THE FREEMAN SEMINAR
Friday, February 04, 2000
ANCIENT CHINA AND CONFUCIANISM
GOALS:
To provide a basic overview of the interplay between legend and history in the accounts of the Shang, the earliest dynastic period for which written records exist to corroborate archeological findings.
To present a description of the nature of Chou Dynasty culture and civilization and ways in which the Chou experience mirrors later dynastic periods.
To present the key characteristics of the most important philosophical schools emerging during the course of the Chou Dynasty and to illustrate the application of one of these philosophies, Legalism, to the goverance of China's first unified dynasty, the Ch'in.
To present the key characteristics of the most important philosophical schools emerging during the course of the Chou Dynasty and to illustrate the application of one of these philosophies, Legalism, to the goverance of China's first unified dynasty, the Ch'in.
THEMES:
Historical validation of the Shang exists in the form of inscriptions found on ceremonial bronze vessals and on "dragon bones" used in the practice of scapulancy.
The Shang represents a Bronze Age culture evidencing many basic characteristics associated with later "Chinese" culture and civilization in the areas of political, social, economic and religious practices.
The Chou people, in emerging from a frontier location to conquer the Shang, initiated an historical pattern frequently followed in subsequent periods of dynastic transition.
Chou culture and civilization represents an extension and systematization of the Shang with only a few significant modifications.
The Chou state can be seen to represent "feudalism" in Chinese history only as a result of later historical catagorization, not representative of contemporaneous realities.
The decline and fall of the Chou reflects patterns commonplace in later periods of dynastic decline.
The "truism" that political disunity encourages economic advancement and cultural innovation in China is well illustrated in the declining years of the Chou dynastic period and the centuries of disarray which follow.
Philosophical speculation during the Chou period set "Chinese" culture and civilization on a separate developmental path.
The major philosophical schools emerging during the Chou all reflect a basic "humanistic" orientation, mirroring attempts to provide practical solutions to specifically identified problems.
Confucianism sought to insure a stable and peaceful society by stressing the need to play properly assigned roles within the given social (and political) nexus.
Mencius provided the needed philosophical mechanism to allow the perpetuation of Confucian doctrine even in the face of its practitioners' failures.
The Confucian Classics served to define basic doctrines and their application through-out traditional Chinese history; their mastery assured political (as well as social and economic) success.
Confucianism survived because of its relativistic, balanced attitudes, its willingness to compromise, its flexibility, and its justification of rule by the educated.
Confucianism provided historical unity and continuity to traditional Chinese culture and civilization but also severely restricted further developments in philosophy following its eventual acceptance as official dogma.
Taoism, in its otherwordly individualistic aestheticism, offered a philosophical alternative and sense of needed balance to those bound up in Confucianism.
Legalism, in its emphasis on harsh laws and cruel punishments, provided a philosophical justification for a political alternative to a failed Confucian state.
The Ch'in Dynasty embodies Legalism in action.
OBJECTIVES: Students should be able to --
explain the impact of Chou period philosophical speculation on the subsequent development of Chinese culture and civilization in the context of world history;
discuss the impact of the basic humanitarian orientation of Chinese philosophy on the nature of Chinese civilization and culture in general;
identify and explain the basic defining characteristics of Confucianism as a philosophical construct;
discuss with insight and understanding reasons for Confucianism's success and longevity as a defining force in Chinese culture and civilization;
identify the basic defining characteristics of Taoism and explain its place as a defining force in traditional Chinese culture;
define Legalistic principles and discuss their role in the definition of the Ch'in state;
account for the interplay among Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism over the long course of traditional Chinese history.
discuss reasons for the earlier assumption that the Shang state represented only a mythological entity;
discuss with understanding the nature of the archeological and written evidence supporting the existence of the Shang state as an historical entity;
describe the nature of Shang culture and civilization in terms of political, social, economic and religious institutions, practices and beliefs;
discuss characteristics associated with the Shang that carry over into later "Chinese" civilization and culture.
describe the emergence of the Chou and ways in which the transition pattern established is reflected in subsequent periods of dynastic change;
discuss arenas of continuity and change as reflected in the political, social, economic, religious and cultural life of the Chou;
discuss with insight the applicability of the term "feudalism" as descriptive of the Chou dynasty;
describe the evolution and collapse of the Chou as characteristic of an emerging pattern reflected in later Chinese history;
discuss with insight (and explain the reasons behind) the interelationship between periods of political disarray, economic advancement and cultural innovation in traditional Chinese history.
