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Li Zehou’s View on Chinese Modernization and the Precarious Relationship between Marx and Confucius

Author(s): Jana Rošker / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2016

Li Zehou is one of the most significant and influential Chinese philosophers of our time and one of the rare Chinese intellectuals whose work has acquired a wide readership abroad. He dedicated himself to the task of finding a sensible, suitable way of harmonizing past and present, tradition and modernity, China and the West. In this context, he tried to create a synthesis between early Marxist and classical Confucian discourses. Through a critical analysis of these attempts, the present article reveals some crucial theoretical problems underlying such efforts. Considering the fact that in contemporary China, the link between Confucian and Marxist philosophy is a much discussed (and rather controversial) topic, the paper also represents a contribution to the clarification of this topical problem.

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On Jullien’s Reply to Billeter’s Critique: Moving Beyond the Cartesian Cogito as a Methodological Concern

Author(s): Francesco Carpanini / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2016

François Jullien’s research, which encompasses European philosophy and sinology, has been questioned by the sinologist Jean François Billeter in a specific publication that triggers the reply of the former. I delve into Jullien’s reply with reference to the contingency of European thought, whose Cartesian cogito represents somehow the very point of divergence in the debate. The main goal of this paper is to clarify how the sentence I think, therefore I am turns out to be a fundamental methodological concern in Jullien’s research. His reflection about the Cartesian cogito leads him to question the possibility of a pure act of thinking in order to explore how European thought and Chinese thought exploit the diverse features of their languages as intellectual resources.

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“Annihilation of the Heart”: The Ideal of Non-Perception in the Liezi

Author(s): Richard J. Sage / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2016

The early Chinese text Liezi列子 claims that you have to modify your perceptive faculties in order to unify your full shen 神 (“spirit”) and become a zhi ren 至人– an “utmost human”, able to get in touch with the primordial cosmic forces, and endowed with special skills and properties. The idea that the proper adjustment of your perception leads to this state is deeply rooted within the Liezi’s view on the evolution of the cosmic and social order. In fact, the work describes the gradual modification of the perceptive process in a way that it is possible to juxtapose it with the cosmogony expounded in its first chapter. The aim of this paper is thus to analyse these processes, clarify how they are related to each other and explore what it ultimately means to become an “utmost human”. In the end it becomes clear that only the complete obliteration of perception, including the xin 心 (“heart”) as its main actor, makes the “utmost human” able to become one with the primordial forces and gain their powers.

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Xu Fuguan’s Interpret ation of Zhuangzi’s Aesthetic Thought: Some Methodological Problems of his Comparative Approach

Author(s): Téa Sernelj / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2016

The present article deals with Xu Fuguan’s analysis and interpretation of some of the central concepts of Zhuangzi’s philosophy, which constitute his aesthetic thought. In Xu’s view, Zhuangzi’s aesthetic thought relates to the aesthetic way of human life, where beauty applies to the realm of dao in which human beings are able to liberate their spirit and enjoy a way of life denoted as “free and easy wandering” (xiaoyaoyou 逍遙遊). In Xu’s view, this is the highest and the most beautiful sphere of human existence, and is as such expressed in art. Xu found in Zhuangzi’s concepts of xinzhai心齋and zuowang 坐忘, as methods for achieving this highest level of being, some similarities with certain concepts of late 19th and early 20th century Western phenomenology. Although Xu was trying to be careful in drawing parallels between certain Western philosophies and Zhuangzi’s thought, he believed that there is some resemblance between them, especially regarding the question of why and in which way human consciousness (or the human heart-mind) is able to perceive the world aesthetically. The article aims to show some methodological problems and inconsistencies in this comparative approach, which underlies Xu’s aesthetic theory.

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Mental Fasting in the Study of Chinese Philosophy: Liu Xiaogan versus Esther Klein

Author(s): Carine Defoort / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2016

Inspired by a dialogue in Zhuangzi, I distinguish three interconnected layers in academic debates. On the top, there is contention in terms of knowledge: facts, theories, hypotheses, etc. Below that level are usually unacknowledged, but nevertheless influential, emotions. On the bottom lies an infinite realm of tenuous reality or unshaped potential. I argue that a more explicit recognition in academia of the two lower levels – the sensitivities that are involved as well as our overwhelming ignorance about the object of study – would benefit research in Chinese philosophy. As an illustration of this three-layered approach I analyse in detail the response of Liu Xiaogan to a paper by Esther Klein on the Zhuangzi. The real target of my interest is not these two specific scholars, but a very common phenomenon in academia that they illustrate.

