Essentials of Chinese Humanism: Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism

By Xiaoyue Xu

Professor Xu Xiaoyue, a top-notch scholar specializing in ancient Chinese philosophies and religions, displays essential constituents of Chinese humanism before readers. According to him, key concepts such as Confucian ten virtues, Daoist Way and Buddhist metaphysical voidness play quite a significant role in shaping the Chinese humanism, which not only is historically indispensable to the creation of traditional Chinese culture but it also realistically matters to present-day China’s cultural reconstruction in the world that is being remolded by the roots.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bridge 21 Publications
• Release date: May 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781626430921

Xiaoyue Xu

Xu Xiaoyue is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Study. He had been the Librarian of Nanjing Library. Currently, Professor Xu presides over Institute of Chinese Culture of Nanjing University.

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Chapter 1

Chinese Humanism

1.1 Chinese humanism

1) The Humanistic Spirit of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism

At the core and basis of the traditional Chinese culture is classical Chinese thought, which consists mainly of Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist intellectual threads. These three teachings¹ all take xin-xing ( 心 性 , mind-nature) as their value orientation, and are centered on humanity. Specifically, xin-xing has developed multiple doctrines in regards to human nature, human life, and the significance and value of human life – finally creating a Chinese humanistic tradition that prioritizes human life and human affairs over everything else. It is in the humanistic spirit created out of xin-xing that features of Chinese civilization and traditional Chinese culture lie.

But in fact, there are two types of discourse on humanism and the humanistic spirit in traditional Chinese culture. One is humanism or the humanistic spirit in the general sense, and the other is humanism or the humanistic spirit in a special sense. General humanism and its spirit pay close attention to realistic and worldly human culture – the humanistic spirit of traditional Chinese culture discussed at this level emphatically refers to questions such as the nonreligious, skeptical value orientation of the Three Teachings. In contrast, the special humanism and its spirit lays stress exclusively on the human culture attributed to Confucianism. Specifically, as further discussion will show, the humanistic spirit of traditional Chinese culture in this regard is embodied by the humanistic spirit formulated through Confucian doctrine.

Humanistic affairs, which involve Heaven, death, nature, society and humans, are not at all related to anything transcending nature or society, on the grounds that the supranatural and suprasocietal are religious and theistic in nature. Religious theism here is nothing more than belief in and veneration of phenomena and existences alleged to be beyond nature and society. Traditional Chinese culture, being renowned for its humane care, humanistic spirit, humanist attainments, humane character and responsibility, is remarkably, nonreligiously, skeptical. We, digging into Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist value orientations, clearly find that the Three Teachings are all rooted in human activities in this world, concerned with the cultivation of the human mind and human nature, and enthusiastic about representing human life. In this regard, the humanistic spirit offers answers to such questions as, Where is humankind from? and Among humans, human affairs and spiritual beings, which should be given top priority?

In answering the first question, the Three Teachings unanimously give expression to the humanistic spirit by sharing the common idea that humankind is by no means created by spiritual beings, and resolutely saying no to creationism – even though among them there are indeed differences such as the intellectual variances allowed between original Buddhist thought and that of Confucianism and Buddhism.

Confucians hold that humans are created by Heaven, Earth, yang ( 陽 , literally, bright) force, yin ( 陰 , literally, shaded) force and Nature. Xunzi, one of the greatest of Confucian masters, said: "[W]hen Heaven and Earth unite, then the myriad creatures are born. When yin and yang interact, then changes and transformations arise."² In the same vein, the Book of Rites observes:

Man is (the product of) the attributes of Heaven and Earth, (by) the interaction of the dual forces of nature, the union of the animal and intelligent (souls), and the finest subtle matter of the five elements. [Therefore,] Man is the heart and mind of Heaven and Earth, and the visible embodiment of the five elements.³

This observation can be understood to be that Man is the owner of natural endowments given by Heaven and Earth, is the crystallization of yin and yang forces, is the fruit of the aggregation of spiritual beings, and is the existence created out of fusion of the quintessence of the Five Elements, namely, Gold (Metal), Wood, Water, Fire and Soil. Therefore, Man is the nucleus of Heaven and Earth, as well as the root of the Five Elements. In a word, Man is created by Heaven and Earth and is the most highly endowed being in the world. The nature of Man stipulates that the endowment of Man lies exactly in mind and righteousness, both of which make Man the most endowed of the entirety of all creatures – and the most precious, most valuable and most praiseworthy. Several most well-known Chinese classics corroborate this, saying:

