is named
after the philosopher
Confucius.”
The Confucian Classics

“Confucius was not
revered just for
himself but because
he was associated
with the classical
literature and that
was the real
bedrock of the
traditional culture.”
Reflecting Tradition

“Confucius is not a
peerless sage
because he created
this tradition. He is
unequaled because
the tradition
‘created’ him, and
he reflected it
faithfully.”
Confucianism

Is Confucianism a philosophy or a
religion? The answer depends on what
you mean by religion. If a religion has to
have a belief in a god then
Confucianism is not a religion. But if it
meets religious needs, then perhaps it
is a religion.
Religion or Philosophy

Confucianism can be considered as a
religion because it “is a moral system
that functions as a religion in providing
meaning and order in people’s lives.”
Confucianism as Religion

“Confucianism can also be said to have
its scriptures as well as a mystical
dimension that enables people to
experience their unity with the universe
through inner equilibrium and harmony
with society.”
Confucianism and the Tao

“Confucianism is also concerned with
the Tao because it is concerned with
living in harmony with the right way.
“This way is the cosmic Tao that
permeates the entire universe.”
The Tao

Whereas for Taoists the primary focus
of Tao is in nature, with Confucianists
the primary focus is on human
relationships. Nature acts in harmony
with the Tao naturally, but people don’t.
The Tao in the Human

“The Confucian would say that training
in virtue is necessary in order to enable
the Tao to manifest itself clearly in the
human being.”
Analects

The book of sayings of Confucius, the
founder of Confucianism
Five Classics

The classical literature of the time
preceding Confucius, including poetry,
history and divination. Confucius is
thought to have brought them back into
daily life, perhaps editing them himself.
Yi Jing (I Ching)

An ancient Confucian book of divination,
one of the Five Classics, still in use
today.
Four Books

The major Confucian books, which
include the sayings of Confucius and
Mencius. As close as we come to a
“Confucian Bible.”
Proper Relationships

Society would be
chaotic if people did
not find their right
and proper position
and then do their
best to fulfill their
responsibilities.
Junzi (chun-tzu)

“Noble person,” the refined human ideal
of Confucianism. By his teachings,
Confucius hoped to produce virtuous
people and create a harmonious
society.
Ren (jen)

Empathy, consideration for others,
humanness; a Confucian virtue. Pride is
not a human virtue. “Underlying all
worthy social conventions is
considerateness. If you want to be kind,
be polite.”
Li

Appropriate action, ritual, propriety,
etiquette. Li has to do with self-control.
“Li means good manners. It is putting
ren into practice.”
Shu

Reciprocity; a Confucian virtue. Shu
“addresses the question, How will my
action affect the other person? It is
putting ren into practice.”
Xiao (hsiao)

Family devotion, filial piety; a Confucian
virtue. Confucius thought the most
important relationship was the fatherson relationship. “Ideally, it means
valuing the entire extended family--of
past, present, and future.”
Wen

Cultural refinement; a Confucian virtue.
The ideal is to have a “highly developed
aesthetic sense and be able to know
and appreciate beauty in its many
forms.”
Confucius and Education

“The Taoists feel that formal education
has a potential for distorting one’s
originally pure state. Confucians,
however, hold that the best training
does not contaminate character, but, by
cultivating virtues, gives it definition and
clarity.”
Confucius on Relationships

Human beings cannot reach their
potential in isolation. “A human being
becomes a full person only through the
contributions of other people and
through fulfilling one’s obligations to
them.”
Humans are Basically Good

“Confucianism has
generally believed
that the basic nature
of humanity is good.
It is only perverted
by a bad social
environment.”
The Purpose of Society

We become more
human by learning
the necessary skills
of living in harmony
with others.
Father-Son

“Father-son
becomes the primal
model of a
relationship and in
Confucianism it is in
interpersonal
relationships that
one is humanized
and Tao is
manifested.”
The Importance of Family

The home was the
church; the family
was the sacred
community. You
found what you
were looking for in
the family, not
outside of it.
The Five Great Relationships

