Week 8 Flashcards
The Sage Kings
-The Yellow and Yangtze Rivers
~Flood Control
-The Sage Kings
~Yao
~Shun
~Yu
*Xia Dynasty
-Ancient Chinese society was based around two rivers, the Yellow and Yangtze
~While early civilizations developed a long the banks of both river, the civilization that developed a long the Yellow River in the north had the largest long-term influence on China
*While the river provides a reliable water source, as it flows through northern China, it picks up loess soil, a very fine, extremely fertile, silt-like soil
**Actually, where the river gets it’s name
-Loess is so fine that it floats in the river, turning the water yellow
-All that loess builds up on the riverbed
~When the riverbed rises too much, the river will break its banks and flood dramatically, overwhelming the flat northern plains of China
-The ancient world, and as recently as the 1930s, these floods resulted in the death of millions as the river periodically changed it’s course
~In the ancient world the river flowed into the Yellow sea much further south than it does today
-Early civilizations along the Yellow River seem to have developed due to the need to develop flood control techniques
-The earliest rulers of China are individuals known as the Sage Kings
~There are a number of these individuals, but the exact number of early rulers and who is included as a Sage King varies depending on the historian
*According to tradition, one of the first was Yao
-Yao ruled through personal virtue and benevolence
~Where he went, peace and tranquility followed
*He is the individual who began to order society into it’s proper form and created the first calendar
**When he grew old, he decided that his sons were not worthy to become kings, and so he looked around for the most virtuous person he could find, and eventually he chose Shun to succeed him
-Shun grew up in a family that despised him
~His father and stepmother hated him and made various attempts on his life
-However, he continued to respect his parents, honoring their every wish and putting up with their abuse even when they did things like try to bury him alive
~This respect for his elders was what attracted the attention of Yao, and it was due to his personal virtue that he was able to create order and peace during his reign
*When he grew old, he too overlooked his son, and instead chose Yu, to be the next ruler
-When Yu became the ruler, he devoted his life to controlling the yellow river
~Rather than building dikes to control the floods, he started to build channels out into the ocean to channel floodwaters away from populated areas
This took him years to do, and according to legend, he never returned home during that time
**Even though he passed by his house and heard his wife and children crying from loneliness, he put his duty to society above his personal happiness
**This sense of duty is what allowed him to create peace and order in China
-However, when he grew old, he did not overlook his son
~Instead he passed the position of king down to his son and thus founded the first dynasty in Chinese history, the Xia
-The Sage Kings and other heroes and kings of the period are undoubtedly mythological, but later rulers and philosophers saw the sage Kings as the ideal rulers, and they help up these individuals as models of good government
Shang Dynasty (circa 1766-1050/45 BC)
-Oracle Bones (aka Dragon bones)
~Process
*Shangdi
*Ancestors
-The Xia Dynasty may or may not be mythological
~If it did exist, it was probably in the late 2000s BC
-However, while it is attested to in Chinese historical records, there is, no historical or archeological evidence of its existence. There are certainly archaeological sites that date to that period along the Yello River, but there is no evidence that these sites are the remnants of the Xia
-However, it is difficult to know for sure since many 19th-century historians and archaeologists use to think that the next dynasty attested to in Chinese histories, the Shang Dynasty, was mythological
-According to Chinese histories, the Shang Dynasty ruled northern China for centuries, but those historical accounts were widely dismissed by modern archaeologists and historians until 1899
~In 1899 a malaria outbreak occurred in Beijing
A Chinese scholar went to the marketplace looking for medicine and discovered that traditional healers were prescribing a medicine made up of ground dragon bone
When he examined these bones, he discovered that they were the bottom of turtles and the shoulder bond of cattle that were covered with an ancient Chinese script
*When archaeologists went to where these dragon bones were being discovered, they discovered the royal tombs of the last Shang Kings
-These Dragon Bones were actually Oracle Bones
~Like many ancient societies, the Shang were very interested in learning about the future from the gods, in this case the main deity or spirit of the Shang universe, Shangdi
-However, rather that examining internal organs or the flight of birs (as the Romans had done), they asked Shangdi or the spirit of one of their ancestors to provide an answer
~The Shang believed that when an individual died, their spirit went to the next world
*There they were part of the system where the more recent dead were at the bottom level and were outranked by the spirits of their ancestors who died before them
**The more distant ancestors were more powerful and closer to the gods and Shangdi itself
-In order to determine the future, the Kings would ask question
~”Will we be attacked?”; “When will my toothache end?”; “Will my wife’s upcoming childbirth be successful?”; or “Which ancestor should I ask to get an answer to my question?”