Heaven and earth is [sic] the parent of all creatures; and of all creatures man is the most highly endowed.⁴

All men have a mind which cannot bear to see the sufferings of others.⁵

Humans have qi ( 氣 , vital breath) and life and awareness, and moreover they have yi ( 義 , righteousness). And so they are the most precious things under Heaven.⁶

Of the myriad things which Heaven begot mankind is the most noble[.]⁷

(Liuben ( 六本 , Six Roots), Kongzi jiayu 孔子家語 [Family Sayings of Confucius])

Of all (creatures with their different) natures produced by Heaven and Earth, man is the noblest.⁸

Daoists, represented by Laozi, Zhuangzi and their disciples, believe that Dao ( 道 , also known as the Way) is the origin of the myriad things in the universe and the basis by which the myriad things can exist. Man is created via Dao, yin and yang forces, and Heaven and Earth. In Laozi’s words, Dao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things.⁹ Moreover, just like Dao and Heaven and Earth, Man is great. Laozi said: Therefore the Dao is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; and the (sage) king [i.e., Man] is also great. In the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one of them.¹⁰ According to Daoism, Dao is the highest that antedates Shangdi (the Lord Above, which is generally perceived by modern observers as God) and is the most mysterious existence. Laozi observed this, exclaiming as if [Dao] were the Honoured Ancestor of all things!¹¹ Laozi furthered his observation of Dao, conjecturing that [i]t might appear to have been before God.¹² In other words, Dao preexists the Lord Above. Echoing his intellectual precursor, Zhuangzi said: This is Dao, [from which came] the mysterious existence of God. It produced Heaven; it produced earth.¹³ According to Zhuangzi’s observation, not only spiritual beings and the Lord Above but also Heaven and Earth are from Dao. It is in the negation of Creation attributed to a supreme god that Daoists elevate the metaphysical Dao governing the entirety of natural and human affairs to the highest position, and in doing so they affirm the status of Man in a naturalist way and lead the Daoist humanistic spirit to manifest itself.

Both original (Indian) Buddhism and Sinicized Buddhism are theoretically based on yuanqi ( 緣起 , paticca-samuppada or dependent origination). The discourses on dependent origination, such as the union of causes and conditions, the production and extinction of causal conditions, the incessant change of all things and the inherent lack of identity of all things, vary. The purpose of Buddhist dependent origination lies in shedding revealing light on the nature of and truth about the myriad things. According to Buddhism, inasmuch as the myriad things all originate from dependent origination and are constantly changing, none of them is real in terms of their nature. Therefore, the Buddhist concept of kong ( 空 , emptiness/void) can be applied to all of them. In accordance with the theories of dependent origination and universal emptiness, Buddhist doctrines suggest that all lives including Man are by no means created by external spiritual beings but instead are forms of harmonization. In this way, Buddhism negates entirely the idea that Man is created by God. More specifically, Buddhism interprets the form of human life through Five Aggregates, namely, se ( 色 , Form), shou ( 受 , Feeling), xiang ( 想 , Perception), xing ( 行 , Formation/Imprint) and shi ( 識 , Consciousness). Se refers to the physical existence (body, flesh and so on) of Man; and shou, xiang, xing and shi, to the spiritual existence (consciousness, spirit and so on) of Man. It is by means of these forms of life that Man perceives and grasps the external world and thus there is the relationship between Man and the world. Overall, the Buddhist understanding of human life, which is based on the theory of dependent origination, is strongly humanistic.

Exactly because the Three Teachings treat human life as socio-natural existence, they define all basic human activities within the scope of this world. This firmly established this-worldliness is directly related to the Three Teachings’ unanimous selection of mind-nature as the core of their doctrines. If one asks what the nature of the Three Teachings is, the answer must be the inquiry into mind-nature. In fact, the inquiry into mind-nature focuses exclusively on human nature, human life, everyday life and human affairs. Theoretically, this inquiry incorporates the value orientation of the Three Teachings into the scope of society and life. As a consequence, all forms of thought renouncing nature, society and this world are negated. The Three Teachings’ inquiry into mind-nature is beyond doubt strongly humanistic.

