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100 SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT INTO THE

WARRING STATES PERIOD

Mozi and More!

China is about to fall in a well. What

would you do?

100 SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN THE WARRING STATES PERIOD

Things are starting to get bleak:

how do we solve this?

Zhou

Chinese Character Writing System

Western Zhou 771 BCE Spring and Autumn 479 BCE Warring States

Classics of:

Odes Bronze-Iron

Changes Transition

Documents in

Rites Key 551 Confucius 479 East Asia

Chinese Laozi ???

Philosophy 544 Sunzi 496

& 470 Mozi 391

Religion--> 372 Mencius 289

369 Zhuangzi 286

280 Han Fei 233

TAOIST APPROACHES TO THE WARRING STATES

What is the

Taoist

approach to

dealing with

increasing

instability?

Roll With It

Zhuangzi (396-286 BCE)Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I

was a butterfly, fluttering hither and

thither, to all intents and purposes a

butterfly. I was conscious only of my

happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I

was Zhuang. Soon I awaked, and there I

was, veritably myself again. Now I do not

know whether I was then a man dreaming

I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a

butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between

a man and a butterfly there is necessarily

a distinction. The transition is called the

transformation of material things.

His cook was cutting up an ox for the ruler Wen Hui. Whenever he applied his hand, leaned forward with his shoulder,

planted his foot, and employed the pressure of his knee, in the audible ripping off of the skin, and slicing operation of

the knife, the sounds were all in regular cadence. Movements and sounds proceeded as in the dance of 'the Mulberry

Forest' and the blended notes of the King Shou.' The ruler said, 'Ah! Admirable! That your art should have become so

perfect!' (Having finished his operation), the cook laid down his knife, and replied to the remark, 'What your servant

loves is the method of the Dao, something in advance of any art.

When I first began to cut up an ox, I saw nothing but the (entire) carcase. After three years I ceased to see it as a

whole. Now I deal with it in a spirit-like manner, and do not look at it with my eyes. The use of my senses is discarded,

and my spirit acts as it wills. Observing the natural lines, (my knife) slips through the great crevices and slides through

the great cavities, taking advantage of the facilities thus presented. My art avoids the membranous ligatures, and much

more the great bones. A good cook changes his knife every year; (it may have been injured) in cutting - an ordinary

cook changes his every month - (it may have been) broken.

Now my knife has been in use for nineteen years; it has cut up several thousand oxen, and yet its edge is as sharp as if

it had newly come from the whetstone. There are the interstices of the joints, and the edge of the knife has no

(appreciable) thickness; when that which is so thin enters where the interstice is, how easily it moves along! The blade

has more than room enough. Nevertheless, whenever I come to a complicated joint, and see that there will be some

difficulty, I proceed anxiously and with caution, not allowing my eyes to wander from the place, and moving my hand

slowly. Then by a very slight movement of the knife, the part is quickly separated, and drops like (a clod of) earth to

the ground. Then standing up with the knife in my hand, I look all round, and in a leisurely manner, with an air of

satisfaction, wipe it clean, and put it in its sheath.' The ruler Wen Hui said, 'Excellent! I have heard the words of my

cook, and learned from them the nourishment of (our) life.'

Z hu

a n g

z i

The military is a great matter of the state. It is the ground of life

and death, the Way (dao) of

survival or extinction. One cannot but investigate it. Thus base it

in the five. Compare by means

of the appraisals, and so seek out its nature.

The first is the way (dao), the second is Heaven, the third is Earth,

the fourth is the

general, the fifth is method.

The Way is what orders the people to have the same purpose as

their superior. Thus

they can die with him, live with him, and not harbor deceit.

Heaven is yin and yang, cold and hot, the order of the seasons.

Going with it, going

against it -- this is military victory.

Earth is high and low, broad and narrow, far and near, steep

and level, death and life.

The general is wisdom, trustworthiness, courage, and strictness.

Method is ordering divisions, the way of ranking, and principal

supply.

Sunzi

(544-496) What is the

Taoist

approach to

dealing with

increasing

instability?

Roll With It

MOHISM: THE FIRST, GREAT, (BUT BRIEF!) RIVAL TO CONFUCIANISM

470-391

Mozi • Lived in the hundred years between

Confucius and Mencius

• From a humble background; either a slave or

petty tradesman; critiques “aristocratic”

Confucians

• Mencius saw as the greatest threat to

Confucian order

• Why?

