Session 2 - March 24

[Todd Rutley]

Questions. What did Wen find? Lose?  Why written then?  Why is fable of enduring interest?

The fisherman, Wen, found a peaceful and prosperous valley paradise where people happily lived in isolation from the chaos of the external political and social realm.  In the valley there “was nothing to be afraid of”.

Like a good Daoist, he did not find paradise through years of diligent self-cultivation or devotion to a master. Instead he followed The Way; he arrived at utopia “just drifting aimlessly in the boat, taking the occasional glug of wine, and thinking about nothing.” 

So Wen arrived at spiritual paradise by freeing himself from the current society, drifting, drinking, not caring.  Mysterious forces (Daoism?) were involved as Wen was pulled to the destination against the current and “didn't notice as the boat was swept upstream - against the current”.  Wen was “thinking about nothing” and “Wen didn't see”. 

Wen arrived in paradise in springtime, a time of innocence and seasonal natural renewal.  This shows the promise of social renewal is possible and desirable. The notion of renewal in turn could be seen as an implicit criticism of the warring world outside paradise as well as its competing would-be rulers.   

The story was written then to say that the period from 220-589 CE, between the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty reunification of the south and the north, was bad and that political turmoil was best avoided.  The fable ended noting that signs of peach blossoms (spring and renewal signs) can be found in unexpected places: “in springtime, peach petals can be seen floating down the river past Wuling. Odd! There are no peach trees in the area.” So the message is to retain hope that renewal (political change for the better) can transpire, expect the unexpected and follow The Way.  The Daoist-themed fable showed that a peaceful paradise could exist for those that drifted and followed the mystery of the Dao, and it was far away from politics and Confucianism (Qin, Han etc.).   

Wen promised villagers that he would not tell others of the paradise, but he revealed the secret after returning to the outside world.  Wen deceived the villagers and, as punishment, he lost the chance of living in that utopia. Wen could never return to the paradise he found and was therefore trapped in the outside world of chaos with only memories of the beautiful valley. 

Had Wen failed a Daoist moral test by revealing the secret valley?  Did this one moral compromise forever deny him the chance of living in peace?

What do you think?  

 

[Taylor Bub]

The key themes of the peach blossom reading I think have to do with finding peace.  The story made me think about how this valley that the fisherman found seemed so perfect, away from wars, away from any other terrible things that happen throughout the rest of the world.  I think the petals that sometimes float downriver, when there are seemingly no peachblossom trees for them to fall from, could represent little pieces of peace that we can find throughout our lives.  I think it would be interesting to have students read through this work and see what themes they can find in it.  The idea that the fisherman did not keep the secret of the valley was also interesting, and I wonder if the valley itself represents some sort of spiritual place, or paradise (this again makes me think of him finding inner peace).

[Jade Kidd]

I have encountered many of the early symbols throughout the course of my life. Growing up in the 90s, I had at least two shirts with a yin yang symbol on them and probably a choker necklace, too. I think the symbol's popularity stems from a few different reasons. First, like the video suggests, it has become a popular symbol to use in marketing...even if its meaning doesn't quite make sense with the product sold (looking at you apples). Second, I think the symbol is popular because it represents the ever-present desire within American culture to be "balanced" when we do everything out of balance. 

[Sarah Evert]

I do not believe schools of thought evolve in a vacuum, neither do people. However, strict fundamentalist interpretation is sometimes the result of later generations application of philosophies. The pattern of philosophies developing as a response or possible solution to the flaws in the practice of other philosophies creates the growth and support for counter movements that address these. Often the goals overlap, which are typically protecting, feeding and possibly advancing civilizations. This is certainly evident in the four philosophies of early Chinese history and continues presently. There are very practical goals of all and creating an order to manage and maintain the population are the goals. Recently in my 9th grade Honors World History class we compared and contrasted socialism, communism and capitalism. This was challenging and eye opening the students and I as we evaluated how certain programs that have socialist origins were a response to the abuses of capitalism. Perhaps the same could be said for Daoism, Moism, and Legalism regarding the excessive rituals, testing, and hierarchy of Confucianism that are challenged by the former. That said, as they were not created in a vacuum, their application over time has become more of a hybrid as well and elements and influence of all are observable in China and elsewhere. 