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Доктрина Конфуція як провідний феномен китайської цивілізації

Author(s): V. A. Lyzohub / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 18/2020

The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the doctrine of Confucianism. The author outlines the figure of Confucius, analyzes the historical background of the initial stage of the formation of Confucianism and the place of this period in the history of China, the main components of the Confucian Canon, principles and categories, the internal logic of the doctrine, the significance of the doctrine for the formation of an integral system of Chinese worldview, moral, ethical and political judgments, attitudes and norms. Against the background of the study of a significant monographic literature, conclusions are drawn about the nature and features of the value core, the principles of China’s national identity. China is a country with an ancient almost continuous history. Throughout the historical period of its existence, it has exerted a huge influence not only on neighboring countries, but also on the world as a whole. Almost by the end of the XVIII century. China had the largest GDP and was one of the leading cultural centers. At the present stage, China has a significant economic, political and cultural impact even on fairly remote regions. Today, there is a great return of this country-civilization, on the one hand claiming world leadership in the XXI century, and on the other, it stands for a multipolar world. According to economic indicators, China is one of the three leading countries in the world and offers the world its model of globalization through the so-called "One belt one road" project. Confucius is a representative of the traditional Chinese ethical and legal paradigm, a brand that China offers to the world as part of its own globalization strategy, which provides for the creation of institutions that bear the name of this "first sage of the middle Kingdom" .

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Elmélyült rálátás: a 玄学 fogalma a daoista episztemológiában

Author(s): András Áron Ivácson / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2020

The concept of xuánxué (玄学) denotes a specific epistemology within Daoism that opposes all taboos of conventional knowledge regarding Daoism. The dogmas of emptiness, childishness, simplicity and ignorance and many others still alive and well especially in the western reception of Daoism evaporate in this epistemological context. A myriad of interpretations exists according to which not only Daoism, but the Chinese history of thought is mere spiritualism lacking any kind of philosophical depth, categories or content whatsoever. While it is true that one of the most prominent features of Chinese history of thought is its deep syncretism in which among other things philosophy, or that which we denote as such in the West, co-exists at the same time with a certain kind of religiosity, the above statement is nonetheless false. The aim of this essay is to present a very narrow segment of non-religious Daoism, that at the same time highlights how Chinese history of thought in no sense whatsoever lags behind western philosophy with regards to content or the modality of surveying the world.

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Vaiśeṣikos realizmas versus budizmo fenomenalizmas Kinijos budistiniuose tekstuose

Author(s): Tadas Snuviškis / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 103/2020

This article discusses the significant topic of Indian Philosophy – the philosophical controversy between Vaiśeṣika and Buddhist thought. Usually, this debate is treated only within the context of Indian Philosophy, This article, however, emphasizes an unexpected and almost unexamined turn of the same controversy in China. The Chinese controversy stems from the translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese from the first centuries C.E. onwards that also included material on Brahmanic philosophy. The first part of the article discusses the philosophical assumptions as well as the main theories of both parties; the second presents a brief history of previous research, the tentative classification of sources, and finally – the most prominent cases of the dispute based on the analysis of primary sources.

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Lin Yutango estetika ir gyvenimo filosofija: tarp tradicinės Kinijos ir modernios Vakarų kultūros

Author(s): Loreta Poškaitė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 105/2020

Lin Yutang was one of the most influental and original Chinese intellectuals, philosophers and popularizers of Chinese culture in the United States. Some investigators treat his philosophy of life and aesthetics as an example of Chinese „leisure literature“ , which synthesizes the concepts of humour (youmo) as Lin’s invented transliteration, leisure (xianshi) and self-expression (xingling). This article attempts to interpret his philosophy of life as an example of everyday aesthetics with the emphasis on the synthesis of traditional Chinese and modern Western philosophy. This interpretation reveals the cross-cultural sources of global everyday aesthetics (as it is viewed by its particular Chinese and Western advocators) and a particular place of Lin Yutang in its history. The analyses of his ideas about life and aesthetics is provided with the reference to his famous book „The Importance of Living“, and concentrates on two topics or concepts – enjoyment (pleasure) and happiness as very important concepts in everyday aesthetics. This analysis uses comparative methodology by comparing Lin’s statements with those of advocators of everyday aesthetics and addressing these statements with the main questions of this aesthetics, concerning percularity of aesthetic experience, object and value.

