pp. 87 - 92 (6)
p. 92 The Daoist Answer
The Hundred
Schools of Ancient Philosophy
In China, as in other
great river valley societies, the birth of civilization was accompanied by the emergence
of an organized effort to comprehend the nature of the cosmos and the role of human beings
within it. As civilization evolves, people cease to observe nature with awe and wonderment
and begin to seek an explanation for the forces at work in the universe and their effects
on human lives. This search, of course, marks the birth of religion and philosophy. In
ancient China, speculation over such questions began in the very early stages of the rise
of civilization and culminated at the end of the Zhou era in the "hundred
schools" of ancient philosophy, a wide-ranging debate over the nature of human
beings, society, and the universe.
The first hint of
the nature of religious belief in ancient China comes from relics found in royal tombs in
Neolithic times. By then, the Chinese had already developed a religious sense beyond the
primitive belief in the existence of spirits in nature. As we have seen, the Shang had
already begun to believe in the existence of one transcendent god, known as Shang Di, who
presided over all the forces of nature. As time went on, the Chinese concept of religion
began to evolve from the idea of a vaguely anthropomorphic god to a somewhat more
impersonal symbol of universal order known as Heaven (Tian, or Tien), There was also much
speculation among Chinese intellectuals about the nature of the cosmic order. One of the
earliest ideas was that the universe was divided into two primary forces of good and evil,
light and dark, male and female, called the yang and the yin, represented symbolically by
the sun (yang) and the moon (yin). According
The belief that
there was some mysterious "law of nature" that could be interpreted by human
beings, a carryover from the Shang period when sorcerers used oracle bones to seek
communication with the gods, undoubtedly encouraged the practice of divination and other
attempts to predict the future. Philosophers invented various ways to interpret the will
of nature, while shamans,
CONFUCIANISM
Such efforts to
divine the mysterious purposes of Heaven notwithstanding, Chinese thinking about
metaphysical reality also contained a strain of pragmatism, which is readily apparent in
the ideas of the great philosopher Confucius. Confucius (the Latin form of his honorific
title Kung Fuci, or Kung Fu-tzu, meaning Master Kung) was born in the state of Lu (in the
modern province of Shandong) in 551 B.C.E. After reaching maturity, he apparently hoped to
find employment as a political adviser
In conversations with his disciples contained in the Analects (a collection of his sayings preserved by his disciples), Confucius often adopted a detached and almost skeptical view of Heaven. "You are unable to serve man," he commented on one occasion, "how then can you hope to serve the spirits? While you do not know life, how can you know about death?" In many instances, he appeared to advise his followers to revere the deities and the ancestral spirits, but to keep them at a distance. Confucius believed it was useless to speculate too much about metaphysical questions. Better by far to assume that there was a rational order to the universe and then concentrate one's attention on ordering the affairs of this world.
Confucius’s
interest in philosophy, then, was essentially political and ethical. The universe was
constructed in such a way that if human beings could act harmoniously in accordance with
its purposes, their own affairs would prosper. Much of his concern was with human
behavior. The key to proper behavior was to behave in accordance with the Dao (Way).
Confucius assumed that all human beings had their own Dao, depending on their individual
role in life, and it was their duty to follow it. Even the ruler had his own Dao, and as
we have seen, he ignored it at his peril. The idea of the Dao is reminiscent of the
concept of dharma in ancient India and played a similar role in governing the affairs of
society. Two elements in the Confucian interpretation of the Dao are particularly worthy
of mention. The first is the concept of duty. It was the responsibility of all individuals
to subordinate their own interests and aspirations to the broader need of the family and
the community. This concept of duty is often expressed in the form of a "work
ethic" similar to the so-called Puritan work ethic that allegedly characterized
popular attitudes in Europe and North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Confucius assumed that if each individual worked hard to fulfill his or her
assigned destiny, the affairs of society as a whole would surely prosper as well. In this
respect, it was important for the ruler to set a good example. If he followed his
"kingly way," the beneficial effects would radiate throughout society.
A second key
element in the Confucian interpretation of Dao is the idea of humanity, sometimes
translated as "human heartedness." This concept involves a sense of compassion
and empathy for others. It is similar in some ways to Christian concepts, but with a
subtle twist.