Confucius laid the foundation for the value orientation of his followers, who are known as Confucians. Specifically, Confucius attached importance to reality, just as he did not talk about extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings¹⁴ and chose to respect spiritual beings while keeping aloof from them.¹⁵ Moreover, the Master placed emphasis on human life by saying [w]hile you do not know life, how can you know about death?¹⁶ and on human affairs by criticizing some who attempted to serve their spirits while being unable to serve men.¹⁷ In real life and among real human affairs, the most important questions are about human nature, ethics and morality. For this reason, Confucians concern themselves with significant questions about the preservation and enlightenment of mind and cultivation and transformation of nature, such as how to know one’s own nature by exhausting all his mental constitution¹⁸ and how to illustrate illustrious virtue to transform the people completely, and about the observance of the grandest principle and elimination of excessive desires, such as how to extend one’s own inherently good nature to the utmost, refine emotions, and moderate undue desires. It is through putting humans and human affairs over anything else that Confucianism displays its own humanistic spirit.

Daoists showcase their humanistic spirit by discoursing on the value of treating nature as the deepest root, and advocating that man should emulate Heaven. They believe that humans can reduce their own preconceived ideas and excessive desires by eschewing selfish ends and lust through simple views and plain, true courses – and by diminishing their pursuit of the grandest principle.¹⁹ In doing so, they hold, the human mind can be purified and tranquilized, the natural state of human nature be restored, and the true nature of humans be displayed. It is by the sincere endeavor to restore the naturalness of humanity and true human nature that Daoism makes its humanistic spirit conspicuous. That is to say, a natural attitude is employed to corroborate human value and significance. The purpose of all Daoist efforts to perfect mind and nature are to eliminate all unnatural elements existing in the human mind. In other words, Daoism suggests people try their best to get rid of all elements created by excessive actions resulting from their preconceived ideas and desires and in doing so they will restore the truth and constancy of human life. Daoism manifests its humanistic spirit by prioritizing nature above all.

The reason why Buddhism became one of the three major world religions was that its doctrines are essentially supramundane. Moreover, as we know, Indian Buddhism laid stress on the supramundane spirit. In contrast, Sinicized Buddhism and thought, together with Confucianism and Daosim, constitutes traditional Chinese culture – and minimizes the Indian supramundane spirit and focuses instead on real human life. This change led Chinese Buddhism to develop a strong humanistic spirit. Sinicized Buddhism and this-worldliness as embodied in Chan ( 禪 ) Buddhism, as developed in China, in particular fully indicates that Chinese Buddhism distinctively pays great attention to human wisdom. Buddhist emancipation through wisdom and mind was made known through the Chan wisdom of freeing the human mind from attachment to dharmas (i.e., phenomena) and wrong knowledge; and emancipation through mind is to free us from the attachment to self (egocentrism) and evil passions. The starting point of enlightenment is in the mind. Humans should discover their own true mind and grasp their own true nature. And, as soon as humans grasp their own true nature, they will attain buddhahood. At this point, a fundamental sutra of Chan Buddhism says:

The Buddhadharma is here in the world;

Enlightenment is not apart from the world.

To search for Bodhi [wisdom] apart from the world

Is like looking for a hare with horns.²⁰

(Prajna, in the Platform Sutra)

Overall, the humanistic spirit of Sinicized Buddhism is the perfect embodiment of prioritizing the mind and nature, humans and enlightenment in this world over everything else.

2) The Confucian humanistic spirit and the creation of Chinese civilization

Confucianism, one of the main components of traditional Chinese culture, specifically defines and interprets the concept of humanism and the humanistic spirit. Relevant questions are thus raised as follows: What does renwen ( 人文 , humanism) mean in traditional Chinese culture? What is the role humanism plays in the Chinese tradition? How do renwen jingshen ( 人文精神 , the humanistic spirit) and Confucianism logically interconnect with each other? And what is the internal relation between the humanistic spirit and the establishment of Chinese civilization? All these questions must be answered in the study of the humanistic spirit of traditional Chinese culture.

