7 Feelings of Cheng Yi
feelings of Cheng Yi 7 Feelings are problem for the Neo-Confucian, Cheng Yi. In his view, these seven feelings have the power to corrupt people’s original purity if allowed free rein. Even though human nature starts off pure, the social world that we inhabit corrupts it. The task we all face, therefore, is the endless struggle of protecting this tender shoot of goodness from the onslaught of life at large. This list of seven feelings is an interesting departure from notions more familiar to the Western reader, such as the Seven Deadly [...]
6 Schools of Sima Tan
Sima Tan (司馬談) 165-110 BC was a grand historiographer and astrologer of the Western Han dynasty, who classified the philosophy of his time into six main traditions. Of the six, Sima Tan favoured Daoism as the one school among them with the breadth of thought to encompass the others.
4 Books of Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi (1130-1200) was a Confucian scholar of the Southern Song (1127-1276). Incredibly learned and prolific, he ushered in a Neo-Confucian revival. His commentaries on the Four Books, which he singled out as the core classics of the Confucian canon, became prescribed reading for government officials.
5 Virtues of a Thief
virtues of a thief 5 Robber Zhi (盜跖) is one of the stock characters of the Zhuangzi, frequently invoked to poke holes in the tenets of other philosophers and generally Confucians. This cheeky list, which sums up the ‘dao’ of being a thief, is a comical subversion of the qualities that the ruists (Confucians) espoused. The satirical passage is part of a broader point; the sages disturbed the natural order by introducing the artificial desire for virtuous qualities. Though a few good people may result, the society they create gives rise to [...]
7 Worthies of the Bamboo Grove
In the tumultuous Three Kingdoms period, the dangerous world of politics led seven friends to meet together in a bamboo forest, writing poetry, discoursing on philosophy, and enjoying the natural world. Some of the seven retained official roles, while others turned their backs on politics entirely. The seven as a whole became important icons in a long tradition of abandoning the stifling world of hypocritical politics for a life of the mind.
