冯友兰-中国哲学简史-英文原版

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AUTHOR'S PREFACE

A SHORT history of any subject should not simply be an abridgement of a larger one. It should

e a picture complete in itself, rather than a mere inventory of names and "isms.' To achieve this,

the author should, as a Chinese expression says, "have the whole history in his mind. Only then

can he give the reader an adequate and well-rounded account within his chosen limited scope.

According to Chinese historiography, a good historian must have wide scholarship in order to

master all his materials, sound judgment to make proper selection of them, and literary talent in

order to tell his story in an interesting way. In writing a short history, intended for a general

public, the author certainly has less chance to display his scholarship, but he needs more

selective judgment and literary talent than he would for writing a longer and strictly scholarly

work.

In preparing this work, I have tried to use my best judgment in selecting what I conside

important and relevant from materials which I have mastered. I was very fortunate, however, to

have as editor Dr. Derk Bodde, who has used his literary talent to make the style of the boo

interesting, readable, and comprehensible to the Western reader. He has also made suggestions

regarding the selection and arrangement of the material.

Being a short history, this book serves as no more than an introduction to the study of Chinese

hilosophy. If the reader wishes to know more about the subject, I would refer him to my large

work, A History of Chinese Philosophy. The first volume of this has been translated by Dr.

Bodde, and he is now translating the second one; also to my more recent work, The Spirit o

Chinese Philosophy, translated by Mr. E. R. Hughes of Oxford University. Both works are

mentioned in the bibliography compiled by Dr. Bodde at the end of the present book.

Acknowledgements are due to both Dr. Bodde and Mr.Hughes, from whose books I have

borrowed some translations of the Chinese texts appearing herein.

In publishing this book, I welcome the opportunity of expressing my thanks to the Rockefeller

Foundation for the grant which made it possible for me to come from China to the University o

Pennsylvania as Visiting Professor during the year 1946-47, and which resulted in the writing of this

book. Also, I wish to thank my colleagues and students in the Department of Oriental Studies for their

cooperation and encouragement, and especially Dr. Bodde, Associate Professor of Chinese. I am likewise

grateful to Dr. A. W. Hummel,Chief of the Asiatic Division, Library of Congress, for his encouragement

and help in making arrangements for the publication of the book.

FUNC.YU-LAN

une, 194

University of Pennsylvania

O04

CHAPTER 1

PIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

1 HE place which philosophy has occupied in Chinese civilization has been comparable to that o

religion in other civilizations. In China, philosophy has been every educated person s concern. In the

old days, if a man were educated at all, the first education he received was in philosophy. When chil-

dren went to school, the Four Books, which consist of the Confucian Analects, the Book of Mencius, the

Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean, were the first ones they were taught to read. The Fou

ooks were the most important texts of Neo -Confucianist philosophy. Sometimes when the children

were just begining to learn the characters, they were given a sort of textbook to read. This was known

as the Three Characters Classic, and was so called because each sentence in the book consisted of three

characters arranged so that when recited they produced a rhythmic effect, and thus helped the children

to memorize them more easily. This book was in reality a primer, and the very first statement in it is

that "the nature of man is originally good." This is one of the fundamental ideas of Mencius'

philosophy.

lace of Philosophy in Chinese Civilization

To the Westerner, who sees that the life of the Chinese people is permeated with Confucianism, i

appears that Confucianism is a religion. As a matter of fact, however, Confucianism is no more

religion than, say, Pla-tonism or Aristotelianism. It is true that the Four Books have been the Bible o

the Chinese people, but in the Four Books there is no story of creation, and no mention of a heaven o

hell.

Of course, the terms philosophy and religion are both ambiguous, Philoso

hy and religion may have

entirely different meanings for different people. When men talk about philosophy or religion, they may

have quite different ideas in their minds concerning them. For my part, what I call philosophy is

systematic, reflective thinking on life. Every man, who has not yet died, is in life. But there are no

many who think reflectively on life, and still fewer

OO2 THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

whose reflective thinking is systematic. A philosopher must philosophize; that is to say, he must thin

reflectively on life, and then express his thoughts systematically.

This kind of thinking is called reflective because it takes life as its object. The theory of life, the

theory of the universe, and the theory of knowledge all emerge from this type of thinking. The theory o

the universe arises because the universe is the background of life—the stage on which the drama of life

takes place. The theory of knowledge emerges because thinking is itself knowledge. According to some

philosophers of the West, in order to think, we must first find out what we can think; that is to say,

before we start to think about life, we must first think our thinking.

