The Great Learning 大学 温海明 Prof. WEN Haiming Associate Professor, School of Philosophy Renmin University of China 中国人民大学哲学院副教授 Ph.D. University of Hawaii 夏威夷大学哲学博士   Prof. Haiming Wen, School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China 11

Basis  Chun and Qiu period and Warring States period dominated by warfare and disorder  Feudal ages governed by li – ceremonies, rituals, proper conduct  Li governed individual as well as state conduct  Peacetime and wartime li  Roughly equivalent to today’s international law  Story of the duke at the Battle of Hung

Chinese Unification  221 BCE – state of Qin conquers others  Ch’in is one of seven states at that time  Skilled in war, prosperous, ruthless  Emperor Qinshihuang  Since 221 BCE China has remained united for most of history  Chinese people have grown accustomed to centralized organization promoting peace  Comfortable with modern law structures

International Philosophical Focus  Great Learning is a chapter in the Li Ji, or Book of Rites, primary Neo-Confucian text  The “main cords” are manifesting illustrious virtue, loving people, and resting in the highest good  The “eight wires” amount to cultivation of self  Focus on achieving global virtue, starting with individual virtue  Connection of individuals to the broader world

Eclecticism  Synthesizing of philosophical schools  Searching for agreement  Xunzi as Confucianism: different schools are all single aspects of the whole Dao  Zhuang-zi: Confucians know “institutions,” Daoists know “principle”  Together they make a whole truth

More Eclectics  Ssu-ma T’an, a Taoist  Wrote in the “Great Appendix” that philosophy had one purpose, and “100 paths” to achieve it  Liu Hsin, a Confucianist  Wrote in Seven Summaries that each school had its “strong points”  Uniting them all would bring mastery of virtue

Conclusions  Eclecticism, internationalism reflect conditions of 3 rd Century BCE  Unification of country, unification of thought  They combined various “strong points”  Was their Dao the real Dao?  Or just a patch-work, unconnected and disparate?

88   Prof. Haiming Wen, School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China