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What is carved out, and cultivated, over the thousands of years till the present-day in China, concerning the ancient civilization, is, in my view, both of an impact of its language, which is among all the languages in the whole world the only one hieroglyphic in existence, and of a propensity alongside in consequence, a propensity for what is visionary, thus fundamentally differentiating itself from the West which emphasizes on reason. For example, the constant care of the Chinese artists is: Leave something for the imagination! ¨C an approach aesthetic, widely seen over the arts of Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting, which is mused over and over again throughout the ages and which is considered unanimously the highest standard in esthetics in China. On the other hand, the Chinese soul carefree soaring oftentimes so high as immediately into the unity of man and heaven (¡°This spirit of synthesis has characterized the entire history of Chinese philosophy¡±) might have unavoidably incurred, literarily speaking, the jealousy of its antagonist, namely, the Materialistic aspect, so came it to materialize, as many, immaterial though, are materialized and much under the materialization. These two hands, or two sinews, may just as well serve to explain all the forms in strife relevant, either of the folk or of the literati. |
Chinese philosoph
"The keynote in Chinese philosophy is humanism," yet the Chinese humanism is quite different from the humanism of the West. It sets itself vigorously and in one way or other, in sharp contrast, against the latter. The question: is there in the former anything in reason and even significant, in the comparison in particular? |
For a full view and some spotlights I've made on it, click here.
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Chinese Religion
"The Chinese generally did not separate the religious from other aspects of their lives." "The fact that China was always predominantly a peasant society assumed that its folk religion would remain vital."
To take a look at Chinese religion, lick here. |
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A history of the present-day philosophy in China
"In any case, the official view is that only the Materialistic aspect of Lao-tzu should be continued" and "but Neo-Confucianism has been virtually ignored both in the meetings and in the publications." |
To have a full view of the history and some spotlights I've made on it, click here.
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The Chinese legalist
To understand and have really a picture of the Chinese legalist, one that places primary emphasis on legal principles or on the formal structure of governmental institutions, is to help dissolve the problems embedded thereof and behind. In order to do so, one has to, I suppose, be able to look into, for example, the chapter, The Grand Inquisitor, commented "Milestones of thought", of Dostoyevsky in his The Brothers Karamazov, or more recently of the Orwellian inquisition. For in literature such as in these works there's a fuller demonstration of provision that counts.
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To have a sketch of the legalist in a historical bird's-eye view, click here.
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The Chinese Genesis story
"I rather think that the Genesis story of the Creation needs to be rewritten all over again. ... that, 'Woman is made of water and man is made of clay,' "
To view the Chinese genesis story and my remarks on it, click here
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"In the broadest sense, a Taoist attitude toward life can be seen in the accepting and yielding, the joyful and carefree sides of the Chinese character," " Taoism is also characterized by a positive, active attitude toward the occult and the metaphysical¡" |
The word "contemporary" in the contemporary Chinese studies does not necessarily mean that the Chinese people and their society are contemporary, I suppose. Still are they primitive, in line with the most original one: Taoism; instead of that all the traditional roots are supposed to have been uprooted and swept away through the political movements, unceasingly and systematically launched right after the year 1949, this one might have taken the very chance to have triumphed even more, in a different form, to be sure.
Taoism
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The Spirit of the Chinese People, by Gu Hong-ming (1857-1928), published in Germany in 1924. |
"It will be seen from what I have said above that the American people, if they study the Chinese civilization, will get depth; the English, broadness; and the Germans, simplicity; and all of them, Americans, English and Germans by the study of the Chinese civilization, of Chinese books and literature, will get a quality of mind which, I take the liberty of saying here that it seems to me, they all of them, as a rule, have not to a preeminent degree, namely, delicacy. The French people finally, by the study of the Chinese civilization, will get all, - depth, broadness, simplicity, and a still finer delicacy which they now have." |
Not to draw more laughs to this famous utterance of Gu's which has been laughed at for ages ever since it was published, heartily or condescendingly, nor buffing myself up as either in embellishment or being nationalistic - not at all, I suppose; rather, it is whether or not it's representative in present-day China that I put it here. Moreover, I wonder, when Lin Yutang wrote positively on the "certain hidden, innermost recesses of the Chinese soul," that "from the almond eyes behind the high cheek-bines shines a tender light that dwells fondly on forms of exquisite beauty," if what Lin was trying to express is the same as what Gu uttered here, and if there's in it anything in reason.