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Inovatyvieji François Jullieno psichoanalizės konceptai kiniškosios minties refleksijos šviesoje

Author(s): Lina Gotautė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 105/2020

The article explores developed by a French philosopher, sinologist François Julien psychoanalytic concepts, which are suggested to be used for a more accurate description of the logic of the psychoanalytical process and its components. This results in a deeper effect of the unthought-of (Fr. impensé). The author explains S. Freud’s theoretical psychoanalysis and its elements through the lens of extracts from Mencius, Confucius, Sunzi’s and other thinkers’ works, as well as images of the Chinese worldview. There, a greater emphasis is placed not on the “cold”, rational origin, but on the processual emotional interpretation, characterized by its situativity, adaptation to the relativity of the situation, and decisions, often made based on the ongoing circumstances, without the declaration of the termination of the situation. Offered by F. Jullien concepts enrich psychoanalysis with a deeper and more nuanced specificity of treatment, as well as offer new valuable connotations to Freud’s theoretical principles of psychoanalysis.

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Eski Uygur Türkçesi Metinlerinde “Sumer~Sumeru Taġ” İfadesi Üzerine

Author(s): Hasan Işik / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 103/2020

The history of faith has been developing religious systems within the framework of narratives based on various supernatural beings since the day human beings existed on earth. Myths are one of the concepts that nurture these elements within these belief systems that also have the characteristic of being transferred from generation to generation. The myths which are mostly inherited from unknown times in the social order lived, focusing on the creation of the world, human existence and the concept of God, hills, mountains, stones and so on has cults. These myths include the mountain cult, which is seen as the “centre of the universe” within the Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Iranian religious tradition, which provides the link between the earth and the sky. Based on the height and infinity splendour of the sky, the human being, who believes that a supreme Being exists in this space, has revealed the cult of the mountain by looking at the sky and the mountain through the eyes of blessing. In Hinduism and Buddhism, this mountain cult, which is seen as Sumeru or Meru Mountain, is especially important in the religious life system of the people who have adopted Buddhism. It is seen that the sacred mountain cult took place in the words of Sumer~Sumeru in Buddhism and Central Asia, which were adopted as a result of the Uyghurs’ relations with urban life and trade. In Central Asian Turkish Buddhism, the expression Sumer~Sumeru, which Uyghurs transferred to Turkic via Toharian A/B, means mountain standing in the center of the world gibi as in Buddhism and Hinduism. In this sense, “Sumer~Sumeru Taġ” expression, which was first seen in Buddhist texts of Old Uyghur Turkic, is a Buddhist term in the religious terminology of Turkic language. In this study, in the context of the expression “Sumer~Sumeru Taġ”, which is seen in Buddhist texts of Old Uyghur Turkic, the concept of mountain cult in sacred religions and beliefs is given and the conceptual value of this religious term seen in Old Uyghur Turkic is aimed to be put forward with these explanations.

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Nichiren Buddhism in the Contemporary Jazz Improvisation of Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter

Author(s): Steve Odin / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

This essay explains how Nichiren Buddhist philosophy and practice of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) in Japan inspired the contemporary jazz improvisation of musical legends Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. The essay concludes with the jazz aesthetics of spontaneous musical improvisation formulated by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter based on the Nichiren Buddhist theory and practice of “value creation” by tapping our Buddha nature as the source of infinite creative possibilities.

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Tele-kiss. Nam-June Paik’s expanded media in the light of Zen Buddhism

Author(s): Kamil Lipiński / Language(s): English Issue: 37/2020

The article offers a broad overview of Nam-June Paik’s ideas of the expansion of video arts interpreted in the light of Zen Buddhism. His works recognized as the most significant examples of his marriage between the art theory and practice are marked by a thought-provoking vision of participatory culture, communicated in-between the networks in the post-industrial society. Our purpose is to reexamine his attitude to TV culture in the oscillation between Western and Eastern gaze considered in connection to the problems of emptiness and meditation drawn from Zen religious beliefs. In discussing his installations there is special stress to reconstruct his inner-insight into the subject of seeing and watching inscribed in a closed-circuit of the communication network.

