Robert Eno: The Confucian Creation of Heaven
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Demonstrating that the relation between practice and theory in early Confucianism is highly systematic, the author suggests that Confucianism represents a species of synthetic philosophy, distinct from the analytical traditions of the West but equally rigorous in its attempt to disclose the foundations of understanding. He illustrates how theory served as an ancillary activity, expressing ethical insights derived from the systematic structure of core ritual practice, and legitimizing those insights in terms of teleological model of their efficacy in creating a divinely ordained political utopia. The central agenda of the early Confucians is pictured as the preservation and promotion of ritual skills and the aesthetic social perspectives they generate. Metaphysical and political theory serve as practical vehicles mediating between the skill-based philosophy of the early Confucian community and the changing features of the intellectual, social, and political environments in which that community had to survive."
Transcript of Robert Eno: The Confucian Creation of Heaven
Pagei
TheConfucianCreationofHeaven
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SUNYSeriesinChinesePhilosophyandCultureDavidL.HallandRogerT.Ames,Editors
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TheConfucianCreationofHeavenPhilosophyandtheDefenseofRitualMastery
RobertEno
StateUniversityofNewYorkPress
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PublishedbyStateUniversityofNewYorkPress,Albany
1990StateUniversityofNewYork
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Nopartofthisbookmaybeusedorreproducedinanymannerwhatsoeverwithoutwrittenpermissionexceptinthecaseofbriefquotationsembodiedincriticalarticlesandreviews.
Forinformation,addressStateUniversityofNewYorkPress,StateUniversityPlaza,Albany,N.Y.,12246
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationDataEno,Robert,1949TheConfuciancreationofheaven:philosophyandthedefenseofritualmastery/RobertEno.p.cm.(SUNYseriesinChinesephilosophyandculture)Bibliography:p.Includesindex.ISBN0791401901.ISBN079140191X(pbk.)1.Philosophy,ConfucianChinaHistory.2.ConfucianismChinaHistory.3.HeavenConfucianismHistoryofdoctrines.4.ConfucianismChinaRitualsHistoryofdoctrines.1.Title.II.Series.B127.C65E561990181'.112dc20 8931194
CIP
10987654321
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toDick,myfirstteacher
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INTRODUCTION 1
PARTONE:SETTINGTHERITUALSTAGE
ChapterIPreConfucianHeaven 19
1.TheRitualAntecedentsofRuism 19
1.1.TheThreePillarsoftheWesternChou
1.2.ThePatterningofChouSociety
2.T'ienastheKing'sGod 23
2.1.T'ienasaRoyalAdversary
2.2.TheInjusticeofT'ien
2.3.CreatingaNewT'ien
ChapterIIMastersoftheDance 30
1.TheRitualBasisofRuism 32
1.1.RationalesforRitual
1.2.TheDeclineofRitual
1.3.Confucius'Career
1.4.LegitimizingLi
2.ThePoliticalRoleofRuism 42
2.1.TheBifurcatedDoctrineofRuism
2.2.TheMissingHistoryoftheRu
2.3.TheTextualImperativeofWithdrawal
3.TheCommunityofRu 52
3.1.TheRuistStudyGroup
3.2.TheRuistSyllabus
3.3.PhilosophersandFuneralDirectors
ChapterIIITheSageandtheSelf 64
1.PracticalTotalism:TheRuistDoctrineofSagehood 64
1.1.JenasaTotalism
1.2.TheSingleThread
1.3.TheRitualPath
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2.SagehoodandtheSelf 69
2.1.ThePublicSelf
2.2.TheSocialSelf
PARTTWO:THECONFUCIANCREATIONOFHEAVEN
ChapterIVTwoLevelsofMeaningTheRoleofT'ienintheAnalects
79
1.TheNatureoftheText 80
