Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings
The review of: Zhuangzi. (2020). Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings (B. Ziporyn, trans.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing
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The review of: Zhuangzi. (2020). Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings (B. Ziporyn, trans.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing
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There is no teaching on world creation in Confucianism. Nevertheless, the Classics of Confucianism speak clearly about faith in God whom they call the Lord Supreme (Shangdi) or Heaven (Tian), and consider him Source of life and Patron of people. Missionaries, philologists, exegetes and even archeologists have studied the concept of God in works of Confucius and Confucianism in general. Confucianism is a “book” doctrine, and the Classics of Confucianism can be compared to the Bible. They testify faith in personal God, or in absolute Principle of the universe. In the books of Classics wise ancient sovereigns are presented as interlocutors of God, receiving God’s instructions and asking for his protection. The Classics of Confucianism take a reader into the world of ethical values and full dependency on celestial Power. In Confucianism, ethical implications of faith in God are especially emphasized. The Lord is Source and Principle of moral order: he points out what is good and what is wicked. The main task of a man is to perceive the path of Heaven. According to Mengzi, Heaven lies in the heart of man, so he who knows his own heart knows the Absolute. Humaneness (ren) is the principal virtue of Confucianism. In philosophical systems of Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming and Feng Youlan, ren acquires features of universality. Ren does not only characterize unselfish human relations but also a deep connection between a man and the universe. Ren embodies the value of a human being as a person. Having ren in man’s inside testifies the existence in man of what surpasses the man himself - i.e. Deity.
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There is no teaching on the Creation in Confucianism. Nevertheless, the Classics of Confucianism speak clearly about faith in God, whom they call the Lord Supreme (Shangdi) or Heaven (Tian), and consider him the Source of life and Patron of people. Missionaries, philologists, exegetes and even archeologists have studied the concept of God in the works of Confucius and Confucianism in general. Confucianism is a “book” doctrine, and the Classics of Confucianism can be compared to the Bible. They testify to faith in a personal God, or in an absolute Principle of the universe. In the books of the Classics, wise ancient sovereigns are presented as interlocutors of God, receiving God’s instructions and asking for his protection. The Classics of Confucianism take the reader into the world of ethical values and full dependency on celestial Power. In Confucianism, the ethical implications of faith in God are especially emphasized. The Lord is Source and Principle of moral order: he points out what is good and what is wicked. The main task of man is to perceive the path to Heaven. According to Mengzi, Heaven lies in the heart of man, so he who knows his own heart knows the Absolute. Humaneness (ren) is the principal virtue of Confucianism. In the philosophical systems of Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming and Feng Youlan, ren acquires features of universality. Ren does not only characterize unselfish human relations, but also a deep connection between man and the universe. Ren embodies the value of a human being as a person. Having ren in man’s inside testifies to the existence in man of what surpasses man himself, i.e. Deity.
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The Japanese zen tradition and in the Heidegger’s philosophy delicately interconnect with the consideration on the external nature and the contemplation of the human existence. The author relates Heidegger’s philosophical concept of Gelassenheit with the Japanese practices of zoan and koan. The author also compares the totality of nature in the zen tradition with the Heidegger’s Sein and with his late oriental traditions studies. On the other hand, the author opposes Japanese cultural logic, spontaneity, and transitivity to the Heidegger’s abstract thought and to the German philosopher’s inclination to the Eurocentric reflections.
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The Japanese zen tradition and in the Heidegger’s philosophy delicately interconnect with the consideration on the external nature and the contemplation of the human existence. The author relates Heidegger’s philosophical concept of Gelassenheit with the Japanese practices of zoan and koan. The author also compares the totality of nature in the zen tradition with the Heidegger’s Sein and with his late oriental traditions studies. On the other hand, the author opposes Japanese cultural logic, spontaneity, and transitivity to the Heidegger’s abstract thought and to the German philosopher’s inclination to the Eurocentric reflections.
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The article describes the idea of “Ichirei shikon” – a concept specific to Japanese Shintoism, according to which the immaterial part of man consists of four souls united in one spirit. It looks into the prevalent shintoist views on the human soul in the Kindai period (19th – 20th century) and the ideas of such scholars as Atsutane Hirata, Masayuki Suzuki and Chikaatsu Honda, whose views have played a key role in shaping the ideology of modern Shintoism, become the base of most of the so-called “new religions” and paved the way of modern spiritualism in Japan.
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This article examines the changes in the linguistic and cultural concepts of freedom (自由zìyóu) in the Chinese linguistic worldview, which have occurred as a result of extralinguistic and socio-cultural transformations brought by globalization processes between the 20th and 21st centuries. The starting point of the research is the traditional ideas about freedom, rooted in Confucianism and the Taoist worldview, according to which disobedience and self-will of the individual can lead society and the country to chaos, so freedom should be limited by norms and prohibitions. By studying empirical data with the help of definitional, quantitative, interpretative, and contextual analysis, a total of more than 1000 phrases with the lexical unit of interest were gathered. Thus, the idea of freedom in modern Chinese society was described in great detail. The results obtained were accompanied with the data of the quantitative analysis of the most frequent collocations based on the materials of the Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese in Peking University. The article provides many examples that prove that the lexeme 自由 zìyóu occurs in phrases that describe numerous and diverse spheres of human activity. The conclusion was made that it has expanded its combinability capabilities as a result of the semantic shift that took place with the penetration of liberal ideas into China from the West. The research is of great importance and benefit for Chinese philologists, as well as for anyone interested in studying globalization processes and their impact on the traditional cultures of the East.