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"The constant care of the Chinese artists is: Leave something for the imagination!" The care and the temperament are deeply rooted in Daoism. A case study on the temperament, which is of old, and A retrospection of the film-making in 1960s in China, that of the present-day China, are some supporting evidence of its influence. And, its profound impact as in shaping one individual¡¯s habits and in forming many a society, one can take a look at The food culture in China.
One may have enjoyed reading of Lin Yutang, best known in the West as a popularizer of Chinese culture. It is, I think, more with the armor of Taoism that Lin was fairly equipped than with his Judeo-Christian faculty (yet he got to know the latter before the former) that he refreshed and won the heart of a very large number of American readers, as one can see from A case study on the felicitous style of Lin Yutang in translation. However, after reading his most distinguished works, I take bold to put in here A criticism of Lin¡¯s translation on Tao-te Ching, Chapter 1. And, with regard to contemporary Chinese study and the "New Order" in particular, prophesied by John King Fairbank, I've written a little critique, and boldly putting it here: Is there demagoguery in John King Fairbank's The United States & China fourth edition?
There are also some other voices as in the Memoirs between China and the West. Again, it is of my boldness that I consider A historian looks at Chinese painting and Chinese thought by Dr. Hu Shih less rooted in China than works by LYT, and, circumstantially Dr. Hu was lack of the Judeo-Christian faculty that made his lectures delivered to the West much less in point, I suppose.
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Chinese Calligraphy
Wang Xizhi (321-379), China's "prince of calligraphists."
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"Every horizontal stroke is like a mass of clouds in battle formation, every hook like a bent bow of the great strength, every dot like a falling rock from a high peak, every turning of the stroke like a brass hook, every drawn-out line like a dry vine of great old age, and every swift and free stroke like a runner on his start." - translated by Lin Yutang |
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Food culture in China
"... as for crabs, my heart likes them, my mouth relishes them, and I can never forget them for a year and a day, ... Every year before the crab season comes, I set aside some money ... my family says that 'crab is my life' I call this money 'my life ransom.' ... and I therefore call October and November 'crab autumn.' ¡ I used to have a maid quite developed to attending to the care and preparation of crabs and I called her 'my crab maid.' Now she is gone! O crab! My life shall begin and end with thee!"
To see more, click here. |
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Drinking the high ...
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By the riverside ...
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Behind the screen ...
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We lord him ...
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Contemporary Chinese Studies |
Contemporary Chinese Studies
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A note in diary, 11 November 2010, China
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The anecdote as follows tells of Mao's attitude toward traditional Chinese culture as the founder of the People's Republic of China:
Mao's holding an egg in his hand one day, seemingly oblivious to his mutation over that how he shall fix it as a standup on the table, and wanting as he shall be to get from among his top officials an answer satisfactory enough as to kill off any uncertainty that lies ahead in the long-run, and meanwhile, wants to see how much intelligence his scholars ought to have offered to it. So ushered is an announcement thereupon, and selected a number of his people who are kindly invited into his studio. The first one can hardly stand up in his presence and is, simultaneously and spasmodically, in trembling, and trying in one way or other yet without any points to put a standstill to the stuff round on it but is too scholastic to be able to, looking as though a fool absorbed piteously in his own folly. The second is of the stereotype of the officialdom; immediately summoned up is his officialism; that is, he prostrates himself at his feet, speaking loud that he's completely at a loss being unable to answer it. The third is the famous Premier Zhou, who is balanced in the summoning: he pays to him homage as much as he to Confucius. Since he is a disciple of Confucius, he asks for a wine cup smaller than the egg, and put it over the brim of it, indicating that, No rules, no game. The fourth is DXP, who feels at home in it. Reclining at the table, he breaks off the egg on it, saying, No breaking off, no fixity! he is sure of it as much as can be.
Conviction! that prevails.
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Ideas excursive:
There's no record when the incident took place. Since people both within and without China are unable to figure out how China could have made such a progress as in the prosperity of the economy, ever since the opening up of the door, one begins dating it back as by guessing that, it must be before the year 1966 when the Great Counter-cultural Movement in China or originally the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, broke out or, more likely, soon after 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded. Meanwhile, some may argue that it is perhaps a political issue: no more than a whimsical of the propagandists....
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Phenomena that may be suggestive for further consideration:
"vacuum: VOID. black hole: a celestial object that has a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape it and that is believed to be created esp. in the collapse of a very massive star."
-From Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition.
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Contemporary Chinese Studies |
Contemporary Chinese Studies
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