Sengzhao criticized earlier Chinese Buddhist schools for believing in being or non-being. He concluded that all dharmas are empty.
He was also influenced by the Laozi and Zhuangzi.
Contribution
He composed a series of text, named Zhao Lun,
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sengzhao
Sengzhao or Seng-Chao , from Jingzhao, was a and the first disciple of Kumārajīva. He helped translate Indian treatises and also wrote his own. These form the only source of study for early Chinese Mādhyamika Buddhism. He is mentioned in the ''Memoirs of Eminent Monks.''
Sengzhao criticized earlier Chinese Buddhist schools for believing in being or non-being. He concluded that all dharmas are empty.
He was also influenced by the Laozi and Zhuangzi.
He composed a series of text, named Zhao Lun,
Sengzhao criticized earlier Chinese Buddhist schools for believing in being or non-being. He concluded that all dharmas are empty.
He was also influenced by the Laozi and Zhuangzi.
He composed a series of text, named Zhao Lun,
Qin Hui (historian)
Qin Hui is a Chinese historian and public intellectual. He holds the position of Professor of History, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing.
His primary field is economic history, but since 1992 he has emerged as a prominent public intellectual, taking a stand on a range of issues, often in conflict with the official doctrines of the Chinese government.
In terms of political ideology, Qin Hui defends a left-liberal position. He favors privatization under strict conditions of democratic openness. However he opposes market fundamentalism in its Chinese forms, and seeks to introduce institutions of social democracy, including some aspects of the welfare state. He strongly defends liberty as a political value, and often allies with other Chinese intellectuals labeled "liberal." . He has engaged in polemics with the Chinese New Left, particularly its more populist and nationalist forms. He has for example signed petitions protesting chauvinistic responses to the 9.11 attacks in New York.
His major contribution as a public intellectual has been to initiate wide debates on social justice. Having himself been sent down to work as a peasant in a poor mountainous region of Southwest China in the Cultural Revolution, he has identified China's peasantry as suffering from grave lack of social justice up to the present day. At the same time, his historical research has shown strong tendencies of the peasantry to enhance their citizen status whenever possible .
A skilled writer able to provide incisive arguments and encapsulations of complex issues, Qin Hui has introduced a host of influential themes to the Chinese-speaking world, and in the so-called "Sinosphere" , collections of his works can be found on literally scores of websites. An important case in point is his doctrine of "issues versus isms" .
Qin has drawn on the work of Chayanov, Eric Wolf and other writers on agrarian society to attack cultural essentialism in studies of the Chinese peasantry, which often takes the form of portraying the peasantry as permanently imbued with Confucianism and the collectivist ethics of the feudal patriarchal lineage. Qin has been concerned to show that history rather culture provides a solid explanatory framework for the empirical phenomena.
Qin's formal research has largely been concerned with China's agrarian history in the broad. Contrary to the received Maoist view which emphasized peasant wars as expressions of class struggle, Qin concludes that the most significant fault-line in the countryside was not between peasant and landlord, but between peasant and official. This has obvious consequences for interpreting contemporary rural China.
Qin Hui is married with one daughter. His wife, Jin Yan (金燕） is an eminent scholar of Eastern European and Russian affairs in her own right, often collaborating with Qin under the nom-de-plume Su Wen .
Biography
His primary field is economic history, but since 1992 he has emerged as a prominent public intellectual, taking a stand on a range of issues, often in conflict with the official doctrines of the Chinese government.
In terms of political ideology, Qin Hui defends a left-liberal position. He favors privatization under strict conditions of democratic openness. However he opposes market fundamentalism in its Chinese forms, and seeks to introduce institutions of social democracy, including some aspects of the welfare state. He strongly defends liberty as a political value, and often allies with other Chinese intellectuals labeled "liberal." . He has engaged in polemics with the Chinese New Left, particularly its more populist and nationalist forms. He has for example signed petitions protesting chauvinistic responses to the 9.11 attacks in New York.
His major contribution as a public intellectual has been to initiate wide debates on social justice. Having himself been sent down to work as a peasant in a poor mountainous region of Southwest China in the Cultural Revolution, he has identified China's peasantry as suffering from grave lack of social justice up to the present day. At the same time, his historical research has shown strong tendencies of the peasantry to enhance their citizen status whenever possible .