The Book of Changes, which is given pride of place among the Confucian Five Classics, defines renwen, saying: "Elegance and intelligence regulated by the arrest suggest renwen (the observances that adorn human [society])."²¹ This means that humanism lies in the state in which humans head towards and stop at the level of civilization. It is in this Confucian classic, which was produced thousands of years ago, that the Chinese word renwen appeared for the first time. The value orientation and ultimate goal of renwen is unambiguously wenming ( 文明 , civilization). Therefore, what does the concept of wenming mean in the Chinese context? According to extant Chinese literature, wenming made its debut in the Book of History, one of the Confucian classics. In the he original text, ruizhe wenming ( 睿哲文明 ), means that a great sovereign should be "profound, wide, wenming [accomplished and intelligent]".²² Wenming is also found in the Book of Changes, which reads: "The dragon appears in the field: all under Heaven (begins to be) wenming (adorned and brightened). Kong Yingda, a prominent early Tang Confucian scholar (574-648), interpreted this text, saying: ‘All under Heaven begins to be adorned and brightened’ means that, as the vital yang force appears in the field, the myriad things are produced and thus the entire world is enlightened and brightened. Digging into these discourses, we find that two concepts, namely in the field and all under Heaven", clearly show that civilization in traditional Chinese culture refers to human society and this world, and to humans and social lives. To put it another way, the two concepts demonstrate that Chinese civilization is concerned with this-worldly questions such as mind, nature, ethics and morality.

It is noteworthy that there is a close interconnection between wenming and renwen (pattern of human society, as well as humanism) as perceived in traditional Chinese culture. If we can say the patterns of Heaven, earth and water refer to the texture, arrangement or governance respecting interactions of various forces attributed to natural material phenomena, we should treat renwen as order and law in regard to interpersonal relationships. In other words, wenming apprehended by the Chinese constitutes the cultural activities and undertakings tightly centered around humans.

According to Chinese culture, the field of civilization is in this world, in this human society, and in this reality. That is to say, civilization is in the field and in the entire land under Heaven. Therefore, everything beautiful is created by living people in this world. Such civilization lays stress on the civilization of this shore rather than on the civilization of other shore, on the civilization of humans rather than on the civilization of spirits, and on the civilization of the living rather than on the civilization of the dead. The way of life and way of action that are ultimately oriented to this constitute the first aspect of the Chinese humanistic spirit. Moreover, these ways indicate that one of the characteristics of the Chinese humanistic spirit is that this-worldliness is given priority.

On this point, the Confucian teaching of mind and nature, which plays a principal role in traditional Chinese culture, is most representative. The main task of this Confucian teaching is to regulate, adjust, harmonize and temper the interrelationships of disposition, emotion and desire in human nature. Its goal is that among elements of human nature there is finally harmony, through which original or true mind is brightened, purified, and made tranquil Herein lies a realm in which moral life is illuminated, spiritual life is changed, and finally human life is led to the highest excellence. This is no other than the mission of Great Learning. This is the ultimate goal of a beautiful life. This civilization of mind and nature devotes itself to elevating the most fundamental aspects of human nature, making the subjectivity of humans more conspicuous, and displaying the dignity of humans. The return to the realm of this civilization is the second aspect of the Chinese humanistic spirit – the importance of human nature.

The illuminating conscience of human nature reveals the value and significance of human life, making the civilization that prioritizes humanity more ethical. The reason why Confucianism lays stress on this reconstruction of human ethics is that it resolves to manifest humanity. Mencius said:

But men possess a moral nature; and if they are well fed, warmly clad, and comfortably lodged, without being taught at the same time, they become almost like the beasts. This was a subject of anxious solicitude to the sage Shun, and he appointed Xie to be the Minister of Instruction, to teach the relations of humanity: how, between father and son, there should be affection; between sovereign and minister, righteousness; between husband and wife, attention to their separate functions; between old and young, a proper order; and between friends, fidelity.²³

The ultimate goal of teaching relations of humanity is to display beauty and goodness through adjusting various relations and leading them to harmonize with one another. In this sense, Chinese civilization can be seen as a civilization of ethics. Herein lies the third aspect of the Chinese humanistic spirit: interpersonal relations comply to the mold and structure of this civilization. The priority given to ethics is thus revealed.

Harmonious ethics aims to have diverse, multilayered interpersonal relations based on affection, righteousness, separate functions, proper order and mutual trust. But how can the five cardinal relations involving father and son, sovereign and minister, husband and wife, old and young and friends achieve this? In order to find a solution to this, Chinese civilization prioritizing ethics logically develops the tendency to elevate morality. According to Confucian doctrine, morality is uniquely created by the human mind, just as Mencius says the most basic morality, such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge are all rooted in his heart [i.e., the human mind].²⁴ Mencius furthers this, asserting:

The feeling of commiseration is the principle of benevolence. The feeling of shame and dislike is the principle of righteousness. The feeling of modesty and complaisance is the principle of propriety. The feeling of approving and disapproving is the principle of knowledge.²⁵

Chinese civilization confirms Man as the animal with mind and morality.