[Jade Kidd]

Jen, I agree! I think students would find this extremely interesting. All too often when we discuss historic cities students picture the dark, drab, and dirty cities of early Europe and not the vibrancy that is captured in this article about Hanzhou. I think it would be really fun to play "guess that city" with students. We could read some of the different descriptions and then have them write what city they think we're referencing. I think they'd never guess it was a city from 1235!

[Jessica Del Cid]

I have encountered the yin and yang symbols as well as cranes and other symbols in writing form. I have seen them all around throughout my life, beginning in my early childhood. I began seeing these symbols in cartoons, other television shows, store signs and even on children’s toys and school materials. I think these symbols have traveled and endured because they have a strong significance to many cultures, especially if it helps bring them a sense of understanding how contrary forces can actually complement each other. It sets a sense of order in their cultural beliefs, experiences and traditions.

 

I have seen these symbols being used on social media, especially on Instagram posts that are related to small businesses. There are a lot of salons, massage parlors, jewelry shops and small boutiques that incorporate the yin and yang design into their products or brand logos. Due to the popularity of these symbols being used to promote small business through social media, I believe my students would be able to recognize them. However, they might not necessarily know the meaning behind the symbol. They might just recognize it and like the design of it. With this being said, the symbols could be incorporated into a social studies lesson to teach students the real history and meaning behind these symbols they see almost everywhere. Not only will it peak their interest, but it help them understand the origin of these symbols and why so many people choose to use them.

 

 

[Sean Lobberecht]

1.  

I do not believe that ideas or schools of thought develop in A vacuum and I believe the example of the different philosophies floating around the Asian continent at the time of Confucius is A great example that proves this point. As professor Dube said not only was Confucius A contemporary of the Budha but he was also A contemporary of Socrates. I believe that influences and responses are the movers of history. Influences lead to new developments and new developments always render some sort of response. I believe societal factors that produced Buddhism are similar to those that produced Confucianism. They both seem, at their heart, A way to live A noble life and they both put forward this idea that your work is never done, you always need to be moving towards some form of enlightenment. 

 

As I stated earlier, I view influences and responses as the movers of history and believe that these ideas should be at the cornerstone of every historical curriculum. If we take the American revolution for example, can we truly understand the American revolution if we do not understand the French revolution and vice versa? Similar enlightenment influences created two different ideas of liberty which were in direct response to some form of absolutism. There are obviously differences in each but I think considering the similarity in influences that created both historical events is an important conversation in the classroom. 

 

I am A first year teacher and I taught Buddhism and Confucianism separately because the standards fall in two separate units. Moving forward I believe it would be best to try and teach them together along with Daoism and Legalism. As an ancient civilization teacher we have separated curriculum but I believe having the discussion of influences and responses can enrich the content, student engagement, student understanding, and student’s ability to think like A historian.

 

[Sarah Evert]

The translations often read to me like a yin and yang, and at the same time a meticulous bureaucratic method of record keeping and organization. The descriptions of whether an event was good or bad, such as the birth of a daughter instead of a son. The universal topics are really interesting if we compare it to what holds our interest presently as well as determines what happens in our lives. Weather, leadership, taxes, wars and other concerns. 

[Bin He]

As I prepare to debate and collect legalist materials, looking back at China's history, I find two interesting phenomena.

1. The prosperity of legalism originated from a weak state power that eagers to revive.

2.Every time an emperor uses the legalist thought to govern the country and achieves specific goals, there will always be the opposite result to the legalist expectation after a while.

Here I take Qin Dynasty and Ming Dynasty as examples.