• All humans created equal before the

Divine- universal love for all

• Heaven loves us all; follow that model

• Focus on family prevents our love for

our fellow humans

• Utilitarian: do only what is enabled by

love- feeding, housing, and clothing

others

• ABANDON music, ritual, warfare- just

distractions

• FOR law- Kind of an authoritarian bent

“Identify with the superior”

Book 3:5 The head of the district was the most high-

minded and tender-hearted man of the district. He

notified the people of the district, saying "Upon hearing

good or evil you shall report it to the lord. What the

lord thinks to be right all shall think to be right, what he

thinks to be wrong all shall think to be wrong. Remove

from your speech that which is not good and learn his

good speech. Take away from your conduct that which is

not good and learn his good conduct. How then can

there be disorder in the state?" Now, how was order

brought about in the feudal state? There was order in

the state because the feudal lord could unify the

standards in the state.

CONFUCIANS TRYING TO ADAPT TO THE WARRING

STATES

Mencius 385-312

Xunzi 310-219

1600 BCE 1046 BCE

Shang Zhou 256 BCE

1200BCE Oracle Bones

Western Zhou 771 BCE Spring and Autumn 479 BCE Warring States

Green Shades- Islamic Dynasties

Blue Shades- "Unified" Chinese Dynasty

Yellow Shades- "Disunified" China QIN

Pink& Red- Thinkers and Religions 221-206

Orange Shades- Vedic/Hindu States Chinese 551 Confucius 479

Philosophy Laozi ???

& 544 Sunzi 496

Religion> 470 Mozi 391

372 Mencius 289

369 Zhuangzi 286

280 Han Fei 233

100 years after Confucius

and Laozi

• Things are REALLY starting to fall

apart

• Full on Warring States period

• Massive bloodshed, iron,

crossbows, etc

• House of Zhou and their order a

long-forgotten moment

• Who or what would be capable

of “uniting all under heaven?”

Mencius- ANYONE

would save that dang

baby

Mencius- Rebuilding Confucianism for a later,

more brutal time

• Confucius was right, ren

(humaneness) is the core of what

we should strive for, but that is not

quite enough

• Rites of Zhou good, but doesn’t see

them as the originator/best case

like Confucius had

• INSTEAD, there is a core moral

principle, and earlier Sages from 3

Sages/5 Emp period had it too

• Builds idea of yi, “rightness” as

coequal with ren

• Every human has the “four

beginnings,” which can be

cultivated into proper humaneness,

rightness, propriety, and wisdom

His solution to a brutal time?

Goodness doesn’t

derive from our

ancestors (like the

Zhou), it derives from in

us- we are GOOD and

we can work at it to

solve our current

problems Mention Qi

Xunzi- Rebuilding Confucianism for a later,

more brutal time

• Saw MUCH more brutal war, likely

including the almost indescribably

brutal Qin wars of conquest

• A somber commitment to Confucian

ideals- learning, culture, the idea

that we can cultivate ourselves into

junzi

• All about the rites, the rituals, the

commitment to hierarchy which is

good because…

• Human nature is evil, that is why

we have to put such effort into

cultivation

• Without the rites, created by

conscious efforts of the sages, we

are given to following our passions

• Warped Wood metaphor

His solution to a brutal time?

Humans are evil, and

we need strong

guidance to fix what

ails us. NOTABLY, does

not say “the law”

should do this

His STUDENTS, on the other

hand…

In Sum Spring and Autumn period

causes a great debate:

how to restore order?

Two enduring masters

answer: Laozi and

Confucius

Laozi articulates the Dao,

a solution to return to

harmony

Confucius articulates a much more regimented method: an entire social and cosmic

order to promote stability (including a HEAVY dose of patriarchy)

Warring States Period causes MORE distress as things get MORE brutal

Taoists:

Roll With It

Mozi:

Utilitarian,

Authoritarian,

Universal Love

Mencius:

Humans are GOOD

Moral virtue must be

intensely cultivated

Xunzi:

Humans are

EVIL

The rites must

guide them

And how is it ultimately resolved?

Well, here’s a hint for next module

18th century painting of 212 BCE event,

“Burning of Books and Burying of

Scholars”