Abstract
This chapter explores the connections and philosophical differences between Daoism and Confucianism. After a brief exploration of the conditions under which these two traditions were identified as separate traditions, the chapter compares the two traditions. The comparisons are outlined in three sections, focusing in particular on: the individual within the environment, the socio-political world, and cultivation of the self.
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Notes
- 1.
It is important to note here that the relation between Daoism and Confucianism fluctuated through different periods. For example, during the Song dynasty (Song Chao 宋朝: 960–1279 CE), Confucians such as Cheng Hao (程顥: 1032–1085) and his brother Cheng Yi (程頤: 1033–1107), as well as Zhu Xi (朱熹: 1130–1200), were fierce critics of Daoist thought.
- 2.
In the Shiji, there are two references to encounters between the two men. The first occurs in a chapter on the details of Kongzi (Shiji 47; “Kongzi Shijia” 〈孔子世家〉) and the second in a chapter relating to the details of Laozi and Han Fei (Shiji 63; “Laozi Han Fei Liezhuan” 〈老子韓非列傳〉).
- 3.
Angus Graham believes that the earliest reference to Kongzi’s learning experience with Lao Dan is from the Lüshi Chunqiu (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals 《 呂氏春秋》), a text dated to around 240 BCE. It mentions three people Kongzi has learnt from: Lao Dan (老聃), Meng Su Kui (孟蘇夔) and Jing Su (靖叔) (Graham 1998: 27).
- 4.
In the fifth chapter of the Zhuangzi (“De Chong Fu” 〈德充符〉), Kongzi does not speak directly with Lao Dan. However, Lao Dan comments that Kongzi has not acquired complete freedom from a number of worldly concerns. In the fourteenth chapter of Zhuangzi (“Tianyun” 〈天運〉), there is an account of the meeting between Kongzi and Lao Dan that resembles the Shiji account. It is unclear whether the Zhuangzi account may have been the source of the Shiji account (refer to Graham 1998: 25).
- 5.
In the Liji, a work of the last century BCE, Lao Dan, a senior, addresses Kongzi by his name Qiu (Graham 1998: 26).
- 6.
Burton Watson discusses the nature of these writings: “The function of history…is twofold: to impart tradition and to provide edifying moral examples as embodied in the classics. These two traditions, one recording the words and deeds of history, the other illustrating moral principles through historical incidents, run through all Chinese historiography” (1999: 368).
- 7.
Graham also argues that the identification of Lao Dan with Laozi, the founder of Daoism, was not current with the story but established in stages: (a) Confucians promote the story about the willingness of Kongzi to learn from Lao Dan, probably an archivist. This story was current in around the 4th century BCE. (b) The adoption of Lao Dan as a spokesperson for “Chuangism” in the “Neipian” (〈內篇〉) of the Zhuangzi, by about 300 BCE. (c) Lao Dan is identified with Laozi; this helps to mark out “Laoism” as a distinctive doctrinal stream. (d) In order to render the Laozi acceptable to the Qin, various stories were promoted. These include Lao Dan as the Grand Historiographer who in 374 BCE predicted the rise of Qin, journeyed to the west and wrote the book of 5,000 characters for the gatekeeper, Yin Xi (尹喜). This stage and the previous one were completed by about 240 BCE. (e) Existing schools of thought were classified, as for instance, into the six doctrinal groups in the Shiji. According to this classification, both “Laoism” and “Chuangism” came under one doctrine, “Dao-ism” (Daojia). Since Lao Dan’s dates are prior to those of Zhuangzi’s, Lao Dan was identified as the founder of Daoism (Graham 1998: 36–7).
- 8.
- 9.
An issue of philosophical interest concerns the nature of these syntheses: were those who articulated the various views successful in integrating concepts and themes from different strands of thought? Or were the attempts at synthesis only partially successful, resulting in views that incorporated inconsistent mixes of concepts and themes? It has been suggested that earlier attempts (during the late Warring States and early in the Han period) at drawing together strands from different traditions had limited success; these attempts and their resultant philosophies are often labeled ‘syncretic’. In contrast, the method of synthesis—drawing together different concepts and themes in a more or less coherent unity—is thought to be a characteristic of Chinese thought of the (later) Han period. See, for example, the chapter divisions and titles in De Bary and Bloom’s Sources of Chinese Tradition. Chapter 9, “Syncretic Visions of State, Society, and Cosmos,” cover texts from the late Warring States to the early Han period (pp. 235–282). Chapter 10, “The Imperial Order and Han Synthesis,” discusses texts of the Han period (pp. 283–352).
- 10.
The Zhongyong was originally thought to have been written by Kongzi’s grandson, Zisi (子思) as part of the text Zisizi (《子思子》). Contemporary scholars doubt this on the basis of extensive examination of its intellectual content (An 2003).
