Chun-Chieh Huang

Humanism in East Asian Confucian contexts

The past 60 years have seen the rediscovery of the immense cultural depth of Confucian humanist thought and its power to shape the way human beings are understood in East Asia. In this volume, renowned Confucian scholar Chun-chieh Huang analyzes various East Asian contexts to identify the central pillars of the Confucian humanist spirit: a continuum between mind and body, harmony between oneself and others, the unity of heaven and humanity, and a profound historical consciousness. Scholars of religion, history, philosophy and Asian studies will find this volume an indispensable guide to the rich tradition of East Asian Confucian humanism.

Mencius' Hermeneutics of Classics

The Eastern Zhou (東周 722-222 B.C.) period was a golden age in Chinese intellectual history, one in which the great masters emerged one after another and hundreds of schools competed with each other. Among them, the Confucians had the deepest historical consciousness and were most respectful of traditional culture. Confucius (551-479 B.C.) himself talked about Yao堯 and Shun舜, wrote about King Wen文 and King Wu武, and regarded the absence of Duke Zhou周公 in his dream as a signal of his getting old; Mencius (371-289 B.C.?), it was reported, “cannot avoid mentioning Yao and Shun whenever he talked” (Mencius: 3A5) and, as pointed out by Zhao Qi 趙岐 (?-A.D. 210) of the East Han Dynasty 東漢 (A.D.25220), was “thorough with the five classics, and particularly good at the Book of Odes《詩》and the Book of History《書》” (Zhao: 1a). In the whole book of Mencius, there are thirty-three uses of the Book of Odes, twenty-two of which are of Da Ya《大雅》, and fourteen uses of the Book of History. Particularly noticeable is that, more often than not, Mencius’ uses of these two classics were made in some particular context of his own discourses, which shows to some extent how Confucian thinkers were using classics. In addition to using classics to argue for his own points, Mencius also developed two methods of interpreting classics, which have been very influential in the Confucian hermeneutics of classics. This article aims to present the two contexts within which Mencius used classics, and to analyze the implications of Mencius’ hermeneutics of classics.

Salient Features of Chinese Historical Thinking

In this article I argue that history occupies pivotal position in the world-view and philosophy of life in the Chinese tradition. Chinese civilisation is deeply imbued with historical consciousness and its people are homo historiens in every sense. Historical thinking in traditional China is infused with a moral meaning. The notion of dao, that is, heavenly principle and human norm, stands at the centre of this consciousness. In view of its practical operation, Chinese historical thinking is on one hand concrete, and on the other, analogical; it enables communication with the past and extrapolation of meanings from history. In this way, historical experience in China becomes a library where contemporary readers may engage in creative dialogues with the past.

The ‘body politic’ in ancient China

the ‘body politic’ occupies the core position in traditional chinese political thinking. this is strongly supported by the fact that, for most ancient chinese philosophers, self-cultivation was taken as the starting point of a programmatic way leading to the management of the world. the aim of this essay is to analyze the meaning and significance of the prevailing ‘body politic’ of ancient China. in section two, the Chinese ‘body politic’ is placed within a comparative frame with the ideas of plato (428–347 BCe) and Hobbes (1588–1679). it is argued that the ‘body politic’ in China is far from an abstract or theoretical discourse; the state was epistemologically taken as an extension of the human body, which is integral and organic in itself. thus the body served as a metaphor or symbol to explain the organization and functionality of the state. Section three details the ‘body politic’ in three ways. First, due to the comparability between the state and the body, the ruling of the state, as that of the body, should also commence with a kind of inside-out, morality-concerned self-cultivation. Second, there is a complicated interdependency between state functions, which are similar to those of the body. third, if there is a center of dominancy gathered through the interactive process of the body, then a kind of political autocracy can thus be extrapolated in by the ‘body politic’. the conclusion points out that, in ancient chinese body-thinking, the mind-heart had its socio-political dimensions, and the ‘body’ is no less than a psychosomatic one. since the unification of China in 221 BCe, Confucianism had gradually gained the political vantage and become the imperial ideology. However, the ancient ideal of the ‘Confucianization of politics’ was thus transformed to the reality of the ‘politicization of Confucianism’.