“Human beings are not individuals but
interwoven threads of relationships with
many people. To a great extent, in
Confucian thinking human beings are
their relationships.”
The Five Great Relationships

“These relationships (father-son, elder
brother-younger brother, husband-wife,
elder-younger, ruler-subject), signify that
each person must live up to his or her
social role and social status. This has
been called the rectification of names.”
Confucian Virtues

“Confucianism stresses loyalty,
consensus, hard work, thrift, emotional
control and sincerity,” which means
“choosing to do what is correct for
society.” “He who attains to sincerity is
he who chooses what is good, and
firmly holds it fast.”
The Doctrine of the Mean

For Confucius, a person who follows the
way of heaven avoids extremes and
remains in harmony with others. “This
balance unites the individual with the
balance of the universe.”
The Doctrine of the Mean

Confucius taught: “Let the states of
equilibrium and harmony exist in
perfection, and a happy order will
prevail throughout heaven and earth,
and all things will be nourished and
flourish.”
Confucian Mysticism

“Confucianism was
given a
transcendence that
made the practice of
Confucian virtues
more deeply
religious, a sort of
mysticism in the
midst of a life of
service.”
A Single Spiritual World

“But in popular
religion, the major
traditions unite to
form a single
spiritual world.”
A Changing World

People were
confused and
shaken up. The
world was changing
and the old ideas
were not keeping
up.
Religion and Politics

It seems that as
long as religious
people stay out of
politics that they are
O.K. But this is a
hard thing to do
because religion
touches people’s
core values and
these values
demand expression.
Women’s Role

Because women’s
role was understood
to be in the nature of
the “dance” itself
there was no room
left to argue about
the justice of this
situation.
Wives

“A wife was to
exemplify Yin
(passive, plaint) in
order to provide the
harmonious
complement to the
husband’s Yang
(active, firm).”
Subservience

Wives were often
virtual slaves of their
mothers-in-law.
There was almost
nothing they could
do except obey
them.
Women and Taoism

It is not surprising
then that women
would turn to Taoism
to meet their
spiritual needs. It
offered them a
deeper validity then
the “masculine”
emphasis found in
Confucianism.
The Great Mother

“Some scholars,
such as Ellen Marie
Chen, have
concluded that
Taoism has ties to
an ancient Mother
Goddess and the
Tao itself is the
Great Mother.”
Women and Inspiration

“Religious Taoism
drew from
shamanism the
belief that women
especially are
receptive to Divine
inspiration.”
Communism

Communism took a
heavy toll on the
fortunes of religion,
but at the same time
it opened doors to
women that had
always been closed.
The Cultural Revolution

The main thrust of the Cultural
Revolution (1966-1976) was to break
with the past and all that was
antiquated.
Laws and Attitudes

Change below the
surface takes much
longer. You can
change the laws, but
it is more difficult to
change people’s
hearts and attitudes.
Change is Slow

Major societal
changes like in
recent Chinese life
are always difficult
and sometimes
people take two
steps back for every
three steps forward.
The Blockage

We have to ask
ourselves why the
great ideas of the
world seem to not
touch our core
where they can work
their magic? What
prevents us from
putting them into
practice?
Confucian Problems

The roles people are
allowed to fulfill
become so
restricted that there
is not a lot of room
for growth or
individuality.
Taoist Problems

Often the Taoism
practiced by the
unlettered peasants
was simply a retreat
into superstition and
magic, rather than a
march forward into
greater spiritual
consciousness and
compassion.
Integral Medicine

Integral medicine
will be practiced by
those who want to
combine Western
and Eastern
understandings of
health so that the
best of both is made
available.
Zen Buddhism

Zen Buddhism is
really a marriage of
Buddhism and
Taoism. They have
much in common
and it is another way
that Taoism is
influencing us
without our being
aware of it.
Popular Chinese Religion

“In the popular
religion of China,
Confucianism,
Taoism, & Buddhism
combined with
ancestrism,
seasonal festivals,
and local deities to
make a colorful
complex.”
Integral Wisdom

The answer to many
problems such as
medical and
ecological issues
will only be found as
we combine the
wisdom of the East
and the West into a
new integral
wisdom.