SHANG CHINA: EMERGENCE INTO HISTORY
CHOU CHINA: A FEUDAL STATE
I. Introduction: Legendary Accounts of the Shang
A. Revolt led against last Hsia ruler by founder of Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BCE), also known as the Yin.
B. Succession brother to brother of father to son; rulers known by names based on cyclical calendar symbols (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, boar -- a yearly zodiac also used in Buddhism).
C. Last Shang ruler overthrown by Chou people under legendary Wu Wang (wang = "king"), founder of the Chou Dynasty -- aided by Chou Kung (kung = "duke"), ideal Confucian scholar-bureaucrat.
II. Archaeological Evidence Supports Legendary Accounts
A. Accepted historical verification of Chou mythology generally dated from 841 BCE, but in 1899 "dragon bones" (notched skeletal remains sold by Northern Chinese peasants to pharmacists for use in Chinese medical compounds) attracted the interest of a Chinese archaeological team which recognized "dragon bone" inscriptions as first examples of Chinese script, then traced these bones to a site near the modern city of Anyang (in Honan) known locally as "The Waste of Yin;" excavation of the site undertaken.
B. "Dragon bone" inscriptions listing all Shang rulers by name eventually uncovered; carbon-14 dating showed site dated from 1400-1100 BCE; archaeological ruins above correlated in sequence with succeeding dynasties.
C. "The Waste of Yin" proved to be the site of the ancient Shang capital of Mo; the "dragon bones" and inscriptions found on unearthed bronzes represented in turn the advent of historical record keeping in China -- the Shang Dynasty, thus, removed from the realm of myth to become the first historical dynastic period.
D. The nature of the evidence:
1. Bronze ceremonial vessels of great artistic merit inscribed with dedications indicating for whom produced, on what occasion, by whom and when presented.
2. "Dragon bones," examples of oracle bones: scapulancy -- tortoise undershells or cow shoulder bones (scapulae) used to foretell future events: inscribed with a question (relating to influence of spirits on crops, the weather, health, hunting, travel, war or the next ten day cycle) and groove by diviner (close advisor to the ruler), then cracked by fire and interpreted; answer and eventual result also inscribed on bone which then became part of the "national archives."
III. The Nature of Shang Society and Culture Reconstructed
A. A Bronze Age culture employing a form of written script directly related to that still in contemporary use.
B. Politically organized as a city-state under hereditary kings with nearby settlements under direct control -- a centralized autocratic state.
C. A stratified society with a hunter-warrior aristocracy aided by a literate scholar-diviner class and supported by an agricultural peasantry and artisan-craftsmen. Differentiated by privilege, symbol and architecture:
1. Elite rode in chariots, monopolized symbolic use of bronze implements (ornaments, tools, weapons, ceremonial vessels) and lived in homes and palaces which (along with temples) faced south and were constructed (usually on raised platforms of pounded earth) of pillar-supported roofs with nonstructural walls of pounded earth (later brick);
2. Peasants and craftsmen continued to live in semi-subterranean pit-dwellings.
D. Economically dependent on agriculture (millet, barley, wheat), domesticated animals (dogs, pigs, sheep, cattle) and tools of bamboo, stone, wood and jade; used elephant and oxen for transportation; engaged in cowrie shell long distance exchange trade.
E. Shang culture extended over a broader area than its political administration (often divided among trusted and loyal local aristocrats to govern), covering modern Hopei, Honan, Shantung and Northern Anwhei (much of the North China Plain) --
1. Shang themselves thought to have come originally from forested areas to the south (the source of the hunter-aristocracy; seen in carved wood origin of much bronze work decoration) and to have been heavily influenced by surrounding cultures (chariots and artistic motifs from the West; possibly bronze and wheat as well).
