scholarly journals Beyond Respecting Mencius and Criticizing Xunzi: A Return to Equal Status for the Two Sages

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-63
Author(s):  
Tao Liang (梁濤)
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Confucian Tradition ◽  
Six Dynasties ◽  
Equal Status ◽  
Ritual Propriety ◽  
Tang And Song Dynasties ◽  
History Of

Abstract Mencius 孟子 took Confucius’ idea of benevolence and, based on it, developed his theory that human nature is good. Xunzi 荀子 emphasized Confucius’ idea of ritual propriety and developed his theory that human nature is bad. This juxtaposition largely came to define their philosophies and their place in the history of Confucianism. Reconciling the two has been a point of contention ever since the Han dynasty. By the end of the Han dynasty, the scales had tipped in favor of Mencius, and this favoritism continued through the Six Dynasties era, the Tang and Song dynasties and beyond. As the Mencius became canonized, the Xunzi fell further out of favor with academics. Through all this, there have still been attempts to directly reconcile and even combine the two branches of Confucianism. This is an important cultural enterprise, which has gained new force in recent years. This article threads out some of the more important arguments in this continuing discussion and advocates for viewing the two branches with equal import and authority in the Confucian tradition.

The evolution of auspicious beasts in the burial decoration of the Six-Dynasties Period and the formation of the “Jin System”

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-192
Author(s):  
Wei Huo
Keyword(s):  
Ground Level ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Underground Structures ◽  
Six Dynasties ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Tang And Song Dynasties

AbstractIn the Six-Dynasties Period, the burial system of China underwent a process of development from the “Han System” to the “Jin System”. Both at ground level and within the underground structures, high-ranking burials of the Six-Dynasties Period all had sculptures or figures of mythical animals meant as guardians or quellers of evil. The motifs and styles of these included not only components inherited from the burials of the Han Dynasty, but also newly emergent cultural elements, and in particular a system of auspicious beasts represented by lions. This new auspicious beast complex was related to the prior “Han System” of burial decoration but also showed clear differences. These changes reflected the symbolic features expressed through the formation of the “Jin System” in another aspect. Their influence reached down to the burial systems of the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Divination and Human Nature

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter T. Struck
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Observable Fact

This book casts a new perspective on the rich tradition of ancient divination—the reading of divine signs in oracles, omens, and dreams. Popular attitudes during classical antiquity saw these readings as signs from the gods while modern scholars have treated such beliefs as primitive superstitions. The book reveals instead that such phenomena provoked an entirely different accounting from the ancient philosophers. These philosophers produced subtle studies into what was an odd but observable fact—that humans could sometimes have uncanny insights—and their work signifies an early chapter in the cognitive history of intuition. Examining the writings of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and the Neoplatonists, the book demonstrates that they all observed how, setting aside the charlatans and swindlers, some people had premonitions defying the typical bounds of rationality. Given the wide differences among these ancient thinkers, the book notes that they converged on seeing this surplus insight as an artifact of human nature, projections produced under specific conditions by our physiology. For the philosophers, such unexplained insights invited a speculative search for an alternative and more naturalistic system of cognition. Recovering a lost piece of an ancient tradition, this book illustrates how philosophers of the classical era interpreted the phenomena of divination as a practice closer to intuition and instinct than magic.

Creatures of Cain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Lorraine Milam
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Late Night ◽  
Hollywood Films ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
American Science ◽  
Human Exceptionalism ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Gender

After World War II, the question of how to define a universal human nature took on new urgency. This book charts the rise and precipitous fall in Cold War America of a theory that attributed man's evolutionary success to his unique capacity for murder. The book reveals how the scientists who advanced this “killer ape” theory capitalized on an expanding postwar market in intellectual paperbacks and widespread faith in the power of science to solve humanity's problems, even to answer the most fundamental questions of human identity. The killer ape theory spread quickly from colloquial science publications to late-night television, classrooms, political debates, and Hollywood films. Behind the scenes, however, scientists were sharply divided, their disagreements centering squarely on questions of race and gender. Then, in the 1970s, the theory unraveled altogether when primatologists discovered that chimpanzees also kill members of their own species. While the discovery brought an end to definitions of human exceptionalism delineated by violence, the book shows how some evolutionists began to argue for a shared chimpanzee–human history of aggression even as other scientists discredited such theories as sloppy popularizations. A wide-ranging account of a compelling episode in American science, the book argues that the legacy of the killer ape persists today in the conviction that science can resolve the essential dilemmas of human nature.

