哲学 Synthesis Paper: 1D

哲学

What is philosophy as demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy…

1. by Confucius…

D. in the way he lays out the steps of self-cultivation?

The elevation of man, for Confucius is approached with a process. A process that, when achieved, justifies the footing of man in the society. In The Great Learning, Confucius revealed the steps for the self-cultivation of man that starts with the individual himself and ends in the expanse of the world—when things are investigated, knowledge is extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the will is sincere, the mind is rectified; when the mind is rectified, the personal life is cultivated; when the personal life is cultivated, the family will be regulated; when the family is regulated, the state will be in order; and when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world (Chan, 1963, p. 86-87). Confucius deemed that the cultivation of man is important. A man without character and virtue and does not strive to “renovate” himself is not a superior man. 

The first step, for Confucius, lies in the investigation of things. Failure to do so would prevent one form extending his knowledge and in turn prevents him from ever becoming a worthy man. In order to fully cultivate oneself, Confucius puts forwards that, before anythings else, things must be investigated. When things are investigated, one will know and understand the principle of things and the nature of things. Investigation of things pushes one to fully understand his function in society and how he should live his life. Investigation of things would allow man to discover the meaning of life and it will make him understand why he should strive to become a superior man. Man’s knowledge, according to Chu Hsi, is imperfect because man had failed to investigate things.

Next comes the extension of knowledge or learning. Confucius deemed that knowing the Tao is in itself learning. For him, learning is a value and should not be acquired for reasons of selfishness. Interest in the arts and literature expresses learning and he who uses his education as his foundation in making his life morally good is the right way to go. For Confucius, learning also means that if one makes a mistake, he should act upon it to correct and learn from the mistake that he made. He knows where he stand and does not act as if he knows any better when in fact he does not. Learning, for Confucius, is not without thinking and because he is thinking, he is careful in his speech and he is careful in following the Way and the rules of propriety. He learns for the sake of learning and for the sake of humanity. 

Making the will sincere follows next after things have been investigated and knowledge has been extended. The Great Learning provided making the will sincere means that one should not allow self-deception. Even in the confines of his own private quarters, the superior man should take great care of his thoughts, words, and deeds. A man with a sincere will is a genuine man who serves his purpose for the benefit of his family and for the benefit of his neighbours. By making his will sincere, the man, for Confucius, would allow him to maintain a pure heart that will show externally. For the Master, sincerity also manifests itself in the actions of the superior man and is one of the many steps in self-cultivation.

Lastly, when things have been investigated, when knowledge has been extended, and the will made sincere, the mind needs to be rectified for the completion of man’s self-cultivation. For Confucius, the mind need to be correct at all cost. He should not let fear or anger get the best of him and ruin his character as a superior man. To discipline his thoughts and his actions, the superior man must do so by rectifying his mind and keeping it control without letting him emotions get the best of him. He should not dwell in negativity and drown himself in extreme positivity. The cultivation of the person lies in being able to achieve a correct mind— a mind that has fully investigated things and have acquired knowledge, a will that is sincere and a mind that is rectified. For Confucius, a man with a rectified mind will do so well in making decisions, may he be a common man or a ruler. He strives to put things correctly where they are and makes sure that everything is in accordance to harmony. Having a rectified mind is having a moral mind. 

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Rectification of the Mind

十八

~What does Confucius mean by the rectification of names? What is the scope of his rectification? How is this rectification to be accomplished?

~Why is the rectification of names the last step in the development of the chun-tzu? What does it contribute to the character of the chun-tzu?

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Chang, 2013

“Rectify whatever there is to be rectified about the things, search your own mind, and trust your own intuition which is good by nature.”

In Manuel Dy’s The Confucian Jen, he provided the sequence for the development of the superior man (the eight steps in The Great Learning): when things are investigated, knowledge is extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the will becomes sincere, the mind is rectified; when the personal life is cultivated, the family is regulated; when the family is regulated, the state will be in order; and when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world. Therefore, in order to become a superior man or a jen man, he must start with himself and he must start it correctly. He should investigate things, seek for and gain the knowledge, do well in making his will sincere, and rectify his mind. By doing so, he cultivates himself and when cultivated, he helps his family, his state, and the world. The four steps for the development of the superior man must be accomplished before he can fully cultivate himself. 

