Tracing the Origin of Chinese Studies： Exploring and Excavating the Ideological and Cultural Resources in Pre-Qin Period

Karl Jaspers, a German thinker, put forward the famous concept of "Axis Age", arguing that between 800 BC and 200 BC, human civilization made a major breakthrough, there was unprecedented tension in the spiritual field, "the awakening of ultimate concern" took place, and human society began to be faced with rational ways and moral norms. Great spiritual teachers have appeared in all civilizations in the Axis era, and their ideological principles have created different cultural traditions, which have always influenced human survival and life. In China, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period coincided with the Axial Age, which played a brilliant movement of Chinese civilization.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the sky of Chinese civilization was full of stars, the brightest of which was Confucius, who was a moral master. The most dazzling star is Laozi, who is a master of wisdom; There are Mencius and Xunzi of Confucianism, Zhuangzi of Taoism, Han Fei of Legalism and Mozi of Mohism. Their thoughts nourished the Chinese nation and shaped Chinese’s collective personality. For these great spiritual teachers, we can only worship.

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Looking up at the pre-Qin sky, although different stars have different lights, they even dilute each other. Mozi wants "Non-Confucianism", Taoism wants to be ruthless and abandon righteousness, and Mencius wants to "be idle and sage, stay away from Yang Mo, and put obscene words, and those who say heresies are not allowed to do it" ("Mencius Teng Wengong"). However, the ideological and cultural origins of the pre-Qin philosophers are the same. They all admire the same sages, namely Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen and Wu. Confucius praised Tang Yao’s generous words, which represented the consensus of the pre-Qin society. "Great Yao is the king! Awesome! Only the sky is great, and only Yao is it. Swing! People can’t be named. It’ s a success, and it’ s an article! " (The Analects of Confucius Taber) They all quote the same classics, which are the Six Classics. It is generally believed that the Six Classics is a Confucian classic, but it is not. The Six Arts, not the book of Confucius, are the old classics of Zhou Guan. Yi is in the palm of Taibu, Shu is in the possession of foreign history, Li is in Zongbo, Yue is in the possession of Si Yue, Poetry is in the possession of the imperial teacher, and Spring and Autumn is in the possession of national history (Zhang Xuecheng’s General Discussion on School). They all use the same concept, that is, Tao, virtue, benevolence, righteousness, sage and gentleman. The pre-Qin philosophers all liked the category of Tao, and Laozi regarded Tao as the origin of everything in the world. "Tao gives birth to one, two, two, three and three things" (Laozi Chapter 42). Confucius believes that Tao is the ultimate principle, and "if you hear Tao in the morning, you will die in the evening" (The Analects of Confucius, Liren). Mozi often talks about "Saint Wang Zhidao", Mencius likes to talk about "The Way of the Sage", and Han Fei has The Main Way. Xunzi thought: "Those who are Taoist, if they make progress, they will try their best, and if they retreat, they will be thrifty.There is nothing in the world. "("Xun Zi Zheng Ming ") Chinese civilization was quite mature in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The pre-Qin philosophers lived in the same cultural atmosphere and naturally inherited the same cultural traditions and absorbed the same cultural nutrients.

After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the sky of Chinese civilization lost its former liveliness and never reappeared the splendor of the pre-Qin period. The sky of Chinese civilization is much quieter, and different stars have suffered different fates. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "deposed a hundred schools of thought and displayed six classics", which unified the ideology of traditional society, made the star of Confucianism brighter and brighter, and historically occupied the dominant position of culture. The star of Taoism is hanging but still shining, forming a complementary cultural structure with Confucianism. Laozi is feminine, praising the virtue of water. "The goodness of water is like water, and water is good for all things without dispute, and it is evil for everyone, so it is a matter of Tao" (Chapter 8 of Laozi). Confucius is masculine, demanding that a gentleman "can entrust an orphan of six feet, can send a life of a hundred miles, and can’t take it away at a big festival" ("The Analects of Confucius Taber"); The nature of expressing affection is "when you are cold, you will know the pines and cypresses and carve them" (The Analects of Confucius Zi Han). The star of legalism is hidden but not obvious, which seems to be non-existent, and forms a political structure with Confucianism. Emperor Xuandi of the Han Dynasty pointed out: "The Han family has its own system, which is based on hegemony." ("History of Han Yuan Di") truly revealed the essential relationship between Confucianism and Legalism, which lasted for more than 2,000 years in the traditional society. "Since the Han Dynasty, although scholars despised Shen and Han did not take it, however, the world’s masters were happy with their words and used them in a negative way; If a villain wants to win a monarch, he must learn his words privately or recite them, so his learning is still good today "(Su Shi’s Dongpo Book Biography). Confucianism, Taoism and Taoism, whether yin or yang, or inside or outside, complement each other and live in harmony, which together create the soul of the Chinese nation. "Everything is negative and holds yang, and it is harmonious to rush" (Chapter 42 of Laozi).Only the Mohist Star suddenly disappeared in the historical sky, disappearing mysteriously and strangely.

