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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9: C. Personalities

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9

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English

Contents

C. Personalities

Laozi

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Laozi's dates of birth and death have been hitherto debatable. His family name being Li, with given name of Er, and another version of his cognomen is Lao Dan. He is creator of Taoism School of Learning, and a great thinker of the Spring and Autumn Period.

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Brief biographic notes

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Based on Collected Biographies of Laozi and Han Fei of the Historical Records by Sima Qian, Laozi was a native of Qurenli of the town of Lixiang, the Ku County, the State of Chu (presnt-day Taiqinggong Town, Luyi County, He’nan Province). It is said that at his birth date his hair was snow-white, and hence the cognomen of Laozi, an old man. He was once the head of imperial archive and library of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, in charge of state-collected books, maps, archive and documents. Confucius is known to ask him for advice on the rites of the Zhou Dynasty. Laozi had these to say to him: What you asked about the man and the rites initiated by him no longer exist, even his bones are decaying, only his words still ring in our ears. If a man of honour's fortune turns, he could get on cart to accept official appointment, but if he lives at the wrong time, then his lot is like a piece of fluffy grass that would be gone with the wind. I’m told that a good businessman will stash and hide away his stock of goods, and only present to the outsiders the facade of seemingly empty warehouse, so is the man of honour’s way of doing things, who possesses noble and gracious moral character with modest appearance as if the dull and stupid. To cast away your conceit and excessive desire, and abandon your affected look and outgrown ambition which would bring nothing good to yourself .That's all for what I can offer you as an advice. These words reveal Laozi’s attainment of virtue, that is, an advocate of being ready to make change for adaptability and conservatively receding to have fewer desires. Confucius highly admires nobility of Laozi as he comments: Today I have a chance to see Laozi, isn’t he a loong (means: king-size gentleman)

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*Nagarjuna's theories*

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Laozi

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Historian Sima Qian also described him as a man of moral excellence and extensive learning but in low profile with fervent intent of not seeking to be known to the outside. After having stayed there for long and having witnessed declining of the Zhou House, Laozi finally decided to leave the capital. When he arrived at Hangu Pass, he was stopped and requested by the pass officer Yinxi to write a book. That is the origin of the book of our having today; it is in two parts, elaborating the concepts of Dao and De totalling over 5,000 characters. After he completed and handed over his book, he was allowed to pass through Hangu Pass and hitherto gone into reclusion, and his whereabouts have never been heard of since. In view of the above, Laozi should have been Lao Dan who lived in the end period of the Spring and Autumn, and was senior in age to Confucius. Although Sima Qian was inclined to this version, yet there has been no consensus of this point. History after the Han Dynasty abounds with disputes on Laozi. The recent contemporaries still believe Laozi actually is none other than Lao Dan of the end period of Spring and Autumn, such experts as Ma Xulun, Tang Lan and Guo Moruo. Whereas Fan Wenlan, Hou Wailu and others alleged that Laozi should have lived in the Warring State Period. In short, there has been so far no firm and ascertained dates of Laozi’s birth and death while his life story is no more than brief record and narration highly scattered and fragmentary just like a swan’s footprints found on snow and mud; nevertheless, description of his theoretical features by the scholars of later generations is, for the most part, highly similar.

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Academic thoughts

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What it is prevalently referred to with regards to Laozi’s thoughts is the philosophical view reflected in the *Book of Lao Zi*. His ideological system, by inheriting the tradition of what it calls theory laying foundation to create Change Sect, constructed with “Dao” as core also by summing up his own experiences. He attempted to sum up the unitarity and essence of cosmic inventory, and cosmic ontology existed not in the vast heaven and earth, but resided in the minds of people. Dao as natural property of cosmic inventory is antecedent to the existence of Heaven and Earth as he said, “There was something formless yet complete. They existed earlier than Heaven and Earth. Silent and empty, it relies on nothing, moving around forever. We may regard it as the Mother of all things. I do not know its name, so I name it as Dao.” (Quoted from Chapter 25. And all quotations hereinafter are referred only to the chapter number.) Universe is all evolved into being through Dao, as he said, “Dao begets the One; the One consists of Two in opposition - the Yin and Yang; the Two begets the Three; the Three begets all things of the world,” (chapter XXXXII). Moreover, Laozi considers Dao as general basis for the comic existence, believing all things within the Heaven and Earth take shape and grow through Dao. He has the connotation of objective laws, and everything in the universe and including social and human affairs are governed by Dao, as he said, “Man takes Earth as his model; Earth takes Heaven as its model; Heaven takes Dao as its model; Dao takes what is natural as its model,” (chapter XXV). Whereas, Dao is beyond human’s vision and perception, “What cannot be seen is called ‘Yi’ without colour; what cannot be heard is called ‘Xi’ without sound; what cannot be touched is called ‘Wei’ without shape; these three things can be in no way defined, so they are combined into one,” (chapter XIV). Dao exists independently without being hooked on any external things, and is moving perpetually without let-up. “There is a thing formed in an integrated manner, and born earlier than Heaven and Earth. It is silent and empty. It relies on nothing, but it is moving around forever. We may regard it as the mother of all things,” (chapter XXV). In his mind’s eye, Dao features “nothingness” and “the shape without shape”, as Laozi defines in the Chapter 14: “It is categorised as Nothingness, and is called the shape without shape as well as the image without substance. It is hence named as vague and dimly visible,” which suggests Dao is the root of all things on earth and exists forever, but is so indistinct that is beyond our visual perception, nor can be fathomed or ascertained by our mental capacity.