2. Surrounded by dissimilar farming cultures to the east, forest dwellers to the south and nomads to the north and west ("the four barbarians"), the Shang people came to see themselves as inhabitants of the "Middle Kingdom".
3. In addition to the use of a variety of tools, the Shang wove and used silk cloth, wore fur clothing, continued the development of pottery, used chopsticks as eating utensils and possessed the highest level of artistic skill in bronze ever known anywhere in the world. [how to tell a Shang bronze: the t'ao-t'ieh animal mask, a stylized dragon with prominent eyes, ears and horns.]
F. Shang religion developed from an agricultural society's inability to predict the beneficial / destructive pattern of local climate and weather.
1. Numerous fertility and earth gods and spirits of fields and streams honored.
2. T'ien ("heaven") worshiped by the Son of Heaven, the Shang king, who was charged with keeping heaven and earth in harmony.
3. Shang-ti, the Supreme Ancestor, propitiated to insure benefits derived from ancestor intercession.
4. Worship consisted of music, dance and sacrifice -- both human and animal -- or ritual libation. (Human sacrifice marked beginning of building construction and the death of a monarch.)
5. Calendar lore also important for proper timing of planting, harvest and other ritually important dates -- a priestly function.
V. Conclusion: The Origins of the Chinese Cultural Style in the Shang
A. Continuity of early characteristics: an agriculturally-oriented lifestyle; individual subordination to group interests; spirit worship; sericulture; artistic materials and motifs.
B. Growing sense of the importance of T'ien and ancestor worship; the development of a written language; crop diversification; increasing social stratification.
C. The beginnings of a governmental style (a centralized autocratic state ruled by blood aristocracy with bureaucratic aid); establishment of scholarly role in government (diviners); elite domination of administrative, military, religious and large-scale economic activity (control of water supply and floor control; indirect control of manpower and land; monopoly on symbolic uses of bronze; worship of T'ien; military weapons, chariot monopoly).
D. A developed sense of "we-ness," nationalism, demarking the Shang from the non-Shang; the emergence of "Ancient China." How can the latter be defined by the time of the Shang Dynasty?
CHOU CHINA: A FEUDAL STATE
I. Introduction: If the Shang Dynasty represents in our minds the introduction of writing (and the beginnings of Chinese history), then we can look to the Chou for the application of this new tool to philosophy. The Chou Dynasty (1122 BCE - 256 BCE) is remembered by Chinese as the Period of the Hundred Schools, as the age of Confucius, Mencius, the Legalists, Chuang-tzu, Taoist thought and a host of other, more minor philosophical schools. NEXT: the Chou contribution to philosophy; TODAY: a closer look at the Chou society that produced this speculative flowering -- its social organization, politics, economic life and cultural developments.
II. The Chou, a pioneering people, were farmer-soldiers carving out a new life for themselves while also protecting Wei Valley frontiers west of Shang cultural center at Mo.
A. Martial spirit and skills developed on frontier eased overthrow of final Shang ruler in 1122 BCE under Wu Wang (with administrative aid provided by Chou Kung).
B. Founded Chou Dynasty, China's longest-lived, which lasts until the rise of the Chin state in 221 BCE (East - West split at 771 BCE; Spring and Autumn Period from 722 - 481 BCE; end of unity with Warring States Period after 403 BCE).
III. The Chou Dynasty represents largely an extension and systematization of preceding Shang culture and political system.
A. Few changes in cultural patterns: bronzes lost Shang vibrancy; scapulancy replaced; horse-riding introduced;
B. Acculturation over larger geographical area follows military expansion of Chou political "state."
IV. Politically, Chou centered in the Wei Valley at Hao with remaining territory under control of trusted vassals.
A. T'ien became supreme over Shang-ti as "Son of Heaven"; "Mandate of Heaven" concepts adopted to legitimize state control.
B. Bureaucratic growth occurs; administrative complexity increases.
1. Chou ruler presided in Hao over a ranked officialdom (chief minister; ministers of agriculture, army, public works, rites, personnel, punishment).