Pascal, a French thinker, said: "All human dignity lies in thought." The reason why Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism and Mohism shined in the sky of the pre-Qin period lies in their great ideas. Confucianism is benevolence, "Fan Chi asked benevolence. Confucius said,’ Love.’ "(The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan) profoundly reveals the truth of human existence. Taoism is the Tao, "the opponent, the movement of the Tao, the weak, the use of the Tao." Everything in the world is born out of something, and everything is born out of nothing "("Chapter 40 of Laozi "), which rationally inquired about the laws of the operation of nature. Legalism is the law, "a country with a clear master, there is no simple text, and the law is the teaching; Without the words of the former king, take the officials as teachers "("Everything is done wrong "), which coldly provides an effective model of political governance. Mohism is also, "Today’s gentleman, loyal to the world’s wealth and hate its poverty, want to rule the world and hate its chaos, when both love and benefit each other." This holy king’s law, the rule of the world, must be done "("Mozi’s All-in-One Love "), which deeply reflects the equal demands of the public. Confucianism, Taoism, Dharma and Mohism are not only the spiritual home of the Chinese nation, but also the ideological resources of Chinese civilization. They are inexhaustible and are always worth exploring and excavating, thus contributing wisdom and strength to modern society and real life.

This book "Tracing the Origin of Chinese Studies" is to explore and excavate the ideological and cultural resources of the pre-Qin period. The book has ten chapters and is divided into five parts. The first part, the first chapter, gives an overview of hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin period, and holds that Confucianism, Taoism, France and Mohism are the schools of thought, and only Confucianism and Taoism have really exerted great influence on the traditional society. The ideological essence of Confucianism and Taoism is concentrated in five classics: Laozi, The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, University and The Doctrine of the Mean, and it is restrained in ten concepts: Taoism, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, faith, loyalty, filial piety, honesty and shame. The second part, including the second, third, fourth and fifth chapters, expounds Confucianism, which is summarized as the benevolence of Confucius, the righteousness of Mencius and the ceremony of Xunzi, and points out that Confucianism takes benevolence as the core, and benevolence, righteousness and ceremony complement each other, thus building a magnificent ideological building. The third part, including the sixth, seventh and eighth chapters, expounds the Taoist thought, sublimates it into the Tao of Laozi and the tour of Zhuangzi, and holds that Taoism takes Tao as the logical presupposition and constructs ontology philosophy, political philosophy and life philosophy. The fourth part, the ninth chapter, expounds the legalist thought, which is summarized as Han Fei’s law, and points out that legalists take law as the premise, and the trinity of law, technology and potential is committed to building the ideological foundation of centralization and monarchy. The fifth part, the tenth chapter, expounds the Mohist thought, which is summarized as both Mohism and Mohism. It holds that Mohism takes universal love as its main purpose, and is opposite to others, combining love with benefit to build an ideological system that reflects the demands of ordinary people. Mohist thought was put forward at the end, mainly because Mohist school had been cut off in the Qin and Han dynasties and had little influence on traditional society. According to the pre-Qin school, Mohist thought should be expounded after Confucianism.I believe readers can understand.

