中華的本質_風聞

The Nature of Chinese Culture A Heritage to Secure Humanity (完稿於2009年)

子曰：“夷狄之有君不如諸夏之無。” Confucius said: “The monarchical order of the northern and eastern barbarians can not compare to the anarchical disorder of the Chinese"

子欲居九夷，或曰：“陋，如之何？” 子曰：“君子居之何陋之有？” Confucius intended to live in the region of the Eastern barbarians and one of the disciples asked: “How could you live in such a humble place?" Confucius said: “How could we call a place ’ humble’ when a man of complete virtue lives there?"

子曰：“道不遠人，人之為道而遠人，不可以為道。” Confucius said: “Truth is not far from Humanity. If those who seek the Truth deviate from Humanity, they are not qualified to seek the Truth."

“China” is the buzz word of the world now, for it means economic opportunities on the one hand and a sense of political and cultural power on the other. However, at this particular moment of history, a familiar mystery is hovering over the contemporary Chinese and men of the world: What is the meaning of “China”? What does it mean to be Chinese"?

In books of ancient history, “China” was always a glorious name for its magnificent evolution of civilization and its profound influence over the world. But at the end of the last Chinese dynasty, China was for the first time defeated by the Western powers on the corporeal level. Since that time, the top priority of the Chinese people has been to bring China out of that deplorable state of humiliation and regain her rightful place of equality and prosperity. For the past 169 years the Chinese haven’t found the chance or have repressed their impulse to indulge themselves in marveling at the spiritual profundity and material magnificence of China’s ancient glory. Instead, they have toiled and fought with unprecedented perseverance, intelligence and sacrifices, to push China where she is today. At this particular point in history--the 60th anniversary of New China, we are finally ready to explore the nature of culture and to establish once again the cultural identity of China.

The humiliating defeat in 1840 and the consequent ordeals have inevitably affected the Chinese mentality, especially that of “intellectuals”. Some of those “elite intellectuals” have lost almost all their cultural confidence as a Chinese. They are no longer capable of understanding that confidence was the very nature of Chinese culture for the best part of history, though that powerful confidence never led to proactive outward initiatives.

Speaking of cultural confidence, we must trace back to Confucius when he said: The monarchical order of the northern and eastern barbarians can not compare to the anarchical disorder of the Chinese"

And that has been one of the most controversial Confucian axioms. The differentiation of so called “civilized” and “barbarous” itself is to most a source of suspicion and sensation, and some may even associate it with “racialism”. But Confucius was certainly far above that, and just a little anecdote in The Analects will effectively dissolve the possible misconception:

Confucius intended to live in the region of the Eastern barbarians, and one of the disciples asked: How could you live in such a humble place?" Confucius said: How could we call a place ’ humble’ when a man of complete virtue lives there?"

Obvious enough, Confucius’ cultural confidence is not about race or place, but rather a cultural idealism realized in a personality of Humanity. And that idealism is supposed to be a proper objective of pursuit for every human being, regardless of race, color or gender. A quote by Mencius the spiritual successor of Confucius will suffice to erase any remaining trace of suspicion in the minds of my readers. He said: Shun was from the eastern barbarians; Wenwang was from the western barbarians. They both realized their ideals in the land of the Chinese. The previous and succeeding saints have the same code of moral law".（孟子離婁下：舜…東夷之人也。文王…西夷之人也。地之相去也，千有餘裏；世之相後也，千有餘歲：得志行乎中國，若合符節。先聖後聖，其揆一也。） In other words, men of barbarian blood have become the princes of the Chinese in the early history of China.

Therefore, Confucius observation was definitely not from partial or personal sentiments but rather based on rational judgment and historical reality. Then what is it to make Confucius, a man of moderate temperament, make such a decisive and debatable comment?

From a Western perspective, Chinese ideas are either mythical or ethical, lacking a “scientific” certainty. However, if we read those Chinese sages carefully, we could easily find that “certainty" is the very idea they are most particular about. In the classic expository text of Confucianism “The Essential Commonality”(《中庸》, usually translated as The Way of Golden Mean), “certainty” was emphasized as never before.

“故君子之道，本諸身，徵諸庶民，考諸三王而不謬，建諸天地而不悖，質諸鬼神而無疑，百世以俟聖人而不惑。“

“Therefore the Way of a Self-Sufficient Man is based upon his Self and manifest in the people of the world. Thus, when examined against the great ancient kings，it shall be indisputable; established on the earth, it shall be incontrovertible; testified before the gods and spirits, it shall be inarguable; and faced with a future saint in a thousand years, it shall be unquestionable.”

As far as I know, those words might be an ultimate expression of human confidence, without the aid of any external mythical power, without any air of irrational superstition.

And that confidence is always built on a clear understanding of the Truth in its full sense. In fact, the expressions of Truth can be easily discovered in the texts of the Chinese classics.

For example, Mencius said: “All things of the universe are readily sufficient in me.” In more sensible and scientific terms, a human being is physically the product of natural things, and the spirituality he possesses is the innate nature of all things natural. And “spirituality” is not abstract at all as it might sound. It is simply the fact that “I know I know.” When you know, you are a living thing; when you know you know, you are a human being.

