CLASS NOTES: Chinese Thought: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science

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My Notes on Massive Open Online Course:

Chinese Thought: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science

Edward Slingerland, University of British Columbia

An introduction to early Chinese thought, exploring connections among Chinese thought and Western philosophy, modern science and everyday life.

Notes on 35 Lectures I Watched in This Course:

The Definition of Religion

Mind/Body Dualism and Cognitive Control

Deontology, Utilitarianism, and Virtue Ethics

Wu-Wei, Dao, Tien and De

The Shang Dynasty (1554-1045 BC)

The Beginnings of Written Chinese History

Eastern Holistic Thinking and the Paradox of Virtue

The Golden Age of the Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE)

Philosophical and Conceptual Innovations in Zhou Thought

Confucius and the Analects

Confucius: I Transmit, I Do Not Innovate

Confucius' Use of Ritual as a Tool

Confucius' View on Learning vs. The Enlightenment

Confucius and Holistic Education

Confucius and the Art of Self-Cultivation

At Home in Virtue

Non-Coercive Comportment, Virtue, and Charisma of the Zhou

The Transition to Becoming Sincere

The Primitivists in the Analects

Laozi and the Daodejing

Laozi: Stop the Journey and Return Home

Laozi and The Desires of the Eye

Laozi: He Who Speaks Does Not Know

The Concept of Reversion

Laozi on Shutting Down the Prefrontal Cortex

The Guodian Laozi

Mozi and Materialist State Consequentialism

Mozi's Idea of Ideological Unity

Mozi's Doctrine of Impartial Caring

Mozi's Anti-Confucian Chapters

Mozi's Religious Fundamentalism and Organized Activism

The Language Crisis in the Warring States Period

Yang Zhu and Mid-Warring States' Focus on the Body

The Guodian School of Confucianism

Qi and Self-Cultivation

4 People I Have Learned About in this Course:

Tang of Shang (1675-1646 BC)

The first king of the Shang dynasty in Chinese history, overthrew Jie, the last ruler of the Xia dynasty

Tang had ruled Shang, one of the many kingdoms under the suzerainty of the Xia dynasty, for 17 years
during Jie's reign, Shang grew in power and was able to win many supporters from as many as 40 smaller kingdoms
he recognized that Jie mistreated his people and used this to convince others
Tang's reign was regarded as a good one by the Chinese, he lowered taxes and the conscription rate of soldiers, his influence spread to the Yellow River, and many outlying tribes, such as Di and Qiang, became vassal states, he also established Anyang as the new capital of China

Duke of Zhou (1152-1056 BC)

A member of the Zhou Dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu

when King Wu died, King Cheng was too young to take over the kingship, so the Duke of Zhou acted as capable and loyal regent for his young nephew King Cheng by e.g. successfully suppressing a number of rebellions and placating the Shang nobility with titles and positions
a Chinese culture hero credited with writing the I Ching and the Book of Poetry, establishing the Rites of Zhou, and creating the yayue of Chinese classical music
a paragon of loyalty and wisdom
as soon as King Cheng was old enough to take over, he graciously gave the throne to the son of his brother
by Confucius and in Chinese culture, he is seen as the symbol of what a wise ruler and minister should be

King Wen (1152-1056 BC)

Honored as the founder of the Zhou dynasty

in trying to reform the evil King Zhow of the Shang dynasty, he became a perfect paragon of virtue and cultured correctness
he didn't take up arms against the king, it was his son Wu who conquered the Shang following the Battle of Muye
large number of the hymns of the Classic of Poetry are praises to the legacy of King Wen
the first epic hero of Chinese history

Xunzi (313-238 BC)

A Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States period, believed man's inborn tendencies need to be curbed through education and ritual, a counter to Mencius and so did not believe that man is innately good, and had a pragmatic flavor compared to Confucian optimism

believed that ethical norms had been invented to rectify mankind
contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought (philosophers and schools that flourished from the 6th century to the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC)
"I once tried standing up on my toes to see far out in the distance, but I found that I could see much farther by climbing to a high place."

9 Vocabulary Words I Learned in this Course:

conflate, v. to bring together, to meld, to fuse ⇒ "The Zhou retain Shang Di, but conflate, and eventually replace it with what appears to be the tribal Zhou god tian."

denouement, n. the climax of a chain of events, usually when something is decided or made clear ⇒ "We'll talk about the denouement of this story later, he even quotes from the odes."

deontology, n. the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules ⇒ "Kant's theory is an example of a deontological or duty-based ethics: it judges morality by examining the nature of actions and the will of agents rather than goals achieved. Kant's position can be contrasted with that of John Stuart Mill's utilitarianism, in which, as an ethical being, you are a "rational calculator of payoffs"."

honorific, n. a title or word implying or expressing high status, politeness, or respect ⇒ "Especially in the Han Dynasty, there is this idea that they want to single out Confucius as special so they added another honorific "fu" which means "supper" in the middle of his name so "Kongzi" became "Kongfuzi" or, Latinized, "Confucius"."

incontrovertible, adj. not able to be denied or disputed ⇒ "Scholars in the West tend to view the Xia dynasty as mythical, we don't have any incontrovertible evidence of the Xia dynasty."

paragon, n. a person or thing regarded as a perfect example of a particular quality ⇒ "He became a perfect paragon of virtue and cultured correctness."

remonstrate, v. make a forcefully reproachful protest ⇒ "He did not take up arms against the evil king, he tried to remonstrate with him."

tamp, v. to drive in or pack down by frequent gentle strokes ⇒ "So cold cognition says, ok, I'll stop doing that, and I tamp down my hot cognition and act in a different way guided by conscious incentives taat have been set up by the institutional structure around me."

yayue, n. a form of Chinese classical music that was performed at imperial courts ⇒ "The Duke of Zhou established the Rites of Zhou and created the yayue of Chinese classical music."