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From the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the slave-owning system began to decay and crumble with a notable rise in the value of the common people with a corresponding increase in disenfranchised nobility. The result was the appearance of a new class, consisting of scribes, counselors, and teachers, many of whom had an aristocratic background. Deeply concerned with the social chaos and moral decline brought about by the collapse of slavery and by constant wars among the states, these people contended vigorously in proposing solutions, thus forming various philosophical schools. These schools began to take shape during the Spring and Autumn Period, and flourished in the Warring States Period. Historically known as the classical age, this period is also referred to as the age of the “Hundred Philosophers (诸子百家).”
The “Hundred Philosophers” were classified by Sima Tan (司马谈), father of Sima Qian (司马迁), as belonging to six schools: Confucianism (儒家), Taoism (道家), Mohism (墨家), the Logicians (名家), the Yin-Yang School (阴阳家) and the Legalist School (法家). To these six schools, Liu Xin (刘歆), a late Western Han philosopher, added four others: the Agriculturists (农家), the Strategists (兵家), the Eclectic School (杂家), and the Story-tellers (小说家), thus bringing the total up to ten. Each school of thought had its main theorist and followers. They wrote books and gave lectures to propagate their views and criticize their opponents’ fallacies. Later, people described this lively academic environment as “The Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought”. In the following pages we shall have a concise discussion of the leading figures and principal tenets of some main philosophical schools.
Confucianism is a school of thought represented by Confucius and Mencius. Primarily a code of ethics and a system of philosophy, Confucianism has left its mark on Chinese politics and government, family and society, and art and literature. In a certain sense, Confucianism even functioned as a religion in the ancient community. Its influence is so predominant that if anyone should be asked to characterize traditional Chinese life and culture in one word, that word would be “Confucian”. Confucianism is not confined to China. Neighboring countries such as Japan and Vietnam embraced Confucianism in their national life and culture. In Europe, Confucianism also has a lot of famous admirers, such as Gottfried Leibniz (戈特弗里德·莱布尼茨) and Voltaire (伏尔泰). Other men of letters in Europe who came under the influence of Confucian included Geothe (歌德), Alexander Pope (亚历山大·蒲柏) and Charles Lamb (查尔斯·兰姆).
To understand Confucianism thoroughly, we need a survey of its origin. Confucianism sought its origin in the institutions of the “Former Kings (先王)”, that is, the pre-dynastic sage-emperors Yao (尧) and Shun (舜) and the founders of the first three dynasties, Xia, Shang, and Zhou. Many basic Confucian principles, such as the worship of ancestors, the Mandate of Heaven and the government by virtue, were popular at least during the Zhou Dynasty. However, the Confucian School began to take shape only during the Spring and Autumn Period when Confucius and his disciples were traveling from one state to another to spread their ideas. Therefore, Confucius is regarded as the founder of Confucianism. There is no special word in Chinese meaning “Confucian” or “Confucianist”. Members of the Confucian School have always been called ru ( 儒), a word that may be translated as “literati”. With regard to this term, The Explanation of Script and Elucidation of Characters ( 《说文解字》) by Xu Shen (许慎), one of the earliest dictionaries, says: “The word ru means ‘yielding’. It’s a term used to refer to scholars proficient in the arts.” This would indicate that ru was originally a term denoting all persons who possessed education and were versed in the arts. But later on, the use of the term was restricted exclusively to the Confucian School.
The Confucianists were specialists in the rituals that played an important role in the lives of the aristocracy. The result is that Confucianism became the rationalized expression of upper-class morality. This explains its emphasis on correct ritualistic behavior, on such cultural activities as music, on a graded love, and on the ruler as a moral example to his people.
Mencius, also known as Meng Zi (孟子), the second sage of Confucianism, was born in the kingdom of Zou (邹) in the State of Lu (鲁), more than 100 years after Confucius’s death. His family name was Meng (孟) and his personal name Ke (轲). His family was poor when he was young. It was said that his mother moved house three times so that her son could live in a good neighborhood. In several respects his life was similar to that of Confucius. After finishing his study under a disciple of Zi Si (子思), grandson of Confucius, he became a well-known scholar and for a brief period served as an official in the State of Qi (齐). He went to many states to talk with their rulers about government by humanity. When he found that no ruler would adopt his views, he devoted himself to teaching and writing. He wrote the Mencius ( 《孟子》) with the help of some of his disciples.
Mencius
Mencius considered himself the man able to perpetuate (使不朽，延续) Confucius’s teachings in a time of disorder and intellectual confusion. He tried his utmost “to rectify men’s hearts, and to put an end to perverse doctrines; to oppose one-sided actions and put away licentious expressions, thus to carry on the work of the sages. (正人心，息邪说，距诐行，放淫辞，以承三圣者。)” Therefore, the philosophic ideas of Mencius might be regarded as an amplification of the teachings of Confucius.