Wisely and creatively, ancient Chinese thinkers developed an inventory of virtues that are pivotal to traditional Chinese culture. These virtues are ren ( 仁 , benevolence), yi ( 義 , righteousness), li ( 禮 , propriety), zhi ( 智 , wisdom), xin ( 信 , truthfulness), xiao ( 孝 , filial piety), ti ( 悌 , fraternal duties), zhong ( 忠 , loyalty), lian ( 廉 , incorruptibility) and chi ( 恥 , the sense of shame). The true humanistic spirit must be comprised of these ten virtues. Ren means to love yourself, others and all sentient beings, to treat all others out of benevolence, to have affection towards and faith in others, to perfect others’ good qualities rather than bad qualities, and to show respect and tolerance to others; yi, to do what a person should do while refraining from doing anything that a person should not do, to act in accordance with moral principle, and to strive for justice and fairness; li, to treat others with respect and solemnity, and to be polite and unassuming; zhi, to know how to abstain from vice, and to grasp the point that zhi does not simplistically refer to knowledge nor intelligence but intuitive ability and wisdom whereby humankind can tell good from evil and right from wrong – and devote oneself to good; xin, to act in accordance with honesty and sincerity, and not to cheat anyone in any case; xiao, to show filial obedience to parents; ti, to cultivate and practice fraternal respect; zhong, to be devoted, impartial and wholehearted in taking office, handling private affairs, getting along with others and pursuing public affairs; lian, to develop incorruptibility by preventing oneself from engaging in corrupt practices and tailoring the law for selfish ends; and chi, to feel terribly ashamed whenever a person does anything improper or unreasonable. To put it in a nutshell, if humans can handle affairs and treat others fully in accordance with these virtues, there is true humanistic spirit. As we know, Chinese civilization is a civilization that attaches great importance to morality. It can thus be concluded that the fourth aspect of the Chinese humanistic spirit is the pursuit of morality. In other words, the Chinese humanistic spirit prioritizes human virtues.

The Chinese humanistic spirit, the essence of Chinese civilization, shoulders the responsibility of bringing change for the better to the world. This is the mission that should be accomplished by a culture consisting of civilization and humanism. The Book of Changes corroborates this in saying: We look at the ornamental observances of society, and understand how the processes of transformation are accomplished (for) all under Heaven.²⁶ The classic’s observation can be translated that the transformation of the world can be successfully done through observing, following and carrying forward the true humanistic spirit.

Tianxia ( 天下 , all under Heaven) in traditional Chinese culture has a special meaning. It does not refer to a space but to a state of culture. To be specific, Chinese Tianxia is an ideal state in which the virtues represented by benevolence and righteousness prevail unboundedly, social justice and fairness are maintained firmly, all wars are eradicated, all plagues are eliminated, and all peoples live in peace and harmony. For the ancient Chinese, if there were such a state in which benevolence and righteousness are stopped up, beasts will be led on to devour men, and men will devour one another.²⁷ Tianxia, or the entire world, would collapse totally. By contrast, if Tianxia was well-governed, the sovereigns and their governments must have won the widest popular support. Popular support is mainly embodied in the people’s strong expectation of good instruction (from sovereigns and their governments). To put it another way, good instruction is exactly what people expect, ultimately. In this sense, the ancient Chinese wisely concluded that good instruction outdid good law.

The present author generalizes the transformation of the world into three changes, three accomplishments and three harmonies. The three changes are meant to purify the human mind and nature, to improve human qualities, and to transform human ethics; the three accomplishments, to perfect human morality, to nourish human life, and to complete the human personality; and the three harmonies are to cement family togetherness, to create social cohesion, and to accommodate human society and nature. As soon as the mission of transforming the world is successfully completed, the Chinese humanistic spirit acquires its fifth aspect.

Therefore, the ultimate goal of civilization and humanism lies in depicting humanity according to its beautiful and original nature. Only when internal sageliness is cultivated will external kingliness be achieved. Thus, it follows that the humanistic transformation of the entire world is a project for fulfilling internal sageliness and external kingliness.

