276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Why Be Moral?: Learning from the Neo-Confucian Cheng Brothers (SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture)

£14.28£28.56Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032-1085), courtesy name Bochun 伯淳, style Mingdao Xiansheng 明道先生, and his brother Cheng Yi 程頤 (1033-1107), courtesy name Zhengshu 正叔, style Yichuan Xiansheng 伊川先生, were two important philosophers of the Northern Song period. They can be called the veritable founders of Neo-Confucianism. They are called the "two Chengs" (Er Cheng 二程), Cheng Hao being the "Older Cheng" (Da Cheng 大程), and Cheng Yi the "Younger Cheng" (Xiao Cheng 小程). Both are counted among the five important thinkers of the Northern Song ( Beisong wu zi 北宋五子), the others being Shao Yong 邵雍 (1011-1077), Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017-1073), and Zhang Zai 張載 (1020-1077). Because they hailed from Luoyang 洛陽 (today in Henan), their school is called the Luoyang School ( Luoxue 洛學). Much of the individual teachings of the two brothers cannot clearly be attributed to one person, and are therefore brought together in books about the “teachings of the two Chengs”, like Er Cheng cuiyan 二程粹語, Er Cheng yishu 二程遺書 and Er Cheng waishu 二程外書. The complete collection Er Cheng quanshu 二程全書 includes, among others, the collected writings Mingdao Xiansheng wenji 明道先生文集 and Yichuan Xiansheng wenji 伊川先生文集 ( Er Cheng wenji 二程文集). Biographies Mencius. (1989). Mencius. In Y. Zhang (ed. & trans.), Translation of the four books (pp. 258–536). Changsha: Hunan University Press. Huang, Yong. “Confucian Love and Global Ethics: How the Cheng Brothers Would Help Respond to Christian Criticisms.” Asian Philosophy 15/1 (2005): 35-60. The ship name ShiGuang is typically reasoned to be derived from both Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang"s names, but there's much more to it than just that.

Knowledge of/as virtue versus Knowledge from Hearing and Seeing: How Is Weakness of the Will Not Possible? These two ways of moral cultivation – cultivation of the vital force ( yang qi), which relies upon consistent moral actions ( jiyi), and firming up one’s will ( chi zhi), which relies upon one’s being reverent ( ju jin) – are what the Book of Chang calls “being reverent ( jing) so that one’s inner [heart-mind] will be upright and being right ( yi) so that one’s external [actions] will be in accord [with principle].” The former is internal and the latter is external. In Cheng Hao’s view, they are also the only ways to become a sage. One of the common features of these two methods is that they both aim at one’s virtues so that a virtuous person takes delight in being virtuous without making forced efforts ( Yishu 2a; 20). Thus, just as he emphasizes “being reverent so that the inner will be straightened” ( jing yi zhi nei) instead of “using reverence to straighten the inner” ( yi jing zhi nei), he emphasizes “being morally right so that one’s external action will be squared” ( yi yi fang wai) instead of “using rightness to square one’s external action” ( yi yi fang wai) ( Yishu 11; 120). (Although these two Chinese phrases appear identical in romanization, they contain different characters, as can be seen from their different translations.) Moreover, while the two ways can be respectively called internal way and external way, Cheng Hao emphasizes that it is important “to combine the inner way and the external way” ( Yishu 1; 9). In other words, these two ways are not separate, as if one could practice one without practicing the other. 6. Influence

