◎3-Lecture_Ancient_thoughts.pptVIP

The Ancient Chinese Thoughts LUO Xuanmin, Tsinghua University Lecture Three The Ancient Chinese Thoughts I General introduction The core of ancient Chinese culture is its way of thinking. Thinking, being the soul of ancient Chinese culture, reflects its essence in the form of concise and coherent theories. Boasting a long history and a variety of contents and schools, ancient Chinese thought is extensive and profound, with Confucianism and Taoism as the principal part. 1, From the historical point of view, Confucianism and Taoism, being the earliest schools of thought, are the quintessence of ancient Chinese civilization before the Spring and Autumn Period. Both schools came into being in the late Spring and Autumn Period, a time when the dominant position of the official or imperial school of thought was challenged by other emerging schools of thought, or private schools of thought. And Confucius and Lao Zi, respective founders of Confucianism and Taoism, are in fact the forerunners and great thinkers of private schools of thought. 2. From the viewpoint of the content, Confucianism and Taoism are complimentary, constituting the dialectical unity and balance in ancient Chinese cultural system. Although both Confucianism and Taoism originated from ancient Chinese culture, they sought to observe and explain the world using entirely different or opposite approaches, thus forming two drastically different world outlooks in content and style as well. This not only enriches ancient Chinese thinking, but also results in a balanced system, dialectical and dynamic, which, because of the complementarities and oppositeness of the two schools, makes it possible for ancient Chinese thinking to regulate and renew itself, acquiring a vigorous vitality in its long and stormy history of development. Confucianism concentrates on the human side, stressing the power of virtue in the human chara