This article aims to compare two interpretations of the emergence of new religious and moral concepts and beliefs in the period between the Shang (1600‒1046 BC) and the Western Zhou (1046‒771 BC) ...dynasties. It critically compares the theories of Xu Fuguan (1903‒1982) and Li Zehou (1930‒2021) on the process of humanization of Chinese religion. By emphasizing religious concepts such as Heaven, the Mandate of Heaven, the Way of Heaven on the one hand, and moral concepts such as virtue, reverence, and rituality on the other, the author illuminates the differences in each author’s interpretation of the era in which Chinese culture moved away from religion and into the realm of humanism and ethics. This article reveals the reasons for these differences, which stem from the profound divergences in the basic methods of Li and Xu. While Li’s elaboration is based on philosophical approaches, Xu Fuguan’s understanding is based on philological and cultural analyses of the Chinese history of ideas. The author argues that these mutual differences between their interpretations demonstrate the importance of understanding different methodological approaches, which in turn allows for a deeper multi-layered understanding of the process of humanization of Chinese religion.
Humanization of Chinese Religion Kosec, Maja Maria
Azijske študije (Spletna izd.),
09/2023, Volume:
11, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Open access
This article aims to compare two interpretations of the emergence of new religious and moral concepts and beliefs in the period between the Shang (1600‒1046 BC) and the Western Zhou (1046‒771 BC) ...dynasties. It critically compares the theories of Xu Fuguan (1903‒1982) and Li Zehou (1930‒2021) on the process of humanization of Chinese religion. By emphasizing religious concepts such as Heaven, the Mandate of Heaven, the Way of Heaven on the one hand, and moral concepts such as virtue, reverence, and rituality on the other, the author illuminates the differences in each author’s interpretation of the era in which Chinese culture moved away from religion and into the realm of humanism and ethics. This article reveals the reasons for these differences, which stem from the profound divergences in the basic methods of Li and Xu. While Li’s elaboration is based on philosophical approaches, Xu Fuguan’s understanding is based on philological and cultural analyses of the Chinese history of ideas. The author argues that these mutual differences between their interpretations demonstrate the importance of understanding different methodological approaches, which in turn allows for a deeper multi-layered understanding of the process of humanization of Chinese religion.
The article examines the research methodology of Chinese intellectual history developed by the Modern Confucian Xu Fuguan 徐復觀 (1904–1982). His novel methodological approach differed significantly ...from the methodology advocated by Fu Sinian 傅斯年 (1896–1950), the founder of the Institute of History and Philology of Academia Sinica in 1928, who advocated a rigorous adoption of Western scientific methodology in historical research, based exclusively on a philological perspective. Fu Sinian’s methodological approach, however, prevailed among Chinese historians in mainland China in the first half of the 20th century and in Taiwan after 1949. Xu Fuguan was highly critical of such an approach, considering it inadequate and inappropriate because it did not allow for conceptual interpretations on the one hand, and disregarded the contextualization and historical development of concepts and meanings on the other. Xu’s methodology is based on the application of the hermeneutic circle, which Xu calls dynamic and structural holism from a comparative perspective. In his methodology, a method of seeking embodied experience (zhui tiyan de fangfa 追體驗的方法) and intersubjectivenes (zhuti jianxing 主題間性) play a crucial role as they enable actualization of and communication with ancient thinkers in present times. However, Xu’s methodological approaches are also strikingly similar to Gadamer’s method of the fusion of horizons and Schleiermacher’s hermeneutic circle, which begs the question whether his critique of Fu’s adoption of Western methods was not based upon hypocritical grounds.
The article explores Xu Fuguan’s analysis and interpretation of the concept of qiyun shengdong 氣韻生動, which is considered to be one of the most important, fundamental and complex concepts in Chinese ...aesthetics and art. It was created by Xie He in the Wei Jin period (220–420 AD), which is marked as a turning point in the development of Chinese aesthetics. The complexity of the concept of qiyun shengdong is reflected in literary works, painting, calligraphy, and music, as well as in literary theory and the theory of painting. According to Xu Fuguan, qi refers to the external features of the artwork, while yun expresses the internal characteristics that are a matter of the human spirit. For Xu, shengdong signifies the manifestation and fusion of qi and yun in the artwork. Xu Fuguan claimed that the profound comprehension of this concept is fundamental for understanding the essence of Chinese art. The article also addresses the problem of translating this aesthetic concept into English and discusses the problem of its authenticity.
Among twentieth-century Confucians, Xu Fuguan (1904-1982) remains preeminent. This volume, written by Chun-chieh Huang, an authority on Xu's life and thought, offers English-speaking readers for the ...first time an exhaustive analysis of the philosopher's original ideas and research. A distinguished member of the group of Contemporary New Confucians, Xu made a significant contribution to the revival of Chinese culture and society, and the present book outlines the specific features of his legacy in comparison with the views of some of his influential Chinese and Japanese contemporaries.
The topics covered illustrate an overarching idea, namely, the innovative way in which Xu Fuguan answers a major question concerning Chinese culture, one posed by Chinese intellectuals since the May Fourth Movement: how best to approach the modernization of China. Xu's work is based on the assumption that Confucian thought and ethics-the core of Chinese tradition-can be modernized because "there is nothing in it which is not compatible with the idea of human dignity or rights in modern society." Xu addresses the question of China's modernization by offering arguments in favor of building a connection between Confucianism and democracy, mainly its political dimension.