Mencius reaffirmed the basic Confucian tenet that government is primarily for the good of the people and not the ruler. He said, “The people rank the highest in a state; the spirits of the land and grain come next; and the ruler counts for the least. (民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻。)” To him, the relationship of the ruler and the people was reciprocal. “When a ruler regards his subjects as his hands and feet, they regard him as their belly and heart; when he regards them as dogs and horses, they regard him as a common fellow; when he regards them as dirt and grass, they regard him as robber and enemy. (君之视臣如手足，则臣视君如腹心；君之视臣如犬马，则臣视君如国人；君之视臣如土芥，则臣视君如寇仇。)”
Mencius made the original goodness of human nature the keynote to his system. To him, everyone has feelings of sympathy or commiseration, the feeling of shame and resentment, the feeling of respect and modesty, and the feeling of the distinction between right and wrong. Such feelings are universal among mankind and they come as naturally as the taste of food, and the sight of beauty. Therefore, human nature is originally good, and will be good if it is guided by its innate feelings, just as water is inclined to flow downward. According to Mencius, from these feelings grow the following four moral qualities or the “Four Initiators (四端)”: humanity, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. These qualities are inherent in man, for they are endowed by Heaven, or they arise from the inner springs of the human heart.
Since human nature is originally good, then where does evil arise? Why are some people degenerate, even evil? Mencius argued that when a man is not good, it is not because he lacks the “Four Initiators” described above. His evil results from the fact that he has either not developed, or has suppressed and destroyed these initiators. It is the material longings that have obscure these moral qualities. Therefore, all-important is the function of education, self-cultivation and self-discipline, so that one does not lose his original “child’s heart” and so that the “Four Initiators” may become the four full-flowing virtues.
For self-cultivation, Mencius advocated the method of nourishing the great morale or the vast moving force (浩然之气), which is produced by the accumulation of righteous deeds. When this force is developed to the fullest extent, one will attain the highest spiritual state. Then, “Riches and honor cannot make him dissipate, poverty and mean condition cannot make him swerve, and power and force cannot make him bend himself. (富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能屈。)”
Taoism, together with Confucianism, is one of the two major indigenous religio-philosophical traditions that have shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years. Taoist thought permeates Chinese culture and has also found its way into all Asian cultures influenced by China, especially those of Vietnam, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. More strictly defined, Taoism includes philosophical Taoism, that is, the ideas and attitudes peculiar to Lao Zi (《老子》), Zhuang Zi (《庄子》), Lie Zi (《列子》), and related writings, and religious Taoism, which is concerned with the ritual worship of Dao (道) or the Way. In this chapter only philosophical Taoism, which was founded by Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, will be discussed.
As we know, Taoism, as a school of thought, advocates the doctrine that Dao is the origin of the universe, the course, the principle, the substance, and the standard of all things, to which all people must conform. Based on Dao De Jing , Taoism promotes the belief that a person should live a simple life, not to strive for wealth, fame or power, which will only bring one worries and troubles. With proper behavior and self-restraint, a person can achieve great inner strength and a prolonged life. This school favors the political principle of “achieving good governance through non-action”.
Zhuang Zi, also known as Zhuang Zhou (庄周), was born in the State of Song (宋) (in the present-day Henan Province), and lived a hermit’s life. He was famous for his ideas and writings and once declined a prime minister in the State of Chu (楚) to retain his freedom because he preferred to live like a fish in muddy water and enjoy himself. Zhuang Zi (《庄子》), which is believed to have been written by him, consists of 33 chapters, presenting his ideas through imagery, anecdote and parable, as well as allegory and parody. Written in beautiful poetic prose, many of the chapters are considered to be literary masterpieces.
Zhuang Zi
Zhuang Zi inherited and developed Lao Zi’s philosophy. Following Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi took Dao or the Way to be the all-embracing first principle through which the universe has come into being. Dao is a formless material and might be called wu (无) or nonbeing, but it produces all things with forms. Dao is also qi (气) or air, which integrated and became concrete things. When concrete things disintegrated, they returned to qi . This also applies to human beings. In other words, Dao is nonbeing, and exists by and through itself without a beginning or an end. But Zhuang Zi advanced the concept of Dao and gave Taoism a dynamic character. To him, Dao as Nature is not only spontaneity but also a constant flux, for all things are in a state of perpetual self-transformation, each according to its own nature and in its own way. In this unceasing transfiguration, things appear and disappear. Although they are different, Dao equalizes them as one. Therefore, all things and opinions should be dealt with equally, and there should be no distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, life and death, beauty and ugliness, etc. All distinctions and oppositions are merely relative. This is Zhuang Zi’s famous doctrine of the equality of all things (齐物论). The master overemphasized the relativity of things, and went so far that he denied any distinction among them. This, of course, is contrary to both truth and reality, and can only lead to relativism.
