1. The Chinese Way (Sao Chiao)

2. I. Introduction
A. Religion in the Far East quite different than religion in India
1. Concern in India is “ultimate reality”—the Far East is not concerned with such issues
2. There is a radical humanism—a desire to live in this world
3. Humanity is the measure of all things
4. Humanity has no need for a savior, since humans are not sinful or evil

3. 7. No concept of separating the sacred and secular
5. Humanity is basically good and only needs proper education of precepts or examples to live the virtuous life—no word for “sin” in Chinese
6. Thought could be seen as an ethical system, with stress on the state and peace
7. No concept of separating the sacred and secular
8. There are no dogmatic or categorical statements
9. The apprehension of truth is always partial

4. B. Three faiths in China co-exist and a Chinese could belong to all three—they are complementary rather than rivals—thus the Sao Chio
1. Tao Chiao—Taoism
2. Ju Chiao—Confucianism
a. Literally means the way of learning b. It is the most revered of the 3 traditions
c. It stresses hope for humanity through education
3. Fo Chiao—Buddhism
a. Fo is the word for Buddha
b. It is a special appeal in face of death and afterlife

5. A. Confucius and Lao-Tse emphasized they were only transmitting the wisdom of the ancients
B. Political history
1. Like most ancient cultures, Chinese culture centered around rivers
a. Most important is the Yellow River
b. Second most important is the Yangtse—it divided North and South China
c. Third important river is the Si River

6. 4. The Chou Dynasty was from 1122-721 BCE in
4. The Chou Dynasty was from BCE in the West and 276 BCE in the East
a. Confucius and Lao-Tse lived in the East at this time
b. Both went through experience of disillusionment with government
c. Kingdom became divided
d. Chou invented the t’ien ming (Mandate of Heaven)

7. e. Chinese character for emperor (ti)
e. Chinese character for emperor (ti) consists of three horizontal lines joined by a vertical line—represents the connection between heaven (at top) and earth (at the bottom)
f. Relationship is mediated by the emperor represented by the horizontal line
g. Heaven “t’ien” desires that humans be provided for their needs; the emperor function to provide those needs
h. If the emperor fails to see to the welfare of the people, heaven withdraws its mandate and invests it in another

8. a. Religion was a state religion
3. Religion was centered in the Emperor and sanctioned by the state
a. Religion was a state religion
b. Center of religion was identified with imperial rule
c . Chinese word for god is the same word as ruler
d. In Chinese Shang-ti--Supreme Ruler, Son of Heaven
e. Loyalty to state is a religious dogma
f. Citizenship is part of religion
g. Government & Laws are tied to religion

9. Confucianism
I. Confucius (Kung Fu-Tsu; BCE) can be seen as the father of Chinese culture by transforming the ancient traditions into the beginning of a code of conduct for social relationships and a political philosophy and would become state orthodoxy in the Han dynasty ( CE)

10. He lived during a time of great chaos and political turmoil
A. Warring semi-independent states were fighting for favor with the emperor during Chou Dynasty
Social structure was feudal land aristocracy
He became minister of justice in his home state of Lu where he brought about reform and was successful
The rule of Ch’I became jealous of the improvement of Lu and tried to sabotage Confucius by sending to him “wine, women, and song”
Confucius left politics in disgust

11. G. Many corrupt leaders did fear his influence
F. He became a wandering teacher with a small band of disciples and met with rebuff and disappointment
G. Many corrupt leaders did fear his influence
H. At age of 70 he returns to Lu and spent five years writing
I. He was precise in personal appearance---he liked and stressed ceremonies
J. He was not interested in pomp and majesty per se, but did believe that outward acts are important

12. II Is Confucianism a religion?
A. Depends upon one’s definition of religion
B. It is not a theistic religion
C. He was not iconoclastic—just not concerned with celestial matters with so many problems on the terrestrial sphere
D. It can be seen as a religion in the sense that there is an emphasis on faith, for example, commitment, humanity will not be changed by precept but by example

13. I. Jen —basic Confucian—virtue of man, authentic character, supreme value—the measure of all men, highest and most profound concept
II. Yi —righteousness—it is Jen operating, an attitude toward moral situations; it is moral awareness and doing it—a form of social relationships
Li —courtesy, politeness, proper procedures, propriety, moral discipline; display of anger and hostilities cause a loss of face, great stress on discipline
IV. Hsin —constancy—loyalty, a supreme attribute
V. Chi —moral insight, points to being morally enlightened
VI. Shu —”negative golden rule”, reciprocity
VII. Chu Tzu —the superior man, one who avoids extremes

14. II. Government and Politics
A. He taught divine right and popular sovereignty of kings
B. The king is bound to the laws of the state; if not, the people should revolt
C. Every person has right of full participation in society based on own merit
D. Aristocracy was not based on birth; it is
a scholarly class
E. A kind of democratic aristrocracy
F. Anyone has right to attend the best universities

