Interest in cosmology—and a unified understanding of everything
Cheng brothers (cf. Two Chinese Philosophers)
Victory of Jurchen (Jin Dynasty) in 1127; Southern Song lasts until Mongol conquest in 1279
Victory of Jurchen (Jin Dynasty) in 1127; Southern Song lasts until Mongol conquest in 1279
Growth and controversy of Daoxue
Daoxue “middle level” institutions
Zhu Xi’s life: national scholar/teacher, local official
Yuan (1279-1368)
Yuan (1279-1368)
Ming (1368-1644)
Wang Yangming (1472-1529); Instructions for Practical Living
Korea (Choson; 1392-1910)
“Neo-Confucian revolution”
Four-Seven debate
Japan (Tokugawa; 1603-1868)
Qing (1644-1911)
Genre: Commentaries and Yulei, Classified Conversations
Genre: Commentaries and Yulei, Classified Conversations
Zhuzi Yulei: Gardner has translated chs. 7-13, “On Learning”
System (textual and conceptual)
Practices
Practical goal of learning
Hadot and “spiritual exercizes”
Five Classics vs. Four Books
This “li” not central to classical Confucianism. There:
This “li” not central to classical Confucianism. There:
Veins in jade
Order
Here, Principle, Pattern, Coherence (G, pp. 90-2)
One and Many; Nested Levels
Descriptive and Normative
“Qi” as “psycho-physical stuff
“Below form,” changeable
The “xin (heartmind) governs and unifies that nature and the feelings”
The “xin (heartmind) governs and unifies that nature and the feelings”
Which “nature (xing)”?
Metaphysical nature (= li)
Qi-nature (can be obscured)
How do we know what our true, metaphysical nature is?
Our deepest, unchanging and automatic reactions (“Four beginnings”)
“Nature is the state before activity begins, the feelings are the state when activity has started, and the mind includes both these states. For nature is the mind before activity has begun, while feelings are the mind after activity has started.… Desire emanates from feelings. The mind is comparable to water, nature is comparable to the tranquility of still water, feeling is comparable to the flow of the water, and desire is comparable to its waves. Just as there are good and bad waves, so there are good desires, such as when “I desire humaneness,” and bad desires which rush out like wild and violent waves.”
Lesser Learning and Greater Learning (§§1.5 - 1.7)
Lesser Learning and Greater Learning (§§1.5 - 1.7)