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The purpose of the article is to study the problem of the influence of philosophical views and traditions on the musical culture of China. The methodology of the study is to use historical and biographical methods in the study of this topic. The scientific novelty of the article is to study the feasibility of the problem of philosophical views of China, based on the country's musical traditions. The historical names of the philosophers who influenced the development of the musical arts and education system, which affected the cultural traditions of China, were singled out. Conclusions. Based on the study of the problem of philosophical views of China's worldview system, the country's development processes and distinctive culture were identified. The problem of studying the philosophical system of ancient China as the basis for the emergence of the musical tradition has interested many scholars, among whom are: L.S. Vasilyeva [1], Yu.M. Gradova [2], Hou Jiang [8], D.T. Suzuki [7] and others. Because it influenced the cultural life of the countries of the East. This question highlighted the philosophical trends that underpin China's traditions. Namely, philosophical traditions influenced the country's musical art. Thus, China's cultural traditions were based on ancient Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Special attention has been paid to the issues of education and music in China. A person must be ethically educated, endowed with spirituality, and truth. Music education played an important role in the culture of China because it was a carrier of the culture of the ancient Chinese. Numerical concepts played their magic role. According to the philosophy of Taoism, music should promote the emotional state of man and the harmonious connection with nature. Confucius emphasizes the comprehensive development of humans while emphasizing the morality of the individual. This is clearly reflected in his works: Shijing (Song Book), Shu Jing (History Book), Lun Yui (Conversations and Speeches). In the third and sixth centuries, China's musical culture was influenced by philosophical tendencies based on the Lao-Buddhist vision. Music played the role of expressing the essence of being. So, in the sixth century, a piece of music appeared for the musical instrument "Price" by composer Qiu Min "Yulanpu" or "Lone Orchid". The worldview system of ancient China became the basis for the emergence of musical traditions in the countries of the East. This problem is of interest to scientists and necessitates further development in the study of this issue.
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The article unveils the transcendental nature of consciousness in classical Buddhism. The specifics and structure of psyche in Abhidharmistic philosophy is clarified. The unsubstantialistic character of dharms is formulated. The paper also presents the structures of Buddhistic subjectivity, as well as the significance and functions of Buddhistic “contemplation” (dhyana) are revealed.
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The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the doctrine of Confucianism. The author outlines the figure of Confucius, analyzes the historical background of the initial stage of the formation of Confucianism and the place of this period in the history of China, the main components of the Confucian Canon, principles and categories, the internal logic of the doctrine, the significance of the doctrine for the formation of an integral system of Chinese worldview, moral, ethical and political judgments, attitudes and norms. Against the background of the study of a significant monographic literature, conclusions are drawn about the nature and features of the value core, the principles of China’s national identity. China is a country with an ancient almost continuous history. Throughout the historical period of its existence, it has exerted a huge influence not only on neighboring countries, but also on the world as a whole. Almost by the end of the XVIII century. China had the largest GDP and was one of the leading cultural centers. At the present stage, China has a significant economic, political and cultural impact even on fairly remote regions. Today, there is a great return of this country-civilization, on the one hand claiming world leadership in the XXI century, and on the other, it stands for a multipolar world. According to economic indicators, China is one of the three leading countries in the world and offers the world its model of globalization through the so-called "One belt one road" project. Confucius is a representative of the traditional Chinese ethical and legal paradigm, a brand that China offers to the world as part of its own globalization strategy, which provides for the creation of institutions that bear the name of this "first sage of the middle Kingdom" .
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The Chinese cultural tradition connects the origin and existence of the world, the human being and society with the presence of a unified and all-pervading energy substance. This substance creates both the formal structures and their comparability and interrelationship. This universal substance is shared on all levels and aspects of existence, regardless of their manifestation. In this mutual sharing, the substance undergoes its fluctuations and transformations which are expressed in constructive or destructive ways of stimulating or repressing influence. This substance can be perceived, studied, understood, guided, and used, consciously or not. This view delineates the unified cosmos in which the subjective and the objective are only a matter of reference in determining existence.
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In the article there investigated the epicurean fundamental paradigm of harmonization of the being, that developed from the antique age to the ideas of existentialism. It is analyzed the causes of treatment of European philosophy to the eastern philosophy in the twentieth century. It is appointed that the main existential problem of human is the removal of the fear concerning the Nature, the death, the world's evil, absurdity, the impossibility of true knowledge and freedom. This idea is common for Epicureanism, existentialism and Eastern philosophy. Existential contradiction "fear-suffering-ignorance-loneliness" is solved internally, through the formation of a certain attitude towards themselves and the outside world – ataraxia.