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ПЕРЕТИН КУЛЬТУР ЗАХОДУ І СХОДУ В ФІЛОСОФСЬКОМУ РОМАНІ ОЛДОСА ГАКСЛІ «ОСТРІВ»

Author(s): Iryna Karaeva / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 2/2020

The purpose of the article is to prove that Huxley's appeal to the philosophical and religious ideas of the East made it possible to create an ideal society, culture, and perfect personality in the philosophical novel “Island”; to consider examples from the life experience of the artist, which testify to his deep penetration into the culture of the East; to find out how the experience is reflected in the works of the writer, in particular in the philosophical novel “Island”. Methodology. The methods of comparative and hermeneutic analysis and systematization of scientific works on cultural studies, philosophy, psychology and literary criticism, the method of biography and psychoanalysis, as well as N. Khamitov's metaanthropological approach were used, that allowed to consider the works devoted to A.Huxley correctly and deliberately and qualify his work “Island” as a philosophical novel. Scientific results. For the first time, it is stated that it was A. Huxley's appeal to the culture, philosophical and religious ideas of the East that made it possible to create an ideal society, culture, and perfect personality in the philosophical novel “Island”; examples of writer’s deep penetration into the culture of the East from his life experience are considered; a number of philosophical and artistic works, which reflect the mentioned experience of A. Huxley are identified. With the help of metaanthropological methodology, it was possible to find out the creative development of A. Huxley from personal to philosophical world outlook, which led the author to new opportunities in literary work and in understanding the essence of culture. Conclusion. In the novel “Island”, A. Huxley created a model of an ideal society built on the principles of Zen Buddhism - one of the cultures of the philosophical and religious heritage of the East. By going not only beyond the ordinary but also beyond the personal world outlook, the author has artistically demonstrated the ability of the personality to perceive the world around them at a higher level and create talented examples of philosophical prose. The formation of the artist's philosophical world outlook determined his deep penetration into the East culture, contributed to the appearance of philosophical essays, non-fiction and fiction works, the main of which is the philosophical novel “Island”.

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KOREA IN THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITION AND EAST ASIAN SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS

Author(s): Kaspars Kļaviņš,Māris Kūlis / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

Today, Korea is known as one of the East Asian intellectual centres. In addition, Korean thinkers are recognised for their critical evaluation of the Western philosophical tradition. However, contemporary Korean philosophical thought has gone through a short but extremely intense period of development – from the uncritical adaptation of Western education to the reappraisal of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the context of spiritual dialogue between East and West.

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Оппозиционная пара «Небо – Земля» в «Сицы Чжуань» и ее лингвистические параметры

Author(s): Vladislav Vladislavovich Kruglov / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2021

The oppositional pair of heaven – earth (天 ‘tian’ – 地 ‘di’) derived on the basis of the conceptual apparatus of the Xici Zhuan (‘Appended Commentaries’) and in line with the I Ching tradition was studied. A methodology for linguoculturological analysis of the term with account of the linguistic parameters of the oppositional pair (attribution to predicates/names, grammaticalogical commentary, and interpretation within the traditional Chinese philosophy) was introduced. The analysis was performed with the help of a wide range of the ancient Chinese texts. All occurrences of the oppositional pair of heaven – earth in the Xici Zhuan text were analyzed. As a result of the research, the place of the oppositional pair of heaven – earth in the Xici Zhuan and its linguistic parameters were revealed.

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BEYOND EAST AND WEST: WHAT ‘LADDER’ DID JOHN WU USE TOWARDS THIS GOAL? (PART TWO)

Author(s): Zbigniew Wesołowski / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2021

John Wu Jingxiong (1899-1986) was a diplomat, scholar, and authority on international law. He was also a prominent Chinese Catholic convert. His spiritual autobiography Beyond East and West (1951) reminds us of the Confessiones of St. Augustine for its moving description of John Wu’s conversion to Catholicism in 1937 and his early years as a Catholic. The very title of Wu’s autobiography points to his spiritual ideal which let humanity go beyond cultural particularities (be they Western, Chinese, or other). John Wu found wisdom in China’s great traditions, i.e., Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, pointing to their universal truths that come ultimately from, and are fulfilled in, Christ. The author of this contribution has searched for John Wu’s universal traits which go beyond any culture and calls them, metaphorically, a “ladder”. He has found a threefold ladder, i.e. that of the Christian faith, of human friendship and human and divine love, and that of natural law.