Zhuang Zi held that man should live a life that suited his original nature. If he could get rid of desires for fame, wealth, and position, he would be able to obtain peace, freedom, and leisure. Things that are natural are good, and things that are artificial are bad. An ideal person is one who is entirely at one with nature, accepts whatever happens to him, has no goal, and makes no conscious effort to achieve anything. Zhuang Zi blamed not only the heroes and the inventors of culture praised by the Confucianists, but also the sages who shaped the rites and rules of the society. Even “coveting knowledge” is condemned because it engenders competition and fights over profit. His ideal society is one in which “there were no roads over the mountains or boats and bridges to cross the waters, and men dwelt together with birds and beasts. (山无蹊隧，泽无舟梁，万物群生。)” The master denied all human efforts and made what is of nature and what is of man absolutely diametric. His total denial and condemnation of human civilization reflected the deeper pessimism of the Taoists facing greater chaos during the Warring States Period.
In contrast to Confucian sages and cultural heroes, Zhuang Zi’s ideal personality is the perfect man (至人), or the true man (真人). According to him, the perfect man “fasts in his mind (心斋),” that is, to keep his mind void and tranquil, and “sits down in forgetfulness (坐忘)”, which means to discard knowledge, forget first the outer world, then the body, then the mind, and become one with the infinite. Since the perfect man has transcended all distinctions, he is happy in any form of existence. The transformation of life and death is to him as the succession of day and night, and cannot affect him, to say nothing of the worldly gain and loss, good luck and ill luck. In this way, the perfect man is in perfect identity with the universe and goes up and down with evolution. Therefore, he is absolutely free and happy. Of course, such a perfect man can only appear in Zhuang Zi’s imagination and can never be found in the mundane world.
Founded by Mo Zi (墨子), Mohism was an eminent school of philosophy that rivaled Confucianism in prominence during the Warring States Period. The followers of this school were mostly commoners, and the Mohist philosophy was a rationalized expression of the ethics of the lower classes in general. Being well organized, Mohism later became somewhat a religious congregation with the Elder Master (钜子) as its leader. Both the Elder Master and his followers admonished zealously to promote benefits and remove evil while leading an extremely simple life themselves. In order to help the weak and poor, the Mohists devoted themselves to the techniques of defensive war, including the building of instruments for resisting the siege of cities, which in turn explains the interest of the Later Mohists in mathematics and physics. Mohism was pushed into the background if not into complete oblivion by the ascendancy of Confucianism for the next 2,000 years and was rediscovered only in the 20th century.
Mo Zi, whose name was Mo Di (墨翟), was the founder of Mohism. Born into the State of Song, he was widely read and well versed in the classics. A craftsman in his youth, he later became a scholar. After serving for a brief period as a civil servant, Mo Zi spent a number of years as a traveling counselor to feudal lords and princes, and having never been given the opportunity to put his teachings into practice or the world in order, he had eventually to be content with conducting a school and preparing his disciples for public office. It is said that Mo Zi was at first a follower of Confucianism but later opposed it to found a system of thought of his own. He was critical of Confucianism for its emphasis on the codes of rituals and social elegance, which were, to him, burdensome and wasteful. He left a work known as Mo Zi (《墨子》) consisting of 71 chapters.
Mo Zi’s important views included exalting the worthy (尚贤), conforming upwardly (尚同), practicing economy (贵俭), simplifying funerals (节葬), discarding music and other enjoyments (非乐), rejecting fatalism (非命), denouncing unjust wars (非攻), and practicing universal love (兼爱). The best-known one of these views was the theory of universal love. Mo Zi advocated it to replace selfishness and partiality, or graded love. Universal love, according to him, means to love all people equally regardless of their nationality, social status, or relationships. Mo Zi said, “One should consider other people’s bodies as one’s own, other people’s families as one’s own. (必为其友之身若为其身，为其友之亲若为其亲。)” He taught people to love other people’s parents, families, and countries as their own. What is more, universal love should be combined with mutual benefit. To love people means to bring benefits to them, and to bring benefits to people is the result and proof of the love. As previously stated, Mo Zi was the philosopher of the people, especially the lower class people. All of his doctrines are the manifestations of his great sympathy and attentive care for the poor and weak. Mo Zi’s greatness lies in his proposal of the doctrine of universal love and its combination with mutual benefit more than 2,000 years ago.
