Abstract
In this chapter, the author mainly discusses people’s views on death in two ancient societies, specifically involving the following three aspects: (1) the popular views of death and what constituted ‘a good death’ in Greece and China; (2) a comparison of ‘The House of Hades’ and Psychē in Greece with ‘Yellow Springs’ (黄泉) and Gui (鬼) in China; and (3) the power of the dead. From those, it is evident that the Chinese and the Greeks follow different modes of meaning-making when they face the same challenge of death. In ancient Greece, the Greeks’ fear of not being buried may have been greater than the fear of death itself. In ancient China, the Chinese tried to ‘serve the dead as they served them alive’.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The translation is from A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt, Harvard University Press, 1999.
- 2.
Bruce Lincoln said: ‘That nothingness was the expectation is clear from the P-I-E formulaic description of the otherworld as a realm “without labor; without hunger, without thirst; without illness, old age, or death.” Though at first it all sounds quite enchanting, on further reflection one is forced to recognize that there is really nothing there.’ See Bruce Lincoln, Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice, The University of Chicago Press, 1991, p. 15.
- 3.
On the death of heroes in Archaic period, see Gregory Nagy, The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry, Revised Edition, The Johns Hopkins University, 1997.
- 4.
The translation is from W. R. M. Lamb, Harvard University Press, 1930.
- 5.
Hans Küng argued: ‘Confucianism is a humanistic and moral religion in contrast to utilitarian folk religion. Indeed, with its accent on human relationships, Confucianism often counts as the moral religion par excellence, definitely capable of being put on a level with the ethos of Christianity.’ See Hans Küng and Julia Ching, Christianity and Chinese Religions, Doubleday, 1989, p. 58.
- 6.
Ying -shih Yu said, ‘The whole development of immortality both as an idea and as a cult from its beginning in the late Warring -States period down through Han times may be best characterized by one word: worldliness. This worldly spirit, as has been observed, not only has its historical origin in the universal desire for longevity traceable to ancient China, ideologically it is also entrenched in the general, humanistic emphasis on life characteristic of the Chinese mind.’ The author also discussed the differences in the idea of ‘immortality’ in Chinese and in English. See Ying-shih Yu, ‘Life and Immortality in the Mind of Han China’, in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 25 (1964–1965), pp. 80–122.
- 7.
Fung Yu-Lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 1. The Period of the Philosophers (From the Beginnings to Circa 100 B.C.), trans. by Derk Bodde, Princeton University Press, 1983, pp. 345, 346.
- 8.
Fung Yu-Lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 1, p. 26.
- 9.
Ying -shih Yu, ‘Life and Immortality in the Mind of Han China’, in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 25 (1964–1965), pp. 80–122.
- 10.
Generally, see E. Rohde, Psychē: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality among the Greeks, translated from the eighth edition by W. B. Hillis, Ares Publishers, Inc., 1987; Jan Bremmer , The Early Greek Conception of the Soul, Princeton University Press, 1983; Robert Garland, The Greek Way of Death, New York: Cornell University Press, 1985.
- 11.
Bruce Lincoln argues that this is a ubiquitous view of primitive Indo-European nations. He said: ‘That nothingness was the expectation is clear from the P-I-E formulaic description of the otherworld as a realm ‘without labor; without hunger, without thirst; without illness, old age, or death.’ Though at first it all sounds quite enchanting, on further reflection one is forced to recognize that there is really nothing there.’ see Bruce Lincoln, Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice, The University of Chicago Press, 1991, p. 15.
- 12.
Marria Serena Mirto, Death in the Greek World: From Homer to the Classical Age, trans. by A. M. Osborne, University of Oklahoma Press, 2012, p. 10.
- 13.
The translation is from A. T. Murray, revised by George E. Dimock, Harvard University Press, 1998.
- 14.
The translation is from Glenn W. Most, Harvard University Press, 2006.
- 15.
Aristotle, On the Soul, 402a1–20.
- 16.
Cf. W. K. C. Guthrie, Orpheus and Greek Religion: A Study of Orphic Movement, Princeton University Press, 1993.
- 17.
Plato, Cratylus, 400C, 408B; Laws, 829; Republic, 364E; Symposium, 218B; etc.
- 18.
Aristotle, On the Soul, 410b; Metaphysics, 983b27–30, 1071b27, 1091b5–8; Generation of Animals, 734a19–20; etc.
- 19.
Lucian, On Funerals, 2–10.
- 20.
Ian Morris, ‘Attitudes toward Death in Archaic Greece’, in Classical Antiquity, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Oct., 1989), pp. 296–320.
- 21.