2. Relatives, descendants, ministers, local aristocrats confirmed as vassals through formal ceremonial investiture performed by Chou "Emperor".
a. Vassals owed military aid, loyalty, honor to "Emperor".
b. 70 to 100 walled towns, "city states", initially so governed; expansion eventually brings 200 within "Empire".
V. Question of "Feudalism" in China
A. In reality Chou "feudal" confederation largely a later reading by Confucian scholars who, disliking disunity, envisioned a complex feudal system to preceed, help account for later "aberrant" Chou anarchy of Warring States period (similar motivation for later Marxist scholars in need or historical progression "proof");
B. "Feudalism" has legal, contractual overtones in European setting not found in China -- Chou political system best regarded as semi-feudal extension of tribal type organization with blood bonds more important than legal principles at first, later giving way to more independent-minded political entities.
VI. Dynastic decline evident by 8th century BCE when an independent barbarian / Chinese alliance sacked Hao in 771 BCE (establishing a precedent for much similar later activity allying dissatisfied Chinese with militarily-superior barbarian forces).
A. Forced capital move to Loyang (W. Honan); thereafter dynasty known as Eastern Chou.
B. Political power loss never overcome; Emperor only a religious, ceremonial figure.
C. Growing independence made little difference initially but eventually political disunity introduced a marked dynamic quality, great energy and creativity with philosophy only one of many areas involved (another pattern typical of later periods of political disarray).
1. An enlarged number of "independent" city-states and towns led to a increase in trade activity, the replacement of shells first by silk, metal ingots and finally by copper coins in strings of "cash."
2. The accumulation of wealth (in the form of salt, grain, silk, horses, cattle) encouraged the expansion of the social hierarchy based on money (including slaves):
a. commoners continued to worship at earth alters, hold festivals, live in clustered homes.
b. the aristocracy came to live in extended families, practice exogamy (often with two family interaction), form lineages, take secondary wives.
VII. Conclusion: The Interplay of Political Disunity and Cultural Change in Chinese History
EARLY CHINESE THOUGHT AND RELIGION
THE CH'IN EMPIRE: LEGALISM IN ACTION
I. Introduction: Chou Dynasty characterized as "Age of Philosophy".
A. Philosophical activity in Chou China paralleled by that of Greek philosophers, Hebrew prophets, the historical Buddha and other Indian religious leaders.
B. A result of improved social, economic and political intercommunication, the upsurge of civilization, the security to speculate, the differentiation of social roles, the need to support the faster pace of life.
C. Philosophical speculation went separate ways and led to the setting apart of a fairly uniform world civilization into three major cultural zones: the Mediterranean, South Asia and East Asia.
D. Our consideration will deal with three major Chinese philosophical streams represented by Confucius and Mencius, Taoism and the Legalists -- seen as a unity in China because all centered in shared idealism of --
II. Chinese Humanism:
A. Man in China seen as a social and political animal; the major philosophical problem, his adjustment to his social (and natural) environment.
1. Man in society and as part of the observable natural world, not as an isolated individual.
2. Little concern with the divine but rather with the "here and now".
B. In part due to the fact that Chou philosophers were --
1. practical politicians in a time of political anarchy,
2. bold and penetrating minds seeking answers in the face of rapid change,
3. administrative mentors to rulers and teachers to disciples (who in time founded differing schools of philosophy).
III. Confucianism as Developed by Confucius and Interpreted by Mencius
A. Confucius (K'ung-fu-tzu: 551-479 BC)
1. "Master Kung" lived in Lu, served as minor official there and in other near-by states; upset by anarchy of the times, turned to the early Chou, to Wu Wang and Chou Kung as "Golden Age."
2. Believed man should play his properly assigned role in a fixed authoritarian society:
a. Saw "roles" and "relationships" as concepts necessary to define basis for proper social and political interaction: "Let the ruler be a ruler and the subject a subject; let the father be a father and the son a son."
b. Defined basic centrality of Five Relationships:
(1) emperor - subject; father - son; husband - wife; elder brother - younger brother; and friend - friend.
