A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (54 page)

There are three reasons to account for this popularity. The first is thai China s defeat in the Sino—Japanese war, following a series of earlier humiliations at the hands of the West, shook the confidence of the Chinese people in the superiority of their own ancient civilization, and therefore gave them a desire to know something about Western thought.

Before that time they fancied that Westerners were only superior in science, machines, guns, and warships, but had nothing spiritual to offer. The second reason is that Yen Fu wrote comments on many passages of his translations, in which he compared certain ideas of his author with ideas in Chinese philosophy, in order to give a better understanding to his readers. This practice is something like the ko yi or interpretation by analogy, which was mentioned in chapter twenty in connection with the translation of Buddhist texts. And the third reason is that in Yen Fu's translations, the modern English of Spencer, Mill, and others was converted into Chinese of the most classical style. In reading these authors in his translation, one has the same impression as that of reading such ancient Chinese works as the Mo-tzu or Hsun-tzu. Because of their traditional respect for literary accomplishment, the Chinese of Yen Fu s time still had the superstition that any thought that can be expressed in the classical style is ipso facto as valuable as are the Chinese classical works themselves.

But the list of his translations shows that Yen Fu introduced very little Western philosophy. Among them, the ones really concerned with the subject are Jevons' Lessons in Logic and Mill s System of Logic, of which the former was an abridged summary, and the latter was lefl unfinished. Yen Fu recommended Spencer as the greatest Western philosopher of all time, ihus showing that his knowledge of Western philosophy was rather limited.

There was another scholar of Yen Fu s time who in this respect had a

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better understanding and deeper insight, but who did not become known to the public until after he gave up the study of philosophy. He was Wang Kuo— wei (i%JJ-\()Tj), a scholar renowned as one of the greatest historians, archaeologists, and literary writers of recent times. Before he was thirty, he had already studied Schopenhauer and Kant, in this respect differing from Yen Fu, who studied almost none but English thinkers. But after he became thirty, Wang Kuo-wei gave up the study of philosophy, for a reason mentioned in one of his writings titled "A Self-Account at the Age of Thirty." In this he says: "I have been tired of philosophy for a considerable time. Among philosophical theories, it is a general rule that those that can be loved cannot be believed, and those that can be believed cannot be loved. I know truth, and yet I love absurd yet great metaphysics, sublime ethics, and pure aesthetics. These are what I love most. Yet in searching for what is believable, I am inclined to believe in the positivistic theory of truth, the hedonistic theory of ethics, and ihe empiricist theory of aesthetics. I know these are believable, but I cannot love them, and I feel the other theories are lovable, but 1 cannot believe in them.

This is the great vexation that I have experienced during the past two or three years. Recently my interest has gradually transferred itself from philosophy to literature, because I wish to find in the latter direct consolation." *

He says again that such men as Spencer in England and Wundt in Germany arc but second-rate philosophers, their philosophies being but a syncretism of science or of earlier systems. Other philosophers known to him at that time were only historians of philosophy. He said that he himself could become a competent historian of philosophy, if he continued to study it. But, said he, I cannot be a pure philosopher, and yet I do not like to be an historian of philosophy. This is another reason why I am tired of philosophy." (Ibid.)

I have quoted Wang Kuo-wei at length, because judging from these quotations, I think he had some insight into Western philosophy. He knew, as a Chinese expression says, what is sweet and what is bitter in it. Bui on the whole, ut the beginning of this century, there were very few Chinese who knew anything about Western philosophy. When I myself was an undergraduate student in Shanghai, we had a course on elementary logic, but there was no one in Shanghai at the time capable of teaching such a course. At last a teacher was found who asked us to buy a copy of Jevons Lessons in Logic and to use it as a textbook. He asked us to read it in the way a teacher of English expects his pupils to go through an English reader.

When we came to the lesson on judgment, he called on me to spell the word judgment, in or—

* Ching-on. Wen-chi or Collected Literary Writings of Wang Kuo-wei, Second Collection.

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der to make sure that I would not insert an e between the g and m !

Before long We were at the mercy of another teacher who conscientiously tried to make the course a real one on logic. There are many exercises at the end of Jevons book which this teacher did not ask us to do, but I nonetheless prepared them on my own account. It so happened that there was one exercise that was beyond my understanding, which I requested the teacher to expound after class.After discussing it wilh me for half an hour without being able to solve il, he finally said: Let me think it over and I shall do it for you the next time I come. He never came again, and for this I felt rather sorry, for I had no desire to embarrass him.

The University of Peking was then the only national university in China which was supposed to have lliree departments of philosophy: Chinese, Western, and Indian. But as the University was then constituted, there was only the one department of Chinese philosophy. In 1915 it was stated that a department of Weslern philosophy would be established, since a professor had been engaged who had studied philosophy in Germany and presumably could teach courses in that subject. I accordingly went to Peking in that year and was admitted as an undergraduate, but to my disappointment the professor who was to have taught us had just died, and I had therefore to study in the department of Chinese philosophy.

In this department we had professors who were scholars representing the Old Text, New Text, Ch eng—Chu, and Lu—Wang schools. One of them, a follower of the Lu—Wang school, taught us a course on the history of Chinese philosophy, a two—year course meeting four hours a week. He began with the traditional sage-kings, Yao and Shun, and by the end of the first semester had gone only as far as the Duke of Chou—that is to say, about five centuries before Confucius.We asked him how long, if he continued at this rate, it would take to finish the course. Well, he replied, in the study of philosophy there is no such thing as finishing or not finishing. If you want this course to be finished, I can finish it in one word; if you do not want it to be finished, it can never be finished.

