中国传统文化-中国哲学英文

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Hundred School of thoughts

The”hundred school of thoughts” were philosophers and schools that had flourished from 770 BC,an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China.Even though this period, known in its earlier part as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring State Period in its latter part, was wrought chao and bloody battles ,it is also known as the Golden Age of Chinese philosophy because various thoughts and called the Contention of a Hundred School of Thought.

Mencius and His Philosophy

Mencius(327-289 BC) is regarded as the second sage in the Confucia school .Mencius inherited and developed Confucianism and carried it to a new height. His philosophy,together with Confucius’,isknowas“the philosophies of Kong Zi and Meng zi” (孔孟之道) in the history of Chinese culture.

Mencius believed that all men are born virtuous. Every person can be as sage(圣人). They have the inclination toward goodness, just as natural as the inclination ofwater to flow downward. All the social corruptions and perversions are due to the distortion of human nature and the falling away of man’scharacter from its original goodness.

It is the neglect and abuse of innate goodness that leads men into evil dongs. Once the individual has recovered his original goodness and the state returned to the purity and order of ancient times ,all the individual and insociety will vanish. This is the core ofMencius’ doctrine , the orthodoxy of theConfucian school.

A famous dispute about human natural arose between Gao Zi(告之) and Mencius when Gao Zhi said ,”appetites for food and sex are human nature.”(食色，性也). Mencius did not contradict with this statement , and he even admitted that desires and appetitesconstitute the greatest part of human nature.

Therefore “Slight is the difference between man and the beast . The commom man loses this difference ,while the gentleman retains it.”(人之所以异于禽兽者几希，庶民去了，君子存之) It is this slight difference that sets man apart from animals.

Pot Calling Kettle Black(五十步笑百步.孟子)

Mencius said to King Hui,Let’s use fighting of a battle as an example. After a fierce engagement , the soldiers threw down their armament and retreated.Some soldiers retreated 50 paces; other 100 pacces. Those retreating 50 paces laughed at those who retreated 100 paces.What do you say?

The King replied,”No. Even if one does not retreat 100 paces, it is retreating nevertheless.”MoZi (468-376 BC) was born a few years after Confucius’ death .He had an important place in the history of Chinese culture . Although Moism did not hold this position for long, its founder and his teaching left an indelible impression on the Chinese


mind.

The core of Moism is “universal love(兼爱)”, close to the assertion that “all men equal before God.” In his life time , rulers of the feudal states , to satisfy their endless material needs , sought after aggressive wars of annexation at the sacrifice of their neighbors, thus bringing the people into disastrous impasse.

Mo Zi, standing by the common people, claimed the right 0f survival for the people and the weak and small states. He advocated economy and thrift . He condemned all forms of ritual, extravagant funerals, expensive entertainment, and offensive warfare , which would deteriorate the feeding ,cloth common people.

In contrast to those of Confucius, Mo Zi’s moral teachings emphasized self-reflection and authenticity rather than obedience to ritual. He observed that we often learn about the world through adversity.

By reflection on one’s own successes and failures , one attains ture self-knowledge rather than mere conformity with ritual . Mo Zi exhorted the gentleman to lead a life of asceticism and self-restraint ,renouncingboth material and spiritual extravagance.

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