Chinese Philosophy Demystified; Why Confucius & other Greats made Sense

Imagine yourself sitting cross-legged with the master Kongzi (Confucius), outdoors in his garden pavilion, watery sunlight filtering through the trees. After some time, he turns to you and says, “This is ‘The Way’ and it is indisputable”. Now, depending...

Previously: “You can bring the tea, Xunzi”, Kongzi says speaking as though addressing the open window. “Right away master”, Xunzi hurries out again, giving his companion who has been waiting at the door a sickly leer. Here it is...

With such confidence that he had found the way to the true Dao, you can imagine the consternation with which Kongzi would have viewed the emergence of competing ideologies. Many of the ideas in early Chinese thought exhibit close...

Previously: “My poor cherries,” Kongzi moaned, then hesitating a moment. “And why would the neighbours want to see the lake, they have nothing to contemplate. ‘Tian-a’, they couldn’t even see the Dao if it was before their noses.” While...

After a period of unpopularity, a resurgence of Confucian thought began in the late Tang dynasty. Later, scholars such as Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming, determined to reintroduce or rediscover the true value of Confucian teachings in the Song...

Previously: Zhu’s philosophy rested on the idea that everything in existence could be divided into two groups, known as li and qi. Here li, translatable as “principle” refers to the structure of the universe, such that everything in existence...