Another distinctive feature of Mo Zi’s thought was his stress on methodology. He attached great importance to the threefold test and the fourfold standard. The threefold test refers to the basis, the provability, and the applicability of a proposition. This test was employed to examine a proposition for its compatibility with the best of the established conceptions, its consistency with experience, and its contribution to desirable ends when put into operation. The benefits resulting form the application of a proposition, the last part of the threefold test, are conceived in terms of the fourfold standard, namely enrichment of the poor, increase of the population, removal of danger, and regulation of disorder. Because of this theory, Mo Zi was sometimes called a pragmatist, or a utilitarian by contemporary scholars.
Legalism or the Legalist School did not concern itself with ethical, metaphysical, or logical concepts, as other schools did. Guan Zi (管子) was the pioneer of Legalism. Its chief objective was the concentration of power in the ruler. In its early period, this school was divided into three groups, one of which laid emphasis on power or authority (势); the second highlighted statecraft (术), or the art of conducting affairs and handling men; and the third laid stress on the concept of law (法). The first group was headed by Shen Dao (慎到), who was a Taoist as well as a Legalist. The leader of the second group was Shen Buhai (申不害), who was a minister in the State of Han (韩). The leader of the third group was Shang Yang (商鞅), a descendant of the royal family of the State of Wei (卫), who for many years served as a minister in the State of Qin (秦). The Book of Lord Shang (《商君书》), one of the main works of the Legalist School, was attributed to him. Combining the three tendencies and forming his doctrines of Legalism, Han Fei (韩非) became the most outstanding exponent of this school. Generally speaking, Legalism values the necessity to lay down laws to unify the thoughts of people, to promote agriculture to achieve affluence, to wage wars to gain strength and power, and to establish a system of bureaucracy. The Legalists also hold a belief that contradiction is present everywhere, and the two sides of a contradiction are changeable. The Legalist School triumphed over the other schools in the 3rd century B.C.E., and its philosophy was put into strict practice during the brief period of the Qin Dynasty.
Han Fei, the representative philosopher of the Legalist School and the synthesizer of the Legalist theories, was born into a noble family in the State of Han (韩). He delighted in the study of punishment, names, law and statecraft, while basing his doctrines upon the Yellow Emperor (黄帝) and Lao Zi. Owing to his speech impediment, he was not good at talking, but was skilled at writing. Together with Li Si (李斯), he studied under the guidance of Xun Zi (荀子). Seeing the weakness of his state, Han Fei wrote many letters to the king, suggesting ways to make it strong, but his advice went unheeded. Then he devoted his time to writing a book explaining his ideas. It was called Han Fei Zi (《韩非子》). The King Ying Zheng of Qin (秦王嬴政), who later unified China, happened to read the book, and admired the writer’s ideas. The King forced Han to send Han Fei to Qin. Unfortunately, soon after he arrived in Qin, he was first thrown into prison and then poisoned to death by Li Si, Qin’s chief minister.
Most of the Legalists believed that man’s nature was evil, and Han Fei, as the disciple of Xun Zi, was particularly clear on this point. All men, he insisted, acted from motives of selfishness and self-profit, and so showed calculating minds toward one another. Relations between men were determined by nothing but personal gains and losses. Because of this state of human nature, men must be administrated by governmental organizations and kept in their place by punishments if the world is to be put into proper order. Accordingly, law, statecraft, and power must be employed by the government.
Han Fei made a comprehensive synthesis of the enforcement of law, the manipulation of statecraft and the exercise of power. In his opinion, the “intelligent ruler (明主)” should rule the state by laws, and laws should be made public to all people and should be strictly enforced. After the laws have been made, everyone in the state, both the ruler and the ruled, must obey them and cannot change them at will. In fact, the highest ideal of the Legalist School is that the ruler and the ministers, the superior and the inferior, the noble and the humble, all of them obey the laws. Laws, then, are the highest standards by which to judge the words and actions of the people of a state. All words and actions that are not in accord with the laws must be prohibited. Therefore, “In the state of the intelligent ruler, there is no literature of books and records, but the laws serve as teachings. There are no sayings of the early Kings, but the officials act as teachers. (明主之国，无书简之文，以法为教。无先王之语，以吏为师。)” “Statecraft” means the skill or technique and wisdom of the ruler in managing public affairs. To select and evaluate officials, the ruler should adopt his statecraft. After assigning posts according to individual capacities, the ruler should demand satisfactory performance of the responsibilities devolving on their posts and punish anyone who is derelict of duty or abuses his power. Statecraft is also Han Fei’s answer to the problem of usurpation, through which the rulers lose their power. It behooves the ruler to trust no one; to be suspicious of sycophants; to permit no one to gain undue power or influence; and, above all, to use wile to unearth plots against the throne. “Power” or “authority” refers to the highest position and supreme power of the ruler to issue orders and to make others obey. A ruler’s authority is outwardly manifested in his rewards and punishments, which act as the “two handles (二柄)” of his administration.