To sum up, the Chinese humanistic spirit is implemented by a civilization prioritizing this world, which is oriented toward real or existing society; by a civilization prioritizing human nature, which reaches finally the realm wherein the mind is enlightened and nature is transformed; by a civilization prioritizing human ethics, which aims to create a ubiquitous harmony among peoples; and by a civilization prioritizing human virtue, which characteristically believes in morality. The mission of the Chinese humanistic spirit is to transform the entire world.

1.2.1 Putting people first

To make the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture clear, we must understand thoroughly its value orientation. The term value orientation means that, faced with a certain object awaiting action, a subject definitely has a certain inclination and makes a choice from the perspective of value. For an object, there must be a subject observing it, and only mankind can play such an observational role. The objects that are observed by mankind are the natural Heaven and earth, human society, and the supernatural Heavenly kingdom.

Among the ancient civilizations, the Greeks valued and pursued the natural Heaven and earth so created a nature-based value orientation. The Hebrews treasured and explored the supernatural Heavenly kingdom so they embraced a theocentric value orientation. The Chinese cherished and explored human society so they formed a people-centered value orientation. Greek civilization was outward and its Hebrew counterpart was upward. In spite of differing from each other, the two civilizations were both extrinsic. Differing fundamentally from the Greeks and Hebrews, what the Chinese valued lay neither in the external nature nor in the Heavenly kingdom sitting above, but instead in mankind itself. Conceptually, it was intrinsic.

The pursuit of value in traditional Chinese culture is embodied in the saying that [thinkers attempted to] change the world by means of their own Ways. The author(s) of the Book of Changes gradated culture or civilization into the superior Dao (the Way or an ideal method) and the inferior qi (the Implement or a definite thing). According to the book, Hence that which is antecedent to the material form exists, we say, as an ideal method, and that which is subsequent to the material form exists, we say, as a definite thing.²⁸ The Way consists of thought, spirit and faith. In traditional Chinese culture, the effort to be enlightened by the Way, be grounded on the Way and be united with the Way was always carried out uninterruptedly. Undoubtedly, a permanent pursuit of the Way was the most distinctive characteristic of traditional Chinese culture. It was also one of the constituents of the excellence of the culture. This Dao-oriented pursuit was embodied in Chinese philosophical emphases on the mind, nature, value, significance, life and livelihood of man. Usually, people hold that the characteristic of Chinese philosophy is life-orientation. Over thousands of years, traditional Chinese culture developed a particular value orientation, namely, serving society. The sages in ancient China were all determined to change Tianxia through practicing the Way As the Book of Changes concludes, We look at the ornamental observances of society, and understand how the processes of transformation are accomplished (for) all under Heaven.²⁹ The uniqueness of Chinese civilization lay precisely in such a pursuit. In order to understand this unique Chinese civilization, we should be aware of what the center of the civilization was and what the significance and values of thoughts produced in such a center were.

Did it mean that a nature which consisted of Heaven and earth and a world which consisted of spiritual beings were completely ignored in traditional Chinese culture, that aspired to putting the people first? Certainly not. Such a way of thinking, by which Heaven and men were united, was used to explore the unity of men and nature, and men and gods. The relationship existing between man and nature was revealed in ancient sayings, such as the juxtaposition of Heaven, earth and man and the virtuous fusion of Heaven and men. Meanwhile, the Confucian classics shed light on the relation between men and gods in the assertion that Heaven sees as my people see [and] Heaven hears as my people hear.³⁰ Taking cognizance of and researching into these relations was an enduring task for traditional Chinese culture. The renowned historian Sima Qian’s words, exploring exhaustively the relation of Heaven and men and understanding thoroughly the changes of past and present, gave expression to ancient China’s greatest cultural aspiration. It should be emphasized that the unity of Heaven and men in the natural perspective and the integration of Heaven and men in the divine perspective were all ultimately man-centered. Zhang Zai (1020-1077), a leading philosopher during the Northern Song dynasty, said, [We should] never give up human beings though [we were] enlightened by Heaven. In other words, the unity of Heaven and men, which was the landmark way of thinking in traditional Chinese culture, ultimately rested on the people rather than on Heaven and earth, let alone spiritual beings.

