A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (30 page)

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CONFUCIANIST METAPHYSICS

CHAPTER 16

WORLD POLITICS AND WORLD PHILOSOPHY

IT is said that "history never repeats itself," yet also that "there is nothing new under the sun.' Perhaps the whole truth lies in a combination of these two sayings. From a Chinese point of view, so far as international politics is concerned, the history of our world in the present and immediately preceding centuries looks like a repetition of the Chinese history of the Ch'un Ch'iu and Chan Kuo periods.

Political Conditions Preceding the Unification by Ch' in

The Ch un Ch iu period (722-479 B.C.) is so named because it is the period covered by the Ch'un Ch'iu or Spring and Autumn Annals. And the Chan Kuo period (480-220 B.C.) derives its name, which means Warring States, from the fact that it was a period of intensified warfare between the feudal states.

As we have seen, men's conduct during the feudal age was governed by li (ceremonies, rituals, rules of proper conduct). Not only were there li governing the conduct of the individual, but also those for the state as well. Some of these were to be practiced in time of peace, but others were designed for use in war. These peacetime and wartime li, as observed by one state in its relations to another, were equivalent to what we now would call international law.

We see that in recent times international law has become more and more ineffective. In late years there have been many instances in which one nation has attacked another without first sending an ultimatum and declaring war, or the airplanes of one nation have bombed the hospitals of another, while pretending that they did not see the red cross. And in the periods of Chinese history mentioned above, we see a similar decline in the effectiveness of the li.

In the Ch'un Ch'iu period, there were still people who respected the international li. The Tso Chuan reports a famous battle of Hung that took place in 638 B.C. between the states of Ch'u and Sung. The old-fashioned Duke Hsiang of Sung personally directed the Sung forces. At a certain moment, the 292 WORLD POLITICS AND WORLD PHILOSOPHY

Ch u army was crossing a river to form its lines, whereupon the commander under Duke Hsiang immediately asked for permission to attack the army during its crossing. To this the Duke replied, however, that he would not attack an army before it had formed its lines. The result was a disastrous defeat of the Sung army, in which the Duke himself was wounded. In spite of this, however, he defended his original decision, saying: "A superior man does not inflict a second wound on one who has already been wounded, nor does he take prisoner any one who has gray hair." This infuriated one of his commanders, who told the Duke: If it is good to refrain from inflicting a second wound, why not refrain from inflicting any wound at all? If it is good to refrain from taking prisoner any one who has gray hair, why not surrender to your enemy? (Tso Chuan, twenty—second year of Duke Hsi.) What the Duke said accorded with the traditional li, which represented the chivalrous spirit of the feudal knights. What the commander said represented the practice of a changing age.

It is interesting though discouraging to note that all the known methods which statesmen of today use in an effort to keep peace among nations are much the same as those which the statesmen of these early periods of Chinese history attempted without success. For example, a conference for the limitation of armaments was held in 551 B.C. (Tso Chuan, twenty-seventh year of Duke Hsiang.) Some time later a proposal was made to divide the "world" of that time into two "spheres of influence"; one in the east, to be controlled by the King of Ch' i with the title of Eastern Emperor; the other in the west, to be controlled by the King of Ch in with the title of Western Emperor. (Historical Records, ch. 46.) There were also various alliances of states with one another. During the Chan Kuo period these fell into two general patterns: the "vertical,' which ran from north to south, and the horizontal," which ran from west to east.

At that time there were seven major states, of which Ch in was the most aggressive. The vertical type of alliance was one directed against Ch in by the other six states, and was so called because Ch'in lay in the extreme west, while the other six states were scattered to the east of it, ranging from north to south. The horizontal type of alliance, on the other hand, was one in which Ch'in combined with one or more of the other six states in order to attack the remainder, and therefore was extended from the west toward the east.

Ch'in's policy was "to make alliance with distant states, but attack the ones that were near." In this way it always eventually succeeded in breaking up the vertical alliances that opposed it. By its superiority in 'agriculture and war" and extensive use of "fifth column' techniques among the other states, Ch'in, after a series of bloody campaigns, succeeded in conquering the other six stales one by one, and finally unified the whole of China in 2.2.1 B.C. Thereupon the King of Ch in gave to himself the grandiose title of First Emperor of Ch in (Ch in Shih—huang—ti) by which he is known to history. At the same time he abolished feudalism and thus for the first time in histo—

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ry created a centralized Chinese empire under the Ch in dynasty. The Unification of China

Though the First Emperor was thus the first to achieve actual unity, the desire for such unity had been cherished by all people for a long time previous. In the Mencius we are told that King Hui of Liang asked: How may the world be at peace? To which Meneius replied: "When there is unity, there will be peace." "But who can unify the world?" asked the King. "He who does not delight in killing men can unify it, answered Mencius. (la, 6.) This statement clearly expresses the aspiration of the time.

The word "world" used here is a translation of the Chinese term t'ien-hsia, which literally means "all beneath the sky." Some translators render it as empire, because, so they maintain, what the Chinese in ancient times called the t ien-hsia was confined to the limits of the Chinese feudal states. This is (juite true. But we should not confuse the intension of a term with its extension as it was understood by the people of a particular time. The latter usage is limited by the knowledge of facts possessed by these people, but the former is a matter of definition. For instance, we cannot say that the word jen (persons) should be translated as "Chinese, simply because in ancient times what the Chinese meant by the word was confined to people of Chinese blood. When the ancient Chinese spoke about yen, what they meant was really human beings, even though at that time their knowledge of human beings was limited to those of China. In the same way, when they spoke about the t ien -hsia, they meant the world, even though in early times their knowledge of the world did not extend beyond the Chinese states.