Han Fei held that society was always going forward, and would never go backward. He told interesting fables like “Waiting for a Rabbit by the Tree (守株待兔)” to ridicule those people who thought that the past was better than the present. He saw the relevance between material wealth and the population. If the population grew faster than material wealth, there might be social turmoil. This is a correct view even today.
The term maodun (矛盾) or contradiction came from one of his fables. A man from the Kingdom of Chu was selling spears and shields. He boasted about his shield, saying, “It is so tough that nothing can pierce it.” He then boasted about his spear, saying, “It is so sharp that it can pierce anything.” Someone asked him, “What will happen if you pierce your shield using your spear?” The man was speechless. A spear that can pierce anything and a shield that can be pierced by nothing cannot exist at the same time. Han Fei indicated that contradiction was present everywhere, and the two sides of a contradiction were changeable, that is to say, good fortune might change into misfortune, prosperity into decline, strength into weakness, and so on.
To sum up, Han Fei’s opposition to conservatism was clear-cut and his advocacy of reform positive. His doctrine of the equality of all people before established laws was refreshing in a society of rigid hierarchy and various privileges. However, his emphasis on absolute concentration of power of the ruler led the first emperor to practice totalitarian regimentation, “burning the books and burying the literati (焚书坑儒)”. Representing the interests of the rising landlord class, Han Fei laid the ideological foundation for the advent of the feudal aristocracy.
Besides the philosophy during Pre-Qin times, the Han Dynasty featured orthodox thought. Emperor Wu launched the campaign of “discrediting the hundred schools of thought and respecting only Confucianism (罢黜百家，独尊儒术)”. Consequently, the political, social and educational institutions were developed according to the Confucian principles and the Confucian classics became the corpus of learning studied by all scholar-administrators through the ages. Confucianism became an orthodox philosophy that served as the ideological foundation of the feudal rule as well as the state cult.
Orthodox philosophy inspired by Dong Zhongshu (董仲舒) claims that Heaven affects human affairs and human behavior finds response in Heaven (天人感应) and that the power of emperors is endowed by Heaven (君权神授). The disasters and anomalies are interpreted as Heaven’s ways of warning the ruler and the people to examine their personal conduct and correct their mistakes. This theory, to modern people, is preposterous and wry. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, a brave scholar,Wang Chong (王充), criticized and refuted Dong’s theory of the interaction between Heaven and man. Wang Chong spent over 30 years writing his work entitled Balanced Discussions (《论衡》), in which he also stressed the importance of effect in testing the correctness of a theory.
Dong Zhongshu also propounded his doctrine of “Three Cardinal Guides (三纲)”, that is, a sovereign is the guide of his subjects, a father is the guide of his son, and a husband is the guide of his wife. To be the guide means to have absolute authority. Moreover, he popularized the set of “Five Constant Virtues (五常)”, which includes humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faithfulness or trustworthiness. All the above mentioned ethics were a severe burden on the majority of the Chinese people in the long years of feudal society.
Philosophers during the Wei and Jin Dynasties went beyond phenomena to find reality behind space and time. They were interested in what is profound and abstruse, and consequently their school is called the Metaphysical School or Metaphysics (玄学) containing three famous classic works of The Book of Changes (《易经》), Dao De Jing and Zhuang Zi , known as the “three profound studies (三玄).” These philosophers, mostly young literary men, often engaged in “pure conversations (清谈),” an unconventional way of life expressed in elegant, refined, carefree, and witty conversations. The most outstanding figures of this school are Wang Bi (王弼) and Guo Xiang (郭象).
Buddhism reached its apex during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Buddhist philosophy formed an alliance with the wisdom of Chinese philosophers. By analyzing spiritual phenomena and human rationality, it attempts to understand thoroughly the universe and human life.
During the Song and Ming Dynasties, the rationalistic Confucian philosophy or Neo-Confucianism, which combined Taoism with Buddhism, became influential. It mainly discussed the nature of human beings, the relationship between human beings, between man and nature, and between man and society. Neo-Confucianism was divided into two schools, the School of Principle (理学), and the School of Mind (心学). The typical representatives of the former were Zhou Dunyi (周敦颐), Cheng Hao (程颢), Cheng Yi (程颐) and Zhu Xi (朱熹), who held that “rationalism (理)” was eternal and was a spiritual existence before the world existed, and that all things in the world were derived from “rationalism”. The representative figures of the latter included Lu Jiuyuan (陆九渊) and Wang Shouren (王守仁). Lu Jiuyuan, a contemporary and rival of Zhu Xi, regarded the mind as the origin of the universe and identified the mind with principle. “The universe is my mind; my mind is the universe. (宇宙便是吾心，吾心便是宇宙。)” he said. This thoroughgoing subjective idealism shows not only the influence of Meng Zi but also the impact of Buddhism. Wang Shouren, the Ming Dynasty Neo-Confucianist, revised and refined Lu’s theory, and advocated that “There is nothing outside the mind and no rationalism or reason outside the mind. (心外无物，心外无理。)”
The philosophy during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was called application philosophy. It focused on “self-examination” and sticking to the application of philosophy on state affairs. The answers to specific issues instead of abstract study were explored.