First of all, the king of Qin used Shang Yang's new deal with the background of the decline of Qin's national strength. And the Legalists' thought of stressing interests and strengthening the country soon accumulated much wealth for this weak country. At the same time, it also helped the government to enhance its control over the ordinary people. The law endorsed the centralization of power at this moment. Of course, after that, the bad genes of Legalists were soon exposed, that is, the contradiction between officials' executive management and the interests of the gentry in the process of law enforcement. Shang Yang's achievements were quickly divided by the power group, and finally, nothing was settled.

Secondly, in the Ming Dynasty, the whole dynasty began with Zhu Yuanzhang and was constantly under legalists' rule. The cruel officials of the Ming Dynasty were rarely heard of in Chinese history. They hated corruption and had many anti-humanity punishments. In the early days, ordinary people did have a stable environment, and the country could quickly recover from the war. However with the monopoly of power and the complicated official system, the Ming Dynasty did not establish an orderly society as the Legalists imagined.

 

[Todd Rutley]

March 24_2021

Mohists Critical Beliefs on Confucianism

1. Confucianism is conservative and hinders social progress. It favors tradition over innovation, the old over the young, male over female, and family over society. 
2. Confucian emphasis on family loyalty promotes nepotism in government and reduces social harmony as clans pursue self-interest over the common good.
3. Emphasis on learning classics is impractical and wasteful.  It is better to learn practical things like mathematics and engineering to make society prosperous.
4. Mohists thought Confucian rituals such as funerals were wasteful and promoted the opposing ideal of thrift instead.
5. Mohists thought Confucian arguments for the moral benefits of music were wasteful
6. Mohists, who believed in supernaturalism, rejected the Confucian opposition to supernaturalism as atheistic or a rejection in the belief in gods
7. Mohist rationalists rejected the Confucian fatalism or belief in fate to explain failure.

Mohists Critical Beliefs on Daoism

1. Daoism is a subversive philosophy that undermines belief in social order and respect for authority, and therefore should be banned. 
2. Daoism believed that “the Tao or the Way”” was always right although not fully describable.  However, the ideal government was unattainable by rulers because human creations could never be universally true and recognized by all. So following Daoism cannot achieve the ideal outcome because the Tao cannot be reached.
3. The idea that human creations were only temporary reactions to circumstances and that true perfection is unattainable creates conflict between the ruler and the ruled and therefore promotes anarchy and disorder.    
4. The Dao De Jing called for the elimination of competing philosophies which is why it must be opposed by all schools of thought.  While Zhuang Zi advocated tolerance.
5. Daoism does not promote the common good because it is too philosophical, totalitarian, self-righteous and impractical.  Even worse, it advocates doubting or the wisdom of other philosophies.

Mohists Critical Beliefs on Legalism

1. The legalist emphasis on absolute law and harsh punishment causes social resentment and thus imperials the longevity of legalist states.
2. The Legalist focus on the war of ideas against other internal scholars, and offensive wars against other people, both undermine the welfare of both the home state and the states the Legalists attack.
3. Legalism is anti-intellectual and promotes an inflexible governance model that lacks the intellectual flexibility to adapt.
4. Legalism lacks virtuous, benevolent rulers because their ideal rule is based on power alone and ignores the power of ideas. In particular, legalists reject the Mohist belief in the power of discussion and persuasion to solve ethical problems and motivate action.

 

[Sean Lobberecht]

1.  

I believe that these schools of thought became so well known and even prevalent to this day is due to the message these schools of thought put forward. I believe if you break them all down to their roots, these four schools of thoughts or ideologies all are A playbook for success. 

 

Confucianism and Daoism I believe tell individuals how to live A good life and be successful. Both these ideologies push forward the belief that your life is A constant work in progress. These ideologies put forward the ideas of hard work, constant self improvement, and even A sense of competition. For societies, to have A populace with these core beliefs can be very beneficial in the way that if people are always trying to push themselves forward then they will also be moving the society forward at the same time. 

