Lecture 13: Zhu Xi the Great Synthesizer Flashcards
Explain Zhu Xi’s concepts of li and the different layers of its meaning. (Criticize its possible confusion from the point of view of philosophy of language.)
- Li is principle or reason. There are three levels of li. He sees li as the Ultimate Reality, as common name for all principles, and as a particular principle; these two ideas sometimes gets confused.
- On the physical level, each and every thing has its own particular li.
- On the human and ethical level, li becomes human nature, taking the five constant virtues the li of human nature (humanness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness). These, when expressed, become good feelings (of commiseration, of shame and dislike, of deference and compliance, of right and wrong, etc.).
- On the ultimate level, he says that the li, therefore li is also the Ultimate Reality, and all other li’s are different manifestations of the same Ultimate Reality: “The Principle is one, whereas the manifestations are many (li yi fen shu).”
Explain the relation between li and qi according to Zhu Xi.
- First, li (principle, reason) is a metaphysical reality, whereas qi (vital force) is physical, therefore they are different. Theoretically, li could exist without qi. Even when this universe is destroyed, another universe could be created according to the principle.
- Second, in operation, li cannot be separate from qi. Together, they constitute all things in their concrete existence. Here, li and qi seem to be similar to Aristotle’s form and matter.
Explain Zhu Xi’s concept of human nature. In what sense is Zhu Xi’s concept of human nature different from Classical Confucians’ (such as Mencius)?
For Zhu Xi, human nature is the li embodied in human Mind. Since li is the original goodness of all things, humanity’s original nature must also be good; because humans have a virtuous nature, they are thus different from Mencius, for whom virtues are to be developed into excellence from the four sprouts. For Zhu Xi, the doings of human evil can be explained merely by referring to human nature of physical disposition
- “Nature is li only. However, without qi and concrete stuff of the universe, li would have nothing in which to settle itself down. When qi is received in its state of clearness, there will be no obscurity or obstruction and li will express itself freely. If there is obscurity or obstruction, then in its operation, Heaven li will dominate if the obstruction is small, and human desire will dominate if the obstruction is great. From this we know that the original nature is perfectly good… However, it is obstructed when the nature of physical disposition contains impurity.”
Explain Zhu Xi’s philosophical psychology or his concept of Mind and its difficulty.
Zhu Xi follows Zhang Zai’s saying: “Mind synthesizes human nature and emotion (xin tong xinqing).” The mind is both intellectual and feeling, unlike the purely intellectual mind in Western philosophy. He follows the Cheng brothers, in that Mind, as unity of the quiescent substance and its dynamic function (li and qi), is closer to the original human nature; still, there is dualism between being one with reason, and divergence from reason in emotions. The battle thus created can be dissolved only by persistent reverence (jing). Zhu Xi maintains that mind is both static and dynamic. The original human nature is good, whereas emotions are good when following the original nature, evil when tied with selfish and lustful desires.
Explain Zhu Xi’s idea about moral self-cultivation.
“Dwelling in respect (jujing)” is the most important method of self-cultivation. It concerns both the quiet substance of the human mind as well as its active functions. When quiet, or before all emotions appear, respectful seriousness nourishes the mind as substance; when in action, it checks the rising of emotions, which requires an unceasing effort on the part of human will.
Explain Zhu Xi’s ideas of “investigation of things” and “extension of knowledge.”
- He takes “investigation of things” as an inquiry into the principle (li) in each thing; through that, human beings can understand the principle (li) in their mind/heart.
- Through unceasing, serious respect and “extension of knowledge,” one can eventually arrive at the full unfolding of one’s mind/heart. At this point, there is unity between human nature and physical nature (i.e. human nature and natural nature, nature as we now think of it).
How does Zhu Xi see the relation between the cognitive process of “extension of knowledge” and the moral practice in self-cultivation?
“So long as the effort of respect and cultivation in one’s daily life is fully extended and one has no selfish human desire to disturb it, then, before emotions are aroused, the human mind/heart is as clear as a mirror and as calm as still water, while, after emotions are aroused, it could attain due measure without exception. This is the essential task in everyday life. As to self-examination when things occur and when we seek understanding in contact with things, this must also serve as the basis for all we do. That’s why Master Cheng said, ‘Self-cultivation requires respectful seriousness; the pursuit of learning depends on the extension of knowledge.’”
Explain Zhu Xi’s philosophy of religion (issues like Ghost and spirit, offering to ancestors, and the Lord of Heaven).
Common people tend to take ghosts and spirits as religious realities or Ultimate Reality. Zhu Xi looks at ghosts and spirits as belonging to natural phenomena. He interpreted their meaning by his theory of qi. For Zhu Xi, the phenomena of ghosts and spirits were but the growth and diminishing, stretching and contracting of qi according to the rhythmic change of yin and yang.
Criticize Fung’s naming Zhu Xi’s thought as “the School of Platonic Ideas.”
- Plato is an idealist—he believes that what we know through our intellect (i.e. Platonic Ideas, sometimes called Forms) is what is most real. In contrast, Zhu Xi is not an idealist, but rather a realist. He believes that the things we observe in the everyday world have real existence.
- It’s not accurate to compare Zhu Xi’s concept of li (principle) to Platonic Ideas because for Zhu Xi, each individual thing, as well as each class of things, has its own principle.
- Furthermore, all things taken together have a principle, which is identified as the great ultimate (t’ai chi). In contrast, individual things do not have a corresponding idea, according to Plato.
- The Platonic idea is the ideal which real things approach, but which they never perfectly reflect. Thus they are only ideas for classes of things, rather than for individual things, or for the totality of all things, as is the case with Zhu Xi.
- Zhu Xi’s principle, in one of its multiple meanings, is thus more like Aristotelian form. Aristotelian forms, unlike Platonic ideas, are not limited to species or groups of things. Rather, each individual thing is a compound of form and matter, where the form corresponds to the essence of that thing. In any case, we should be always careful of this kind of comparison.
Criticize Fung’s understanding that Zhu Xi has given a metaphysical justification to Mencius’ psychology.
- Fung maintains that there is a similarity between Mencius and Chu Hsi with regard to their views about the relationship between the four constant virtues (jen, yi, li, chih), the four beginnings (commiseration, shame, modesty, sense of right/wrong), and human nature (xing) and that Chu Hsi has given a metaphysical foundation to Mencius’s theory of four beginnings.
- But this is not really accurate. For Mencius, the feelings which the four beginnings represent are the basis of human nature. Feelings are thus internal, since they belong to our very nature, and the four virtues are but the utmost unfolding of these four beginnings.
- For Zhu Xi, human nature is characterized by the four constant virtues, which are the principles of human nature. The feelings are considered to be the expression of human nature, and hence not identical to this nature itself.
- Thus the view of Zhu Xi is somehow the opposite of that of Mencius, since for Zhu Xi, the four feelings are expressions of the four virtues, rather than the other way around (four beginnings to be unfolded totally into four virtues).