1. 仁民爱物
Have Love for the People, and Cherish All Things
Mencius said, “Men of virtue cherish all things, but this is not benevolent love, have compassion for others, but this is not love of family. Men of virtue love and care for their loved ones, they are therefore kind to other people. When they are kind to people, they treasure everything on earth.” ( Mencius )
2. 仁者无敌
The Benevolent Person Is Invincible.
Mencius replied, “With a territory of a hundred square li, it is possible for one to rule as a true king. If Your Majesty governs with benevolence, refrains from imposing harsh punishment, and lightens taxes and imposts on the people, they will plow deeply and weed thoroughly. The able-bodied will, on their days off, care for their parents, and they will show fraternal love, loyalty and good faith. At home, they will serve their fathers and brothers, and away from home, their elders and superiors. So they are able to defeat the Qin and Chu troops even with wooden sticks... That is why I believe that the benevolent person is invincible.” ( Mencius )
3. 保民而王
Protect the People and Then Rule as a King
King Xuan of Qi said, “What kind of virtue should one pose to be able to rule as a true king?” Mencius replied, “Protect the people and ensure their well-being, and you can rule as a king of all the land. No one can challenge you.” ( Mencius )
4. 心悦诚服
Be Completely Convinced and Follow Willingly
Coercion will only win those who follow because they are too weak to resist; it is moral qualities that will persuade others to gladly and willingly follow, just as in the case of Confucius’s seventy disciples who followed him out of true conviction. ( Mencius )
5. 浩然之气
Noble Spirit
“May I ask what noble spirit is?” “It is something hard to describe,” Mencius answered. “As a vital force, it is immensely powerful and just. Cultivate it with rectitude and keep it unharmed, and it will fill all the space between heaven and earth. Being a vital force, noble spirit becomes powerful with the accompaniment of righteousness and Dao . Without righteousness and Dao , noble spirit will be weak and frail.” ( Mencius )
6. 舍生取义
Give One’s Life to Uphold Righteousness
Both life and righteousness are important to me. However, if I cannot have both, I will give my life so as to uphold righteousness. ( Mencius )
7. 得道多助，失道寡助
A Just Cause Enjoys Abundant Support While an Unjust Cause Finds Little Support.
People are not confined by boundaries, the state is not secured by dangerous cliffs and streams, and the world is not overawed by sharp weapons. One who has Dao enjoys abundant support while one who has lost Dao finds little support. When lack of support reaches its extreme point, even a ruler’s own relatives will rebel against him. When abundant support reaches its extreme point, the whole world will follow him. If one whom the whole world follows attacks one whose own relatives rebel against him, the result is clear. Therefore, a man of virtue either does not go to war, or if he does, he is certain to win victory. ( Mencius )
8. 荣辱
Honor and Disgrace
Those who put righteousness before personal interests will be honored. Those who put personal interests before righteousness will be disgraced. ( Xun Zi )
9. 明分使群
Proper Ranking Leads to Collaboration.
Living alone without group support leads to poverty; living together without appropriate ranking causes disputes. Poverty and disputes are all disastrous. The best way to solve these problems is to establish different ranks, which makes collaboration possible. ( Xun Zi )
10. 君者善群
A Ruler Should Keep People Together.
A ruler is someone whose duty is to bring people together. If he follows this principle in organizing the people into a community, all things will fall into the right place. ( Xun Zi )
11. 载舟覆舟
Carry or Overturn the Boat Make or Break
The ruler is the boat and the people are the water. Water can carry the boat but can also overturn it. This is the very truth. ( Xun Zi )
12. 王者富民
A Ruler Should Enrich People.
So a ruler who conducts benevolent governance will enrich his people. But a ruler who wants to control all dukes and princes can only enrich his army. A state that only enriches its ministers can barely survive; a state that only keeps the ruler’s coffer and his storehouses full is doomed. Inevitably, the people in such a state will be plunged into poverty… It will not be long before such a state collapses. ( Xun Zi )
13. 爱民者强
Power Comes from Caring for the People.
A state that takes good care of its people is strong and prosperous; a state that does not care about its people is waning and weak. ( Xun Zi )
14. 积善成德
Moral Character Can Be Built by Accumulating Goodness.