Domestic Everyday Life, Manners, and Customs in the Ancient World

1876 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 364-415
Author(s):  
George Harris
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of

Thereis nothing which contributes more fully to throw light on the manners and habits of a people, or more forcibly to exhibit to us the tone of thought which prevailed among them, than the rites and ceremonies that they adopted connected with their religion. And the wilder and more extravagant the superstitions which in such a nation prevailed, the more strikingly do they evince the tone of thought and feeling that animated the people. Potent everywhere, and under whatever phase, as was the influence of these notions, they served in each case to develop the whole mind and character of the nation; as each passion, and emotion, and faculty, were exerted to the very utmost on a subject of such surpassing interest to them all. Imagination here, relieved from all restraint, spread her wings and soared aloft, disporting herself in her wildest mood; and the remoter the period to which the history of any particular country reaches, and the more barbarous the condition in which the people existed, the more striking, and the more extraordinary to us, appear the superstitions by which they were influenced. Human nature is by this means developed to the full, all its energies are exerted to the utmost, and the internal machinery by which its movements are impelled, is stimulated to active operation. We gaze with wonder and with awe upon the spectacle thus exhibited. However involuntarily, we respect a people—misguided and erring as they were—whose eagerness to follow whatever their conscience prompted, urged them to impose such revolting duties on themselves; while we regard, with pity and with horror, those hideous exploits which were the fruit of that misguided zeal.

TANG JIANPING'S OPERA "THE DAWNS HERE ARE QUIET": HISTORY OF CREATION AND SPECIFICS OF MUSICAL DRAMATURGY

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-167
Author(s):  
Wang Kaidi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Gender Disparity ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Chinese Opera ◽  
Traditional Chinese Culture ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
Russian Identity

The article is devoted to the Opera "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" by the Chinese composer Tang Jianping based on the same-named novel by Boris Vasilyev. The theme of the Great Patriotic War, which for the first time became the plot of the Chinese Opera, was in tune with the theme of the Chinese Resistance to the Japanese Invasion. The composition synthesizes the characteristics of the European opera type in its Russified version, which was reflected in the heroic and epic dramaturgy and multi-part musical text. Russian folklore allusions, quasi- quotes from Russian operas, military-patriotic and Soviet mass songs reflect the author's method. The integrity of musical dramaturgy was given by the leitmotif, which became the main marker of Russian identity in the Opera. The Opera lacks a naturalistic embodiment of the War, and depicts the enemy in a conventional, symbolic way, in the form of unnamed but recognizable figures. The creators of the play sought to reveal the barbaric essence of the War, its anti-human character, to present the psychological state of the heroes and the manifestation of their human nature. The theme of the death of young girls gave a special perspective to the Opera, which is particularly acute in China due to gender disparity. The concept of the composer, director and screenwriter reflects the ideological constants of traditional Chinese culture, which gave the Opera an internal subtext.

scholarly journals 陸德明《經典釋文．序錄》所反映的經學觀念

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (33) ◽  
pp. 029-060
Author(s):  
林保全 林保全
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Six Dynasties ◽  
History Of ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Way

<p>本篇論文旨在藉由《經典釋文．序錄》，考察陸德明如何對秦漢以來的經學流衍提出梳理原則，從而析釐出〈序錄〉中的經學觀念。</p> <p>首先，陸德明針對了經典的範圍重新定義，以「經典」一詞命名，回應經典範圍逐漸擴大的經學議題。其次，提出自己判斷經典次第的標準，回應經學史上經典次第的安排議題。第三，提出具體的選擇標準，用以選擇今、古文的底本。第四，利用音注與義注選取的偏重，回應先秦以來掌握經典旨意的入手次第。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>This paper seeks to investigate the way Lu De-Ming compiled Jingdian Shiwen (Textual Explanations of Classics and Canons) in the Tang Dynasty. On a more specific basis, how did he systematically collate various issues concerning the history of the study of Confucian classics since the Qin, Han and Six Dynasties in Jingdian Shiwen, and thereby presented integrated and unified research findings? </p> <p>The general principles and methods that Lu applied to accomplishing this monumental task include: (1) redefine the scope of classics; (2) establish the criteria for ordering the classics; (3) transcend the dichotomy between archaic scripts and new-text Confucianism; and (4) grasp the connotation and significance of classics by correcting the pronunciation of the keywords in annotated classics.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