Teachings

Cheng Xiaoshi – “Hi everybody! I am Cheng Xiaoshi, the responsible person of Lightime Photo Studio!” Lu Guang – “You are not greeting your blind date across the mountain. Why are you yelling?” — Shorts 7 Moments [ ] Donghua [ ] Appendix: Neo-Confucian Hermeneutics at Work: CHENG Yi’s Philosophical Interpretation of Analects 8. 9 and 17. 3 What does Cheng Hao precisely mean by principle, which is intangible and does not have sound or smell? Although translated here as “principle” according to convention, li for Cheng Hao is not a reified entity as the common essence shared by all things or universal law governing these things or inherent principle followed by these things or patterns exhibited by these things. Li as used by Cheng is a verb referring to activity, not a noun referring to thing. For example, he says that “the cold in the winter and the hot in the summer are [vital forces] yin and yang; yet the movement and change [of vital forces] is god” ( Yihsu 11; 121). Since god for Cheng means the same as li, li is here understood as the movement and change of vital forces and things constituted by vital forces. Since things and li are inseparable, as li is understood as movement and change, all things are things that move and change, while movement and change are always movement and change of things. Things are tangible, have smell, and make sound, but their movement and change is intangible and does not have sound or smell. We can never perceive things’ activities, although we can perceive things that act. For example we can perceive a moving car, but we cannot perceive the car’s moving. In Cheng Hao’s view, principle as activity is present not only in natural things but also in human affairs. Thus, illustrating what he means by “nowhere between heaven and earth there is no dao” ( Yishu 4; 73), Cheng points out that “in the relation of father and son, to be father and son lies in affection; in the relation of king and minister, to be king and minister lies in seriousness (reverence). From these to being husband and wife, being elder and younger brothers, being friends, there is no activity that is no dao. That is why we cannot be separated from dao even for a second” ( Yishu 4; 73-74). Cheng makes it clear that the principle that governs these human relations is such activity as affection and reverence. An exposition of the Cheng brothers’ li as rules of action, as one’s inner feeling, and as human nature. Hsu, Fu-kuan. “Chu Hsi and Cheng Brothers.” In Wing-tsit Chan, ed., Chu Hsi and Neo-Confucianism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1986.

Lu Guang is slightly younger than Cheng Xiaoshi, with his birthday being October 24th while Cheng Xiaoshi's is April 15th. He is also 5 centimeters shorter. These coincidences fall into place with ShiGuang, the ship name, and was likely coined on purpose by Billibilli to connect these concepts together.P.494-5. Present Day Political Organization of China". Archived from the original on 2016-04-25 . Retrieved 2016-04-17. In 1220, Cheng Hao was bestowed the posthumous title of Chungong 純公 " Duke of Purity", and was in 1241 invested as Earl of Henan 河南伯. From then on, the altars of Confucius temples included a spiritual tablet for him.

Wang, Y. (2011). Collected works of Wang Yangming. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-07 . Retrieved 2016-05-09. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link) The "discovery" of the brothers is credited to the Scottish merchant Robert Hunter. [13] Hunter was a trusted trade associate of the Siamese government who traveled with considerable freedom. In 1824, Hunter reportedly first met the twins while he was on a fishing boat in the Menam River and the twins were swimming at dusk. He mistook them for a "strange animal", but after meeting them he saw economic opportunity in bringing them to the West. [14] [nb 4]On Chang and Eng:] It is a phenomenon, not, perhaps, to be witnessed again in the Country, to see Asiatics transformed to good American citizens, not only in language but in feeling. They have lost every vestige of their native tongue. In fact, they speak English fluently, and almost without foreign accent. A few words seem to be impracticable, but they are chatty and communicative, and hence their perfection in our language. They are altogether American in feeling. From this it becomes clear in what sense Cheng Hao claims that he grasps the meaning of tian li on his own. After all he must be aware that not only the two words separately, tian and li, but even the two words combined into one phrase, tian li, had appeared in Confucian texts before him. So what he means is that principle is understood here as the ultimate reality of the universe that has been referred to as heaven, god, lord, dao, nature, heart-mind, and change among others. In other words, with Cheng Hao “principle” acquires an ontological meaning for the first time in the Confucian tradition. Thus Cheng Hao claims that “there is only one principle under heaven, and so it is efficacious throughout the world. It has not changed since the time of three kings and remains the same between heaven and earth” ( Yishu 2a; 39). In contrast, everything in the world exists because of principle. Thus Cheng Hao claims that “ten thousand things all have principle, and it is easy to follow it but difficult to go against it” ( Yishu 11; 123). In other words, things prosper when principle is followed and disintegrate when it is violated. One of the most unique ideas of Cheng Hao is that ten thousand things form one body, and he tells us that “the reason that ten thousand things can be in one body is that they all have principle” ( Yishu 2a; 33).