(2) three within family; four hierarchical; a single defined role for women.
c. Believed society suffered from individual failure to live up to proper, assigned role (the disorder of the Eastern Chou); stressed collective responsibility of all to insure correct behavior.
d. Thought reality should conform to theory and that form could lead to content.
e. Saw government as primarily an ethical problem (thus not a simple-minded conservative): rulers should serve as examples of virtue and contentment, the assurance of which became the object of government; with this China shifted from premoral to ethical in social and political relationships.
f. Sought the development of the chun-tzu "gentleman" of inner virtue and outer polish who --
(1) possessed virtue: inner integrity, righteousness, loyalty, a spirit of altruism and human heartedness.
(2) displayed cultured demeanor and li (an understanding and use of ritual, decorum, etiquette): following proper form avoided conflict, both ceremonial and polite.
(3) unified knowledge with action in service to the state.
g. Taught ruler and officials alike in the Great Learning that self-cultivation was for social goals and that the development of individual character was completed only through action, preferably in public service:
(1) the educated were men of affairs;
(2) obligations were stressed over rights or perogatives;
(3) the primacy of the moral order was asserted.
h. Inculcated the Doctrine of the Mean: moderation, balance, harmony, suitability -- everything in the proper degree.
B. Mencius (Meng-tzu: 372 - 289 BC)
1. Saw man as basically good; therefore, there existed a natural gravitation of authority (the support of the people) to the most moral of men.
2. Emphasized the moral qualities and sense of duty incumbent upon any ruler to fulfill his position of authority; urged a benevolent attitude towards subjects and acceptance of advice from the educated.
3. People justified in overthrowing an Emperor who had lost the Mandate of Heaven; the success of any such attempt showed that the Mandate had indeed been withdrawn because of the ruler's lack of morality, virtue and benevolence.
C. The Classics: 1. The Five Classics (The Confucian Classics)
a. Classic of Songs
b. Classic of Documents
c. Classic of Changes (I Ching)
d. Spring and Autumn Annals (the history of the state of Lu between 722 and 481 BC)
e. Record of Rituals
2. The Thirteen Classics (an expansion of the above with later commentaries added)
3. The Four Classics (official canon advanced by Chu Hsi during the Sung; basis of Neo-Confucianism, the educational system and the civil service examination from 1313 until 1905)
a. Analects (direct quotations from Confucius)
b. Mencius
c. The Great Learning (a chapter from Record of Rituals)
d. The Doctrine of the Mean (a chapter from Record of Rituals)
D. Confucianism survived because of its relativistic, balanced attitude towards other philosophies, its willingness to compromise and be flexible, to incorporate other ideals; its idea of "authority" as paramount over "rights" in government pleasing; exerted particular appeal in disordered times; justified rule by the educated.
E. Confucianism provided historical unity, continuity to traditional Chinese culture and civilization but also severely restricted further developments in philosophy following its eventual acceptance as official dogma.
IV. Daoism / Taoism
A. Often viewed as a philosophy of protest appealing to the common man and the sensitive man of intellect urging individual independence within the pattern of nature (Tao).
B. Roots traceable to pre-Confucian religious practices and beliefs (agricultural and fertility deities; need to placate spirits; emphasis on ruler as mediator between Heaven and Earth).
C. Emphasis on mysticism and meditation (proper breathing).
D. Lao-tzu ("Old Master") in the Tao-te-ching and Chuang-tzu viewed as chief spokesmen (both 3rd century).
1. Incorporated preexisting idea (as did Confucianism) of unity in constant flux (the intertwined balance of yin and yang: dark, cold, passive, negative grows only to give way to bright, warm, active, positive).
2. Sought tranquility not in social conformity but in transcending the mundane, conforming to the natural, and non-being.
3. Taught "Have no ambition and no failure will result"; the world is imperfect and so is mankind; knowledge corrupts:
The centipede was happy, quite,
Until a toad in fun
Said, "pray, which leg goes after which?"