Such theories are all the products of reflective thinking. The very concept of life, the very concept o

the universe, and the very concept of knowledge are also the products of reflective thinking. No matte

whether we think about life or whether we talk about it, we are all in the midst of it. And no matte

whether we think or speak about the universe, we are all a part of it. Now, what the philosophers call

the universe is not the same as what the physicists have in mind when they refer to it. What the

philosophers call the universe is the totality of all that is. It is equivalent to what the ancient Chinese

hilosopher, Hui Shih, called "The Great One," which is defined as that which has nothing beyond. So

everyone and everything must be considered part of the universe. When one thinks about the universe,

one is thinking reflectively.

When we think about knowledge or speak about knowledge, this thinking and speaking are

themselves knowledge. To use an expression of Aristotle, it is "thinking on thinking"; and this is

reflective thinking. Here is the vicious circle which those philosophers follow who insist that before we

think we must first think about our thinking; just as if we had another faculty with which we could thin

about thinking! As a matter of fact, the faculty with which we think about thinking is the very same

faculty with which we think. If we are skeptical about the capacity of our thinking in regard to life an

the universe, we have the same reason to be skeptical about the capacity of our thinking in regard to

thinking.

Religion also has something to do with life. In the heart of every great religion there is a philosophy.

In fact, every great religion is a philosophy with a certain amount of superstructure, which consists o

superstitions, dogmas, rituals, and institutions. This is what 1 call religion.

If one understands the term religion in this sense, which does not really differ very much from

common usage, one sees that Confucianism cannot be considered a religion. People have bee

accustomed to say that there were three religions in China: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Bu

Confucianism, as we have seen, is not a religion. As to Taoism, there is a distinction between Taoism as

a philosophy, which is called Too chia (the Taoist school), and the Taoist religion {Too chiao). Thei

teachings are not only dif-

OP4 THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

God is really the universe. Strictly speaking, the love of God in Christianity is not really super-moral.

This is because God, in Christianity, is a personality, and consequently the love of God by man is

comparable to the love of a father by his son, which is a moral value. Therefore, the love of God i

Christianity is open to question as a super-moral value. It is a quasi super-moral value, while the love o

God in the philosophy of Spinoza is a real super-moral value.

To answer the above queslions, I would say that the craving for something beyond the present actual

world is one of the innate desires of mankind, and the Chinese people are no exception to this rule. They

have not had much concern with religion because they have had so much concern with philoso

hy. They

are not religious because they are philosophical. In philosophy they satisfy their craving for what is

beyond the present actual world. In philosophy also they have the super-moral values expressed an

appreciated, and in living according to philosophy these super-moral values are experienced.

According to the tradition of Chinese philosophy, its function is not the increase of positive

knowledge (by positive knowledge I mean information regarding matters of fact), but the elevation of the

mind—a reaching out for what is beyond the present actual world, and for the values that are higher tha

the moral ones. It was said by the Lao-tzu: To work on learning is to increase day by day; to work on

Tao (the Way, the Truth) is to decrease day by day." (See ch. 48.) I am not concerned with the difference

between increasing and decreasing, nor do I quite agree with this saying of Lao-tzu. I quote it only to

show that in the tradition of Chinese philosophy there is a distinction between working on learning an

working on Tao (the Way). The purpose of the former is what I call the increase of positive knowledge,

that of the latter is the elevation of the mind. Philosophy belongs to the latter category.

The view that the function of philosophy, especially metaphysics, is not the increase of positive

knowledge, is expounded by the Viennese school in contemporary Western philosophy, though from

different angle and for a different purpose. I do not agree with this school that the function of philoso

is only the clarification of ideas, and that the nature of metaphysics is only a lyric of concepts.

evertheless, in their arguments one can see quite clearly that philosophy, especially metaphysics, would

become nonsense if it did attempt to give information regarding matters of fact.

Religion does give information in regard to matters of fact. But the information given by religion is

not in harmony with that given by science. So in the West there has been the conflict between religio

and science. Where science advances, religion retreats; and the authority of religion recedes before the

advancement of science. The traditionalists regretted this fact and pitied the people who had become

irreligious, considering them as having degenerated. They ought indeed to be pitied, if, besides religion,

they had no

OO8 THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

other access to the higher values. When people get rid of religion and have no substitute, they also lose

the higher values. They have to confine themselves to mundane affairs and have nothing to do with the

spiritual ones. Fortunately, however, besides religion there is philosophy,which provides man with an

access to the higher values—an access which is more direct than that provided by religion, because in

philosophy, in order to be acquainted with the higher values, man need not take the roundabout way

provided by prayers and rituals. The higher values with which man has become acquainted through

hilosophy are even purer than those acquired through religion, because they are not mixed wit

imagination and superstition. In the world of the future, man will have philosophy in the place o

religion. This is consistent with Chinese tradition. It is not necessary that man should be religious, but it

is necessary that he should be philosophical. When he is philosophical, he has the very best of the

blessings of religion.