Nevertheless, the people-centered and ethics-centered Chinese culture paid equal attention to metaphysical observation and philosophical corroboration. Therefore, mind-nature, human nature and life were the most intensively and extensively debated concepts in Chinese philosophy. The child of such debates was a highly advanced philosophy of life. One of the most unambiguous characteristics of traditional Chinese culture that was centered on the philosophy of life was the firm belief that a society’s harmony and civilization should be premised on a civilized mind-nature (i.e., the most primordial nature of the mind). The three cardinal outlines and eight detailed entries in the canonic Great Learning logically embodied this civilized mind-nature. The three outlines referred to [the efforts to] illustrate illustrious virtue, to transform the people, and to rest in the highest excellence³¹ and the eight entries, to the investigation of things, acquirement of the most extensive knowledge, attainment of sincerity in thoughts, rectification of the mind, cultivation of one’s own self, regulation of the family, restoration of the order of the country and harmonization of the entire world. In the ancient Chinese cultural context, such a great aspiration was also called inner sageliness and outer kingliness.

As discussed above, the dream of being enlightened by Dao (the Way), grounded in Dao, and united with Dao, entirely penetrated traditional Chinese culture. Dao consisted in thought, spirit and faith; the pursuit of Dao created the most distinctive characteristic of traditional Chinese culture and constituted the best of the culture. The pursuit of Dao is specifically represented by the philosophical explorations of mind, nature, value, significance, and the life of man. People-centeredness and ethics-centeredness characterize traditional Chinese culture.

The correct perception of a very special Chinese concept – Tianxia, or all under Heaven – would be conducive to our understanding of people-centeredness, or the basic values of traditional Chinese culture. In studying social beings the ancient Chinese were culturally and fundamentally different from the Greeks (in pursuit of the Heavens and earth as natural and external nature), and from the Hebrews (in search of God’s Heavenly kingdom above). Ancient Chinese thinkers proposed to transform Tianxia. The transformation of Tianxia had many meanings. The work of shedding light on such an all-embracing transformation was premised on the precise definition of Tianxia. In many cases, the concept of Tianxia was, however, not limited geographically. Rather, the ancient Chinese interpreted Tianxia as the deepest thought, spirit and faith of a people and a nation. In this sense, Tianxia was the most profound culture, or the Way. In a collapsing Tianxia, benevolence and righteousness were blocked, hate-ridden people brutally killed each other, society morally degenerated, public morality severely declined, the Way was discarded, and culture vanished into thin air. A correct comprehension of the concept of Tianxia makes the implication of what the ancient Chinese proposed in transforming the world more explicit. There were five key points of this ambitious transformation: first, man and nature would coexist in concord; second, a harmonious society would be created; third, the mind of the people would be purified; fourth, lives and livelihoods would be stabilized; and last, personality would be cultivated.

A society aspires to stability; an individual to safety and health; and the mind of human beings to tranquility. Such aspirations were also the value orientations of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, respectively. Confucians expected a stable and well-governed country; Daoists had physical practices for peace and health; and Buddhists were devoted to making the mind tranquil. The three points are the present author’s conclusion as to the core idea and value orientation of the Three Teachings. In spite of differing from each other, the Three Teachings were all concerned with the nature of man. As a consequence, the value orientation of traditional Chinese culture was formed, and the concepts of mind-nature, human nature, life, and livelihood were intensively explored. These four concepts could actually be identical with each other on the grounds that they were all correlated with the same object – man.

In traditional Chinese culture, and ancient Chinese philosophies and religions in particular, the value orientation was centered on man and human affairs. Therefore, Chinese philosophy and religion had skeptical characteristics. It is easy to understand logically the skepticism about spiritual beings (hereinafter referred to as Skepticism³²) that is embedded in Chinese philosophy. Nevertheless, it is not an easy job to perceive the intrinsic Skepticism of Chinese religions. To put it more precisely, Chinese religio-philosophical Skepticism, which placed almost exclusive emphases on man and human affairs, was intensively embodied in traditional Chinese ethics. The goal of Chinese ethical thinking was to find a better solution to interpersonal relationships, to the relationship existing between Dao and the mind of man, and to the stabilizing of life and society. In the course of searching for solutions, Chinese philosophy and religion were distinctly ethicized. In the context of traditional Chinese culture, Chinese philosophy, religion and ethics acted upon each other. In view of the foregoing discussion, the assertion that traditional Chinese culture consisting mainly of philosophies, religions and ethics generally had a skeptical nature is solidly grounded.

1) Corroboration by traditional Chinese religions

The traditional Chinese religions were the earliest components of traditional Chinese culture. In this section of the book, traditional Chinese religions refer to religious thinking