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China from Prehistory Through the Warring States
OBJECTIVES
1. Be able to discuss the geography of ancient China and to explain how these features affected Chinese civilization and culture in antiquity. 2. Be able to discuss the period of Five Heavenly Emperors and to explain how their achievements formed the Chinese concept of emperor. 3. Be able to discuss the historic Chinese dynasties and to explain their major characteristics. 4. Be able to discuss the importance of family in Chinese society. 5. Be able to discuss the philosophy of Confucius, Lao Tzu and the Legalist School.
Why do the east and west have differing views of the role and importance of the family in society, politics and religion? How does emphasis on the family mold the Chinese view of the individual? Are the ethical systems of the modern west Confucian? Why or why not? What would Lao Tzu say about our rules of etiquette? Government? What would Lao Tzu actually have said to Confucius, if indeed the did meet? What are the differences between the Chinese notion of progress and our own? What different implications would these ideas have for society? The Chinese are a people devoted to the ancient past. Even the remote mythological past displays characteristically Chinese ideas. The Five Heavenly Emperors established rule by merit rather than by heredity, and discovered the yin and yang, through which all the universe could be grasped. For Chinese, the universe is a harmonious union of conflicting opposites, and humanity is but one part of this whole. The completeness of the past dominates the horizon for the Chinese. All who have gone before lead those who live in the present. The worship of ancestors ties each Chinese to their mythical past and to each other, for China has always thought of itself as an extended family. The Chinese family is the basis of "religion" in China, and China's most noteworthy minds have glorified reverence for the family and respect for authority. In this period of Chinese history, we meet two of the most profound minds of antiquity, Confucius and Lao Tzu. They are our first glimpse into the axis age, and age which produced the pre- Socratics, Socrates and Plato, the Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tsu, Zoroaster and the Hebrew prophets. Both Confucius and Lao Tzu spoke of following the Way only for the sake of the Way. They, like their other axis age counterparts, were aware of a force far beyond themselves, to which humans must conform is happiness is to be achieved. Confucius' vision of the practical side of the Way was opposed to Lao Tzu's ethereal retreatests philosophy, yet both paths live on side by side, the Yin and Yang of Chinese thought. I am not one who was born in possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there. Confucius, Analects, bk. 7:19 While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve spirits? While you do not know life, how can you know about death? bk. 11:11 What the superior man seeks is in himself. What the mean man wants is in others. bk. 15:20 We look at the Tao and do not see it; Its name is the Invisible. We listen to it and do not hear it; Its name is the Inaudible. We touch it and do not find it; Its name is the Subtle. Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching 14 Abandon learning and there will be no sorrow. Tao te Ching 20 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I. Geography A. The Yellow River -- China's Sorrow B. isolated culture C. family farm plots i. the society based on the family unit II. Major Periods of History A. Accurate dating begins in 841 b.c. i. the first authenticated dynasty is the Shang Dynasty. B. Before written history -- i. Mythology: a. main elements of Chinese culture present in these myths. b. Pan Ku c. The Five Heavenly Emperors: i. Fu Hsi (I Ching) ii. Shan Nung -- plow and market place iii. Huang Ti -- fire and 25 sons iv. Ti Yao -- cedes throne to most able successor v. Yu -- management of Yellow River; a) concern for subjects b) the Hsia Dynasty C. The Shang Dynasty (1766-1050 b.c.) i. Archaeological discoveries: a) An Yang b) tortoise shells c) ancestor worship i) oldest male revered ii) no priests iii) literacy d) Ao i) the wall and slave labor ii) tombs a) bronze and jade b) human sacrifice D. The Chou i. Wei River Valley ii. the mandate from heaven iii. the emperor as polestar iv. feudalism v. collapse of Chou 771 b.c. vi. eastern Chou 722-481 b.c. a) Loyang center for religious rites III. Major Chinese Philosophies of Antiquity A. Taoism (Lao Tsu) i. the life of Lao Tsu ii. legend or fact? iii.The Tao te Ching in translation a)the Tao: i) retreat and withdrawal ii) the blank slate iii) the image of water iv) the Taoist wise person v) the Taoist ruler B. Confucianism: i. Who was Confucius? ii. is Confucianism a religion? iii. The Analects What is a good man? a) the sage b) the gentleman i) education, examples, and virtue iv. What is virtue? a) inner character b) predictable action c) virtue as polestar v. Specific Virtues: a) benevolence b) "The ability to take what is at hand as analogous to your own life" c) doing one's best d) being trustworthy e) wisdom -- define f) PRACTICING THE RITES AND RITUALS g) These are the virtues of the Five Heavenly emperors vi. Confucius was a man of action a) attempt to restore harmony and order to society OUTLINE
excerpts from the Analects
attributed to Confucius "It is rare for a man whose character is such that he is good as a son and obedient as a young man to have the inclination to transgress against his superiors; it is unheard of for one who has no such inclination to be inclined to start a rebellion. The gentleman devotes his efforts to the roots, for once the roots are established, the Way will grow therefrom. Being good as a son and obedient as a young man is, perhpas, the root of a man's character." "The Master said, 'Of neighborhooods benevolence is the most beautiful. How can the man be considered wise who, when he has the choice, does not settle in benevolence?'" The Master said, "He has not lived in vain who dies the day he is told about the Way." "Is there a man who, for the space of a single day, is able to devote all his strenght to benevolence? I have not come across a single man whose strength orioves insufficient for the task." "In his errors a man is true to type. Observe the errors and you will know the man." "If for three years, a man makes no changes to his father's ways, he can be said to be a good son." "In his dealings with the world the gentleman is not invariably for or against anything. He is on the side of what is moral." "Virtue never stands alone. It is bound to have neighbors."