Abstract
This study provides a wide-ranging gaze upon many different ideas that have been mentioned or articulated in writings identifiable with the Confucian tradition, and it does so with an eye to finding paths of access between this long-standing Chinese tradition and the contemporary world.
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Notes
- 1.
For the ethical relations of filial piety with Christian thought, see Li (1999, pp. 3–17).
- 2.
- 3.
What Cheng Zhongying calls “material rationalism” is close to what Mencius called “the heart of compassion” which demonstrates that moral sentiments are materialized in specific life experiences. The material rationality in Confucian philosophy is not Kantian practical reason, and it is not the abstract reason of pure rationality. Cheng writes: “By material rationalism we mean the perfection of morality through self-education and specifically actualized cognitive processes. Knowledge and self-education obtained in actual life are not only rational and reasonable activities, but they also demonstrate morality in fulfilling the ideal of making the whole of life complete and perfect” (Cheng 2006, p. 17).
- 4.
Li Chenyang’s 李晨阳 speech at Wuhan University: “Two Paths for Confucian Environmental Ethics,” June 26, 2010.
- 5.
Yang originally meant and yin originally meant shade. Later, yang and yin came to be regarded as two cosmic principles or forces representing masculinity, activity, heat, brightness, dryness, and hardness, and femininity, passivity, cold, darkness, wetness, and softness. Through their interaction, all phenomena of the universe are produced. This concept has remained dominant in Chinese cosmological speculation down to recent times.
- 6.
Meng Peiyuan 蒙培元 attaches particular significance to “the unity of Heaven and Humanity,” and he writes, “Benevolence as moral sentiment can be understood as compassion and love. Since the ultimate source of benevolence is the supreme virtue of Heaven and Earth to give birth to life, which places humans and nature on an equal basis, not only should a benevolent person love people, but he should also love everything besides. A person’s spiritual well-being determines his attitude towards all living things in nature. Confucianism endorses the theory that those who are established should help develop and establish everyone and everything else, because only through helping others attain their worthy aims can an individual become fully grown. A benevolent person will love everything in nature on his own initiative rather than cause wanton destruction to it. To fulfill others not only relates to living things, but also to rocks and stones, for every single substance on earth is a part of eco-life” (Meng 2004, pp. 32–33).
- 7.
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Guo, Q., Cui, T. (2017). The Value of Reconstructing Confucianism for the Contemporary World. In: Yao, X. (eds) Reconceptualizing Confucian Philosophy in the 21st Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4000-9_27
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