A skilled writer able to provide incisive arguments and encapsulations of complex issues, Qin Hui has introduced a host of influential themes to the Chinese-speaking world, and in the so-called "Sinosphere" , collections of his works can be found on literally scores of websites. An important case in point is his doctrine of "issues versus isms" .
Qin has drawn on the work of Chayanov, Eric Wolf and other writers on agrarian society to attack cultural essentialism in studies of the Chinese peasantry, which often takes the form of portraying the peasantry as permanently imbued with Confucianism and the collectivist ethics of the feudal patriarchal lineage. Qin has been concerned to show that history rather culture provides a solid explanatory framework for the empirical phenomena.
Qin's formal research has largely been concerned with China's agrarian history in the broad. Contrary to the received Maoist view which emphasized peasant wars as expressions of class struggle, Qin concludes that the most significant fault-line in the countryside was not between peasant and landlord, but between peasant and official. This has obvious consequences for interpreting contemporary rural China.
Qin Hui is married with one daughter. His wife, Jin Yan (金燕） is an eminent scholar of Eastern European and Russian affairs in her own right, often collaborating with Qin under the nom-de-plume Su Wen .
Philip Zhai
Philip Zhai also known as Zhai Zhenming is a philosopher who writes in both and .
Zhai is the author of ''Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality'' , in which he argues that the logical extreme of virtual reality is equivalent to actual reality. Zhai also writes about cyberspace in light of its connection to virtual reality. The other book that he's written in English is ''The Radical Choice and Moral Theory'' .
Zhai began to write philosophy in Chinese in 2000, when he took a professorship in philosophy at Zhongshan University, China. When Richard Rorty visited China in July 2004, Zhai confronted Rorty's neo-pragmatism with his own reciprocal transcendentalism.
Zhai is the author of ''Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality'' , in which he argues that the logical extreme of virtual reality is equivalent to actual reality. Zhai also writes about cyberspace in light of its connection to virtual reality. The other book that he's written in English is ''The Radical Choice and Moral Theory'' .
Zhai began to write philosophy in Chinese in 2000, when he took a professorship in philosophy at Zhongshan University, China. When Richard Rorty visited China in July 2004, Zhai confronted Rorty's neo-pragmatism with his own reciprocal transcendentalism.
Mou Zongsan
Mou Zongsan was a New-Confucian philosopher. He was born in Shandong province and in 1933 graduated from Peking University. In 1949, he moved to Taiwan and remained outside of Mainland China for the rest of his life. His thought was heavily influenced by Immanuel Kant and he translated all 3 of Kant's Critiques into Chinese.
Mencius
Mencius was a who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.
Mencius, also known by his birth name ''Meng Ke'' or ''Ko'', was born in the , now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace.
He was an itinerant philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly, he was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. He served as an official during the Warring States Period in the State of Qi from 319 to 312 BCE. He expressed his when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.
The traditional Chinese four-character idiom refers to the legend that Mencius' mother moved their house three times—from beside a cemetery to beside a marketplace , to finally beside a school—before finding a location that she felt was suitable for his upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of a proper environment for the proper upbringing of children.
Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty. The ''Mencius'' , a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the Four Books that Zhu Xi grouped as the core of orthodox thought. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius which are short and self-contained, the ''Mencius'' consists of long dialogues, including arguments, with extensive prose.
While Confucius himself did not explicitly focus on the subject of human nature, Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – that caused bad moral character. "He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature" and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind".
His translator James Legge finds a close similarity between Mencius' views on human nature and those in 's ''Sermons on Human Nature''.
To show innate goodness, Mencius used the example of a child falling down a well. Witnesses of this event immediately feel
Mencius spoke frequently and highly of the well-field system.
Mencius emphasized the significance of the common citizens in the state. While Confucianism generally regards rulers highly, he argued that it is acceptable for the subjects to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignores the people's needs and rules harshly. This is because a ruler who does not rule justly is no longer a true ruler. Speaking of the overthrow of the wicked King Zhou of Shang, Mencius said, "I have merely heard of killing a villain Zhou, but I have not heard of murdering the ruler.".
He said during the Spring and Autumn Period, there's no Just war.
His alleged years make him contemporary with Xun Zi, Zhuangzi, Gaozi, and Plato.