To say that cultivation of vital force consists in consistent moral actions, however, for Cheng Hao, does not mean that one has to exert artificial effort to do what is right, even though one does not have the inclination to do it. For this reason, he repeatedly cites Mencius’ claim that “while you must never let it out of your mind, you must not forcibly help it grow either” ( Mencius 2a2). In other words, one has to set one’s mind on moral actions and yet cannot force such actions upon oneself. What is important for Cheng Hao is that, when one engages oneself in moral practices, one is not to regulate one’s action with the principle of rightness, as otherwise one will not be able to feel joy in it. In Cheng Hao’s view, this is a distinction best exemplified by the sage king Shun, who “practices from rightness and humanity” instead of “practicing rightness and humanity” ( Yishu 3; 61). In other words, one cannot regard morality as external rules that constrain one’s action but as internal source that inclines one to act naturally, without effort, and at ease. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248653434_The_Ritual_Formation_of_Confucian_Orthodoxy_and_the_Descendants_of_the_Sage p. 571. Huang, Siu-chi. Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. A person becomes evil because of the turbid external force. However, the turbid force can also make one evil because a person’s will is not firm. Thus another way of moral cultivation is to firm up one’s will ( chi zhi). While cultivation of the vital force can help firming up one’s original good will, firming up one’s original good will can also help cultivate the vital force. Thus, referring to Mencius’ view about the relationship between these two, Cheng Hao states that, “for a person whose vital force is yet to be cultivated, the activity of the vital force may move one’s will, and the decision of one’s will may cause the movement of the vital force. However, to a person whose virtue is fulfilled, since the will is already firmed up, the vital force will not be able to change one’s will” ( Yishu 1; 11). So in Cheng Hao’s view, to avoid being polluted by turbid vital force, it is important to firm up one’s will: “as soon as one’s will is firmed up, the vital force cannot cause any trouble” ( Yishu 2b; 53). On the one hand, if one’s will is not firm, it may be disturbed by violent vital force; on the other hand, if one’s will is firm, the vital force cannot disturb it.

Biographies

Chang Woei Ong (2008). Men of Letters Within the Passes: Guanzhong Literati in Chinese History, 907-1911. Harvard University Asia Center. p.132. ISBN 978-0-674-03170-8. In this analogy, a fish has both its internal or host vital force, the vital force that it is internally endowed with, which accounts for its corporeal form, and its external or guest vital force, the vital force it is externally endowed with, which provides the environment in which fish can live. This analogy performs the same function as Cheng Hao’s own analogy of water (mentioned above). Water itself is a bodily being with a nature and internal vital force, both of which guarantee its clearness. However, water has to exist in external vital force (river, for example). If this external vital force is also favorable, the water will remain clear, but if it is not favorable, the water will become muddy. In this analogy, water is equivalent to human beings, and “the clearness of water is equivalent to the goodness of human nature” ( Yishu 1; 11). Through such an analogy, Cheng Hao attempts to show that, in addition to human nature, humans are endowed both internally with the host vital force, which is constitutive of human body, and externally with the alien vital force, which makes up the natural and social environment in which humans live. Therefore, not only is human nature all good, but the host vital force constitutive of human beings is also pure, clear, and balanced. Neither of the two can account for human evil. However, since human beings are corporeal beings, they must be born to and live in the midst of external vital force, which can be pure or impure. It is the quality of this external or guest vital force, purity or impurity, and the way people deal with it, that distinguishes between good and evil people. If the external vital force is also pure, it will provide the necessary nourishment to the internal vital force and therefore the original good human nature will not be damaged, and people will be good. If the external vital force is turbid and human beings living in it have not developed immunity to it, their internal vital force will be malnourished or even polluted and the original good human nature will be damaged, and people will be evil. Yet Cheng Hao also altered Confucius_ conception of kindness or benevolence ( ren 仁). Just like the universal principle, kindness was embedded in all objects and beings, and could be expressed in different form. Confucian virtues like righteousness ( yi 義), rituals ( li 禮), knowledge ( zhi 知) and trust ( xin 信) were just facets of kindness ( jie ren ye 皆仁也). Kindness ( ren) was the body ( ti 體) of the natural principle, righteousness ( yi) its application in concrete situations ( yi 宜), rituals ( li) served for differentiation ( bie 別), wisdom or intelligence ( zhi 智) to achieve knowledge ( zhi 知), and trust ( xin) to carry out things in practice ( shi 實). While Confucius had defined kindness as a form of human relationship applicable to others – be they kinsmen or not – Cheng Hao saw kindness as a principle that was laid into the heart of every person, and thus part of the physical body. Moreover, this type of kindness did not just determine the relationship between humans, but made man brother and sister of all objects. The donghua itself has many ship tease moments, especially when they were forced to share ramen, and how Lu Guang hugged Cheng Xiaoshi (and bought him boba) even after the latter hit him in anger. Lu Guang also blushes occasionally when he's talking about Cheng Xiaoshi. Many fans love the ramen scene, because it sports many romantic undertones and leave a lot to fan interpretation. During a scene in "Emma", Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang lie in alternate beds with the camera panning across both of them so it seems that they are together.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment