Unit-中国文化

Unit1ConfucianThoughtonHeavenandHumanityLead-inTextstudyExercisesContent“Tolearnandthenhaveoccasiontopracticewhatyouhavelearned—isthisnotsatisfying?Tohavefriendsarrivefromafar—isthisnotajoy?Tobepatientevenwhenothersdonotunderstand—isthisnotthemarkofthegentlemen?”Lead-inWhat’stheChineseversionoftheselines?Wherearetheyselectedfrom?Whosewordsarethey?Lead-inIntroductionConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverythingConfuciusonPeople:renandliTextstudyConfuciusontheStateofLifeIntroduction•Confucius(551-479BC),knowninChinaasKongzi,givennameQiuandaliasZhongni.•HewasanativeofZouyi(present-dayQufuinShandongProvince)oftheStateofLuduringtheSpringandAutumnPeriod(770-476BC).WhydoesourKongzibecomeConfuciusinthewest?ConfuciusisaLatinizednamebestoweduponKongzibyJesuitmissionariesinthe18thcentury,whichisacriticaltimewhenmissionariesintroducedChineseculturetotheWest.Introduction•TheAnalects,orLunyu,purportstobearecordoftheteachingofConfuciusandhisdisciples.Introduction•ItisanenduringclassicofChinesecultureandhasinfluencedallthinkers,writersandpoliticiansintheover-2,000-year-longhistoryofChinaafterConfucius.•Noscholarcouldtrulyunderstandthelong-standingcultureortheinnerworldoftheancientChinesewithoutthisbook.Introduction•TheAnalectsisnota“book”inthesensethatmostmodernWesternersusuallyunderstandabook—thatis,acoherentargumentorstorypresentedbyasingleauthor,tobedigestedaloneinthequietofstudy.•Itisinsteadarecord—somewhathaphazardlycollectedandeditedtogetheratanunknownpointinhistory—ofadynamicprocessofteaching,andmostlikelywasonlycommittedtowritingmanyyearsaftertheMasterConfuciushadpassedaway.IntroductionConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverything“Heavendoesnotspeakinwords.Itspeaksthroughtherotationofthefourseasonsandthegrowthofalllivingthings(天何言哉？四时行焉，百物生焉，天何言哉？).”—SelectedfromTheAnalectsWhatisConfucius’viewonHeavenaccordingtotheselines?•Confuciusregarded“Heaven”asnature.•Confuciusbelievesthatnatureisnotalifelessmechanismseparatefromhuman;instead,itisagreatworldfulloflifeandtheprocessofcreatinglife.Humanispartofnature.ConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverything•Thenaturalprocessoflifecreationwasthe“wayofHeaven”.•ThisideawaslaterdevelopedinTheBookofChanges(Yijing).•Confucius’equationofHeavenwiththecreationoflifewasaninnovativeideainhistime.“Continuouscreationoflifeischange(生生之谓易。).”—SelectedfromTheBookofChangesConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverythingThe“wayofHeaven”The“virtueofHeaven”•Asthenaturalprocessofcreationoflife,Heavenwasthesourceofalllivingthingsandthesourceofallvalues.Thiswasthe“virtueofHeaven”.“ThegreatvirtueofHeavenandEarthiscreatinglife(天地之大德曰生。).”—SelectedfromTheBookofChangesConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverything“Heavenlymission”•Inthenaturalprocessofcreationoflife,Heavenhaditsinnerpurposeincreatingallthingsaswellasprotectingandimprovinglife.•Heavenhadoriginatedhumanity,andhumanswereobligedtoaccomplishthispurpose.•Inotherwords,humansarebornwithasenseof“heavenlymission”,andthisisthemeaningofhumanlife.ConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverythingThesenseofaweandbeliefinHeaven•ConfuciusrequiredpeopletoholdHeaveninaweandclaimedthatapersonofvirtuemust“respecthisheavenlymission”,listentoandliveoutthepurposeofHeavenbycaringforandimprovinglife.•UndertheinfluenceofConfucius,theancientChinesedevelopedasenseofaweandbeliefinHeaven.ConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverything“HewhooffendsagainstHeavenhasnonetowhomhecanpray(获罪于天，无所祷也。).”—SelectedfromTheAnalectsHowdoyouunderstandthisline?Heaven,astheworldofever-generatinglife,wasthehighestsacredbeing,withitsprofoundmysterynevertobefullyunderstoodbymortals.HumanbeingsshouldtaketoheartthepurposeofHeavenbycherishinglife.Ifoneremained“ignorantanddisrespectfulofone’sheavenlymission”bykillingormaiminglife,onewouldbepunishedbyHeaven.ConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverythingHowisConfucianconceptofHeavenrelatedtothemodernecologicalcivilization?ConfuciusonHeaven:theSourceofEverythingConfuciusregarded“Heaven”asnatureandthesourceoflife,andrequiredpeopletoholdHeaveninawe.Thisisthesourceofthemodernecologicalcivilization.ConfuciusonPeople:ren(仁)andli(礼)•Ren(仁)andli(礼)arethetwocoreconceptsofConfucius’doctrineaboutpeople.Ren•Confuciusinterpretedreninvariousways,andthemostimportantinterpretationis“lovepeople”.•Loveforthepeopleisuniversallove.Thiskindofloveshould“beginwiththeloveforone’sparents”.•Theessenceofren:“filialpietyandfraternalduty”.ConfuciusonPeople:ren(仁)andli(礼)“Thegreatestloveforpeopleistheloveforone’sparents(仁者，人也，亲亲为大。).”—Confucius,TheDoctrineoftheMean(中庸)ConfuciusonPeople:ren(仁)andli(礼)“Childrenshouldnottravelfarwhiletheirparentsarealive.Iftheyhavenochoicebuttodoso,theymustretainsomerestraint(父母在，不远游，游必有方。).”—SelectedfromTheAnalectsHowdoyouunderstandthisline?•Confuciusdidnotmeanthatchildrenshouldnotleavetheirparentsatall.•Whathemeantwasthatchildrenshouldnotmaketheirparentsanxiousaboutthemwhileawayfromhome.ConfuciusonPeople:ren(仁)andli(礼)“Childrenshouldthinkoftenoftheageoftheirparents.Theyshouldfeelhappyforthehealthandlongevityoftheirparents.Theyshouldalsofeelconcernfortheagingoftheirparents(父母之年，不可不知也。一则以喜