scholarly journals The Question About the Interpretation of the Verse of John 14, 28: «My Father is more than Me» - and his Permission in the Greek Patristic Tradition

2021 ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
Владимир Сергеевич Коробов
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Correct Interpretation ◽  
History Of Interpretation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Two Sides ◽  
The Church ◽  
Historical Periods

В статье рассматривается история толкования отрывка из Евангелия от Иоанна: « Отец Мой более Меня » (Ин. 14, 28). Тема, которой посвящена статья, является частью исследования богословской проблематики Константинопольских Соборов 1166 и 1170 гг. Церковная деятельность византийского императора Мануила I Комнина была противоречивой и не исключала вмешательства латинских богословов. Цель настоящей статьи - показать святоотеческое понимание спорного места для правильной интерпретации решений Константинопольских Соборов 1166 и 1170 гг. и их оценки с православной позиции. Структура статьи имеет традиционную рубрикацию, соотносительную историческим периодам: доникейский, арианские споры IV в., христологические споры V-VII вв., поздневизантийская традиция. Для богословского анализа Ин. 14, 28 мы обращаемся к диахронно-синхронному методу, который заключается в изучении толкований стиха на разных исторических этапах. Метод опирается на анализ фрагментов, полученных при поиске в базе данных греческих текстов (TLG). Наиболее употребительными толкованиями стиха «Отец Мой более Меня» (Ин. 14, 28) являлись триадологическое и христологическое. Первое означало, что Отец больше Сына, как Виновник Его бытия. Второе объяснялось в контексте Домостроительства и включало две стороны, дополняющие друг друга: Спаситель имеет в виду Свою человеческую природу и в то же время подразумевает добровольное уничижение и умаление Своего божества (кеносис). The article examines the history of interpretation of the passage from the Gospel of John: «My Father is greater than Me» (John 14, 28). The topic of the article is part of a study of the theological problems of the Councils of Constantinople in 1166 and 1170. The Church activities of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus were contradictory and did not exclude the intervention of latin theologians. The purpose of this article is to show the patristic understanding of the controversial place for the correct interpretation of the decisions of the Councils of Constantinople in 1166 and 1170. and their assessments from an Orthodox perspective. The structure of the article has a traditional rubrication, correlating to historical periods: ante-Nicene, Arian disputes of the 4th century, Christological disputes of the 5-7 centuries, late Byzantine tradition. For theological analysis, Jn. 14, 28 we turn to the diachronous-synchronous method, which consists in studying the interpretations of the verse at different historical stages. The method is based on the analysis of fragments obtained by searching the database of Greek texts (The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae®). The most common interpretations of the verse «My Father is greater than Me» (John 14, 28) were triadological and Christological. The first meant that the Father is greater than the Son, as the Author of His existence. The second was explained in the context of the Economy and included two sides complementary to each other: The Savior means His human nature and at the same time implies the voluntary humiliation and belittling of His deity (kenosis).

scholarly journals Determinism in the mountains: The ongoing belief in the bellicosity of 'mountain people'

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Pickering
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Conflict Research ◽  
Positive Light

It has long been argued that mountains have an effect on wars. While some research understands this chiefly in physical terms, other research looks at the effect that mountains have on human nature. This article looks at the two thousand year history of the term 'mountain people.' It explores how the belief has emerged that living in mountainous regions changes people to the degree that it makes them more likely to engage in conflict. It also explores how mountain people can be seen in a more positive light, but this perspective is often ignored by both popular media and conflict research. It makes the case that the foundations upon which perceptions of 'mountain people' are based are rather shaky and somewhat misleading for empirical conflict research.

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