Confucius may have
considered himself a failure because he never attained the position he wanted, but his
ideas were undoubtedly appealing to many of his contemporaries, and in the generations
after his death, his message spread widely throughout China. Confucius was an outspoken
critic of his times, and like many a conservative in our own days, he lamented the
disappearance of the Golden Age of the early Zhou.
In fact, however,
Confucius was not just another disgruntled Chinese conservative mourning the passing of
the good old days, but a revolutionary thinker, many of whose key ideas looked forward
rather than backward. Perhaps his most striking political idea was that the government
should not be limited solely to those of noble birth, but should be open to all men of
superior quality. As one of his disciples reports in the Analects: "The Master said,
by nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart." Confucius
undoubtedly had himself in mind as one of those "superior" men, but the rapacity
of the hereditary lords must have added strength to his convictions.
The concept of rule
by merit was, of course, not an unfamiliar idea in the China of his day; the Rites of Zhou
had clearly stated that the king himself deserved to rule because of his talent and
virtue, rather than as the result of noble birth. In practice, however, aristocratic
privilege must have been a determining factor in opening the doors to political influence,
and many of Confucius's contemporaries must have regarded his appeal for government by
talent as both exciting and dangerous. Confucius did not explicitly question the right of
the hereditary aristocracy to play an active and leading role in the political process,
nor did his ideas have much effect in his lifetime. Still, they opened the door to a new
concept of the art of statecraft that was later implemented in the form of a bureaucracy
selected through a civil service examination.
Confucius's ideas, passed on to later generations through the
Analects as well as through other writings allegedly written by Confucius, had a strong
impact on Chinese political thinkers of the late Zhou period at a time when the existing
system was in disarray and open to serious question. But like most great thinkers,
It was because Chieh and Chou lost the people that they lost the empire, and it was because they lost the hearts of the people that they lost the people. Here is the way to win the empire: win the people and you win the empire. Here is the way to win the people: win their hearts and you win the people. Here is the way to win their hearts: give them and share with them what they like, and do not do to them what they do not like. The people turn to a human ruler as water flows downward or beasts take to wilderness.
Here is a
prescription for political behavior that could win wide support in our own day. Other
thinkers, however, rejected
Mencius's rosy view of human nature and argued for a different approach.
LEGALISM
One school of thought
that became quite popular during the "hundred flowers" era in ancient China was
the philosophy of Legalism. Taking issue with the view of Mencius and other disciples of
Confucius that human nature was essentially good, the Legalists argued that human beings
were by nature evil and would follow the correct path only if coerced by harsh laws and
stiff punishments. They were referred to as the "School of Law," because they
rejected the Confucian view that government by "superior men" could solve
society's problems and argued instead for a system of impersonal laws.
The Legalists
disagreed with the Confucian belief that the universe has a moral core. They therefore
believed that only firm action by the state could bring about social
Both the Legalists
and the author of the Indian treatise Arthasastra focused on the importance of the ruler
within the political culture, but the latter tempered his utilitarian concern for the
needs of the state by asserting that the ruler and his officials must display a true
compassion for the needs of the people. The Legalists, however, countered that fear of
harsh punishment, more than the promise of material reward, could best motivate the common
people to serve the interests of the ruler. Legalism bears a superficial resemblance to
modern Western democratic society in its emphasis on the need for impartial laws to govern
human behavior, but it is closer to modern totalitarian doctrines in its conviction that
the ultimate objective of the political process is not the welfare of the individual, but
the needs of the state.
DAOISM
One of the most
popular alternatives to Confucianism was the philosophy of Daoism (frequently spelled
Taoism). According to Chinese tradition, the Daoist school was founded by a contemporary
of Confucius popularly known as Lao Tzu (Lao Zi), or the Old Master. Many modern scholars
are skeptical that Lao Tzu actually existed. Nevertheless, the ideas that are attributed
to him attained popularity during the centuries before the founding of the Han dynasty and
became a worthy rival to the Confucian school of philosophy.
Obtaining a clear understanding of the original concepts of Daoism is difficult because the primary document containing its principles, a short treatise known as the Dao DeJing (sometimes translated as The Way of the Too), is an enigmatic book whose correct interpretation has baffled scholars for centuries. The opening line, for example, explains less what the Dao is than what it is not: "The Tao [Way] that can be told of is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name."