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The book I'm offering to the readers’ attention includes two parts - a brief introduction to the Chinese hieroglyphs in order to clarify their function in Japanese writing and etymology of one hundred Chinese hieroglyphs. The hundred hieroglyphs are selected by the Chinese Ministry of Culture in a way that is representative of the hieroglyphs as a whole. I hope this book will be useful to all who are interested in hieroglyphic cultures. – Bratislav Ivanov
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The Roman Mithraism is an Occidental variant of the cult of the ancient Iranian deity Mithra. The article explores the Iranian origin of some of the main mythological motives found in this Mystery religion and their interpretation through the prism of the Neo-Pythagoreanism and Neo-Platonism in the Late Antique Rome. A hypothesis is formulated about the fundamental significance of the concept of the logos or ratio in the context of the numerological and musical-astronomical allegories of the cult, derived from the Chaldean-Persian teachings and the science of ancient Sumer, permitting to reconstruct yet unsuspected aspects of its esoteric doctrine.
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Bratislav Ivanov is a Bulgarian author of works in areas of linguistics and culture of Japan and a translator from Japanese language. He graduated in Japanese Language and Literature from the Moscow State University. He took his specialization at the Japanese Language Institute. He is the author of many Japanese language articles and books, as well as a series of translations of classical Japanese poetry. He is the first classical Japanese language teacher at Sofia University. Bratislav Ivanov teaches Theoretical Grammar of Japanese Language at Sofia University and Veliko Tarnovo University "St. St. Cyril and Methodius". At present, he is the director of the Bulgarian-Japanese Educational and Cultural Center at the 18th School "William Gladstone" in Sofia. In 2009, Bratislav Ivanov was awarded the oldest Japanese Order - the Order of the Rising Sun - for contributions to the Japanese language studies and his teaching in Bulgaria.
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This scientific work, in its characteristic exposition, is a modest attempt at a comparative description of one of the most famous mythical creatures from ancient legends and its incarnations in the fabulous folk art of two peoples, which at first glance are distant and different, but both unique. antiquity and culture. The comparison between the dragon and the dragon and the other theriomorphic images perfectly illustrates the laws of myth-making, its diffusion and its modeling ability.This scientific work, in its characteristic exposition, is a modest attempt at a comparative description of one of the most famous mythical creatures from ancient legends and its incarnations in the fabulous folk art of two peoples, which at first glance are distant and different, but both unique antiquity and culture. The comparison between the dragon and the dragon and the other theriomorphic images perfectly illustrates the laws of myth-making, its diffusion and its modeling ability.
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The article discusses John Bell’s travel account The Travels of John Bell (1719) and focuses on the passages in which the author discusses the daily lives of common Chinese people. The analysis demonstrates that Bell’s travelogue follows – to a certain extent – the established imagological trends characteristic of the 18th century and in doing so falls well within the cultural paradigm of the Enlightenment. At the same time, it becomes clear that the Scottish physician is no ordinary traveler: he manages to maintain a much more objective and level-headed attitude towards the East than many of his traveling contemporaries.
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The essential wisdom of a thinker is intangible, unknowable and unspoken: the synthesis of poetical and ontological experience. The basic principle of Daoist philosophy and poetry implies the non-differentiating awareness of the enlightened mind – the root of creativity lies in the spontaneity of nature and a certain state of consciousness without strict logical parallels. By his communion with the cosmic rhythm the poet finds a spiritual resonance with all things and living creatures (the myriad entities – wanwu). The creative process of Dao is also the potentiality of the artist who transforms his ego in the constructive act and becomes part of the universe following the ‘self-so’ (zhiran). The highest level of accomplishment is impossible without the transformation of the self through meditation and concentration in order to reach the creative potential that animates all things without any division, reflection and artificial distinctions.
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This paper analyses Joseph Needham’s historical and philosophical reconstruction of history of development of mathematics and astronomy in traditional China. The present article provides important details on history of natural sciences in China with drawing a proper parallel between events from history of Western civilization, India and Islam countries. The author presents an analysis based on the historical reconstruction and philosophical comprehension of the Chinese variant of science development in relation to worldwide process of scientific thought’s formation.
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Like “The Catcher in the Rye” or “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “Botchan”, a hilarious tale about a young man's rebellion against "the system" in a country school, is a classic of its kind. Among Japanese readers both young and old it has enjoyed a timeless popularity, making it, according to Donald Keene, "probably the most widely read novel in modern Japan." The setting is Japan's Deep South, where the author himself spent some time teaching English in a boys' school. Into this conservative world, with its social proprieties and established pecking order, breezes Botchan, down from the big city, with scant respect for either his elders or his noisy young charges; and the result is a chain of collisions large and small. Much of the story seems to occur in summer, against the drone of cicadas, and in many ways this is a summer book light, funny, and never slow-moving. Here, in a lively new translation much better suited to Western tastes than any of its forebears, Botchan's homespun appeal is all the more apparent, and even those who have never been near the sunlit island on which these calamitous episodes take place should find in it uninterrupted entertainment.
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