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იაპონური აზროვნების ლაბირინთებში

Author(s): Mariam Chalabashvili / Language(s): Georgian Issue: 1/2021

Japanese mainstream way of thinking prevails as a puzzle for the whole world including Georgia. Several Japanese words and phrases are hard to grasp even after the translation; Ikigai (生き甲斐) and Wabi-sabi (わびさび) are the two striking examples. Both of them could be deemed as not only words, but also as the way of thinking or the way of life.The word etymology of Ikigai (the reason, value of life) derives from the Heian period (794-1185). According to the clinical psychologist Akihiro Hasegawa, Gai comes from the Japanese word Kai - shell; during the Heian period (as well as much earlier) shells were perceived highly valuable as artists decorated them by hand, and used them in a shell-matching game called Kaiawase. Kaiis also used in other Japanese words and actual verbs such as hatarakigai (the value of working); yarigai (the value of doing) and asobigai (the value of playing). Since Gai relates to value, Ikigai could also be translated as the value of life, something worth living for. The concept of Ikigai could be compared to a sunflower, the sunflower seeds in the center could be perceived as the source of Ikigai and petals of the flower as one’s feeling about the ikigai object - Ikigai-kan (Ikigai feeling). As the Japanese proverb goes, "ten people, ten colours". Therefore, Ikigai could be as diverse as the number of people and the Japanese tend to follow their own Ikigai, without clarifying the word.Another Japanese concept - Wabi-sabi (which gradually transformed its initial gloomy connotation since 14th century) offers us to perceive beauty even inimpermanence, incompletion and imperfection. Even though, the concept is intricately entangled with the everyday life, that makes it very difficult for Japanese people to convey the meaning, the essence of Wabi-sabi could be comprehended in the ancient craft of Kintsugi and Japanese house design as well.

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A Study of the History of Chinese Philosophy in Independent Ukraine: The Sinological Experience of Kyiv Universities in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries

Author(s): Heorhii Vdovychenko / Language(s): English Issue: 16/2021

The article deals with the achievements of the development of domestic studies on the history of philosophical education, science and culture of China in the Kyiv universities of independent Ukraine. The thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of the entry of independent Ukraine, after the final collapse of the USSR in 1991, to world socio-political life as its full participant, is celebrated this year. This year, at the same time, marks a historic starting point for a qualitatively new stage of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China. A search of the history of China’s philosophy by Ukrainian scholars from the A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the H. S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, as well as from a number of other relevant institutes, is extremely important in the growing cooperation of academic science and universities of these two countries. It is noteworthy that the significant contribution to this process of leading Ukrainian Orientalists V. Kiktenko, S. Kapranov and their colleagues from these institutes is closely linked with important achievements in the development of philosophical Chinese studies in a number of universities in the capital of Ukraine, such as the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University. The high scientific potential of V. Rezanenko, N. Kirnosova, O. Boichenko, G. Bokal, Y. Shekera, and some other Sinologists from the Institutes of Philology of both these universities and their other units, as well as the potential of their colleagues from the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy,” Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University, the Kyiv National Linguistic University, is distinctly reflected in the proceedings of symposia and in the periodicals of the said universities.

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A Ukrainian Interpretation of Chinese Philosophy in the Soviet Period: A Review of “Chinese Studies in Ukrainian Philosophy of the Soviet Period”

Author(s): Feng-Shuo Chang / Language(s): English Issue: 16/2021

Rudenko and Liashenko’s (2020) “Chinese studies in Ukrainian philosophy of the Soviet period” explores the philosophy and political thought of that time through the study of a Soviet-era book on Chinese philosophy. Their article argues that the content and structure of Dmytrychenko and Shynkaruk’s (1958) book “The development of philosophical thought in ancient China” reflects its authors’ political education intentions. This analytical argument is comprehensively presented in the paper and effectively articulates the particularity of this Ukrainian book on Chinese philosophy. In this article, I examine Rudenko and Liashenko’s paper from the perspective of positivism and of an individual who received a traditional Chinese education. Through a comparison with other books on Chinese philosophy, I discuss Rudenko and Liashenko’s argument regarding the materialist historical view of Dmytrychenko and Shynkaruk’s book. The lack of excerpts from the original Chinese texts affects the correctness of some interpretations in the reviewed article. Nonetheless, through a dialogue between the two authors and contemporary philosophers, the reviewed article touches upon many philosophical ideas and research topics that are worth reading and studying, especially in terms of socialist philosophy, the historical development of Marxism, and the study of Ukrainian philosophy.

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