~The question would be written on the shoulder bone of an ox or the underside of a turtle that had a hole (or multiple holes) drilled in it
*Then the diviner in charge of the ceremony would insert a hot piece of metal into the hole, and the bone would crack from the heat
**They might do this multiple times if they drilled multiple holes in the bone, and from these cracks, the diviner would be able to interpret the answer that the ancestors or the gods had provided
***Occasionally, they would then write the answer on the bone, and infrequently they would inscribe the end result
**These bones were stored and then buried with the individual who asked the questions
**From these tombs, archaeologists have learned a great deal about the Shang, but it is important to keep in mind that these Oracle Bones only provide detailed information about he elites of Shang society; we don’t know much about how people at the lower levels of society lived or what they believed
Technology (Bronze and Chariots)
-These tombs contained quite a bit more than oracle bones
~They also contained a massive number of weapons, cooking and eating vessels, and ritual items made of bronze
*Bronze is made from a combination of copper and tin
-In China, there were extensive copper and tin deposits reasonably close to one another, and as a result, the Shang produced quite a few large bronze pieces
-The Shang seems to have dominated Chinese society via their control over the production of bronze weapons
~The Shang used chariots, which gave them a military advantage over the surrounding people
*These two pieces of technology enabled them to dominate the area around the Yellow River
-Please keep in mind that the Shange do not seem to have developed a powerful, centralized state that exerted constant control over individuals at the lower levels of society
~Instead, the Shang kings had to travel around constantly in order to exert authority, and they needed to wage wars in order to prove their power on the battlefield
Other People
-Sacrifices
-Sanxingdui (1700-1000 BC)
-Tarim Mummies (circa 2000-500 BC)
-While the Shang is certainly a major influence on the later development of Chinese society and civilization, they were not the only people living in China, and it would be an error to assume that Chinese culture and society sprang from a single source
~The Shang waged war on a variety of surrounding people, taking captives who would either be used as human sacrifices or would be executed and buried with kings
-Additionally, archaeologists during the 1980s discovered the remnants of a major civilization at Sanxingdui in Sichuan
~An enormous wall surrounded the city, but more importantly, archaeologists discovered a large number of bronze items that appear to have been ceremoniously buried
*They are unique, quite different from bronze pieces found along the Yellow River, and they clearly demonstrate a high level of bronze technology
-In addition, in far Westerns China there were other groups as well
-In the Taklimakan Desert, one of the most hostile areas on Earth, archaeologists have discovered burial sites that date back to the time of the Shang, and when the region was somewhat wetter
~These individuals were buried underneath upturned boats, a pole was placed at the head of each male burial and an ora at the head of each female burial
The climate had almost perfectly preserved the people
**They had clearly Caucasian features, some stood over six feet tall, and were wearing tartan-style cloth
**Genetic studies of these individuals have suggested that they might be part of the Indo-European language migration, and archaeologists know that people in the region previously spoke Tocharian, an Indo-European language
**Valerie Hansen notes that, despite the lack of evidence to actually prove this, some historians have suggested that these people may have introduced chariots to China
Zhou Dynasty (circa 1050/45- 256 BC)
-Zhou Rebellion
~King Wen and King Wu
~Tian and the Mandate of Heaven
-Zhou Rule
~The Duke of Zhou
-Sometime between 1050 and 1045 BC, the Zhou overthrew the Shang and established a new dynasty
~The Zhou were people who lived to the west of the Shang and had been conquered by them
-However, according to later historians who were interested in making sure that the Zhou rebellion was seen as legitimate, the last Shang king was uninterested in good government
~He spent his time focused on the pleasures of the material flesh
*Drinking and partying with women and other people with loose morals
~He also ignored proper governance and began to execute those who questioned his decisions
*The final straw for the Zhou king, King Wen, was when the Shang king had one of his critics vivisected, and at that point, Wen rose up in revolt
**Even through Wen died before the Shang were defeated, his son King Wu, defeated the Shang forces and established a new dynasty
-The Zhou justified this rebellion through their belief in tian and a political doctrine that is known as the Mandate of Heaven
~Zhou did not view tian as a god per see; instead, tian is the cosmic force that created the universe and orders it
*According to the Zhou, tian gives temporal rulers a mandate to rule
**As long as the ruler is virtuous, pious, and listens to the advice of their advisors and elders, their reigns will be peaceful and prosperous
-However, if rulers are immoral, impious, and did not listen to their elders, tian could take that mandate away, and the evidence for that would be disorder and natural disasters
~Floods, invasions, earthquakes, and other events would be signs that the rulers were acting improperly and thus could be replaced by a new dynasty
*The Zhou justified their overthrow of the Shang by arguing that the Shang had lost the Mandate of Heaven
-This is pure, unadulterated propaganda
~It was developed in the years after the Zhou rule and was articulated by historians who wanted to justify the Zhou’s overthrow of the Shang, the later overthrow of the Zhou by the Qin Dynasty, and the overthrow of the Qin by the Han Dynasty
In the end, it is an ideology used by the winners of dynastic struggles and those who led rebellions against the state
**Those who led rebellions against the state claimed that the Mandate was on their side, and the rulers who came out on top in these political struggles claimed the Mandate gave their rule legitimacy
**Regardless, this idea helped to govern how various Chinese governments respond to disasters up until the modern day
-The Zhou ruled in much the same way as the Shang
~They ruled a decentralized state in which the Zhou kings dominated a large number of local rulers
*This was effective as long as the local rulers remained loyal
-However, is also meant that these local rulers developed their own power bases as they consolidated their own power at the expense of the Zhou
~In the early years, this caused problems when King Wu died and left a minor, King Cheng, on the throne
*While this could have spelled disaster, King Wu’s brother, the Duke of Zhou, became the regent, ruling instead of his young nephew
**According to legend, the Duke served faithfully, putting down rebellions and consolidating Zhou’s control over China
-However, when his nephew was ready to take control, the Duke stepped aside, handed over power, and retired from public life (known from the Book of Documents)
~A collection of historical records, some of which come from the period of the Zhou conquest, but many were written in late years when historians began to write documents that would justify the rule of later dynasties and individuals by suggesting that their ideas had ancient precedents
*LAter philosophers used the Book of Documents and the accounts of King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou to hold up these individuals as being the ideas loyal, virtuous, and honorable rulers
Continuity
-Zhou Literature
~I Ching (Book of Changes)
~Book of Songs (Odes)
-The continuity between the Shang and the Zhou extends to their literature and society
~The Zhou continued to produce massive bronze objects, and they attempted to tell the future
*Like bells that would be rung during rituals since music was an important part of ritual ceremonies
-However, they started to phase out the cracking of bones and began to develop new forms of divination
~The I Ching (the Book of Changes) is a work of divination that survives from the Zhou period that describes telling the future using stalks of Yarrow (an herb)
-They continued the practice of honoring one’s ancestors, although more information survives from the Zhou than from the Shang
~The Zhou inscribed poetry and other information on the inside of bells, for ancestors to hear and read
*Writing on bronze obviously survives quite well compared to material on bone and other less durable materials
-Additionally, quite a bit of Zhou literature survives
~From the Book of Songs (Odes) is a collection of 306 poems from the Zhou period
*While some of them are ritual works intended for elites, a number are actually remnants of songs describing the agricultural cycle, the suffering of the poor who are called off to distant wars, and the struggle of women who want to avoid remarriage
**These works provide a window into the day-to-day life of the Zhou period, and they became even more important in later centuries as Confucius and other philosophers began to argue that the study of these poems would help people appreciate the peace, older, and cultural refinement provided by the Zhou
Eastern Zhou (770-256 BC)
-Spring and Autumn Period (771-481 BC)
-Warring States Period (480-221 BC)
-Innovation and the Hundred Schools of Thought
~Dao
-The later Zhou kings eventually suffered due to the rise of local rulers
-One of the most important periods of Chinese history, but the exact periodization is a bit complicated
~Zhou history is usually divided into two main phases
*In the western Zhou period from 1050/45 to 771 BC, the Zhou kings were rulers who actually exercised power over the realm
-However, in 771, the Zhou faced a rebellion that drove them out of their capital
~They managed to survive, fled to the east, and established a new capital
-From 770-256 Bc, the zhou kings ruled essentially became figureheads
~While they continued to rule, their territory split into a number of states that fought against one another in an attempt to dominate China
Rulers that rose to dominate China did not attempt to overthrow the Zhou kings; instead, these rulers continued to honor the Zhou kings publically even though they were essentially powerless
-The Eastern Zhou period between 770-481 BC is known as the Spring and Autumn Period since this period is covered in the (Spring and Autumn Annals, a rather brief chronicle of the period that provides highlights of names and events that were produced sometimes in the 400s BC.
~According to the text, as well as various commentaries that were composed to explain the events that the work describes, there were more than a hundred states vying for control during this time
-The period between 481-221 BC, which covers the collapse of the Zhou in 256 BC, is known as the Warring States Period as it is covered in a history known as the Record of the Warring States (the exact date when the text was produced was unclear, perhaps sometime in the 200s or 100s BC)
~During this time, China was dominated by a series of larger states until the early 200s BC there were only eight remaining
Confucius/ Kongzi (circa 551-479 BC)
-The Analects
~Circa 400-200s BC
~Production
-Confucious is actually a westernized version of the name Kongzi
-Zi at the end of a name, means master
~THe westernized name would actually be more proper to refer to him as Master Kong
-Even though it is technically incorrect, referring to Kongzi as Confucius for the rest of the lecture
-Our records of Confucius’s life can be fairly vague and are often mixed with late legends and stories, but as far as historians can tell, Confucius appears to have been born sometime in the mid-500s BC in the smallish state of Lu in eastern China
~He seems to have spent his early life searching for a government position in Lu and later in other nearby states
-However, he had extremely high moral and ethical standards that he refused to compromise in the interests of political expediency
~He never held government positions for long since he usually left when asked to bend or change his beliefs
*Eventually, he grew tired of this and returned to Lu where he began to teach individuals about his ideas on proper moral and ethical behavior
**His students wanted the same thing that he did, a government position where they could influence society, but they were more successful than he had been in finding and holding onto these posts
-After Confucius died, these students started to write down the things that he had said and stories about his life and teachings
~These sayings were eventually collected into the Analects, there are no images of him from his lifetime
**Some images are from the Tang Dynasty in the late 600s or early 700s CE
-According to western scholars, the Analects, like pretty much everything else was composed over the course of centuries
~It consists of 499 sayings that were collected and written by various individuals and arranged into twenty books, but there is little rhythm or reason of their organization
*Some books seem to have general themes to the sayings that they contain, but often the reader has to pick through a grab bag of ideas in each book
-As far as historians and literary scholars can tell, the analects contain material that was composed over the course of centuries
~While some material probably dates from the 400s BC, and thus to the first or second generation of Confucius’ students, other bits and pieces were not added to the text until the late 200s
*As a result, it is often difficult to know which passages actually represent the ideas of Confucius himself and which represent later Confucian beliefs that were simply attributed to him
-However, it is important to note that exactly when particular sections were written is very much an open question that scholars are still trying to determine
-What is reasonably clear is that it probably reached the form that it is now sometime in the first century BC or even a little earlier
~Archaeologists have discovered copies of the Analects written on strips of bamboo from a mid-first century BC tomb that is quite similar to our modern version of the text
-However, recent archaeologists’ finds from the 300s BC and earlier continue to improve our understanding of how the text and Confucianism developed during the Warring States Period
~Regardless of when exactly the work was produced or when it reached its current form, it is key to understanding Confucianism as a whole
The Dao (Path) of Confucius
-Caring for Humanity
~Zhou Ritual and Conservatism
~Li (ritual propriety) and Ren (humaneness)
~Xiao (filial piety)
~Junzi (gentleman)
-Focus on the fact that Confucius was quite different from almost every other philosopher; he was seemingly uninterested in talking about the nature of the universe, an afterlife, gods, or any other supernature entity
~Instead, he was very much focused on the here and now, on the world as it is, rather than on any other reality or state of existence
*This does not mean he denied the existence of spirits and gods or the role they played in the world
In Analects 11.12 when one of his students asks about serving spirits and gods, Confucius responds, “Not yet being able to serve other people, how would you be able to serve the spirits” and when the student asks about death, Confucius responds, “Not yet understanding life, how could you understand death?” Similarly, in 5.13, one of his students notes that students “can learn from the Master’s culture and the way of tian”
* In These passages, Confucius’s concern for caring about this world is clear
**One needs to understand how to care for individuals in this world via culture and tradition before worrying about big issues such as the nature of humans or the will of the heavens
-One may have heard that Confucius was a conservative, and that’s sort of true
~In order to determine how to live, act, and treat other people, Confucius looked to the past, in particular to the literature and ideas of the Zhou
Their traditions, beliefs, and ideas, as shown through their literature, had created a peaceful and orderly society
**If people studied their ideas and actually attempted to embody them in their own lives, then they could attain the same peacefulness and cultural refinement that had marked the Zhou
**In 7.1, he says, “I do not forge new paths; with confidence, I cherish the ancients”
**According to this, he did not create new customs or ideas, he simply interpreted the ancient ways of his age
-However, this did not mean that he was completely unwilling to change
~He recognize that, as times changed, new ideas and customs would arise, and as long as these new customs continued to honor the spirit and respect of the old paths, he was willing to entertain these new ideas
-Confucius focused on the idea of li
~Li can be translated in a wide variety of ways, but typically one sees it as rites, rituals, or the general sense of propriety; occasionally these terms are blended together
It is often translated as ritual propriety
-Confucius read the literature of the Zhou, and he argued that individuals should perform the religious and social rituals that had been prescribed by the Zhou in one’s daily life
~This would enable a person to behave appropriately in all circumstances
For Confucious proper behavior was key to ethical and moral behavior
**By perfecting one’s li, an individual could also develop ren, another key concept for Confusious
-Ren is translated in a variety of ways, but it usually appears as goodness, benevolence, humanity, or humaneness
~It is the care that one expresses for one’s fellow beings, the goodness, honor, or loyalty that one expresses in their daily lives
*It is not something that we simply have, it is something that we need to learn through education and through the practice of the rituals of proper behavior (Ex li) in our daily lives
-In Book 10 deals with Confucius’s actions in his daily life, and he seems very fussy. He won’t eat improperly cooked foods (10.8), he won’t sit unless his mat is properly placed (10.12), and he even sleeps in a proper pose (10.23).
~This seems odd, but for Confusious, this regulation of his behavior and attitude according to the ritual protocol (li) is helping him to develop ren and show that to the rest of the world, and it’s not that different from the modern day
-Brian W. Van Norden, a noted scholar of classical Chinese philosophy, suggests that you think about rituals that you perform in your daily life
~If one goes to a job interview. How many of you shake hands with people one’s about to interview? How many of you look those people straight in the eye when you speak? How many of you govern your language and take care not to swear in an interview? How many of you are going to put on business-style clothing for the day?
*Everything one does is a ritual of modern American society that shows one’s ethical behavior
**One wants to show their trustworthiness via eye contact and a good firm handshake
**One wants to show that they understand the basic codes of behavior by not swearing at people
****This shows people that they care for others and makes them want to treat them in the same way
**Imagine for a moment what would happen if one went to an interview in their pajamas, started at the floor, avoided shaking hands, and randomly dropped a couple of f-bombs in their answer
**Is that going to tell people that one cares about the job? Is that going to show people that one cares about other people?
**It cannot be an empty ritual
-Confucius is clear that one should not just be fake and only go through the outward motions of rituals in order to fool people into thinking that one cares about them and are an ethical person
~That’s useless and a waste of time
-Instead, one needs to practice li and develop ren so that it is always real
~One should always be present and mindful about these rituals so that they really do care about other people
Parents are the ones that taught their children the rituals of daily social existence and how to be a good person
-Confusious would have the same answer; the third main Confucian virtue is xiao
-Xiao means filial piety, which is a fancy way of saying that one should respect and honor their parents
~The parents have done everything for the children, they have sacrificed for the children, and they have raised the child to be the moral and honorable people they grow into
*The least that one can do is an honor and care for them in return
**Confucious took this to somewhat extreme lengths by modern western standards
**When one’s parents die, one should mourn for three years, and one should care about their family above all others
****In addition, rather than asking people to care about all people equally, he argued that it was only appropriate and reasonable for people to be focused on those closest to them, even if this goes against governmental or legal norms
**In Analects 13.18, Confucius talks to a governor who is proud of the fact that sons respect the laws so much that they report their fathers for a thief. Confucius responds that in his village, “A father covers for his son, and a son covers for his father.”
****This does not mean that one should not or cannot care about people outside their families, but it does mean that, practically, we need to focus on those individuals before looking to the rest of society
-According to Confucius, the person who embodies all of these ideas is an individual known as a Gentlemen (junzi)
~This individual embodies li, ren, and xiao, and Confucius argues that these gentlemen are the individuals who could be placed in charge of society
*They should be the ones running states and making policies because they are the most moral and ethical people in existence
**They are the ones who will bring order to China and who will help end the chaos that Confucius saw in the world around him
Later Confucians
-Mencius / Mengzi (circa 372-289 BC)
-Xunzi (circa 298-238 BC)
-The years after Confucius’s death, a number of philosophers followed in his footsteps and refined his ideas
~Perhaps the most famous of these individuals was Mencius
-Mencius was from the same state as Confucius, and he followed a similar path
~He traveled around to various states seeking a position in government, but he never stayed in one place for long
*After his death, his students wrote down accounts of his teachings and conversations with rulers and other scholars
-Mencius was more concerned with human nature than Confucius had been
~He argued that all humans contained goodness within them at birth
*This does not mean that human nature is good, just that it has the potential for goodness
**Mencius says that if people see a child about to fall into a well, they will automatically feel concerned, not because they want a reward but because no one wants to see or hear a child suffer
**If governments, families, and society treated people with respect if people were well fed if they had houses, clothing, and peace that potential goodness would grow and develop
-However, if they were mistreated, if there was not enough food, or if governments persecuted their subjects, that potential goodness would wither and potentially disappear
~Due to these ideas, Mencius focused on developing and governing via ren
-The other main developer of Confucius’s ideas was Xunzi
~Unlike Confucius and Mencius, Xunzi was a government official who wrote works that directly tell people how to govern and improve society
-However, unlike Mencius, Xunzi believed that humans were fundamentally selfish and self-centered
~They did not contain any sprouts of goodness within them, and thus instead of nurturing individuals through ren, he argued that people needed to be shaped and molded through li
*He used the example of warped lumber
**One straighten warped lumber through steam, heat, and clamps, not through kindness
-Xunzi argued that the gods did not cause natural disasters and celestial events
~Instead, they were caused by nature
*Rather than being worried about natural events as a sign that Tian had withdrawn the Mandate of Heaven, he argued that humans should be concerned with how the governments reacted to natural events
**If they were unable to respond properly, that was a sign that governments were potentially illegitimate
-Confucians focused on humans and human innovations
~They were not concerned with finding some sort of divine solution to the problems of China
*Instead, they look to the past, to the Zhou, and to other human innovations for solutions
Mozi (circa 470-391 BC)
-The Mozi
~Consequences
*Wealth, Population, and Peace
~Critiquing Confucius
~Universal Love
~The Three Criteria
-One of the earliest critics of Confucius was Mozi
~Almost nothing is known about the life of Mozi, but according to various legends, he may have been some sort of craftsman (carpenter?) who rose to a position of prominence as he began to teach and educate students
*Mozi’s students eventually turned a collection of his sayings and stories about him into a single work known as the Mozi
**Like the Analects, this is not a work written by Mozi himself but rather various generations of his students and later followers
-The work that we have is actually highly fragmentary
~The majority of the work was destroyed in the late 200s BC when Mohist philosophers were (essentially) wiped out
*The text has been pieced together from a number of later copies, all of which were incomplete
**Much is unclear about Mozi’s beliefs and ideas, but enough remains that we can gain a reasonable idea of his main concerns
-Mozi seems to have been concerned with the selfishness of individuals and states
~He thought that people were overly concerned with themselves, their wealth, their states, and their power, and as such, they did not think about the consequences of their actions
-States would go to war in order to gain a short-term advantage over their rivals, but those wars simply led to more chaos and destruction that damaged everyone in the long term
~This short-term thinking was what was causing chaos and destruction that Mozi saw around him
*If this was the end, states needed to consider the consequences of their actions by considering if their actions contributed to the wealth of the state, the growth of the population, and to general peace and order
-These three things were what Mozi considered key to good government
~This actually led to some of his main critiques of Confucianism since he saw Confucius engaging in activities that did not contribute to the general good
*The Confucians valued the rituals of the Zhou, which often involved elaborate clothing, trained dancers, and exquisite musical performances that wasted time, money, and energy that could be better put to use in the production of food, clothing, and housing for the poor
**Musicians might be better put to work as farmers, and the elites who sat around watching these performances might spend their time governing their states
-Similarly, elaborate funerals and pouring wasted money
~In the end, the dead should be placed in a plain box, buried just enough so that they would not pollute the water but do not smell on the surface, and everyone needs to go home and get to work rather than spending their time and energy mourning
-Mozi was also concerned with what he saw as Confucius’s overemphasis on the family and differentiated caring
~He argued that this was one of the things that led to chaos
-Instead, Mozi argued for the idea of Universal Love
~Think about how Mozi asks us to treat one another and the consequences of that treatment
*Also think about how he answers objections to the implementation of his ideas and argues for their implementation
-Mozi used elaborate arguments; rather than simply stating his ideas and expecting people to follow along, or thinking that his ideas needed to be put into place via conquest and wars, he recognized that he needed to persuade people
~To do this, he developed the idea of the Three Criteria
*This system of argumentation was extremely influential in China since it introduced ideas of logical argumentation that were used by later scholars for centuries
The Daodejing (circa 200s BC)
-Daoism and Laozi
-Political Messages
-Action
~Wuwie (nonaction)
~The Dao (the way)
-The Daodejing (the Classic of the Way and Virtue) represents another set of ideas that were quite critical of both Confucianism and Mohism
~The Daodejing is one of the foundation texts of the religion that we know as Daoism (also spelled Taoism), and it is credited to the great sage Laozi who was a contemporary of Confucius
-However, most modern western scholars suggest that religious Daoism did not develop until the later Han Dynasty (ruled between 206 BC and 220 CE) and that the Laozi is probably a mythological figure
-While the Daodejing later became one of the key texts associated with religious Daoism, we will talk about the political and social commentary it contains rather than its religious material
-The Daodejing is a collection of poems and verses that multiple authors wrote over the course of centuries
~Recent archaeological finds suggest that these various writings were put together and arranged in the form that we have them today starting as early as the 300s BC
*We know this, at least in part, because of archaeological discoveries like the Daoist text
-A Daoist text, written on silk, from three tombs discovered at Mawangdui in southern China
~These silks were buried sometimes in the 160s BC, yet the version of the Daodejing that was recovered is almost identical to the version that we read
-At least some of these authors pointed out the problems they saw in Chinese society, and they suggested a radical solution
~Passages point out the inequality and violence of the Warring States Period by commenting that the poor lack food while the rich feast
*Other passages condemn warfare and argue that violence and laws are not the correct paths to creating order
**Other passages condemn supposedly learned people who simply engage in argumentation, which clearly calls out Confucians and Mohists
-Instead of looking to the time of the Zhou of the Sage Kings for solutions, the Daojing looks even further back to the origins of Chinese society
-Instead of asking people to engage in human-made rituals or society, the text suggests that people should return to their pre-civilized, agrarian roots
~Civilization, rituals, laws, and indeed all products of the modern world have only served to separate humans from the truth of existence
-Instead of arguing that philosophers can teach humans to be more humane and loving through rituals and laws (as Confucius and Mozi did), multiple passages in the Daojing advocated that individuals adopt a doctrine of wuwei (nonaction)
~Nonaction does not mean that we should simply drop out of society, live on a beach, and smoke some dope
-Nonaction means that every action that we do should be so in-tune with the natural order that we don’t have to think about it or describe it, we simply do it because it is the natural thing to do
~When we encounter an issue or a problem, we should not need to debate the best course of action by looking to the laws or actions of past societies
-Instead, we should simply act in accordance with the natural order
-One might be wondering what the natural order is
-The Dao (the way) is everything and nothing
~It is like water, soft and yielding to the touch yet hard enough to wear down a mountain
*It is fundamental force of the universe that is a part of all things and is constantly changing, yet it cannot be described or summarized except through metaphors and paradoxes
-According to passages of the Daojing, when one does things, one needs to be completely in accordance with the dao, and the only way to do that is through nonaction (which is an action that is completely in accordance with the dao)
-Bryan W Van Norden, suggests that we think of the naturalness of a professional athlete
~The quarterback of a football game; when a play begins, the ball gets snapped, and it’s a rush of actions as the defense surges forward, but in the middle of the chaos, the quarterback steps back, surveys the field, and fires a perfectly aimed ball into the hands of the receiver
*That quarterback is an example of an individual exhibiting nonaction; they do not overthink by analyzing every step or arm motion they make, if they did, they would not be able to function due to the overwhelming noise and chaos of the moment
-Instead, because of the endless practice and because they are completely focused and in tune with the moment, they are reacting to the movement and rush of the offense and defense naturally, and at the moment, they are making the best possible decision
-That’s what one should do and how one should behave when faced with moral quandaries
~Later one might be able to think back and reflect on why they behaved or acted in a certain way, one should be so in-tune with the dao and the correct, natural order that they make decisions without needing to describe them or think about them
*The individual should be when attempting to guide a state or simply live their life
Legalism
-Han Feizi (circa 280-233 BC)
~Self Interest
~The Two handles
~Philosophy and Education
-Legalism was not exactly a philosophy per see, but instead, it was a way of governing that attracted a wide variety of individuals across China
~Perhaps the most famous of the Legalists was Han Feizi
*He came from the state of Han near the end of the Warring States Period, and his main goal seems to have been to preserve the independence of his state in a time when its existence was under threat by the Qin state to its west
-Han Feizi took the ideas and policies of other individuals and turned those ideas into a philosophical school
~Han Feizi seems to have been primarily concerned with human nature, in particular, the fact that humans were self-interested and that they were shaped by their socio-economic conditions
*When times are good people are well-fed, and they will be moral and ethical individuals who behave and obey the laws of the land
-However, when times are bad and food, housing, and clothing are in short supply, people will look out for themselves and will do anything that they have to in order to survive
~That’s the problem
*How should a monarch control society and individuals if humans are focused on their own interests above everything else?