Tracing the Origin of Chinese Studies is another achievement of the author’s long-term persistence and engagement in the study of traditional culture. In the process of interpreting the thoughts of Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism and Mohism, the author adheres to the principle of consistency, that is, pays attention to the systematic requirements of thoughts, and tries to sort out the various viewpoints and materials scattered in the classics of various schools of thought, summarize and refine them, and concentrate them into chapters, so that the thoughts of various schools of thought constitute a system. When constructing the ideological system of various schools of thought, we insist on annotating the classics, never giving free play to them, and never accompanying them at will. Pay attention to the reality of interpretation and try to observe social problems, but they are not necessarily social problems at present. What we focus on are all important problems that have existed in society for a long time, but they have different forms of expression in the past, present and future, so as to pursue the longer vitality of academic research. Pay attention to the popularity of language, strive to suit both refined and popular tastes, interpret classics and philosophers’ thoughts with people’s understandable words and familiar ways of thinking, try to keep a balance between scholarship and popularization, and avoid entering the ivory tower, which makes people flinch.

Karl Jaspers spoke highly of the Axial Age, and thought that "human beings have always lived by everything produced, thought and created in the Axial Age, and every new leap looks back on this period and is rekindled by it". The same is true for individuals, "every great improvement of individual nature stems from the re-contact of the classical world." Yes! The Renaissance in Europe, after reviewing the culture of ancient Greece and Rome, broke the trap of medieval theology and revived Europe. Most of the reforms in China’s history trace back to the pre-Qin period, showing the face of "reform from ancient times to ancient times". Tuogu reform not only provides a basis for reform, but also seeks ideological guidance and wisdom enlightenment for reform. Today’s world is in a great change. Whether human society needs to return to the axis era again, please ask the sages and sages for advice. Tracing the Source of Chinese Studies is not for reviewing, but for rekindling. I hope that rereading the classics of Confucianism, Taoism, Dharma and Mohism can help us to find a good solution to the problems faced by mankind and a driving force to promote national modernization. It can improve the quality of individual life and illuminate the way forward in life.

The author keeps it in mind in the winter of the year of Ji Hai.

Tracing the origin of Chinese studies

By Xia Hai

Simplified horizontal arrangement

32 open paperback

9787101146172

49.00 yuan

Catalogue

Self-ordering

Chapter I Flowing Water at the Source

I. Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period

Second, a hundred schools of thought contend

Third, Confucianism and Taoism complement each other

Four or five classics

Five, ten concepts

Chapter II Pre-Qin Confucianism

First, the origin of Confucianism

Second, Confucius is noble.

Third, Mencius inherited

Fourth, Xunzi played

Five, Mencius and Xunzi

Chapter III The Benevolence of Confucius

First, Confucius himself

Second, the benevolent loves others

Third, governing by virtue

Fourth, gentle and gentle

Five, there is no class.

Chapter IV The Meaning of Mencius

First, Mencius himself

Second, the goodness of human nature

Third, fa Zheng Shi ren

Fourth, brave and diligent

Five, the teacher is right

The fifth chapter Xunzi’s ceremony

First, Xunzi himself

Second, the separation of heaven and man

Third, transformation and falsification

Fourth, long ceremony and heavy law

Five, learn to be holy

Chapter VI Pre-Qin Taoism

First, the origin of Taoism

Second, Lao Tzu is gentle.

Third, Zhuangzi followed up.

Fourth, Laozi and Confucius

Five, Taoism and Taoism

Chapter VII Lao Tzu’s Way

First, I am a man.

Second, Taoism is natural

Third, governing by doing nothing

Fourth, be humble.

Chapter VIII Tour of Zhuangzi

First, Zhuangzi.

Second, Dong Guo asked

Third, Hao Liang watches fish

Fourth, the tail coating

Five, Zhuang Zhou Dream Butterfly

Chapter 9 The Law of Han Fei

First, Han Fei is a man

Second, the good and the bad

Third, the law is more obvious.

Fourth, the operation does not want to see

Five, the potential to win the public

Chapter 10 Mozi’s concurrently

First, Mozi himself

Second, respect for heaven and ghosts

Third, both are easy to be different.

Fourth, Shang Xian, Shang Tong

V. Distinguish between right and wrong

Main references

postscript

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Original title: Tracing the Origin of Chinese Studies: Exploring and Excavating the Ideological and Cultural Resources of the Pre-Qin Dynasty

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