Huang places his subject in the vast context of twentieth-century Chinese Confucian studies and the history of East Asian thought. He compares Xu Fuguan with his most influential opponents Hu Shi (1891-1962) and Fu Sinian (1896-1950) as well as fellow Confucians Tang Junyi (1909-1978) and Mou Zongsan (1909-1995). Huang draws further comparisons between Xu's thought and that of Japanese Enlightenment philosopher Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) and the father of contemporary Japanese capitalism, Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931). These contrasts highlight the "Chineseness" of Xu's theories and the marks left by traditional Chinese thought and culture on his writing and life in the countryside, where he spent much of his youth.
The article examines the specifics of the Chinese containment measures of the COVID-19 pandemic and their social consequences at the beginning of 2021. The author analyses empirical psychological ...research results on distress and anxiety of people in times of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, and explores to what degree the individual feelings of anxiety in contemporary China are conditioned by the traditionally prevailing absence of faith in higher transcendent forces on the one hand, and social isolation on the other. It proceeds from Xu Fuguan’s interpretation of the origins of a traditional Chinese concept of “concerned consciousness” (youhuan yishi 憂患意識). The author shows that this concept can be compared to the feeling of anxiety, but highlights important differences which separate it from the anxiety as developed and understood in the framework of modern Western philosophy. The paper aims to provide some preliminary answers to the questions of whether and in what way such a traditional feeling of anxiety in the sense of a “concerned consciousness” manifested itself in the period of social isolation that was implemented as a part of the government measures for the COVID-19 pandemic in China. These questions are being investigated through an analysis of philosophical studies on concerned consciousness on the on hand, and a contemporary case study on the other. The results show that the specifically Chinese kind of anxiety, which is rooted in concerned consciousness, is tightly linked to the relational nature of Chinese ethics and the corresponding understanding of individual identity. In addition, it is connected with the traditional understanding of human destiny, which is not fatalistic or determinist, but rather based on autonomous decisions based on the social responsibilities of a free human self.
In contemporary academic philosophy, Chinese Philosophy remains a niche. This has a lot to do with its presentation, which often creates an impression of alienness and allegory, making its ...contribution, especially to analytical questions, not obvious. This paper examines how a change in presentation eases the inclusion of Chinese Philosophy into the mainstream. On the assumption that there has been an “activist turn” in the discipline in general, philosophical interest in a tradition that ranges from conceptual analysis, to ethics and politics, but that is ultimately focused on motivating actions, becomes more relevant and pressing. Since, in much of Chinese Philosophy, the philosopher is an activist, if the wider discipline is indeed undergoing an “activist turn”, then there is a connection here that should be made. In this paper, the connection is explained using two examples, Mozi and Xu Fuguan.
The article explores Xu Fuguan’s analysis and interpretation of the concept of qiyun shengdong 氣韻生動, which is considered to be one of the most important, fundamental and complex concepts in Chinese ...aesthetics and art. It was created by Xie He in the Wei Jin period (220–420 AD), which is marked as a turning point in the development of Chinese aesthetics. The complexity of the concept of qiyun shengdong is reflected in literary works, painting, calligraphy, and music, as well as in literary theory and the theory of painting. According to Xu Fuguan, qi refers to the external features of the artwork, while yun expresses the internal characteristics that are a matter of the human spirit. For Xu, shengdong signifies the manifestation and fusion of qi and yun in the artwork. Xu Fuguan claimed that the profound comprehension of this concept is fundamental for understanding the essence of Chinese art. The article also addresses the problem of translating this aesthetic concept into English and discusses the problem of its authenticity.
The article investigates the political views of one of the most prominent representatives of the so-called second generation of Modern Confucianism, Xu Fuguan. It reveals his unique position within ...this intellectual movement. Even though all other adherents of Modern Confucianism were focused upon metaphysics and ontology rather than political theory, Xu believed that these lines of thought could not contribute enough to solving the various urgent social and political problems of modern China. In this regard, the present article focuses upon a critical analysis of Xu’s critique of the Chinese Communist Party. The author presents and evaluates his critique mainly with regard to his search for a resolution of the problematic and chaotic political and social situation of China during the first half of the 20th century. In conclusion, the author provides a critical evaluation of Xu’s social democratic thought and particularly of his attitude towards the Chinese Communist Party.
Straipsnyje aptariama, kaip Xu Fuguan interpretuoja keletą pagrindinių Zuangzi estetinės minties sąvokų. Xu nuomone, Zhuangzi estetinė mintis susijusi su estetiniu žmogaus gyvenimo būdu, kur grožis ...taikomas dao sričiai, kurioje žmonės gali išlaisvinti savo sielą ir džiaugtis „laisvu ir lengvu klajojimu“ (xiaoyaoyou 逍遙遊). Pasak Xu, tai yra aukščiausia ir gražiausia žmogaus egzistencijos sfera, įgaunanti išraišką mene. Zhuangzi sąvokas xinzhai心齋 ir zuowang 坐忘, kaip šio aukščiausio būties lygmens pasiekimo metodą, Xu laikė panašiomis į kai kurias XIX ir XX a. Vakarų fenomenologijos sąvokas. Nors Xu stengėsi atsargiai vesti paraleles tarp Vakarų filosofijos ir Zhuangzi mąstymo, jis manė esant jų panašumų, ypač klausimu, kodėl žmogaus sąmonė gali estetiškai suvokti pasaulį. Šio straipsnio tikslas yra atskleisti tokios lyginamosios prieigos, glūdinčios Xu estetinėje mintyje, metodologinius keblumus ir prieštaravimus.
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