S05: Hundred Schools

The Inner Light

The Beatles and Daodejing

Chapter 47 of Daodejing

Recap: Confucius and his ideas

We’ve Lost the way – but what Way?

• Problem of the day: Finding the right path – the “dao”
• In contrast with Western philosophy, epistemological optimism: The way is within reach.
• Learning to live a moral and proper life: “I was 15 when I set my will on learning and at 70, I could follow my desires without overstepping the bounds.”

How to Find the way back

• The way comes from the ancestors: from the antiquity of 500 years before the founding of Zhou.
• Confucius responded to a perceived crisis of civilization by promoting the ideals of the noble person (junzi) and moral governance.
• He advocated for the efficacy of moral force over violence and sought to reform society through the practice of rituals (Li).

Discuss: Confucius

• What makes for a good man?
• What makes for good government?
• Why are these two inseparable matters for Confucius?

Goodness, according to Confucius

• Government can be good, only if good people serve in it.
• At the same time, it is government by virtue and moral example that leads those it governs to goodness and harmonious human relations.

The Individual and Self-cultivation

• Confucius advocates for a moral vanguard who lead by example.
• They practice rituals and respect relationships to create harmony.
• All individuals can refine their morals and positively influence others.
• Junzi – noble person – as moral vanguard, even though “in instruction there are to be no distinction of status” (15:39)

Returning to the Antiquity

• The Dao (the proper Way of moral, ritual, and social conduct) is inherent in history.
• Confucius sees himself as a transmitter of the ideals of antiquity, rather than an original creator.

Ritual order

• Rituals offer individuals the best opportunity to develop their humaneness (ren).
• Conducting oneself according to ritual rules reconfirms one’s status and duty within the community.
• Confucius believed that societal harmony could be achieved through “Ritual” (Li) rather than imposed administrative orders.

Ritual with Attitude: Method of Benevolence

The Analects as an Example of Learning

• Many contradictory passages: The readers are forced to interpret and deduce meaning.
• Engage in the passages and rituals to explore the philosophy.
• Philosophy as a way of life: it makes us more humane and responsive to situations and to others.

Key Questions

• Daoism: Zhuangzi and Laozi. What are the uses of uselessness?
• How to defend Confucianism? Debates on human nature between Xunzi and Mencius

The Core Issues

• How can we know what is good?
• How can we do good?
• How can we survive and gain control over the situation?

Discuss: Later Confucians - Mencius and Xunzi

• Why did Mencius and Xunzi feel the need to discuss human nature?
• Why does Mencius believe that human nature is good, while Xunzi believes it is bad? How do they make their arguments?
• What should be the role of rulers?
• Do Mencius and Xunzi have anything in common? What makes them “Confucian”?
• Keightley held that the Chinese shared “epistemological optimism.” Do the cases of Mencius and Xunzi support that view?

Confucians Compared: Differences

Confucians Compared: Commonalities

• Focus on Effort and Ritual: Regardless of their views on human nature (whether they believe humans are inherently good, evil, or neutral), achieving ren (humaneness) requires dedicated effort and adherence to rituals. Without these practices, ren cannot be attained.
• Emphasis on Authority: Humaneness can cultivated through obedience to sage rulers and social hierarchies. Virtue of rulers inspires trust in established authority.
• Optimism in Social Order: The role of authority is to foster a harmonious society; proper governance and adherence to ritual can lead to moral development and social stability.

“Daoism”: Some Caveats

• The term “Dao jia” (道家), which translates to “Daoist,” is a retrospective label that emerged long after the lives of Laozi and Zhuangzi. It first appeared in the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian during the Han dynasty.
• Early Daoist groups were not institutionalized – and shouldn’t be treated simply as an intellectual rival to Confucianism.

Discuss: Laozi

• What is the “way”?
• Why is water “the highest good”?
• How should rulers behave?

Laozi: Non-action

• The Way cannot be perceived through physical senses; awareness of it requires a different approach to sensing that recognizes its omnipresence.
• Traits – such as wisdom, firmness, masculinity – are all relative. Reality embodies qualities akin to water — formless and yielding.
• Deliberately ambiguous: The text attempts to convey ideas that are inherently difficult to articulate: What is the eternal Way that cannot be fully expressed in words?

Laozi: Message to Rulers

• Confucian values are artificial constructs that oppose naturalness. Instead, individuals should strive to be soft and supple and adaptable.
• The ideal community consists of people living naturally and harmoniously, in alignment with the universe’s Way.
• The sage ruler fosters a society by “hollowing hearts, stuffing stomachs, weakening wills, and building up bones,” promoting a mindset free from competition and profit-seeking.

Hong Kongers: Be Water

Hong Kongers: Be Water

Discuss: Zhuangzi

• What is the “transformation of things”? How does one tell dream from reality?
• What’s the moral of Cook Ding’s story?
• How does Zhuangzi view death? Why?
• What is the way according to Zhuangzi? How does it compare with that of Laozi and Confucius?