Heaped earth makes mountains where wind and rain are born; water pools into deep lakes where dragons dwell; many good deeds build moral character that creates discernment, and prepare for the heart and mind of a sage. ( Xun Zi )
15. 兼爱
Universal Love
Universal love will bring peace and order to the world, while mutual animosity can only throw the world into disorder. ( Mo Zi )
16. 非攻
Denouncing Unjust Wars
If one wishes to be humane and just and become a gentleman with high moral standards, he must both observe the way of the sage kings, and advance the interests of the state and the people. In order to achieve these goals, the principle of prohibiting unjust wars cannot be disregarded. ( Mo Zi )
17. 非命
Rejecting Fatalism
Those who hold that there is fate are harmful to the world. For that reason, Mo Zi is opposed to their stand. ( Mo Zi )
18. 尚贤
Exalting the Worthy
Therefore, in antiquity the sage kings greatly honored the principle of exalting the worthy. They employed the virtuous and capable, forming no cliques with their fathers and brothers, showing no partiality to the rich and noble, nor favoring those with handsome features. ( Mo Zi )
19. 尚同
Conforming Upwardly
What your superior affirms, you must also affirm. What your superior rejects, you must also reject. If you have a good idea, manage to go to your superior and recommend it. If your superior commits an error, admonish him and remonstrate. Upwardly you should conform to your superior, not to your subordinates. ( Mo Zi )
20. 达名
Unrestricted Name
A “name” consists of the unrestricted, classified, or private. ( Mo Zi )
21. 达闻知
Knowledge from Hearsay
Knowing comes from hearsay, explanation, or personal experience. ( Mo Zi )
22. 言必信，行必果
Promises Must Be Kept; Actions Must Be Resolute.
Promises must be kept; actions must be resolute. They should fit together like the two parts of a tally stick: everything said must be put into practice. ( Mo Zi )
23. 庄周梦蝶
Zhuang Zi Dreaming of Becoming a Butterfly
Once I, Zhuang Zi, dreamed that I became a flying butterfly, happy with myself and doing as I pleased. I forgot that I was Zhuang Zi. Suddenly I woke up and I was Zhuang Zi again. I did not know whether Zhuang Zi had been dreaming that he was a butterfly, or whether a butterfly had been dreaming that it was Zhuang Zi. There must be a difference between the two, which is what I call “the transformation of things”. ( Zhuang Zi )
24. 逍遥
Carefree
People should seek carefree enjoyment beyond the constraints of the human world. ( Zhuang Zi )
25. 坐忘
Forget the Difference and Opposition between Self and the Universe
Yan Hui said, “I forget.” Startled Confucius asked, “What do you mean by forgetting?” Yan Hui answered, “Pay no attention to my body and give up what I hear and see, leave the physical form, get rid of what occupies my mind, and become one with the universe. This is what I call forgetting the difference and opposition between myself and the universe.” ( Zhuang Zi )
26. 忘适之适
Effortless Ease
If a person feels at ease in mind, he will feel so anytime and anywhere. This is effortless ease. ( Zhuang Zi )
27. 无用之用
The Advantage of Appearing Useless
The trees in the mountain invite the axe; lamp oil illuminates by burning itself. The bark of the cinnamon tree is edible, and therefore it is cut down; the lacquer tree produces useful varnish, and therefore it suffers incisions. People all know the advantages of being useful, but no one knows the advantages of being useless. ( Zhuang Zi )
28. 目击道存
See the Way with One’s Own Eyes
Zi Lu said, “You, Master, have been wanting to see Wenbo Xuezi for a long time. But you did not say a word when you saw him. Why?” Confucius replied, “As soon as I saw him, I realized that he possesses Dao . So there was no need for me to say anything.” ( Zhuang Zi )
29. 安时处顺
Face Reality Calmly
And what is gained in life is due to changes in nature; loss of life is the natural course of things. I face the functioning of nature calmly and follow its path; thus neither sorrow nor joy will affect me. ( Zhuang Zi )
30. 君子之交
Relations between Men of Virtue
The relations between men of virtue are plain like water, while those between petty men are delicious like sweet wine. For the men of virtue the bland flavor leads to closeness; for the petty men the sweet flavor easily leads to rupture. ( Zhuang Zi )
31. 静因之道
Governance by Being Aloof
Therefore, a ruler who practices the Way ( Dao ), when being by himself, seems without knowledge. And he adapts to things which follow their natural course of development. This is called being aloof in governance. ( Guan Zi )
32. 法与时变，礼与俗化
Laws Change Along with Evolving Times; Rites Shift Along with Changing Customs.