2.TheImplicitTheoryofT'ienintheAnalects 81
2.1.ThePrescriptiveRoleofT'ien
2.2.TheDescriptiveRoleofT'ien
3.Confucius'DoctrinalSilence 94
ChapterVTacticsofMetaphysicsTheRoleofT'ienintheMencius
99
1.TheNatureoftheText 99
2.TheRoleofT'ieninMencius'PoliticalDoctrinesandCareer 101
3.TheMencianTheoryofT'ien:HumanNatureandthepersonalDecree 106
3.1.MenciusandLi
3.2.TheMencianTheoryofHumanNature
3.3.HsingandMing:TheInterfaceofthePrescriptiveandDescriptiveDimensionsofT'ien
ChapterVIRitualasaNaturalArtTheRoleofT'ienintheHsunTzu
131
1.TheNatureoftheText 134
2.TheChallengeofNaturalism 138
2.1.LateWarringStatesNaturalism
3.TheThematicUnityoftheHsunTzu 144
3.1.TheWorldofThingasaTaxonomy
3.2.TheNaturalLogicofSocialForms
3.3.TheCardinalValuelessnessofHumanNature
3.4.EducatingtheSage
3.5.Man'sCosmicRole
4.TheHsunTzu'sTheoriesofT'ien:the"TreatiseonT'ien" 154
4.1.ThePortraitofT'ienasNonpurposiveNature
4.2.T'ienasPrescriptivePsychology
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4.3.FormingaTrinitywithHeavenandEarth
4.4.T'ienasaHistoricalForce
4.5.MiscellaneousT'iens
CONCLUSION:SAGEHOODANDPHILOSOPHY 171
APPENDIXA.THEORIGINSOFTHETERM"T'IEN" 181
APPENDIXB.ATHEORYOFTHEORIGINSOFTHETERM"JU" 190
APPENDIXC.HSUNTZU,"TREATISEONT'IEN" 198
NOTES 205
GLOSSARY 299
ABBREVIATIONS 317
BIBLIOGRAPHY 321
INDEX 339
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
LiketheearlyConfucianswhoseghostsinhabitthesepagesIfeelverykeenlythedebtIowetomyteachers.Formorethanadecade,DonaldMunroguidedmystudieswithgenerosityandgreatliberality,andIamdelightedwheneverIamidentifiedashisstudent.MyspecificfocusonearlyConfucianismreflectstheinfluenceofMr.LiuYyun,withwhomIstudiedforseveralyearsinTaiwan.Mr.Liutaughtmetoreadthetextsandtotakethemseriouslyastheartifactsofcriticaldecisionsthatpeoplehavebeenforcedtomake,ratherthanasstaticmodelsoftheoryorpuzzlesinphilology.
SeveralpeoplewereinstrumentalinensuringthesuccessofresearchforthisbookinTaiwanandJapan.IwouldliketothankinparticularProfessorsWejenChangandTingPanghsinoftheInstituteofHistoryandPhilologyatAcademiaSinicainTaiwan,andProfessorKanayaOsamuandthemembersoftheChinesePhilosophySectionatTohoku*UniversityinSendai,Japan.PortionsoftheresearchforthisbookweresupportedthroughgrantsfromtheSocialScienceResearchCouncilandtheFulbrightFellowshipProgram,forwhichIammostgrateful.
Anumberofscholarshavereadportionsofthisbookatvariousstagestheyhavebeengenerousintheircommentsandcorrections.IwouldliketothankIreneBloom,KennethDeWoskin,GeorgeElison,AlbertFeuerwerker,LuisGomez,A.C.Graham,ChadHansen,CharlesHucker,VirginiaKane,andJackMeiland.Ihavebenefitedgreatlyfromtheirsuggestionstheerrorsthatremainaremyown.YanShouchenghaskindlyprovidedtheelegantChinesecharactersforthisbook.AspecialdebtofthanksisduetomyformercolleagueElsieOrbforhermanyeditorialcorrections.
Finally,IwouldliketothankCandiceandJaredandDanielforbeingapatientfamilyandmakingthisworthwhile.
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INTRODUCTION
ThefigureswhosewordsandactionsstandatthecenterofthisbookarethefirstConfucians,menwholivedbetweenthesixthandthirdcenturiesB.C.,famousfortheirausterehumanistethicsandpuristicpoliticalzealotry.Longaftertheirdeaths,theirmovementgrewintothedominantphilosophicalschooloftraditionalChinaaphilosophybymeansofwhichanimperialbureaucracy,withincreasinglyinfrequentinterruptions,sustaineditselfandconstrainedtheparametersofsocialactionanddialoguethroughouttwomillenniaofculturalcohesion.ThisposterityhasformedathicklensthroughwhichweseethesemenasaparticulararchetypalcompanythefirstMandarinsthefoundersofsocialorthodoxy.Greatmen,greatmodelsperhapsalittledull.