-According to Han Feizi, they should do this through the two handles: reward and punishment
~Rewards for good deeds should be clear and generous, and punishments should be gruesome and public so that no one is tempted to repeat the offender’s actions again
-Law codes should be clear and punishments must be carried out according to the law; there can be no hesitancy or leniency that might make people think that they can get away with a crime
~There can be no arguing with the monarch’s orders
-Instead, they should do as they are instructed and obey or they will risk being punished
~To illustrate this, Han Feizi tells a story about a king who fell asleep in a field
When his Steward of Cloaks failed to cover him with a cloak, the king’s Steward of Hats stepped in and covered the king to keep him warm
**When the king woke up, he punished both individuals since the Steward of Cloaks had failed to do his job the Steward of Hats had overstepped the bounds of his positions
**Thus, the sort of society envisioned by Han Feizi was one where the monarch’s word was law, and the people obeyed because they feared and respected the power of the state
-Since there should be no questions of the monarch or the law, philosophy and philosophers were both viewed by legalists as useless and dangerous
~Philosophers raised questions about the nature of the state in ways that led people to question the state
*They educated people in ideas and traditions that served no purpose since the only thing people really needed to know was the laws and the will of the monarch
**Philosophers distracted people who should be working hard in the fields producing food or serving in the armies
-Han Feizi argued that the focus on Confucians, Mohists, and other philosophers in the past was useless
~The ways of the Sage Kings might have been great in the distant past, but times had changed and those values and ideas were no longer particularly relevant
-Instead of looking to the past, people needed to look to the future to new ideas and new traditions that would enable states to prosper and develop
~To illustrate this, he uses a story of a farmer
One day, the farmer saw a rabbit run across a field headfirst into a stump, and it broke its neck. He took it home for supper, but the next day, instead of farming, he sat in his field, watching the stump, and waiting for another rabbit to die
**For Han Feizi, this is what Confucians and Mohists were doing
**They were waiting for freak past events to happen again when they should be getting on with their lives and doing useful work that would benefit not just themselves but the whole of China
-Mozi disagreed with Confucius because he thought that Confucius was focused too much on the family and on rituals that did not provide a tangible benefit to the state
-The Daojing disagrees with both Confucians and Mohists because the ritual and argumentation that they advocated kept people from the dao that was the true source of correct, natural actions
-Han Feizi disagrees with all philosophy because it focuses too much on the past and brings up questions that do not benefit the state
Qin State
-Legalist Reforms
-King Zheng (246-221 BC
~Qin Shihuangdi (221-210 BC)
*First Emperor of the Qin
*Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC)
-Sometime in the early 300s BC, the Qin state in western China began to implement Legalist ideas on a mass scale, and a series of kings and ministers began to remake society
~They began to attract settlers from other states by allowing peasants to own their land (At first), and they reformed the army into a strict meritocracy (rising through the ranks became based on who was the best soldier rather than who was born into the family)
*The administration of the state began to shift to minimize hereditary elites in favor of educated and effective bureaucrats
-However, in order to run this new state, they instituted compulsory military service for all males, enacted strict laws that outlined severe punishments for the slightest infractions, and even mandated communal punishment
~If a single individual broke the law, an entire family or community might be punished as a result
-These reforms resulted in the rapid growth of the Qin state at the expense of its neighbors
-The later history of the Warring States Period is a history of the various other states of China that formed alliances either against the Qin (in vain attempts to slow their advance) or with the Qin (in vain to keep their state intact)
-In 246 BC, King Zheng came to the throne of the Qin State at the age of thirteen
-In 203 BC, he launched an all-out war against the serving states to his east, and in 221 BC he successfully put an end to the Warring State Period by eliminating his opponents and unifying China
~Side note, Hero 2002 Jet Li martial arts movie is based on the assassination attempts made against King Zheng during these wars of unification
-To celebrate the victory he gave himself a new name and a new title: Qin Shihuangdi or First Emperor of the Qin, and he founded a new dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, which he decreed would last for a thousand generations
Reforms and Death
-Reforms
~Public Works
~Purges
-Death
~Tomb
-In order to rule his new realm, Qin Shishangdi reformed it along Lefalist lines
~He built a new capital at Xi’an where he forced the nobility of his defeated opponents to move so that he could monitor them
He reformed the laws (enacting the same strict codes that had been used in the Qin state), the currency, the Chinese script, weights, and measures, and established a centralized government
**He also embarked on a series of massive public-works projects from which he drafted laborers from across China
**These laborers built a road network to link China together, and they started to build walls in Northern China to help protect against nomadic invaders (the distant ancestors of the current Great Wall)
-He also banned all non-essental learning and education (he did preserve works on medicine, agriculture, astronomy, and other topics that he deemed essential)
~This meant that philosophers and texts associated with the Hundred Schools of Thought were burned in an attempt to limit criticism of the Emperor
-Mohism as a school died out in this period, at least in part because of Qin Shihuangdi’s purges
~The exact extent of this destruction is unknown, and the reliability of these stories about draconian laws and forced labor is unclear
*The histories of the Qin Dynasty were written by later Confucian scholars who were predisposed to show the Qin in a negative light, so modern historians have suggested that things might not have been as bleak and dystopian as they were made out to be
-Qin Shihuangdi was also obsessed with death, and he sought to avoid it at all costs
~According to later historians, as soon as he completed the unification of China, he forced 700,000 laborers to begin building his tomb outside Xi’an
*Throughout his reign, he attempted to find the secret of immortality and he went on tours of his ream so that he could consult with sages and scholars
-According to legend, while on one of these tours he was advised that the secret to immortality lay in the regular consumption of mercury pills, which led to his death in 210 BC
~His administrators were so afraid of what would happen when news of his death spread that they sealed his body up in his carriage and hauled cartloads of rotting fish in front and behind the carriage in order to disguise the smell of his rotting body
-He was buried in an immense chamber, the floor of which was etched with a map of China with all the rivers, lakes, and seas etched out in mercury and designed to look like it was flowing
~The ceiling was a map of the heavens with the starts and plants, and the surrounding chambers were filled with treasures