 

The philosophies of Legalism and Sun Zi I believe have remained prevalent for similar reasons. Where Confucianism and Daoism are A playbook for A successful individual life, Legalism and the ideas of Sun Zi are playbooks for how to have A successful empire. As A person always needs to be growing and learning, so does A civilization. The teachings of Legalism and Sun Zi show how A state can be successful.

 

I believe these four ideologies have been and remain so prevalent due to the fact of how they constantly push forward the ideas improvement. Maoism on the other hand seems to focus more on the collective. If this belief was adopted instead of Legalism we may have never had the unification of China. Instead we probably would have had separate kingdoms living side by side with no resolution to the Warring States period.

 

[Taylor Bub]

I have definitely encountered these symbols before in popular culture.  I think that most if not al of my students would definitely recognize the Yin and Yang symbols.   In America, I think that people have only a basic understanding of what the Yin and Yang symbol means.  Growing up I remember seeing friendship necklaces that had one side of the Yin and Yang symbol and you could fit them together to make the full symbol.  Many people would buy them and wear them without understanding the deeper meaning of the symbol itself.  Currently there is a huge rise in popularity of Korean pop music (KPOP) and anime, and with this rise I think we will start to see another rise in the use of traditionally East Asian symbols on things like clothing or tattoos.  Many of my students have expressed want for tattoos written in Chinese or Korean characters; and these same students carry folders and notebooks with Chinese or Korean symbols (like the Yin and Yang symbol) on them.  I hope that as the popularity of these symbols grows, that more people who use the symbols will gain a better understanding of the meaning behind them, not just that they "look cool" or are specifically popular right now.

[Daniella Leiato]

While watching the first video lecture, I was intrigued to learn about the four different schools of thought. I was especially interested in the similarities mentioned between Daoism and Buddhism. The overlap between the two religions demonstrates the construction of thought based on contemporary society. Schools of thought are consistently evolving and being shaped by the society in which they are practiced. As noted by Professor Dube, elements of Daoism are now seen in New Age thought, which has become widespread and even appears on social media platforms such as Tiktok and Instagram, further demonstrating the evolution of schools of thought over the course of time.

 

In my English classroom, it would be really interesting to have students identify how and where elements of each school of thought are seen today (perhaps specifically looking at various literary texts). To introduce the lesson, I would have students compare and contrast one element of society today (i.e. language, clothing, etc.) and its development over the last 50 years (how has it changed? why has it changed? what has influenced its development?). From there, I would have students look at traditional Daoist texts and compare those texts to more contemporary literary texts. Students would complete the same type of analysis: how have the ideas changed and developed? why?

 

[Camie Fleet]

I do not think schools of thought develop in a Vaccum. as Shown through these 4 schools of thought they have parts that have develped out of the others. For example concepts within Daoism around nature and being insync with the Dao have been incorporated in to Confucious practice. As well as similarilly Mohism took ideas from Confucian thought and tried to prove them wrong, suggesting that the focus on the family first could be detereminatal to the society. 

As I was reading through these schools of thought I kept coming back to how closely related these concepts are to other schools of thought throughtout and how these concepts have continued to be present and reborn in other philoshies. For example in Legalism the concept that human nature is to be selfish and therefore needs to be manipulated to meet the needs of the society, can be found in many European Enlightenment theolgoies including Adam Smith, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. So to connect and further answer the question; No Schools of Thought do not develop in a vaccum but are inspired by people's actions within society and previous schools of thought. 

 

[Taylor Bub]

Do schools of thought ever develop in a vacuum?

I do not think that schools of thought really develop in a vacuum.  If you look at Confucianism and Daoism there are conflicting concepts that, as mentioned in the video are in direct response to one another.  I thought it was interesting that many people adopt different values out in public verses at home or in their work. It reminds me of the concept of Yin and Yang that was mentioned earlier; we cannot have just one of these schools of thought wihtout the other, and that there are pieces of each school within each other.

[Author]

Posts