A person with a rectified mind will not so easily be swayed. The human mind, taking the definition of Tucker (1989), refers to the physical form of the senses responding to what they desire. An untamed mind is often equated to a wild horse- where one’s senses go on a rampage, driving the mind in a chaotic state and making it lose all its control over the body, the heart, and the mind. An untamed mind will but generate bad decisions and bad actions that in turn result in a bad outcome. The mind becomes irrational and illogical. To avoid such mishap, one must rectify his mind so as to correct his ways and his thoughts. The same thing also goes to a person with an unbalanced way of thinking. Dwelling only in negative thoughts would inevitably sour the mood of the person and this in turn will make him ill towards others. Too much confidence in the mind will also cause one to overlook things and his carelessness will result in his own downfall. Chapter 7 of The Great Learning have also described a person’s uncertified state of mind. 

de Bary, 2013

Zhen Zhangfang, Essay on the Learning of the Emperors

“What is called ‘cultivation of the person’ lies in rectifying one’s mind.’ If the person is moved by passion, he will not achieve correctness; if he is moved by fondness for something, he will not achieve correctness; if he is moved by sorrow and distress, he will not achieve correctness.”

Chang, 2013

“So, we as human beings have to be sincere and moving. Where are we moving to? To a better status, to make ourselves better human beings. In others words, we must give our mind a new direction; we must rectify our mind.”

Zheng Shen, one of Confucius’ disciples, found that in order for one to put his mind to a good use, all he needs to do is to rectify it, “four emotions usually exercise bad influences on the mind: anger, fear, exhilaration, and worry. The way to ‘rectify’ one’s mind is to get rid of these four emotions” (Chang, 2013). Chen Te-hsiu, a major Neo-Confucian scholar and an official in the late Sung dynasty, also echoed the same thoughts regarding the rectification of the mind. He strongly believes that correcting the mind is the very foundation of self-cultivation, which is  the basis for moral rulership (Taylor & Choy, 2005). With a rectified mind, one can do well in discerning his thoughts from right and wrong. One can discipline his thoughts and his actions. He does not put on airs and walks the talk. A rectified mind also takes note with names and their actualities. As he is a careful man, he makes sure that names are in accordance with their purpose and strives hard to correct and do something about the ranks, duties, and functions that are out of place. If we allow our mind to do as it please, then all will end in disharmony. Our mind lies in the “control room” of our physical body. Regulating our desires and keeping our emotions from bursting out is a good way keeping ourselves from falling all over the place or from straying away from the path. Allowing our desire for material things is also not the way to go. If we keep our senses and our thoughts in check and not allow one to dominate over the rest is a way to rectify the mind. 

Tucker, 1989

“…if we want to rectify the mind-and-heart, we must first make our will sincere. If we are already sincere in loving good and disliking evil, rectifying the mind-and-heart should be easy. Rectification means that the seven emotions of happiness, anger, sadness, enjoyment, love, hate, and desire which arise in the mind-and-heart are in correct measure with neither excess of deficiency. This means being happy when we should be happy, but not being excessive in that happiness; being angry when we should be angry,but not being excessive in anger. Other emotions should also be expressed in a similar manner. If the seven emotions are balanced with either excess nor deficiency, we will not be swayed within the heart and there will always be harmony. This is rectifying the mind-and-heart.”

As the mind is the very foundation of the self (Dietz, 2010), rectification of the mind would mean cleansing away prejudices, false orientations, and wrong perceptions of the self. Cleansing the thoughts of such things, we can see things more clearly- we can see them as they are and with this, our actions will be in accordance to harmony and how we associate with others would be correct. And because prior to this that we have already investigated things, extended our knowledge, and made our wills sincere, we can correct our minds with full knowledge of doing so, correctly and sincerely. 

Dietz, 2010

“…With a rectified mind, superior people cultivate every aspect of their lives to better honour and benefit all things. Superior people use the self to protect and manifest their understanding. Superior people do not live carelessly. They live to nourish their mind and to act to the great benefit of the world…”

Chang, 2013

Wang Shou-ren: [the mind] can also be “reason itself". He believed that no reason existed outside the mind; and no thing existed outside the mind. The mind is reason because it knows how to arrange things. The mind is also virtue, because it has compassion (ren) and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. All a man needs to do, in order to find a right answer to a question, is to search his own mind…

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Investigation of Things

十五

~What does Confucius mean by the investigation of things? What is the scope of the investigation? How are the things to be investigated?