Introduction of Western Philosophy

John Dewey and Bertrand Russell were invited in 1919-2.O to lecture at the University of Peking and other places. They were the first Western philosophers to come to China, and from them the Chinese for the first time received an authentic account of Western philosophy. But whal they lectured about was mostly their own philosophy. This gave their hearers the impression that the traditional philosophical systems had all been superseded and discarded. With but little knowledge of the history of Western philosophy, the great majority of the audience failed to see the significance of their theories.

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One cannot understand a philosophy unless one at the same time understands the earlier traditions which it either approves or refutes. So these two philosophers, though well received by many, were understood by few. Their visit to China, nevertheless, opened new intellectual horizons for most of the students at that time. In this respect, their stay had great cultural and educational value.

In chapter twenty-one I have said that there is a distinction between Chinese Buddhism and Buddhism in China, and that the contribution of Buddhism to Chinese philosophy is the idea of Universal Mind. In the introduction of Western philosophy there have been similar cases. Following the visit of Dewey and Russell, for example, there have been many other philosophical systems that, at one time or another, have become popular in China. So far, however, almost all of them have simply represented Western philosophy in China. None has yet become an integral part of the development of the Chinese mind, as did Ch'an Buddhism.

So far as I can see, the permanent contribution of Western philosophy to Chinese philosophy is the method of logical analysis. In chapter twenty-one 1 have said that Buddhism and Taoism both use the negative method. The analytic method is just the opposite of this, and hence may be called the positive method. The negative method attempts to eliminate distinctions and to tell what its object is not, whereas the positive method attempts to make distinctions and tell what its object is. It is not very important for the Chinese that the negative method of Buddhism was introduced, because they had it already in Taoism, though Buddhism did serve to reinforce it. The introduction of the positive method, however, is really a matter of the greatest importance. It gives the Chinese a new way of thinking, and a change in their whole mentality. But as we shall see in the next chapter, it will not replace the other method; it will merely supplement it.

It is the method, not the ready—made conclusions of Western philosophy, that is important. A Chinese story relates that once a man met an immortal who asked him what he wanted. The man said that he wanted gold. The immortal touched several pieces of stone with his finger and they immediately turned to gold. The immortal asked the man to take them but he refused. What else do you want? the immortal asked. I want your finger, the man replied. The analytic method is the finger of the Western philosophers, and the Chinese want the finger.

That is the reason why among the different branches of philosophical study in the West, the first to attract the attention of the Chinese was logic. Even before Yen Fu's translation of J. S. Mill's System of Logic, Li Chih-tsao (died 1630) had already translated with the Jesuit Fathers a mediaeval textbook on Aristotelean logic. His translation was titled Ming-li T'an or An Investigation of Ming —li.We have seen in chapter nineteen that ming—li

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means the analysis of principles through the analysis of names. Yen Fu translated logic as ming hsiieh or the Science of Names. As we have seen in chapter eight, the essence of the philosophy of the School of Names as represented by Kung-sun Lung is precisely the analysis of principles through the analysis of names. But in that chapter I also pointed out that this philosophy is not exactly the same as logic. There is a similarity, however, and when the Chinese first heard something about Western logic, they immediately noticed the similarity, and so connected it with their own School of Names.

Up to recent times the most fruitful result of the introduction of Western philosophy has been the revival of the study of Chinese philosophy, including Buddhism. There is nothing paradoxical in this statement. When one encounters new ideas that are unfamiliar, it is only natural that one should turn to familiar ones for illustration, comparison, and mutual confirmation. And when one turns to these ideas, armed with the analytic method, it is only natural that one should make an analysis of them. We have already seen at the beginning of this chapter that for the study of the ancient schools of thought other than Confucianist, the scholars of the Han hsiieh paved the way. Their interpretation of the ancient texts was primarily textual and philological, rather than philosophical. But that is exactly what is needed before one applies the analytic method to analyze the philosophical ideas of the various ancient Chinese schools of thought.

Because logic was the first aspect of Western philosophy that attracted the attention of the Chinese, it is natural that among the ancient Chinese schools, the School of Names was also the first to receive detailed study in recent years. Dr. Hu Shih s book, The Development of the Logical Method in Ancient China, since its first publication in K)2.2 has been one of the important contributions to this study.

Scholars like Liang Ch i-chao (1873-1930) have also contributed much to the study of the School of Names and of the other schools.

The interpretation and analysis of the old ideas through use of the analytic method characterized the spirit of the age up to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937. Even Christian missionaries could not escape from the influence of this spirit. This may be why many missionaries in China have translated Chinese philosophical works and written books on Chinese philosophy in Western languages, whereas few have translated Western philosophical works and written books on Western philosophy in Chinese.

Thus in the philosophical field they seem to have conducted what might be called a reverse form of missionary work. It is possible to have reverse missionary work, just as it is possible to have reverse lend—lease.

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CHAPTER 28

SE PHILOSOPHY IN THE MODERN WORLD

AFTER all that has been said about the evolution and development of Chinese philosophy, readers may be inclined to ask such questions as: What is contemporary Chinese philosophy like, especially that of the war period? What will Chinese philosophy contribute to the future philosophy of the world? As a matter of fact, I have often been asked these questions, and have been somewhat embarrassed by them, because it is difficult to explain what a certain philosophy is to someone who is unfamiliar with the traditions that it either represents or opposes. However, now that the reader has gained some acquaintance with the traditions of Chinese philosophy, I am going to try to answer these questions by continuing the story of the last chapter.