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Laozi’s philosophy is rich in dialectics, believing all things are in a perpetual process of motion and change, also contain mutually contradictory two facets, putting forth the thought of interdependency of two opposites, as he said, “Therefore Existence and Nothingness beget each other; long and short manifest themselves by comparison; High and low are inclined as well as opposed to each other; musical sound and singing voice harmonize each other; front and back follow each other,” (chapter II). And, he further considers that the both opposite’s sides can be mutually inclusive and mutually transforming, “Disaster hides itself behind good fortune; Good fortune leans against disaster,” (chapter LVIII). The law of motion for everything is to move and develop to the opposite direction, “Cycling is the movement of Dao” (chapter XXXX). He deems the movement of Dao as a circulating movement and ultimately will return to ontology of Dao, as he said, “All things, full of vitality, and finally return to their own roots,” (Chapter 16).

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In epistemology, Laozi comes up with new ways of understanding things, ie “deeper meditation”. He is aware of limitation of perceptual experience, therefore he needs reliance of unique experiences to experience Dao existence, and thereby he upholds such an epistemology as it is rendered in this way, “Block the openings of knowledge, and shut the door of desires,”(Chapter 52), and “Know everything without going out; and sees Dao of heaven without looking out of the window” (Chapter 47), and “I try my best to be in an extreme emptiness of mind; I try to keep myself in a state of stillness. From the vigorous growth of all things, I perceive the way they move in endless cycles,” (Chapter 16). In short, we should calmly observe all unceasingly changing and moving things in the universe by getting rid of human subjective consciousness, and placing your body and mind in a void and empty realm; he so sticks to this view even so far as to put the understanding of specific matters to be antagonistic to the cognition of cosmic ontology, believing that - “He who seeks learning must increase his knowledge every day; he who seeks Dao must reduce his knowledge very day. He reduces and reduces until he reaches the state of inaction. When reaching the state of inaction, one can succeed in everything,” (Chapter 48).

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In political idea, Laozi stands for governing a country by doing nothing that goes against nature (ie governing through inaction, or non-interference, or better still rendered in an English equivalent: Laissez-faire), and sees “small country both in terms of territory and population” as a typical ideal state. The way of life he adores is a utopian dream, like “The dog’s barking and the cock’s crowing in one state are heard in another; the people of one state will never have dealings with those of another, even if they get old and die” (Chapter 80). In political practice, he lashes out at rulers, pointing out , “The hunger on the part of the people is the result of exorbitant taxes on the part of the ruler, and making light of life on the part of the people is the result of setting too much store by life on the part of the ruler ”(Chapter 75). Likewise, he views weapons as something ill omen (Chapter 31), opposes the provocation of war and creation of incident, although he does not rule out all kinds of war completely, yet he believes a stratagem of gaining mastery by striking only after the enemy has struck under the circumstances of “having no choice but to use it”. He thinks that advancement of human’s knowledge level and improvement of material life is an important root cause of disaster and crimes in the world, “The more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people become. The more sharp weapons there are, the more prevailing chaos thee is in the state. The more skills technique, the more cunning things are produced. The greater the number of statutes, the greater the number of thieves and brigands,” (Chapter 57); “Banish wisdom, discard knowledge, and the people shall profit a hundredfold; banish love, discard justice, and the people shall recover love of their kin; banish cunning, discard utility, and the thieves and brigands shall disappear,” (Chapter 19). He believes that abandoning knowledge and culture, virtue and morality, crafts and technique, human being shall be simple-minded and innocent, and accordingly a great peace and order, stability and happiness shall prevail. In social life, he made criticism against reality in the end period of the State of Zhou, pointing out what was present then was dynamic process of retrogression, “Virtue comes after the loss of Dao; Benevolence comes after the loss of virtue; Justice comes after the loss of benevolence; rites come after the loss of justice. Thus rites result from the lack of loyalty and good faith, and function as the beginning of the great disorder” (Chapter 38). Such a retrogression process is utterly detrimental to the humanistic cultivation and social stability. It is true that Laozi also advocates morality, but is differed quite distinctly from that of Confucius and Mencius. The morality suggested by Laozi prevailed before the benevolence and justice, which is in a natural state. Confucius was born later than Laozi, and foundation of its theory is benevolence; Mencius, born even much later than Confucius, further expounded benevolence and justice; Xun Zi, the most posterior among the three, attributed everything to the rituals; Han Fei and Li Si, the disciples of Xun Zi, revered law, cunning tactics and power, from then on, crafty tricks and cheat have been surfaced openly, resulting in confusion of people’s mind and social turmoil. In this perspective, what Laozi says is true indeed.

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In his outlook on life, he believes, “No crime is greater than greediness; no disaster is greater than the lack of contentment; thus the contentment of feeling content is an eternal contentment,” (Chapter 46). Laozi loves the weak but supple, and disdains strong but brittle, believing only a man is openminded with moderate desires, could he be possible to have easy survival and remain invincible, and he uses metaphor of the property of grass and trees, alleging, “While alive, a man’s body is supple; when dead, it becomes hard. While alive, grass and trees are supple, when dead, they become dry and stiff. Thus the hard and strong is of the dying sort; that is why the army, having grown strong, will be wiped out, and the tree, when grown up, will be cut down. Thus the strong and big is inferior to the weak and supple,” (Chapter 76). Therefore the way to keep thing sustainably strong and prosperous is flexible with keeping low profile, as he said, “Though knowing what is masculine, you are ready to play the role of female,” (Chapter 28).