This worked his mind to such a pitch,
He lay distracted in a ditch,
Considering how to run.
the illusion of life; don't strive: "Chuang Tzu once dreamed he was a butterfly that fluttered about happily, quite unaware that it was Chuang Tzu. But then he woke up, and after that he was never sure whether he was Chuang Tzu who had dreamed that he was a butterfly -- or a butterfly NOW DREAMING IT WAS CHUANG TZU.
4. Non-intervention and non-action bring contentment through self-cultivation; direct experience is more important than knowledge, in recognizing man's role in the natural world.
B. Taoism offers balance to the conformity and restraint demanded by Confucianism (and Legalism) in permitting self-expression; often intertwined in society and in the individual (general retires to a hermitage; a scholar-official makes a reputation as a poet or painter).
THE CH'IN EMPIRE: LEGALISM IN ACTION
V. Introduction: The Legalist View
A. Chief exponents: Hsun-tzu and Han-fei-tzu.
B. Human nature viewed as basically selfish and conflict-ridden; man, as basically evil.
C. To maintain security and order, severe laws and harsh punishments needed.
D. Because the people are stupid and selfish; advisors, untrustworthy and self-seeking, a ruler must expect conflict with the world; penal laws arise from the will of the ruler (assumed to be the desire for agricultural prosperity and a militarily strong state) and are used to control those under his power.
E. A man is to be judged on his accomplishments alone and to be held mutually responsible for the actions of society (failure to report as bad as commission; too much production as bad as too little).
F. Legalists emphasized a military elite, an agricultural economy, rule by law, the centralized state and arbitrary autocratic rule.
G. Importance in bringing minor Chou state of Ch'in to power and fixing the character of the ideal state (a centralized autocracy).
VI. Ch'in as a Legalism State
A. Legalism established in Ch'in state under Shang Yang in mid-fourth century BC.
1. A legal system of rewards and punishments.
2. A stress on agriculture and other "productive" occupations.
3. A system of mutual responsibility and spying.
4. A strictly honorary aristocracy bearing titles based on military ranks.
5. A centralized governmental system based on prefectures and commanderies.
B. Expansion of Ch'in in Warring States period between 318 and 221 BC brought China under unitary control.
VII. The Ch'in Dynasty (221 - 207 BC) with capital at Hsien-yang
A. The Ch'in empire extended over all of North China Plain, into Szechwan and Yangtse River Valley, eventually into South China and Vietnam (as far south as Hue); mainly military control, not cultural assimilation, except in Szechwan where forced migration from older areas brought Chinese culture and technological advances to this entire isolated plains area (irrigation system).
B. The first Ch'in ruler adopted a new title, Shih Huang-ti, to indicate a new status (thus avoiding association with Chou rulers and with the Chou form of political administration) and to indicate divine origins (from the three huang and the five ti of antiquity).
C. Shih Huang-ti relied on Li Ssu, his chief minister, to consolidate empire via Legalism means.
1. A centralized state was established with 36, later 42, commanderies subdivided into prefectures and governed by Civil Governors, Military Governors and a representative of the central government, the Overseer.
2. A bureaucracy replaced the aristocracy which was moved bodily into the capital city to assure control.
3. A uniform, impersonal and equal set of laws and taxes was introduced -- severe laws, harsh punishments; heavy taxes.
4. Private landholding replaced state ownership to encourage agriculture.
D. Other measures taken to unify and control the empire:
1. Weights and measures, coins, orthography and axil lengths standardized.
2. Weapons melted down and vast public works projects undertaken to divert potential armed insurrection and strengthen control of central government; the Great Wall, public roads from the capital, tomb building built up resentment among peasants burdened by corvee labor demands.
3. Attempts made at "thought-control" with Burning of the Books in 213 BC to destroy influence of non-Legalism views, spokesmen; severe punishment for any discovered with illegal books; copies maintained only in imperial library and by imperial scholars; Chou philosophical "Golden Age" stifled (diversification and freedom also replaced by centralized control); yet constant warfare produced uncertainty.
VIII. Conclusion: The Yin and Yang of Early Chinese Thought and Religion