- 11.
The notion of “straw dogs” is philosophically interesting. Wang Bi interprets the phrase to mean “straw and dogs,” referring to the different categories in the natural world and how they are interdependent (Rump 1979: 17). D.C. Lau notes in his translation that “[i]n the T’ien yun chapter in the Chuang tzu it is said that straw dogs were treated with the greatest deference before they were used as an offering, only to be discarded and trampled upon as soon as they had served their purpose.” (1963: 61). According to Lau’s analysis, the straw dog is central to the sacrifice. However, taken out of that context, the straw dog loses its significance. If all things are as straw dogs, they are significant only within particular contexts. Furthermore, all things, including humanity, must pass on when the ‘sacrifice’ is over. Ames and Hall note: “There is nothing in nature, high or low, that is revered in perpetuity” (2003: 85). Could this passage also be understood as an ominous warning about attempts to elevate humanity?
- 12.
Wang Bi’s analysis of this passage presents the positive rendition of “tian di bu ren”: “Heaven and Earth leave what is natural (Tzu-jan [ziran], Self-so) alone. They do nothing and create nothing. The myriad things manage and order themselves. Therefore they are not benevolent. One who is benevolent will create things, set things up, bestow benefits on them and influence them. He gives favors and does something. When he creates, sets things up, bestows benefits on things and influences them, then things will lose their true being… If nothing is done to the myriad things, each will accord with its function, and everything is then self-sufficient” (trans. Rump 1979: 17).
- 13.
Hall and Ames state that “Our basic claim is that the early Confucians and Taoists in large measure share a common process cosmology defined in terms of “focus” and “field.”” (1987: 238–9). See also Ames and Hall 2003: 11–29. According to Hall and Ames, the criteria for assessing the focus-field self are based on the appropriate or most fitting action given the circumstances of that particular situation. This aesthetic mode of evaluation, which in Confucianism “permits the mutual interdependence of all things to be assessed in terms of particular contexts defined by social roles and functions” (Hall and Ames 1987: 248), is called ‘ars contextualis’—the art of contextualization. Ames explains how ars contextualis works in practical terms: “[The Classical Chinese] expressed a “this-worldly” concern for the concrete details of immediate existence as a basis for exercising their minds in the direction of generalities and ideals. They began from an acknowledgement of the uniqueness and importance of the particular person and the particular historical event to the world, while at the same time, stressing the interrelatedness of this person or event with the immediate context” (Ames 1986: 320).
- 14.
Naturally, we would expect many insightful comparisons between Chinese and Western philosophy in their conceptions of selfhood and views of embeddedness. It is beyond the scope of this discussion to examine the comparisons.
- 15.
Lauren Pfister raises some thoughtful questions about the gaps in scholarship in this area; refer to his “Environmental Ethics and Some Probing Questions for Traditional Chinese Philosophy.”
- 16.
“The common people may be made to follow a path, but not to understand it.” “民可使由之, 不可使知之.” An interesting discussion of the tension between the complementary roles—or competing roles, as the case may be—is provided by William De Bary 1991.
- 17.
Schwartz suggests that these passages on methods of statecraft and military strategy are aligned with the Huang-Lao tradition (1985: 213–4).
- 18.
Refer to the discussion by Hourdequin 2004 on understanding Confucian thought primarily in terms of the institutionalization of convention within society.
- 19.
Graham argues that the mirror metaphor is not associated with a ‘surrender to passions’ but rather ‘impersonal calm which mirrors the situation with utmost clarity’ (2001: 14; 16).
- 20.
Four of the seven “Neipian” of the Zhuangzi are preoccupied with this question (“Ren Jian Shi” 〈人間世〉; “De Chong Fu” 〈德充符〉; “Da Zong Shi” 〈大宗師〉 and “Ying Di Wang” 〈應帝王〉.
- 21.
- 22.
Measure of land area.
- 23.
- 24.
Refer to Lai (2006a: 109–24) for a detailed discussion of the cultivation of skills in Confucianism.
- 25.
Here, we only need to imagine the mental discipline of the cicada catcher. The point here is that there is mental discipline as well and practice is not simply thought of in behaviourist terms. Nevertheless, we must be mindful of attempts to characterize the mental in pre-Qin Chinese philosophy as if it were detached from the physiological. Even on its own, the notion of xin (mind-heart) challenges such simplistic dichotomies.
- 26.
It is important to understand the fuller implications of zuowang within the context of the Zhuangzi. We must especially focus on Zhuangzi’s hesitations about involvement in political life in the terms set out by society then. See footnote 20.
References
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Lai, K. (2015). Daoism and Confucianism. In: Liu, X. (eds) Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2927-0_21
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