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Statue of Laozi, Mt. Qingliang, Quanzhou, Fujian, China

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Profound impact to the later generations

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The Doctrine of Laozi, with profound and far-reaching influence, holds an important position in Chinese ideological history. Taoism was gradually taken shape after his death. Zhuang Zi said in his works of Zhuang Zi - Cantos of Heaven, “Are they Guanyin, and Lao Dan? Aren’t they the most erudite and great immortal in the ancient times? Yes, indeed!” From the eulogy, it is clear that Zhuang Zi is addicted to Taoism, so after the Han Dynasty, the doctrines of Laozi and Zhuang Zi become prevalent hand in hand. The Interior, the first and second volumes of Intention, and Pure Mind of Guan Zi belong to this school of learning. Tian Pian, Shen Dao and Huan Yuan who once visited, on their study tour, the royal school run by the state of Qi may be the representative scholars of this school of learning, and the famous legalist Han Fei was also influenced by their thoughts. In the early Han Dynasty, the school of the Emperor Huang and Laozi prevailed and become the Court Orthodoxy. Senior courtiers like Xiao He and Cao Can are fervent lovers of this school of learning. Then to the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty when Confucianism was made as an overwhelming Orthodox, Taoism had gradually been in decline, but its influence still retained, as Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty called his theory as the one that though in violation of Confucianism, it was still in line with sense of Emperor Huang and Laozi doctrines. (Weigh in the Balance - Nature).

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Taoism, combined later with folk belief, has become a religion. The Taoism created by Zhang Ling in his veneration to Laozi, as a local religion, keeps surviving and stretching long and unbroken. Until the times of Wei and Jin, Wang Bi and He Yan took the approach of explaining Confucian classics with theories of Laozi and Zhuang Zi, thereby assimilating and giving play to the Taoist’s idea of Natural and Inaction, integrating the Confucian ethical code with the nature. Guo Xiang created new approach in the Chinese Ideological history - Metaphysics by way of annotating the Book of Zhuang Zi. The Annotation of the Book of Laozi by Wang Bi exerts enormous influence on the later generations. After Buddhism made inroad into China, some scholars resorted to explaining and commenting Buddhism with Taoist’s concept to make the dissemination of Buddhism easier. The disciples of Kumàrajāva who was a famous Buddhist sutra translator were all versed in theories of Laozi and Zhuang Zi. In accordance with the record contained in the third volume of Dao Xuan’s Collection of Debate between Buddhism and Taoism, it is quoted to the effect that on his return from the trip of India and was given interview by Emperor Taizong in the twenty first year of Zhenguan Reign of the Tang dynasty (647 CE), Li Yibiao was debriefed, reporting that he had given introduction of The Book of Laozi to King Kumàra in the State of Kàmaråpa (west region in Assam State, India at present) in ancient India.

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The Emperor then gave edict to Monk Xuanzang to organise the translation of Lao Zi’s cannon into Sanskrit together with over 30 experts like Taoist priest Cai Huang and Chengying. They read through the text five times, discussed elusive key points, carefully researched into the Book of Lao Zi, then Xuanzang began to translate Lao Zi’s classic only after thoroughly comprehending the delicate and hidden connotations. About this grand translation event, real or just a legend, the answers given by different historical records are differed, but all records establish the truthfulness of Emperor Taizong’s wish to the Book of Lao Zi translated in Sanskrit by Monk Xuanzang in order to have academic exchange with India. In the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, the Neo-Confucianism rejected both Buddhism and Taoism, but did not rejected intake of some elements from Taoism. For example, Tai Ji Theory by Zhou Dunyi is the fruit of partial assimilation of the thoughts from Taoist Chen Po from Mt Huashan. Philosophy of Cosmic System Mathematics by Shao Yong is the hybrid of Confucianism and Taoism. That is why Cheng Hao described Shao Yong’s theories as the way of inner sageliness and outer kingliness, meaning both are sound in theory and practice.

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In allusion to the dissemination of Buddhism in China, in the end period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there had already existed the anecdote or legend about Lao Zi’s creation of Buddhism in India and enlightening the local habitants after he had left Hangu Pass. To the times of Emperor Hui of the Jin Dynasty, there was a debate between Wang Fu, libationer of Tianshi Daoism, and Shramana Po Yuan about the supremacy of two religions, from then on Wang Fu wrote the book about Lao Zi’s creation of religion in alien land with the aim to belittle Shakyamuni. That book was expanded with additional 10 volumes by the posterities that were used by the Taoists of various generations to elevate Taoism and belittle or discriminate against Buddhism, and, was of cause bitterly opposed by the Buddhists. In the times of Emperors Xianzhong and Shizu in Yuan Dynasty, there was a great debate on true and false of the book of Lao Zi, *Creation of Buddhism in Alien Land*, followed by imperial court ban of the Taoism books. And this book was on the top of the list of the books to be burned. And hence this book disappeared from history forever. In the exchange between China and the West over contemporary era, Lao Zi’s teaching has spread to European and Asiatic regions, arousing interests of many scholars, thus furthering the development of oriental and occidental philosophies.