Core Conceptions of the Theory of Self-cultivation in East Asian Confucian Philosophy

The present study examines the four core concepts that underpin the various theories of cultivation of East Asian Confucian philosophy: self (ji, 己), cultivation (xiu, 修), transformation (hua, 化), and nurture (yang, 養). The discussion is divided into six sections. The first section, the introduction, explains the significance of the issue in question. The second section examines the substantial notion of “self” as expounded in the Confucian intellectual tradition and the corresponding concept of selfhood or personhood. Confucianism stresses that (1) personal selfhood is based on the freedom of subjectivity (subjective volition), and (2) society’s values and norms originate in this freedom of subjectivity. The third section discusses the functional concept of cultivation, focusing on the fact that in Confucian theories the terms “cultivation” and “body” are always combined to form the concept of “self-cultivation.” Moreover, Confucian thinkers tend to discuss the effort of self-cultivation in the context of a body-mind continuum. Indeed, they often use orientational metaphors in order to describe the efforts entailed by cultivation. The fourth section analyzes the linguistic setting and context of the functional concept of transformation within Confucian philosophy of the concrete self. The term “transformation” indicates clearly that Confucian philosophy is a transformative philosophy. The fifth section analyzes the functional concept of nurture, stressing that Confucius’ two greatest followers, Mencius and Xunzi, represent two opposed approaches to nurturing. Mencius stresses that one should undertake the effort of “nurturing qi,” that is, produce culture through natural cultivation, while Xunzi advocates artificially instilling culture in order to discipline, tame, and order nature. Mencius and Xunzi both turn to the container metaphor in their discussions of self-cultivation. The article concludes that the various cultivation activities advocated by these two disparate Confucians are based on two assumptions: (1) the self coincides with the physical body, and (2) the physical self is steeped in and interactive with the cultural values of society. In sum, the functional concept of self-cultivation is an important pillar of Confucian theories of self-cultivation.

Liberal Arts Education in Postwar Taiwan: A Case Study on General Education Reform at National Taiwan University

After World War II, Taiwan underwent profound economic, social, cultural, political and educational transformation. A major part of the transformation of its higher education system was the introduction of general education programs. This chapter discusses the experience of higher education institutions in promoting general education in postwar Taiwan, taking the reform of general education at the National Taiwan University as a case study.

Historical Discourses in Traditional Chinese Historical Writings: Historiography as Philosophy

During the long course of Chinese history, Chinese historians always added comments after narrating historical events in order to draw didactic lessons from the forge of history. From ＂the gentleman says＂ of the ＂Zuozhuanto＂ the ＂Grand Historian says＂ of Historians Records, the ＂measured discourses＂ of the official Han History, the ＂assessments＂ of the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, the ＂Your Servant Sima Guang says＂ of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government to Wang Fuzhis (1619-1692) Reading the General Mirror of Historical Discourses and Discourses on Song History, these historians all examined the concrete ＂events＂ of history in detail in order to discourse on the ＂principle＂ or ＂moral norm＂ at stake. They thus followed the traces of history in order to seek the root causes; they followed upstream in order to reflect on the well-spring, the source, thus producing the synthesis of history and philosophy that characterizes traditional Chinese scholarship. This paper examines the complex relationship between ＂events＂ and ＂principles＂ in traditional Chinese historical writings, and discusses how traditional Chinese historiography orchestrates a synthesis of history with philosophy in which history operates as the function of philosophy. The present paper consists of five sections: besides section one, the introduction, section two traces the development of the relationship between ＂events＂ and ＂principles＂ in Chinese historiography, stressing that before the 10^(th) century CE (Northern Song), principle was regarded as parasitic on real events, i.e., as not really essential for understanding. After the rise of Song Neo-Confucianism, the principles identified in history gradually came to be viewed as the driving forces of historical events. This change reflected the gradual immersion of Confucian values into historical reflection, by which events and principle became ever more intimately connected. Sections three and four analyze two main uses that Chinese historical discourses started to have. Section three discusses how the forge of historical particularity was thought to produce universal significances, thus making the generalities in the works of Chinese history start to take on the appearance of Georg W. F. Hegels (1770-1830) so-called ＂concrete universals.＂ Section four discusses the second use of the discourses in Chinese historiography; that is, the synthesis of the historians ＂factual judgments＂ and ＂value judgments＂ or ＂moral judgments.＂ Chinese traditional historical narratives mostly tended to be what Jorn Rusen calls ＂exemplary narratives.＂ The Chinese historians fully approved of the notion that the actors in history were exercising their free will, that the movers and shakers in history held ultimate historical responsibility for the fruits of their actions and the broader historical impact. In Chinese culture, historians used historical judgment in place of the Final Judgment which is fundamental in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Section five summarizes the main points made in the paper, stressing the special feature of the unity of literature, history, and philosophy in traditional Chinese learning, through which the traditional discourses of Chinese historiography revealed a Gospel for their own tradition.

