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The
golden age of Chinese philosophy dates from the birth of Confucius
(551 BC) until China
was unified (and learning suppressed) in 221 BC. China's great
Confucian philosophers were Confucius, Mengzi, and Xunzi.
With a few exceptions, Confucianism has been the reigning paradigm
for Chinese philosophy for over 2,000 years. Its central concepts
are li (the proper ordering of society through
rituals or ceremonies) and zhen (the proper ordering
of the self through humaneness, benevolence, and love).
Under
such masters as Laozi (Lao Tzu) and Zhuangzi,
Daoism
(also known as Taoism) influenced Chinese thought with
its doctrine of yin-yang, which symbolizes the
interdependence of opposites (such as male/female, good/evil,
etc.). The Dao (Tao) which means "the Way", also involves
emptiness, absence, spontaneous action, and forgetting
(rather than the rituals, learning, and prescriptive moral and
social activities that Confucianism emphasized). The Daoist
rejects power and control, instead accepting and ecstatically
affirming things as they are. Daoism is a doctrine of nonresistance,
of "going with the flow" by being so deeply immersed
in an activity that you become one with it.
The
Daoist concept of enlightenment also helped shape the Chinese
philosophy known as Chan Buddhism,
which rejects consciousness and self-awareness. The Chan
Buddhist gives up on "figuring things out," instead
emphasizing meditative exercises and devices such as koans.
This philosophy is known in Korea as Son, and in Japan
and the West as Zen Buddhism.
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On
two audiotapes - about three hours in length.
Narrator: Lynn Redgrave
Author: Professor Crispin Sartwell
Editor: Professor John Lachs and
Wendy McElroy
Publisher: Knowledge Products, Inc.
This
title is part of the Audio Classics Series by
Knowledge Products. Knowledge Products publishes a variety of
audio presentations on the great ideas and events of history.
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