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(Jiang Julang)

Confucius

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Confucius (551 BCE-479 BCE), with given name of Qiu, also styled Zhongni, is a great thinker in the spring and autumn period and founder of Confucianism.

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Brief biographic notes

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His ancestors had been members of the ducal house of the State of Song, which was descended from the royal house of Shang, the dynasty that had preceded the Chou, and migrated to the State of Lu because of political and social turmoil. His father, named Shu Liangho, was governor of Zou in State of Lu. His mother’s family name was Yan. Confucius was born in Zou Yi, Changpingxiang of State of Lu (Qufu, Shandong present-day) on lunar August 27, the 22nd year of Duke Lu Xiang (551 BCE). When he was a kid, he loved to hold make-believe temple rituals as a game, and when he grew up, he once served the State of Lu, on several occasions, as petty official of the same category like master of ceremony, granary keeper and livestock tender. Later, he was on study tour to other ducal states, learning rituals from Lao-zi, music from Changhong, and lyre from Shixiang. In the 25th year of Duke Lu Zhao (517 BCE) when the State of Lu was in great turmoil and Duke Zhao took refuge in the State of Qi, Confucius fled with him to the State of Qi and became a retainer of Gao Zhaozi who was prime minister to Duke Jing of the State of Qi, and thereby he could be able to be near Duke Jing of the State of Qi.

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When asked about the approach of how to govern a state by Duke Jing of the State of Qi, Confucius answered, “Let the king be a king, the minister a minister, the father a father and the son a son.” And at the time when the Duke asked for his advice, the State of Qi was in political quagmire and disorder characterised by so-called the king being unlike a king, the minister unlike a minister, with dejected human relations. As Confucius’ response hit his point, Duke of Jing intended to bestow the land of Nixi to Confucius to show his courteous reception, but was rebuffed and aborted by Yan Ying, his prime minister. In the first year of Duke of Ding of the State of Lu (509 BCE) when Ji, a clan member of the Duke, held dictatorial rule by overstepping his authority and followed by insurrection and usurping of power by Yanghu, a retainer to the Duke clan member, Confucius who had already returned to the State of Lu, resigned from his office and concentrated himself in perusal of *Classics of Odes*, *History (Collection of Deciphered Official Documentation of Earlier Dynasty)* *Rite and Music* and at the same time, was devoted himself to educational activities with great many followers regarding him as tutorial master. In the ninth year of Duke Ding of the State of Lu when Confucius was 51 years old, Gongsun Buniu intended to rebel against Ji by virtue of City Fei and sent for lobbying Confucius. Confucius would love to go, but did not make it.

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At the same year, Duke Ding appointed him the head of Zhongdu. He managed administrative affairs with Virtue and Rite, making all surviving spouse, orphanage and helpless people there in their respective proper place, with social morality much improved; in one year term of office, his performance attracted the neighboring localities’ governors to emulate his way of governance. He was then promoted successively to the posts of Minister of Water Conservancy & Construction, and Minister of Justice. In the 10th year of Duke Ding’s reign, he assisted Duke Ding to meet with Marquis of the Qi State at the place of Jiagu and tactfully reclaimed the lost territory of the Lu State. In the 12th year of Duke Ding’s reign, he recommended his disciple Zilu as head of clan members. In order to concentrate power on family of prince, and consolidate prince’s ruling position for Duke Ding, he suggested enforcement of the policy of dismantling three cities’ wall of which the dimension and scale exceeded royal formality, ie the role-violating city walls of City Fei, City Cheng and City Hou, thus weakening the powers of the three big families of Ji Sun Si, Meng Sun Si and Shu Sun Si. Although his move was not completely succeeded, yet it reclaimed the partial usurped power from them, thus strengthening the authority of prince family.

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In the 14th year of Duke Ding's Reign (496 BCE), Confucius held concurrently the offices of Minister of Justice and Prime Minister, and in an ensuing three months, the State of Lu was put in great universal peace and order. Later, resented from the domineering behavior of ruling official Ji Huanzi, Confucius resigned from his posts and toured around the other States of Wei, Song, Chen, Cha and Chu. In transit to State of Kuang, he was mistaken by the local people as Yanghu and consequently besieged; in State of Song, he was narrowly killed by Sima Huantui, the War Minister of that State; and when he and his followers were besieged and trapped in the place between the State of Chen and the State of Cha, he almost starved to death. In spite of all sorts of hardships and perils, he always remained the mood of "seeking pleasure in order to free himself from care without knowing the insidious approach of old age", which suggests his mental cultivation of being content with what one is, would never wear away even in his displaced drifting life. In the 11th year of Duke Ai of the State of Lu (484 BCE) he returned to the State of Lu at the age of 68. In ensuing years, he did not seek any appointment in officialdom and began to annotate the *Book of History* (deciphered earlier dynasty documentation), revise and reform the *Book of Rites*, edit and revise the *Book of Odes and Music*, and annotate and comment on the *Book of Change*.