~Why is the investigation of things the first step in the development of the chun-tzu? What does it contribute to the character of the chun-tzu?

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ko-wu

Hoobler & Hoobler, 2009 

(as cited in Creel’s Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Mao)

“…The reason we cannot be sages or worthy men is that we lack the great strength that is needed for the investigation of things.”

“Knowing” something is never truly enough and the same goes for being able to understand only what is on the surface or getting the gist or the general idea of a certain subject matter. Regarding this as knowledge is the same as accepting what is not true, for this kind of knowledge is not only lacking but also empty. A superior man is one who is unsatisfied with such because for as long as things are not properly investigated, then knowledge will be, as a result, incomplete. Zhu Xi, a Confucian scholar from the Song Dynasty, believes that the investigation of things serves as the very foundation of true knowledge which acts as a support and a motivating factor for self-cultivation. For him, the investigation of things can also mean as the investigation of moral knowledge. According to him, “…we should apply ourselves to [the study of] things so as to gain an exhaustive knowledge of their Li,” or in other words, one should investigate things to discern their defining patterns.

Analect 19:7

“Tsze-hsia said, ‘Mechanics have their shops to dwell in, in order to accomplish their works. The superior man learns, in order to reach to the utmost of his principles.’”

The expansion of knowledge for self-cultivation can also be achieved through the investigation of things. Just as life is a process and just as there is a due process for accomplishing any kind of task, so does when one aspires to go beyond than being just a man or the kind of man that he is at present. Therefore, what constitutes a superior man is his inclination to know the root and his desire to perfect his knowledge. The investigation of things also demands one to admit his foolishness or his ignorance when he is lacking.

Analect 2:17

“Confucius said, ‘Yu, shall I teach you [the way to acquire] new knowledge? To say that you know and say that you do not know when you do not know- that is [the way to acquire] knowledge.’”

Taylor & Choy, 2005

“Investigation of Things is predicated for the School of Principle of the belief that all things possess principle (li). In turn it is the goal of humankind to come to a complete understanding of the nature of Principle, a state that is characterised as sagehood.”

But how does one perfect his knowledge? To this, The Great Learning acts as a guide, a moral guide, for one to cultivate his character into that of a superior man: extension of knowledge consists of the investigation of things… From the king down to the common people, all must regard  the cultivation of the self as the most essential thing. Through learning or investigation of things, one will surely arrive at the core of it all— the principle of things. The importance of being able to understand the principle of things will allow one to fully comprehend how the world works thus, his actions will be in accordance to what should be done and how he will properly perform the act. Therefore, knowing must answer the questions of why, how, and what for. By fulfilling these, one can arrive in the knowledge as how he should exercise it- action. That is to say:

Analect 7:3

“The Master said, ‘the leaving virtue without proper cultivation; the not thoroughly discussing what is learning; not being able to move towards righteousness of which a knowledge is gained; and not being able to change what is not good—these are the things that make me uncomfortable.’”

A superior man with an intelligent mind soaks himself with knowledge that allows his to know what is good and what is right at all occasions, even in moments of haste. Reaching the summit of our knowledge is through the investigation of things. One can know what is right and what is wrong through investigating it. One can know the proper method of doing an activity through investigating it. One can know how to do a ritual properly by investigating how to do it and why it is done as such. Being a learned person makes one a superior man. 

If one studies a number of subjects, he broadens the scope of his mind and his imagination. By studying the arts, he will become well-versed in that area. By studying medicine he will be able to understand the frailty and mortality of man. By studying the things around him, he will understand the world external to him. By studying history and politics he will understand the course of human society and of how it is and should be governed. One should not confine himself only to one subject. Through broadening one’s interest and learning with enthusiasm about the great things about him, he inflates himself— he becomes a bigger man. 

Chai & Chai, 1973

…the extension of knowledge is “knowing the utmost” and “reaching it”. It is extending the intuitive knowledge of our mind…

…”the extension of intuitive knowledge” as not “something illusory, hazy, in a vacuum [devoid of Li], and unreal”; it is rather “something real.”

The Great Learning, 5

Extension of knowledge consists of the investigation of things.

When things are investigated, knowledge is extended.

When knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere.

When the will is sincere, the mind is correct.

When the mind is correct, the self is cultivated.

When the self is cultivated, the clan is harmonised. 

When the clan is harmonised, the country is well governed.

When the country is well governed, there will be peace throughout the land.

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