Xun Zi was a Confucian who believed that human nature is originally evil, and the purpose of moral cultivation is to develop our nature into goodness. Obviously, Mencius was at odds with him. His views were declared as unorthodox by Zhu Xi, and Mencius as orthodox.
Mencius is often compared to Plato for their theories on human nature. Both were in that they believed in the innate moral goodness of all human beings.
Mencius' argument that unjust rulers may be overthrown is reminiscent of Socrates' argument in Book I of Plato's ''''.
Life
Mencius, also known by his birth name ''Meng Ke'' or ''Ko'', was born in the , now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace.
He was an itinerant philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly, he was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. He served as an official during the Warring States Period in the State of Qi from 319 to 312 BCE. He expressed his when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.
Mencius' mother
The traditional Chinese four-character idiom refers to the legend that Mencius' mother moved their house three times—from beside a cemetery to beside a marketplace , to finally beside a school—before finding a location that she felt was suitable for his upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of a proper environment for the proper upbringing of children.
Influence
Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty. The ''Mencius'' , a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the Four Books that Zhu Xi grouped as the core of orthodox thought. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius which are short and self-contained, the ''Mencius'' consists of long dialogues, including arguments, with extensive prose.
View on human nature
While Confucius himself did not explicitly focus on the subject of human nature, Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – that caused bad moral character. "He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature" and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind".
His translator James Legge finds a close similarity between Mencius' views on human nature and those in 's ''Sermons on Human Nature''.
The Four Beginnings
To show innate goodness, Mencius used the example of a child falling down a well. Witnesses of this event immediately feel
View on politics
Mencius spoke frequently and highly of the well-field system.
Mencius emphasized the significance of the common citizens in the state. While Confucianism generally regards rulers highly, he argued that it is acceptable for the subjects to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignores the people's needs and rules harshly. This is because a ruler who does not rule justly is no longer a true ruler. Speaking of the overthrow of the wicked King Zhou of Shang, Mencius said, "I have merely heard of killing a villain Zhou, but I have not heard of murdering the ruler.".
View on wars
He said during the Spring and Autumn Period, there's no Just war.
Comparisons to contemporaries
His alleged years make him contemporary with Xun Zi, Zhuangzi, Gaozi, and Plato.
Xun Zi
Xun Zi was a Confucian who believed that human nature is originally evil, and the purpose of moral cultivation is to develop our nature into goodness. Obviously, Mencius was at odds with him. His views were declared as unorthodox by Zhu Xi, and Mencius as orthodox.
Plato
Mencius is often compared to Plato for their theories on human nature. Both were in that they believed in the innate moral goodness of all human beings.
Mencius' argument that unjust rulers may be overthrown is reminiscent of Socrates' argument in Book I of Plato's ''''.
Ma Rong
Ma Rong , courtesy name Jichang , was a commentaror of the Han Dynasty. He was born in modern in former Fufeng county. He was known for his commentaries on the books on the ''Five Classics'', and the first scholar known to have done this. He also developed the double column commentary while doing it. His main students were Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan.
He was suspended for ten years due to critical comments. Eventually he was restored to the Governor of Nan commandery . His biography appears in the ''Book of Later Han''. He wrote the ''Rhapsody on Long Flute'' , and possibly another work known as the ''Classic of Loyalty'' .
He was suspended for ten years due to critical comments. Eventually he was restored to the Governor of Nan commandery . His biography appears in the ''Book of Later Han''. He wrote the ''Rhapsody on Long Flute'' , and possibly another work known as the ''Classic of Loyalty'' .
Lu Jiuyuan
Lu Jiuyuan , or Lu Xiangshan was a Chinese scholar who used Confucian terminology in a very Buddhist spirit.
Later movements of Neo-Confucianism revolted against Lu Jiuyuan's metaphysics that regarded moral conduct as a consequence of intuitive insights into the essence of reality. A later Neo-Confucian movement, the ''Lu Wang School'', is named after Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming.
In more recent times, his philosophy has been revived by Liang Sou-ming with the book ''The Civilization and Philosophy of the East and the West'' .
Later movements of Neo-Confucianism revolted against Lu Jiuyuan's metaphysics that regarded moral conduct as a consequence of intuitive insights into the essence of reality. A later Neo-Confucian movement, the ''Lu Wang School'', is named after Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming.
In more recent times, his philosophy has been revived by Liang Sou-ming with the book ''The Civilization and Philosophy of the East and the West'' .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)