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In the 14th year of Duke Ai, the State of Lu hunted and captured an animal known as unicorn. But Confucius deemed it as a sign of unlucky omen and hereby lamented that this world had gone to the dogs with declining moral code and prevalent heresy and tyrannical rules, which denied him a chance to fulfill his political dream. And therefore he started his writing of the Spring and Autumn Annals, lamenting that, "Is it only the Spring and Autumn Annals from which you all would understand me and at the same time find fault with me?" The posterities deemed his composition of the annals as king-making enterprises and endeavours of king without crown or government. In April of the 16th year of Duke Ai (479 BCE), Confucius passed away and was buried in the Capital north of the State of Lu. Although his disciples did not wear mourning gowns according to the rituals, yet they, with sad and sorrowful sentiments, resided beside his tomb for three years running to demonstrate their filial piety. Among his disciples, Zigong didn't leave his teacher's tomb for his whole life. Confucius influenced the moral code of the times with his own words, deeds and high

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*Kongzi/Confucius*

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moral cultivation, and engaged in educating those promising budding talents. Since then, it started fashion of private teaching. It is reputed that he had 3,000 disciples among whom 72 were sages versed in the *Six Classics*.

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His academic views

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Ancient Literati commentators said that what Confucius did in his lifetime academic efforts was his editing and revising the Book of Odes and the Book of History, finalising the Book of Rites and the Book of Music, annotation and commenting on the Book of Change and composing of the Spring and Autumn Annals. He laid emphasis on study, once describing him as being studious never tired of learning, so he was a man of very extensive learning with solemn and refined manners, and was referred to as sage in his life time. After his death, his followers are divided into eight different schools and gradually evolved into the Confucian school, Confucianism, exerting a profound influence on scholars of the later generations.

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There are two cardinal concepts in his theory: one is benevolence (or, humane, or humanity, or goodness, etc.) while other is a rites and rituals. Whereas benevolence is at the root of his knowledge foundation, from which all his doctrines are thus unfolded and converged. Among the most basic comprehensions of benevolence, it means" love your fellow men" (quoted from chapter 12 of the Analects, Yan Hui, henceforth wherever it is quoted, only referred to title of chapter), while definition of "the benevolent loves others" (The Book of Rites - Doctrine of Mean) is made on basis of regarding benevolence as intrinsic quality of human being. Confucius believed that the rite is formed by the ancient sage with its function to restrain human's excessive human emotion and thus conventionalise human being conduct within the confine of moral code of conduct. That is why he said “to restrain oneself and observe the rituals constitute humaneness” (Yan Hui). Only complete correspondence of one’s words and deeds with the rituals could one accomplishes the requirement of benevolence. However, benevolence cannot be attained by simply acting according to the rituals, as he once said that - “What have the rituals got to do with a person who is not humane?” (Eight Row of Dancers), believing if a man lacks of kind virtue in his innermost mind, he cannot make rapport with others; understanding of human nature is not enough to correctly handle the rituals and accordingly attain the standard of benevolence. He hence put forward a concept of Doctrine of Means, deeming “Going too far is just as bad as not going far enough” (Those Who First Studied the Rituals and Music), and asserting not going too far but reasonably far enough. So Doctrine of Means is not just a kind of methodology only, what is even more so is a kind of virtue that could be internalised, asserting the virtue of Golden Means is the virtue of heaven and earth, and believing that the human beings could only attain the rule of Golden Means by taking rituals as yardstick as he said that - “What does it mean by rituals? Rituals are employed to restrain excessiveness and overstepping so as to keep the interpersonal contact at the centre of moderation” (The Rituals - Confucius Home and Living). However, rituals change with times, believing “It is possible to know the regulations and rituals which the Shang Dynasty inherited from the Xia Dynasty, including additions and omissions. In the same way, we come to know those of which the Zhou Dynasty inherited from Shang. Therefore, should there be a successor to the Zhou Dynasty, it is also possible to know the regulations and rituals even a hundred generations from now” (He Who Rules the Country). Which means that the rituals of the Shang Dynasty differs from that of Xia Dynasty, and the rituals of the Zhou Dynasty is not the same as that of the Shang Dynasty, however, the basic tenet of rituals remain unchanged. Rituals are within human’s cognition, and benevolence could be attainable, which hinges on key of desirability and determination of putting the doctrines into practice. So Confucius said: “Is humaneness really so remote? I have only to wish for it and it will come to me” (I Transmit). In a final analysis, attainment of benevolence is through seeking the cause in oneself and engaging in self-examination.

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Confucius attached great importance to filial piety, as it is manifested in his comments in this field in the legendary Classic of Filial Piety. In the Analects, he was asked about filial piety by his disciples, his answers differed from person to person, however, the essence of his answers never go beyond “love and respect”. He said, “The person to his dear one would never ill-treat others; the person to respect his dear one would never be rude and arrogant towards others”, (Chapter Son of Heaven, Classic of Filial Piety). Sages from the ancient time to the present made their offsprings aware of the virtue of respect by right of patriarchal awe-inspiring and made people aware of the virtue of loving people by their own exemplary role. But Confucius did not consider the custom of which sons must obey the order of father as the only filial piety. He advocates the filial piety should proceed from righteousness, and in the time of imperative, frank criticism of father’s faults is also way to show filial piety, and in his words, “If father is doing something disloyal or unjust, it is the son’s duty to offer criticism to his father, so is the duty for court official to do so towards sovereign” (Chapter Criticism, Classic of Filial Piety).

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Confucius’ Analects not just touches upon the aspects of benevolence and filial piety, the most important aspect that is elaborated is way of governance. Confucius’ response to his disciples’ question in this aspect in Analects preserves his attitude and viewpoint toward politics. Confucius said, “He who rules the country by virtue can be compared to the Polestar which holds its own with a multitude of stars revolving around it” (He Who Rules the Country), suggesting the virtue is the foundation for becoming a good statesman, as he believed that the kernel of political governance lies in cultivating morale of the people. When asked the reason of his not becoming involved in government, he answered, “The Book of Historical Documents says, ‘Piety means being filial to your parents and being fraternal to your brothers; spreading this idea will exert and influence upon the government.’ If that is so, why must I take part in government?” (Quoted from He Who Rules the Country), Confucius believes that holding a key official position is not the only conduit of becoming a good statesman, actually good governance skills and ethical conduct can be acquired through daily practices and interaction within human relations. “Sweeping before your own door” maxim can be practised in daily life whenever and wherever. Confucius emphasised, “Let them know the way of virtue and keep them in line with regulations and rituals” (He Who Rules the Country), also he emphasised that, “Tolerance wins the hearts of many; generosity gives one authority to use others” (Yang Huo) and his objection to arbitrary punishment of kill. In his view, the law and order of a society and country could not be maintained merely by law and regulations, nor sustained merely by posing criminal penalty, but should be maintained by prevailing law-abiding populace which is induced and nurtured with lavish bestowing virtue and magnanimity from the state governor. Thus it can be seen that Confucius’ political theory is benevolence-based.

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Kongzi composing poetry

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Confucius takes a positive attitude towards life, regarding comprehension of one’s destiny as the important realm. Nevertheless, he is never blindly self-confident and self-righteous, stating “The man of honour holds three things in awe - the mandate of Heaven, people in high position and the words of sages. The petty-minded man, being ignorant of the mandate of Heaven, does not stand in awe of it. He treats people in high position with insolence and the words of the sages with disdain” (The Head of the Jisun Family). His outlook on heavenly mandate pre-determines his attitude of leaving the question open towards ghosts and gods, so to speak, phenomenological reduction. Zilu asked about serving the ghosts and spirits. The Master said, “Why should one worry about serving the ghosts and spirits when he is not even able to serve the living?”, Zilu went on, “May I ask about death?” The Master said, “How can one understand death when he does not even understand life?” (Those Who First Studied). But he pays great attention to worship and sacrificial offering, as it is evident in passage of He had Eight Rows of Dancers that “When the Master offered sacrifices to the dead, he did so as if they were present. The same when he offered sacrifices to the gods”, advocating “respect given to the ghosts and spirits but keeping a distance from them” (Ranyong). Obviously, his altitude is cautious.

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In education, he upholds education for all people without discrimination as he said, “In teaching, I take disciples of all backgrounds without discrimination” (Duke Ling of Wei), and “I have never refused to teach any disciples who offered me 10 strips of dried meat”, which means such a gift presented shows sincerity of student’s willingness to learn. Confucius divides the human being into three categories according to their intelligent quote, ie acquiring knowledge which were “inborn”, “through learning” and “learning with clearer targets in difficulty”. Different teaching method to different students, therefor it needs the tailored-made approach of “teaching students in accordance of their aptitude”. He takes stock on an inductive teaching approach, considering the need of student in quest of problems, who, in this way, through tutor’s elicitation and illumination, could be fruitful in study. In Confucius’ own words, “I do not try to enlighten my disciples until they have tried hard but failed to understand something. I do not supply my disciples with any new vocabulary or put their ideas into words for them unless they have difficulty doing so” (I Transmit but Do not Create), To students, he laid stress on “Is it not a great pleasure to be able to practice frequently what you have learned?” (Is it not), and “he is able to acquire new idea through reviewing old knowledge” (He Who Rules the Country). The knowledge imparted from teacher could only be truly grasped through self-fermentation and digestion, and then it could have comprehension by analogy, so to speak, when hearing one thing, he could thereby know 10; therefore it is imperative to combine study with pondering, and in Confucius’ words, “Learning without reflection will end up in confusion; reflection without learning will end up in peril” (He Who Rules the Country). The learning attitude in a down-to-earth manner is indispensable, as he believes, “Say you know when you know, and say you don’t know when you don’t, that is true knowledge” (He Who Rules the Country). Regarding teacher, he attaches an importance on role model. In the eye of his disciples, Confucius lives up to the image of “never making groundless speculation, never claiming absolute certainty, never being inflexible and never being self-centered” (Master Seldom), ie never conjecture, never be subjectively assertive, never stubbornly stick to one side of the matter, and never consider oneself always right. He demonstrates the significance of teaching by example with his own words and deeds.

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Veneration by Posterity

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Ever since Confucianism was established its position as an orthodoxy, emperors from various dynasties granted numerous titles posthumously to Confucius in order to manifest their respective reverence towards him. Here are just a few names: Emperor Liu Kan of the Western Han Dynasty in the first year of reign of Yuanshi (the first year CE) bestowed to Confucius a title of Honourable Baochengxuan Duke from Ni Mountain; Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong of the Northern Wei Dynasty (492 CE), addressed him as Cultural Sage of Reverent Father from Ni Mountain; Emperor Yangjian of the Sui Dynasty (581 CE) named him as Master of Earlier Generation; Emperor Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty (666 CE) presented him the title of Senior Grand Tutor; and Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (690 CE) gave him the title of Grand Moral Duke; Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (739 CE) gave him the title of King of Cultural Eminence; Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan Dynasty (1307 CE) increase for him the title of King of Cultural Eminence of Great Achievement and Sacrosanctity; Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty (1530 CE) gave him the title of the Earlier Sacrosanctity Master; Emperor Shizu of the Qing Dynasty (1645 CE) honored him as the Earlier Master of Cultural Eminence of Great Achievement and Sacrosanctity; then in 1935, National Government of KMT respected him as the Earlier Master of Great Achievement and Sacrosanctity.

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Confucius holds an important position in the Chinese and world cultural histories. He and his philosophical theory were highly valued by his contemporary. Confucianism has become one of the influential scholastic and academic pursuits as early as in the Warring States Times. Zigong said, “Other virtuous men are like low hills that can be surmounted. But Confucius is like the sun and moon that are insurmountable. Even if someone wanted to alienate himself from them, that would not harm the sun and moon one bit. It would only serve to show that he did not know his own measure” (Zizhang), which shows Zigong has the greatest esteem for his teacher Confucius, deeming the semblance of his good and honest virtue with the sun and moon. Mencius also evaluated Confucius by quoting eulogy made by Confucius’ disciples, thinking that he is the brightest among the multitude of mass populace, and has been the greatest man of moral cultivation since the emergence of human being. It is evident that his eminent virtue has long been woven into the social fabric of Chinese civilisation. The comments and eulogy made by his disciples and scholars of later generations are perhaps somehow exaggerated, but it is clearly evident that these comments and eulogy are expressed from the bottom of their hearts.

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Sima Qian, the greatest historian of China of all the times, who follows school of Master Zhuangzi in his formative years, nevertheless, made comments in the chapter Confucius Family of his works, The Historical Records: The Verse has a saying, “a lofty mountain inspires a great awe from the beholders and great thoroughfare of virtue attracts people to emulate.” Though an ordinary folk cannot reach such towering high, he is forever longing for it… there are so many kings and lords, even sages, and they used to be honored and venerated at their life time, but too many sank into oblivion after their death. Whereas Confucius was just an ordinary commoner, but his thoughts and works have been passed down to a dozen generations, avidly followed by the later scholars. From the Son of the Heaven, princes and marquises downwards, there are so many who alleged to have perusal of the Six Classics, but only at the hands of Confucius, The Six Classics are finalised and enriched. One may well say that Confucius is the greatest sage of sacrosanctity!” The appraisal of Sima Qian reveals the lofty position of Confucius as a towering mountain in the mind of then contemporary. Worship of him by common people is not out of power and influence but out of his theory passed down to later generations, which is urging people to be benevolent and popular with and supported by the common people. And thereby the posterities adopted his thoughts as criterion for scholarly pursuit. Sima Qian showed his particularly high regard for Confucius by choosing a particular stylistic rules and layout in his Record of History, ie placed the biography within the category of aristocratic family. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was made as a single authoritative official doctrine, and since then, voices to praise him highly are too numerous to mention. Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty once said of him, “If heaven did not give us Confucius, eons would be in total eternal night” which shows his high esteem towards Confucius. Ma Yifu, a contemporary scholar, quoting from *Record of Art and Culture - History of Han Dynasty* by saying that “the sublime words would be extinguished if Confucius did not exist”, considers Confucius’ position irreplaceable since his times to the present days in that his wise thought and theory are profound and penetrating.

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Confucius’ thoughts have been enriched and modified ceaselessly through the ages since the Han Dynasty, to the period of the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, his thoughts were fused with Indian Buddhism and gave birth to now schools of learning of “Neo-Confucianism” and “the Philosophy of the Mind”, thus raising the Chinese philosophical intellectual enquiries into a new high. That is because of the fact that in the process of replacement of Sanskrit by Chinese language in the Buddhism Classics, the logical thinking assimilated from the language also gradually intrudes into the men of learning who took Confucian classic as basic language context, and even further, the Buddhism concept translated from Sanskrit directly became core concept of the theoretical construct of Neo-Confucian classics, for instance, “the Subject and Object of Knowledge”, and “Body And Function”, etc. Such a linguistic and ideological blending is possible as Confucius’ thoughts already contain potential possibilities. Xu Fancheng, a modern scholar, is thus able to recount Confucius’ thoughts represented by Lu-wang philosophical school of the Ming Dynasty, by basing on the philosophical thought of Sri Aurobindo, a thinker in the Indian modern times.

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In early 17ᵗʰ century CE, Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (Matthaeus Ricci, 1552 ~ 1610) and French missionary Trigault (Nicolas Trigault, 1577 ~ 1628) introduced Confucius and his works to West in Latin and French, respectively. Confucius and his ideas began to attract the attention of Western scholars. From the late 18ᵗʰ to the early 19ᵗʰ century CE, there were several scholars studying Sinology. Legge (James Legge, 1814 ~ 1897) translated the “Four Books”, “Five Classics” into English which were published from 1861 to 1886. In 1867, he also published a monograph describing the life and thoughts of Confucius. Soothill (William Edward Soothill, 1861 ~ 1935) had long been and missionary and educator in China, having translated the “Analects of Confucius” into English (1906), besides which he authored “China’s Three Religions” (1913) and other works. Thereafter, English books on the life and thought of Confucius continued to be published. The Indian intellectual elite had ample opportunities to read these English books. For example, an eminent Indian Sinologist P C Baghchi wrote a special section in his book *India and China* to talk about Confucius and his ideas.

Ma Dexin

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In Sino-Islamic intellectual tradition, Ma Dexin (1794-1874), also known as Yusuf Ma, is widely recognised along with Wang Daiyu and Li Chi as the three brightest scholars of pre-modern China. All of them contributed greatly to the spread of tenets of Islam through the translation of original text into classical Chinese using the vocabulary of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. They were aptly called ‘Islamic Confucian’ scholars who produced a collection of Islamic and Confucian texts as the religious *Han Kitab*.

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Born in 1794, Ma belonged to the Hui ethnic minority from Yunnan province of China. The Hui are Chinese speaking and have been culturally similar to Han except for their religion, which is mostly Islam. In fact, the Chinese character for Hui [回] also signifies Islam. The educated among the Yunnan Hui learned Arabic along with Chinese. Ma is known to have acquired excellent proficiency in Arabic and Persian as well as in Islamic texts.

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In 1841, Ma went to Mecca and Medina to perform Hajj. As the traditional maritime route was disrupted due to the Opium War, he accompanied a group of Muslim merchants and travelled overland to the south reaching Mandalay in Myanmar, and then took a boat down the Irrawady River to arrive at Rangoon (now Yangon). He then boarded a steamship for the Arabian Peninsula. After conducting the Hajj, he stayed in the region for another eight years studying at the al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt which was famous for Islamic studies, as well as travelling widely to places connected with the Ottoman Empire such as Alexandria, Istanbul, Jerusalem, etc. He was greatly influenced by the Islamic modernity movement simmering there.

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In the spring of 1849, Ma returned to Kunming in Yunnan as a Hajji and became an Islamic scholar. He not only received much prestige and honour for his accomplishments, but also commanded great influence over Muslim Yunnanese as a high priest. Settled in the Linan district (a Ming dynasty Muslim settlement in Jianxian county) in south Yunnan, he preached to a large Muslim congregation at the local mosques and school. In the time when greater Han migration and the Qing’s ethnic policies had started to alienate Muslims, his strong religious orientation arising out of developments in Arabia began to politicise the populace.

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In 1853, conflicts between Han and Moslem miners increased, which by 1855 finally took the shape of a local rebellion, known as the Panthey (or Hui) Rebellion, under the charismatic leadership of Du Wenxiu. Taking the title of Sultan Sulaiman and establishing the Pingnan guo [Kingdom of Pacified South], Du ruled from his capital, Dali, until caught and beheaded by the Qing in December 1872. Ma Dexin initially worked closely with Du in the Rebellion as one of the leading religious and military leaders. He later shifted his allegiance to the Qing Government and played the role of a peacemaker between the state and rebels, propagating a harmonic integration of Islam into the Confucian order. Some of his best writings were produced during this time. He was however, still considered a rebel by the state due to his early subversive activities. Finally in January 1874, two years after the complete suppression of Rebellion, he was arrested and executed. Some accounts mention that he was poisoned to death.

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As the leading Islamic scholar of his time, Ma is most famous for producing first authentic translation of the holy Qur’an in Chinese entitled, *A Direct Explanation of the Treasured Mandate of the True Scripture* [Baoming Zhenjing Zhijie 宝明真经直解]. His other important works reflect his exposition of theoretical and theological basis for the coexistence of Islamic and Confucian culture, strong rejection of incorporation of Daoist and Buddhist elements in practising Islam, and a positive attitude towards Tasawwuf or Sufi mysticism. Of his more than 30 publications, the noteworthy are *A Summary of the Great Transformation* [Dahua zonggui 大化總归], *Essence of the Four Canons* [Sidian Yaohui 四典要会], *Record of the Pilgrimage Journey* [Chaojin Tuji 朝觐途記], *Completing the Path of the Way* [Daoxing Jiujing 道行究竟], *Essential Discourse on Returning to God* (Huigui Yaoyu 会归要語]. His Arabic works include *Tahqiq al-Salat* [*The Verification of Prayer*], *Akadhib al-Nasara* [*Lies of the Christians*], *Mushtaq* [*Yearning*], *Munabbihat* [*Stimuli*], *al-Muhkam* [*The Definite*] and *Asrar al-Ma’ad* [*Secrets of the Return*]. To the Sino-Islamic intellectual tradition, Ma Dexin thus made a lasting contribution.

Kang Youwei

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Kang Youwei 康有为 (19 March, 1858 – 31 March, 1927) was a famous Chinese scholar, philosopher and reformer of the late Qing period. He is best known for the leading role he played in the Hundred Days Reform Movement 戊戌变法 of 1898, which sought to introduce major political and institutional reforms in China through the patronage of the Guangxu emperor. He was the author of the famous work *Da Tong Shu* 大同书, in which he envisioned a future utopia encompassing the whole world. This book was completed during

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From left: Kang Youwei, Commentary on the Analects of Confucius (front cover)

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a period of exile he underwent in India after the suppression of the reform movement which he had pioneered. Kang Youwei was one of the earliest and most influential Chinese intellectuals to analyse and write about modern India from first-hand experience.

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