15. III. A bias against wealth
A. One’s life does not consist of the abundance of “things”
B. A person who wants only wealth has wrong sense of value
C. Emphasis on education—primarily character building

16. VI. Rise of Confucianism
A. Taoism and Buddhism reached zenith during Chang Dynasty ( CE)
B. From 907 CE there is rise of Confucianism
C. Confucian temples becoming common over all China as a result of Neo-Confucian thought
D. Temples usually faced south in order to put the Confucian table (altar) at the north because it was the center of worship
E. In the 1530s there were waves of anti- Confucianism

17. Taoism A. Founder or systemitizer was Lao Tse (500 BCE)
B. He was a mystic and philosopher
C. His language was obscure because he distrusted language
D. The Tao Te Ching was introduced by Lao Tse
E. Lin Yuntang wrote that the best single force to understand Chinese thought is the Tao Te Ching
F. Taoism dominated by
a. humanism
b. naturalistic monism
c. mysticism

18. Tao (Dao) The “name” for the self-contained totality of
all there is and all that happens.

19. Meaning of Tao
A. Originally it simply meant a road or a path and the way in which something was done
1. The Way of Heaven would be ruthless; when autumn comes no leaf is spared because of its beauty
2. The Way of Man, among other things, meant procreation, thus eunuchs would be far from the Way of Man
B. Would come to mean the way in which the universe works—ultimately seemed to be very much like God

20. The Dao could be described as the natural flowing of existence.

21. Purposeful exertion of effort may often obstruct the natural flow of life.

22. Allow things to take their own fluid, graceful, peaceful paths without our interference.

23. Let life take its own course unharrassed.

24. Man becomes like a passive leaf on a tree blowing in the wind, unresisting and yielding.

25. The Attraction of Daoism
Its total disregard for norms
Its exhilarating spirit of freedom and individualism

26. Essential Teachings of Taoism Quotations from Laozi and Zhuangzi
Dao (The Way)
Wu-wei (Non-Action)
Female/Water/Valley
Weakness/Passivity
Simplicity
Tranquility (Stillness and Flux)
Spontaneity/Naturalness
Unity (of Multiplicity)
Freedom

27. Philosophic Daoism Founded by Lao Tzu (Laozi),
developed by Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) during the time of the “Hundred Schools,” seeking
the substratum of things and
the constancy of all phenomena.

28. Lao Tzu (Laozi) was deified.
Religious Daoism
Lao Tzu (Laozi) was deified.
Religious Daoists seek immortality through superstitious practices including divination, ritualistic ceremonies, and alchemy.

29. The Book of Lao Tzu
Chinese civilization and the Chinese character would have been utterly different if the Book of Lao Tzu (Laozi) had never been written
Even Buddhism has not escaped Daoist influence
Influenced nearly all aspects of Chinese culture
A combination of poetry, philosophical speculation, and mystical reflection
Distinguished by its gem-like brevity

30. G. Chuang-Tsu ( BCE)
was greatest Taosit teacher after Lao Tse
1. He developed Taoist concept of logic
2. What impressed him was the influence of one’s viewpoint
3. The way to peace, spiritual ecstasy, and long life is to join nature’s rhythms
4. The Tao throws off human judgments
5. He attacked those who believed they could tie language directly to thought and, thus, able to clarify all discourse
6. Language is only symbolic

31. Laozi’s Daoism Yang “What Is” Light Masculine Creative Active Heaven
Life
Yin
“What Is Not”
Dark
Feminine
Receptive
Non-action
Earth
Death

32. A Yin-Yang Balance: Confucianism & Taoism
The Confucian and Legalist socio-ethical thought-complex was masculine, hard, managing, aggressive, rational, and commanding
The Daoist broke with it radically and completely by emphasizing the feminine, yielding, permissive, withdrawing, mystical, and receptive

33. A Daoist Secret drop one’s limbs…..detach from one’s body
strip off all cognitive activities
supreme quietude
be oblivious of the existence of self
the “transformation of things”
mental/intellectual fasting
be like drift wood and dead ashes

34. Daoism vs. Confucianism
Whereas Confucianism is highly structured and hierarchical, Daoism is fluid.
Confucianism places the ultimate goal of improvement at world peace, Daoism could be said to aim at peace with the world.

35. The true spirit of Daoism
The overriding concern of Taoist philosophy is that
man must conform to nature, not to society.

36. Tao (Dao) Transcending the world of multiplicities

37. The Daoist Philosophy and Aesthetics
San-pao Li, Ph.D.
Department of Asian and Asian American Studies
California State University, Long Beach
February 27, 2003