Zhu Xi, the great master of neo-Confucianism, said explicitly: The human being is the heart of the universe. Without this heart, the universe will be left uncared for.

Zhu Xi has struck right at the heart of the Chinese heritage which unfolds in two aspects. First, “The human being is the heart of the universe” indicates a level of intellectual cognition accomplished by many a philosopher in the West as well as in the East. For instance, “as above, so below” is a simple and yet powerful axiom from the texts of hermetic philosophy in the West. That which is below is oneself the microcosm; that which is above is Universe the macrocosm. Through microcosm we understand the macrocosm. Through myself I understand the Providence. However, the statement of “as above so below”, to most people, is only a seemingly significant idea, lacking “scientific” proof. So it is easy to see why that idea was turned into a fable in the Bible:

So God created man in his own image.

The author of the Bible was amazingly talented when he successfully explained the highly intellectual proposition in such a simple story. Well a possible side effect is that most people just listen to the story, without hearing what it means.

If hermeticism and Christianity look suspiciously irrational, let’s go to Kant with his “pure reason”. Kant famously said: Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe: the moral law within and the starry heavens without." Obviously the starry heavens represents the universe; the moral law represents what makes us truly human. If Kant went a little further, saying “the moral law is the heart of the starry heavens”, he would be more amazed by what he discovered and more like a Chinese.

The second aspect of the Chinese culture in Zhu Xi’s conception is to emphasize the active function of Humanity, as he tersely said:“Without this heart, the universe will be left uncared for.”

Confucius said: Truth is not far from Humanity. If those who seek the Truth deviate from Humanity, they are not qualified to seek the Truth." From an objective perspective, the human being is the paragon of all living things--the higher order of existence in this universe. Subjectively, Humanity is at once the beginning and end of our spiritual quest.

In the mentality of the Chinese, the relationship between God (macrocosm) and man(microcosm) has been settled all along, and the truth in the philosophical sense is not the primary concern. What we Chinese are most concerned with is to fulfill the function of Humanity-the active and living philosophy. In The Essential Commonality, Zisi the grandson of Confucius illustrates the truth succinctly in a verbal trio:

天命之謂性，率性之謂道，修道之謂教。 The appointment of Providence is called Humanity; to follow Humanity is called the Way; to cultivate the Way is called the Civilization.

Now we have come to the focal point of the Chinese heritage: the core value of Humanity, which is exactly why the Chinese sages are usually obsessed with the critical division between humans and animals. Mencius said: “The differentiation between humans and animals is only minimal." (人之異於禽獸者幾希，proved by the modern genetic analysis.) The primary objective of a society, in the minds of the Chinese sages, is to make it as human as possible and to prevent it from falling into an inhuman jungle.

Gu Yanwu, a Confucianist philosopher of the early Qing dynasty, said: The men in power are responsible for the rise and fall of a regime, but every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the human world."

Therefore, when Confucius pointed out the relative cultural difference between the Chinese and the barbarians， he was actually defending the universal value of Humanity already embodied in that ancient Chinese society which distinctly differentiates itself from other primitive tribes. In the　conception of Confucius, “Chinese” represents a cultural ideal rather than a label for any “chosen” seed. Han Yu, the foremost confucianist essayist of the great Tang dynasty, explained this in a most lucid manner ever:

孔子之作《春秋》也，諸侯用夷禮則夷之； 進於中國則中國之。 　　　　　　　－－原道

When Confucius wrote his “History of the Spring and Autumn”, a feudal state adopting the barbarians’ culture were deemed barbarous; one that adopted the Chinese culture were deemed Chinese. --- Of the Tao

China is the name of the Chinese civilization, and regrettably, few people in this modern world know its true meaning. The westerners are kept in the dark by the language barrier and the Chinese by an ignorant familiarity.

The current proper Chinese name for “China” consists of two characters “中華”. The meaning of “中” can be clearly seen in its form, which is “center”, “middle” or “essence”. And “中” is also an important concept in Confucianism, implying “the optimal state” “the best representation of truth”, or “the original stillness of existence”. What is seen from “華” is also what it means. “華” looks like a beautiful flower, meaning “flower” “glory” or “magnificence”. The dignified name of “中華”, symbolizing the ideals of the Chinese culture, has become an invaluable spiritual asset for all Chinese.

To conclude, China is not a name of a race, but of a mentality, a civilization and a way of life. In literary terms, a Chinese is between Faust and Don Juan. A Chinese won’t go out of his way to seek the absolute or eternity like Faust, for he knows by his instinct and intuition that all enigmas or mysteries of the universe are right within his own living humanity. And a Chinese will not subject his life to all his wanton and whimsical petty desires either, for he knows as well that that source of light and energy for life has always been there and will go on beyond the end of time.

China has long subsided to the mark of a fragile nation or of an alien power since that fatal encounter of the East and West 169 years ago. we the Chinese have a dream that one day China will rise again as a symbol of Civilization, a beacon of Humanity, and a source of Hope for the peace of the world.