Norisdullnesstheonlyfailingtobeseenintheirtraditionalportrait.Theshapeoftheirphilosophy,asinterpretedbygenerationsoflaterConfucians,appearstothecriticalWesterneyetobelittlebetterthanacollectionofreceiveddogmalooselylinkedbyadhocrationalizationmoreanideologythanaphilosophy.WhenJohnPassmoreremarkedthatChinesethoughtconsistedof''pronouncements"ratherthan"philosophy,"hesurelyhadclassicalConfuciansinmind(1967:217218).
Butthesesamemenwillappeardifferentlyhere.Inourportraittheyaredressedincolorfulrobes,playingzithersorbeatingdrums,chanting,dancing,andlivingtheirlivesthroughaneccentricformofritualplayactingsuggestive,perhaps,ofnothingasmuchasPekingOpera.TheyperformedthisintricatechoreographysurroundedbythescornofasocietythatviewedthemashopelesslyoutofstepwiththetimesbutforthesefirstConfucians,theirdancewaspartofaneternalpatternitwasthetimesthatwereoutofstep.
Austeretheirethicsmayhavebeen,buttheywerenotdull.Asforthepoliticalactivismthatsopervadesthetraditionalimageofthesemen,itwillnotbecentraltoourportrait.TousitwillappearthattheextremityofConfucianpurismperformedtheinversefunctionofisolatingtheritualcommunityofearlyConfuciansfromthepoliticalhazardsofachaoticeraandendowedastyleofsocialwithdrawalwiththeethicalstatusofconscientiousobjection.
Forus,then,theearlyConfucianwillappearverydifferentfromhislaterdescendants(sodifferentthat,beforewehavegoneveryfar,wewillfeeltheneedtoabandontheterm"Confucian"itself,withallofitstraditional
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associations).Acomprehensiveritualchoreographystandsatthefocusofhisportrait:hisparadigmaticroleisnottherighteouspolitician,butthemasterofdance.RitualandpoliticalfacetsofthefirstConfucianswillbesplitinanasymmetricaldisjunction,withrighteouszealotrystiflingpoliticaldeedsandfosteringincreasinglycomplexritualactivity.
WewillillustratethestructureofthisdisjunctioninConfucianismbyexploringthecomplexwayinwhichConfuciansemployedatermderivedfrompreConfucianreligiouspractice,awordusuallyrenderedinEnglishas"Heaven."Thisterm,whichboreanunmatchedethicalauthorityintherhetoricofearlyChinesetraditions,hadbeencutfreefromitsoriginalmooringsofmeaningbyabruptsocialandintellectualchangespredatingthebirthofConfucius,changesthathadbroughtintoquestiontheadequacyoftraditionalideasaboutHeaven.TheproblematicstatusofHeavenduringthisperiodoftransitionprovidedConfucianswithanunusualdegreeoffreedomtorecreateHeavenintheimageoftheirnewphilosophy.
AswepursueaninitialinquiryintothesenseinwhichConfuciansconceivedofHeaven,wewillseethattheycreatedaHeavenessentiallyvoidofconsistentfeatures,andsofreetoreflectthegrowingimageoftheirnewphilosophyandtheiruniquelifestyle.Everyattempttoanchorthemeaningoftheterminastaticconceptorsetofimagesfails.ThisnewConfucianHeavenwasultimatelythemovingreflectionofapatternedchoreography,elaboratedbygroupsofmastersanddisciplesincreasinglyalienatedfromasocietyindisruption.
MostsurprisinginthispictureofearlyConfucianismisthatdespitetheintellectuallyunlikelyprojectofplacingritualpracticeatthecenterofphilosophy,earlyConfucianismappearsfromthisperspectivefullyphilosophical,possessingcoherenceandintellectualdiscipline.However,thestyleofthisphilosophyisfundamentallydifferentfromthatwehavegrowntoexpectfromtheanalyticschoolsofWesterntradition.Itwasnotanalytic,anditmadenocategoricaldistinctionbetweenthespheresoftheoryandpractice.
Todrawaportraitthatrevealsthecoherenceandinterestofthisphilosophy,wewillfollowaninterpretiveapproachthatreflectstheConfuciannotionthatacompleteintellectualenterpriseinvolvesanessentialintegrationoftheoryandpractice.TheideasoftheearlyConfucianschoolcannotbecapturedexclusivelyintermsofconceptualarchitecture.Byexploringtheroleof