From the age of Confucius onward, the Chinese people in general and their political thinkers in particular began to think about political matters in terms of the world. Hence the unification of China by Ch'in seemed, to the people of that time, very much as the unification of the whole world would seem to us today. Since the unification of 2.2.1 B.C., for more than two thousand years, with the exception of certain periods which the Chinese have considered as abnormal, they have lived under one government in one world. They have thus been accustomed to a centralized organization that would operate for world peace. But in recent times they have been plunged into a world with international political conditions similar to those of the remote periods of the Ch un Ch iu and Chan Kuo. In the process they have been compelled to change their habits of thinking and acting. In this respect, in the eyes of the Chinese, there has been a repetition of history, which has contributed much to their present suffering.

(See note at the end of the chapter.)

The Great Learning

To illustrate the internationalistic character of Chinese philosophy, let us 296 WORLD POLITICS AND WORLD PHILOSOPHY

turn now to some of the ideas of the Ta Hsiieh, or Great Learning. The Ta Hsiieh, like the Chung Yung, is a chapter in the Li Chi (Book of Rites), and like the Chung Yung, it was, during the Sung dynasty (960-1279), grouped by the Neo-Confucianists with the Confucian Analects and the Mencius, to form the Four Books which comprised the primary texts for Neo-Confucian philosophy.

The Great Learning was attributed by the Neo-Confucianists, though with no real proof, to Tseng Tzu, one of the chief disciples of Confucius. It was considered by them to be an important manual for the learning of Too. Its opening section reads:

"The teaching of the Great Learning is to manifest one' s illustrious virtue, love the people, and rest in the highest good....The ancients who wished to manifest illustrious virtue throughout the world, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their own states, they first regulated their own families. Wishing to regulate their own families, they first cultivated their own selves. Wishing to cultivate their own selves, they first rectified their own minds. Wishing to rectify their own minds, they first sought for absolute sincerity in their thoughts. Wishing for absolute sincerity in their thoughts, they first extended their knowledge. This extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things.

"Things being investigated, only then did their knowledge become extended. Their knowledge being extended, only then did their thought become sincere. Their thought being sincere, only then did their mind become rectified. Their mind being rectified, only then did their selves become cultivated. Their selves being cultivated, only then did their families become regulated. Their families being regulated, only then did their states become rightly governed. Their states being rightly governed, only then could the world be at peace."

These statements have been known as the three "main cords" and eight minor wires of the Ta Hsiieh.

According to later Confuciarnsts, the three eords really comprise only one cord, which is to manifest one s illustrious virtue." "To love the people" is the way "to manifest one s illustrious virtue, while to rest in the highest good is to manifest one s illustrious virtue" in the highest perfection.

The "eight wires" are likewise really only one wire, which is the cultivation of one' s own self. In the above quotation, the steps preceding the cultivation of the self, such as the investigation of things, extension of knowledge, etc., are the ways and means for cultivating the self. And the steps following the cultivation of the self, such as the regulation of the family, etc., are the ways and means for cultivating the self to its highest perfection, or as the text says, for "resting in the highest good." Man cannot develop his nature to perfection unless he tries his best to do his duties in society. He cannot perfect himself without at the same time perfecting others.

"To manifest one's illustrious virtue ' is the same as "to cultivate one s self. The former is merely the content of the latter. Thus several ideas are

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reduced to a single idea, which is central in Confucianism.

It is unnecessary that one should be head of a state or of some world organization, before one can do something to bring good order to the state and peace to the world. One should merely do one s best to do good for the state as a member of the state, and do good for the world as a member of the world. One is then doing one s full share of bringing good order to the state and peace to the world. By thus sincerely trying to do one's best, one is resting in the highest good.

For the purpose of the present chapter, it is enough to point out that the author of the Ta Hsileh was thinking in terms of world politics and world peace. He was not the first to think in this way, but it is significant that he did it so systematically. For him, the good order of one' s own state is neither the final goal in terms of politics nor in terms of the spiritual cultivation of the self.

Here we need not discuss the problem of how the investigation of things can be the ways and means for the spiritual cultivation of the self. This problem will return to us when we take up Neo-Confucianism later.

Eclectic Tendency in the Hstin—tzu

In the world of Chinese philosophy, the latter part of the third century B. C. saw a strong tendency towards syncretism and eclecticism. The major work of the School of Eclectics, the Lu-shih Ch'un-ch'iu, was composed at that time. But, although this work devoted chapters to most of the schools of its time, it failed to give a theoretical justification for the idea of eclecticism as such. Both Confucianist and Taoist writers, however, did present such a theory, which shows how, despite their other differences, they both reflected the eclectic spirit of the time.

These writers agreed that there is a single absolute Truth which they called the Too. Most of the different schools have seen some one particular aspect of the Too, and in this sense have made some contribution to its manifestation. The Confucianist writers, however, maintained that it was Confucius who had seen the whole Truth, and so the other schools were subordinate to the Confucian school, though in a sense complementary to it. The Taoist writers, on the contrary, maintained that it was Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu who had seen the whole Truth, and therefore that Taoism was superior to all other schools.

In the Hsiin-tzu there is a chapter titled On Freedom from Blindness,' in which we read: In the past, the traveling scholars were blinded, so they had different schools of thought. Mo Tzu was blinded by utility and did not know the value of culture. Sung Tzu [a contemporary of Mencius, who maintained that the desires of men are really very fewj was blinded by desire, but did not know [that men seek for] gain. Shen Tzu [Shen Tao, a member of the Le—