‘In the ancient Chinese mind, the Yellow Springs running deep beneath the ground both nourished life and inspired fear. […] the Yellow Springs refers to the final destination of all mortal human beings after death. As such the Yellow Springs evoked a different sort of ambivalence, because this was the place where one would be reunited with loved ones as well as enemies. Ancient texts offer examples for both views.’ See Wu Hung, The Art of the Yellow Spring: Understanding Chinese Tombs, Reaktion Books Ltd., 2010, p. 8. Also see Ying -shih Yu, ‘“O Soul, Come Back!” A Study in the Changing Conceptions of the Soul and Afterlife in Pre-Buddhist China’, in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 47, No. 2 (1987), pp. 363–395.
- 22.
It is difficult to find equivalent terminology to translate these words into English, so we just generally understand them as ‘ghost’ or ‘soul’.
- 23.
The orthodox Confucian view is best presented in Mu Chien, Soul and Heart (in Chinese), Taipei: Lien-ching chu-pan-she, 1976. Also see Ying -shih Yu, ‘Life and Immortality in the Mind of Han China’, in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 25 (1964–1965), pp. 80–122; Ying-shih Yu, ‘“O Soul, Come Back!” A Study in the Changing Conceptions of the Soul and Afterlife in Pre-Buddhist China’, in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Dec., 1987), pp. 363–395.
- 24.
Xiaoqun Wu, ‘An Angle of Comparative Civilizations: Ancient Funeral in China and Greece’ (in Chinese), in Guangming Daily, July 8, 2013.
- 25.
The translation is from Hugh Lloyd-Jones with commentary, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1970.
- 26.
According to Eran Lupu, the Greek Sacred Law deals with four subjects: sacred space (mainly sanctuaries), sacred officials (mainly priests), performance of cult (a particularly diverse class), and religious events (festivals and ceremonies). The funerary law is included in the cultic performance. See Eran Lupu, Greek Sacred Law: A Collection of New Documents (NGSL), Brill, 2005, p. 9.
- 27.
As for the different mode of thinking between the Western and the Chinese, see Chun-Chieh Huang, ‘The Defining Character of Chinese Historical Thinking’, in History and Theory, Vol. 46, No. 2 (May 2007), pp. 180–188.
References
Bremmer, Jan. 1983. The Early Greek Conception of the Soul. Princeton University Press.
Chien, Mu钱穆. 2004. Soul and Heart 灵魂与心. Guang Xi Normal University Press 广西 师范大学出版社.
Fung, Yu-Lan. 1983. A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 1. The Period of the Philosophers (From the Beginnings to Circa 100 B.C.). Trans. by Derk Bodde. Princeton University Press.
Garland, Robert. 1985. The Greek Way of Death. New York: Cornell University Press.
Guthrie, W. K. C. 1993. Orpheus and Greek Religion: A Study of Orphic Movement. Princeton University Press.
Huang, Chun-Chieh. 2007. The Defining Character of Chinese Historical Thinking. History and Theory 46 (2): 180–188.
Küng, Hans and Ching, Julia. 1989. Christianity and Chinese Religions. Doubleday.
Lincoln, Bruce. 1991. Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice. The University of Chicago Press.
Lupu, Eran. 2005. Greek sacred Law: A Collection of New Documents (NGSL). Brill.
Mirto, Marria Serena. 2012. Death in the Greek World: From Homer to the Classical Age. Trans. by A. M. Osborne. University of Oklahoma Press.
Morris, Ian. 1989. Attitudes toward Death in Archaic Greece. Classical Antiquity 8 (2): 296–320.
Nagy, Gregory. 1997. The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry. Rev. ed. The Johns Hopkins University.
Rohde, E. 1987. Psychē: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality among the Greeks. Trans. from the eighth edition by W. B. Hillis. Ares Publishers, Inc.
Wu, Hung. 2010. The Art of the Yellow Spring: Understanding Chinese Tombs. London: Reaktion Books.
Wu, Xiaoqun 吴晓群. 2013. An Angle of Comparative Civilizations: Ancient Funeral in China and Greece一个文明比较的视角——中国与希腊的古代丧葬仪式, Guangming Daily 光明日报, 8 July.
Yu, Ying-shih. 1964–1965. Life and Immortality in the Mind of Han China. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 25: 80–122.
Yu, Ying-shih. 1987. ‘O Soul, Come Back!’ A Study in the Changing Conceptions of the Soul and Afterlife in Pre-Buddhist China. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 47 (2): 363–395.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wu, X. (2018). Attitudes towards Death in Ancient Greece and Ancient China. In: Mourning Rituals in Archaic & Classical Greece and Pre-Qin China. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0632-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0632-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0631-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0632-7
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)