Nevertheless, the
basic concepts of Daoism, as they have been transmitted through the ages by followers of
the doctrine, are not especially difficult to understand. Like Confucianism, Daoism does
not anguish over the underlying meaning of the cosmos. Rather, it attempts to set forth
proper forms of behavior for human beings here on earth.
In most other
respects, however, Daoism presents a view of life and its ultimate meaning that is almost
diametrically opposed to the one adopted by Confucius and his followers. Where Confucian
doctrine asserts that it is the duty of human beings to work hard to improve life here on
earth, Daoists contend that the true way to interpret the will of Heaven is not action,
but inaction (wu wei). The best way to act in harmony with the universal order is to act
spontaneously and let nature take its course.
Such a message
could be very appealing to those who were uncomfortable with the somewhat rigid flavor of
the Confucian work ethic and preferred a more individualistic approach. This image would
eventually find graphic expression in the long tradition of Chinese landscape painting,
which in its classical form would depict naturalistic scenes of mountains, water, and
clouds and underscore the fragility and smallness of individual human beings.
Daoism achieved
considerable popularity in the waning years of the Zhou dynasty and competed for favor
with the various other doctrines that flourished at the time. It was especially popular
among intellectuals, who may have found it appealing as an escapist antidote in a world
characterized by growing disorder.
POPULAR BELIEFS
Daoism also played a
second role as a somewhat loose framework for popular spiritualistic and animistic beliefs
among the common people. Popular Daoism was less a philosophy than a religion; it
comprised a variety of rituals and forms of behavior that were regarded as a means of
achieving heavenly salvation or even a state of immortality on earth. Daoist sorcerers
practiced various types of mind or body-training exercises in the hope of achieving power,
sexual prowess, and long life. It was primarily in this form that Daoism would survive
into a later age.
The philosophical
forms of Confucianism and Daoism did not provide much meaning to the mass of the
population, for whom philosophical debate over the ultimate meaning of life was not as
important as the daily struggle for survival. For most Chinese, in ancient as well as in
modern times, Heaven was not a vague impersonal law of nature, as it was for many
Confucian and Daoist intellectuals, but a terrain peopled with innumerable gods and
spirits of nature, both good and evil. As in Western societies, popular religion grew out
of primitive beliefs in the existence of spirits in nature—in trees, mountains, and
streams as well as the heavenly bodies. As human beings
Another aspect of
popular religion was the belief that the spirits of deceased human beings lived in the
atmosphere for a time before ascending to Heaven or descending to Hell. During that period
of purgatory, surviving family members had to care for the spirits through proper ritual,
or they would become evil spirits and haunt the survivors.
Thus, in ancient
China, a multiplicity of doctrines and beliefs offered human beings a variety of
interpretations of the nature of the universe. Confucianism satisfied the need for a
rational doctrine of nation building and social organization at a time when the existing
political and social structure was beginning to disintegrate.
p. 92
The Daoist
Answer to Confucianism
The Dao De Jing (The
Way of the Dao) is the great classic of philosophical Daoism (Taoism). Traditionally
attributed to the legendary Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (Old Master), it was probably written sometime during the era of Confucius. This
opening passage illustrates two of the key ideas that characterize Daoist belief: it is
impossible to define the nature of the universe, and "inaction" (not Confucian
"action") is the key to ordering the affairs of human beings.
The Way of the Dao
The Tao that can be
told of is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the mother of all things.
Therefore let
there always be non-being, so we may see
And let there always be being, so we may see their
The two are the same,
But after they are produced, they have different names.
They both may he called deep and profound.
Deeper and more profound,
The door of all subtleties
When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty,
There arises the recognition of ugliness.
When they all know the good as good,
There arises the recognition of evil. Therefore:
Being and non-being produce each other;
Difficult and easy complete each other;
Long and short contrast each other;
High and low distinguish each other;
Sound and voice harmonize each other;
Front and behind accompany each other.
Therefore the
sage manages affairs without action
And spreads doctrines without words.
All things arise, and he does not turn away from them.
He produces them but does not take possession of them.
He acts but does not rely on his own ability.
He accomplishes his task but does not claim credit for it.
It is precisely because he does not claim credit that his accomplishment remains with him.