Abstract
Li-chi, the Book of Rites,1 is one of the ancient sacred books of China. In Chapter 9, entitled Li-yun, we find the following: “Man is the cosmic virtue, the junction of yin-yang relationships and the encounter of spiritual beings” (Jen che T’ien-ti chih teh, yin-yang chih chiao, kui-shen chih hui); “Man is the cosmic heart” (Jen che t’ien-ti chih hsin). Such sayings about human nature may be taken as literary exaggeration, not worthy of serious consideration. However, in the light of the phenomenological (descriptive) concept of life, which I discussed some years ago and restated in a paper delivered during the Second Oriental Phenomenological Conference,2 I find these statements meaningful, especially in view of the Congress’s main topic, “Philosophy and Culture”.
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Notes
There are two versions of Li-chi, both compiled at the time of the West-Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-8 A.D.). The better known one comprises forty-nine chapters, which were written by Confucian scholars during the period of the Warring States (480-222 B.C.).
The full title of the paper is “Toward a More Comprchensive Concept of Life,” in Analecta Husserliana, vol. 17 (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1984), pp. 21–30.
The Works of Mencius, ed. James Legge, bk. 7, pt. 2, Chap. 16.
Jen chih Che-hsüeh (Philosophy of Man) (Taipei: Chung-yang-wen-wu-kung-ying-she, 1982), pp. 192–3.
The full title of the paper is “Vom himmlischen Mandat zum Fatum — Aspekte der chinesischen Religiosität.” The condensed form of this paper is published in Philosophy of Religion: Proceedings of the 8th International Wittgenstein Symposium, 15th to 21th August 1983 (Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1984), pp. 202-4.
The Book of Poetry, ed. James Legge, vol. 4, pt. 3, bk. 1, pp. 427–36.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Le phénomène humain (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1955), pp. 299, 337.
Hsün-tzu, Hsün-tzu-chi-chieh (Taipei: World Press, 1961), bks. 17, 19.
Tung Chung-shu, Ch’ün-ch’iu-fan-lu (Taipei: He-lo Press, 1974), bks. 48–52, 69.
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© 1986 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Hang, T.TC. (1986). Man as the Junction of Yin-Yang Relationships and Cosmic Heart A Phenomenological Interpretation of Some Chinese Ancient Texts about Human Nature. In: Tymieniecka, AT. (eds) The Phenomenology of man and of the Human Condition. The Yearbook of Phenomenological Research, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4596-8_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4596-8_2
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