Mencius’ Educational Philosophy and Its Contemporary Relevance

Abstract This article argues that Mencius’ education is ‘holistic education’ that aims at igniting the ‘silent revolution’ from within one’s inner mind-heart to be unfolded in society, state, and the world. Mencius’ educational philosophy is based on his theory of human nature and his theory of self-cultivation. Mencius affirms the totality of human life because he insists that the ‘personal,’ the ‘socio-political,’ and the ‘cosmic’ form a continuum. On the basis of ‘totality’ of one’s life, Mencius regards the educational process as the prompting of the overall awakening of the learner’s subjectivity. Moreover, Mencius considers that the human mind-heart is the creator of values and that human life is endowed with innate capacity to make moral judgments. Mencius holds that the most effective educational methodology is a sort of cultivation of the mind-heart through internal self-reflection. Moreover, Mencius insists that the principles of teaching are to be according to the student’s talent and that the teacher has to make oneself as a paradigm. In conclusion, Mencius’ educational philosophy reminds us of the importance of ‘emic’ approach of education and the true goal of education in this age of increased quantification, standardization, and commercialization.

Globalization and Higher Education in Greater China: Trends and Challenges

Since the 1980s, the world has seen drastic changes in many a fields such as politics, economics, academics, and so forth. Among them surges the tide of ”globalization,” which exerts a profound impact on human lives. However, the trend of globalization rises on the premise of technological development. Since such development is all too often in the grip of the powerful countries, the so called globalization turns out to be an capitalist tool which enhances the dominance of the strong over the weak, and poses threats to local cultures of the latter. Therefore, it comes to be the responsibility of the higher education to reserve the cultural consciousness and even promote the dialogues among civilizations. Nonetheless, since the end of the 19(superscript th) century, institutions of higher education of both sides of Taiwan Strait have been developed out of ”pragmatism.” For example, Tahoku (Taipei) Imperial University (1928) as a study center was taken to be the springboard for Imperial Japans invasion into Southeast Asia; even earlier, Peiyang University (1895) and Peking University (1898) in Mainland China were established for building a powerful modern country. Under the circumstances, modern Chinese intellectuals have been sent far away from their traditional culture, and the gaps between technological development and academic subjectivity, between personal profit and social welfare, have been wider and wider during the course of last century. Admittedly, both ”globalization” and ”technological dominance” are international issues, but there are tensions between traditional and modern values specific to Chinese societies being observed. This article discusses the phenomena aforementioned, and proposes that higher education should serve to rehabilitate traditional culture as well as to kindle social conscience, for the wound caused by the trend of globalization to be sutured.

On the Relationship between Interpretations of the Confucian Classics and Political Power in East Asia An Inquiry Focusing upon the Analects and Mencius

This article focuses on the complex relationship existing between the interpretation of Confucian classics and political power in China, Japan and Korea. A wide range of materials is contained for discussion, namely East Asian scholars’ commentaries on the Analects and Mencius, questions extracted from the Book of Mencius in the civil service examinations in the Ming (1368–1644) China, reminders which a Tokugawa Japanese scholar marked on Mencius against imperial reading, and quotations from Confucian classics appearing in the dialogues between emperors and courtiers in the Han (206 BCE–220 CE) and Tang (618–907) dynasties. It is pointed out that the dual roles played by the interpreters—as Confucian scholars and as administrators—had closely connected the interpretation of classics to political power. Briefly speaking, three forms of relationship are observed: inseparability, competition, and the balance to be struck between the interpretation of the classics and political power. To sum up, the East Asian Confucians read and understood the classics through their own ‘existential structures’, at the same time endowing the classics with new strategic content; they were not just playing ‘intellectual games’