Hence there was more than one so-called wise ruler in ancient times. They gave out rewards which varied from big to small, their proscriptions might be harsh or light, and their methods were not always the same. This is not because they were deliberately trying to be different, but because they changed with the evolving times and shifted as customs changed. ( Guan Zi )
33. 以国为国，以天下为天下
Rule a State or a Country with Different Methods
To rule a town with the methods for governing a clan, the town will not be run well. To rule a state with the methods for governing a town, the state will not be run well. To rule a country with the methods for governing a state, the country will not be run well. To rule a clan, one must meet the requirements for governing a clan. To rule a town, one must meet the requirements for governing a town. To rule a state, one must meet the requirements for governing a state. To rule a country, one must meet the requirements for governing a country. ( Guan Zi )
34. 兴利除害
Promote the Beneficial; Eliminate the Harmful
Wise ancient rulers promoted what was beneficial for the people and eliminated what was harmful, thus winning their allegiance. The beneficial means what is good for farming, the harmful what is not. ( Guan Zi )
35. 法不阿贵
The Law Does Not Favor the Rich and Powerful.
The law does not favor the rich and powerful, as the marking-line does not bend. What the law imposes, the wise cannot evade, nor can the brave defy. Punishment for wrongdoing does not spare senior officials, as rewards for good conduct do not bypass the common man. ( Han Fei Zi )
36. 抱法处势
Upholding Law by Means of Power
An ordinary ruler, not as good as Yao or Shun, yet not descending to the ways of Jie or Zhou, upholds the law by means of power to realize social stability. If he turns his back on the law and abnegates his power, society will fall into disorder. ( Han Fei Zi )
37. 治内裁外
Handling Internal Affairs Takes Precedence over External Affairs.
The founding rulers of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties did not try to impose order on the land by keeping their distance from some or becoming close to others, nor did the Five Most Powerful Kings of the Spring and Autumn Period discern the broad trends in the world by forming vertical or horizontal alliances. They managed external affairs only after they had handled their internal affairs well. ( Han Fei Zi )
38. 不战而胜
Win without Resorting to War
Winning every battle is not the wisest use of force. Making the enemy surrender without fighting is the best military strategy. The preferred way is to foil the enemy’s plans, the next best to use diplomacy, failing that to attack the enemy’s forces, and the least desirable is to assault the enemy’s cities. Assaulting cities is a last resort when all else has failed. ( Sun Zi’s Art of War )
39. 兵形象水
Troops Should Charge Forward like the Flow of Water.
Troops should charge forward like water. Water takes its shape by flowing from high to low; troops attack weak points and avoid the strong. Water flows according to the shape of the land; troops achieve victory according to the situation of the enemy. Hence there is no set formation for troops and no set shape for water. One who can win by understanding the enemy’s situation can be called a godlike commander. ( Sun Zi’s Art of War )
40. 天时地利人和
Favorable Weather Conditions, Geographic Advantages, and the Unity of the People
Favorable weather conditions, geographic advantages, and the unity of the people must be all in place. If not, victory will be costly. ( Sun Bin’s Art of War )
1. For self-cultivation, Mencius advocated the method of nourishing the great or the vast moving force, which is produced by the accumulation of righteous deeds.
2. Zhuang Zi held that man should live a life that suited his nature.
3. Universal love, according to him, means to love all the people regardless of their nationality, social status, or relationships.
4. Another distinctive feature of Mo Zi’s thought was his stress on .
5. In fact, the highest ideal of the Legalist School is that the ruler and the ministers, the superior and the inferior, the noble and the humble, all of them obey the .
6. philosophy inspired by Dong Zhongshu claims that Heaven affect human affairs and human behavior finds response in Heaven and that the power of emperors are endowed by Heaven.
7. Philosophers during the Wei and Jin Dynasties went beyond phenomena to find behind space and time.
8. During the Song and Ming Dynasties, the rationalistic Confucian philosophy or Neo-Confucianism, which combined Taoism with , became influential.
1. 仁民爱物
2. 保民而王
3. 舍生取义
4. 得道多助，失道寡助
5. 明分使群
6. 载舟覆舟
7. 言必信，行必果
8. 忘适之适
9. 兴利除害
10. 法不阿贵
诸子百家始于公元前770年，终于公元前222年。这一时期被誉为中国思想的黄金时期和百家争鸣时期，见证了不同思想学派的兴起。儒家思想是对于国人生活最具有长远影响的本体思想。法家思想是深刻影响国家管理形式的哲学基础。道家思想则关注人与自然的关系，指出每个人的生活目标应该是调整自我来适应自然世界的节奏，顺应宇宙的模式，并和谐生活。而墨家学派是基于墨子思想创立的，被认为是百家争鸣时期儒家思想的主要竞争对手。诸子百家，特别是老子和孔子的思想，在世界哲学史的发展过程中占据了重要地位。
1. How did Han Fei make a synthesis of the Legalist Ideas? What do you think of rule by law and rule by morality?
2. Make a comment on “The people rank the highest in a state; the spirits of the land and grain come next; and the ruler counts for the least.”