roblem and Spirit of Chinese Philosophy

The above is a general discussion of the nature and function of philoso

hy. In the following remarks

I shall speak more specifically about Chinese philosophy. There is a main current in the history o

Chinese philosophy, which may be called the spirit of Chinese philosophy. In order to understand this

spirit, we must first make clear the problem that most Chinese philosophers have tried to solve.

There are all kinds and conditions of men. With regard to any one of these kinds, there is the highest

form of achievement of which any one kind of man is capable. For instance, there are the men engage

in practical politics. The highest form of achievement in that class of men is that of the great statesman.

So also in the field of art, the highest form of achievement of which artists are capable is that of the

great artist. Although there are these different classes of men, yet all of them are men. What is the

highest form of achievement of which a man as a man is capable? According to the Chinese

philosophers, it is nothing less than being a sage, and the highest achievement of a sage is the

identification of the individual with the universe. The problem is, if men want to achieve this

identification, do they necessarily have to abandon society or even to negate life?

According to some philosophers, this is necessary. The Buddha said that life itself is the root and

fountainhead of the misery of life. Likewise, Plato said that the body is the prison of the soul. And

some of the Taoists said that life is an excrescence, a tumor, and death is to be taken as the breaking o

the tumor. All these ideas represent a view which entails separation from what may be called the

entangling net of the matter-corrupted world; and therefore, if the highest achievement of a sage is to be

realized, the sage has to abandon society and even life itself. Only thus can the final liberation be

attained. This kind of philosophy is what is generally known as "other-

OIO THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

worldly philosophy.'

There is another kind of philosophy which emphasizes what is in society, such as human relations an

human affairs. This kind of philosophy speaks only about moral values, and is unable to or does not wish

to speak of the super-moral ones. This kind of philosophy is generally described as "this— worldly. Fro

the point of view of a this—worldly philosophy, an other — world philosophy is too idealistic, is of no

practical use and is negative. From the point of view of an other-worldly philosophy, a this-worl

philosophy is too realistic, too superficial. It may be positive,

ut it is like the quick walking of a ma

who has taken the wrong road: the more quickly he walks the further he goes astray.

There are many people who say that Chinese philosophy is a thisworld philosophy. It is difficult to

state that these people are entirely right or entirely wrong. Taking a merely superficial view, people who

hold this opinion cannot be said to be wrong, because according to their view, Chinese philosophy,

regardless of its different schools of thought, is directly or indirectly concerned with government an

ethics. On the surface, therefore, it is concerned chiefly with society, and not with the universe; with the

daily functions of human relations, not hell and heaven; with man's present life, but not his life in a world

to come. When he was once asked by a disciple about the meaning of death, Confucius replied:"Not ye

understanding life, how can you understand death? (Analects, XI, II.) And Mencius said: The sage is the

acme of human relations" (Mencius, IVa, 2.), which, taken literally, means that the sage is the morally

erfect man in society. From a surface point of view, with the ideal man being of this world, it seems tha

what Chinese philosophy calls a sage is a person of a very different order from the Buddha of Buddhis

and the saints of the Christian religion. Superficially, this would seem to be especially true of the

Confucian sage. That is why, in ancient times, Confucius and the Confucianists were so greatly ridicule

by the Taoists.

This, however, is only a surface view of the matter. Chinese philosophy cannot be understood by

oversimplification of this kind. So far as the main tenet of its tradition is concerned, if we understand i

aright, it cannot be said to be wholly this-worldly, just as, of course, it cannot be said to be wholly

other-worldly. Tt is both of this world and of the other world. Speaking about the Neo-Confucianism o

the Sung Dynasty, one philosopher described it this way: It is not divorced from daily ordinary activities,

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AUTHOR'SPREFACEASHORThistoryofanysubjectshouldnotsimplybeanabridgementofalargerone.Itshouldbeapicturecompleteinitself,ratherthanamereinventoryofnamesand"isms.'Toachievethis,theauthorshould,asaChineseexpressionsays,"havethewholehistoryinhismind.Onlythencanhegivethereaderanadequateandwell-roundedaccou...

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