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Zhu Xi and the Idea of One Body

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Dao Companion to ZHUXi’s Philosophy

Part of the book series: Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy ((DCCP,volume 13))

Abstract

Zhu Xi idealizes a state of existence in which one forms one body (yi ti 一體) with all things, describing the sage as being in such a state. This chapter will discuss the way he understands this idea and its philosophical implications. Zhu’s understanding of the idea has five dimensions: (1) sensitivity to harm to all things; (2) giving life to and nourishing all things; (3) viewing the human community in terms of family relationships; (4) a sense of mission and accountability; and (5) the idea of no self (無我). The first four dimensions draw on ideas before Zhu’s times, and Sect. 2 discusses the evolvement of these four themes from pre-Qin to early Song. Section 3 focuses on Zhu’s understanding of the idea of one body, how he draws on and integrates ideas of other early Song Confucians, inlcuidng Zhang Zai (1020–1077), Cheng Hao (1032–1085) and Cheng Yi (1033–1107). These early Song thinkers, including Zhu himself, highlight the idea of no self in relation to the idea of one body. Section 4 discusses the philosophical implications of the idea of one body, in particular its relation to contemporary discussions of related ideas such as sympathy, empathy, perspective taking, and self-other merging.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Legalist oriented texts such as the Hanfeizi similarly describes the ruler as parent (Hanfeizi1965: 11.12b–13a), but adds that, as the love of parents is not sufficient for this educational function, there is need for law and punishment to bring people to order (Hanfeizi1965: 19.3a–4a). Interestingly, given this role of the institution of law, the Guanzi even describes such institution as parent of the people (Guanzi1965: 6.3b).

  2. 2.

    I follow the dating of these texts in Qian 1982, vol. 5: 411–20 and Chan 1990: 305–10; see also Chan 1988: 62–79. Both Qian and Chan draw heavily on Wang Maohong’s A Chronological Record of the Life of ZhuXi 朱子年譜 (Wang Maohong 2002). See also Deng 1986: 11–12.

  3. 3.

    Zhu Xi, who compiled the Surviving Works of the Cheng Brothers, indicates that volume 15 contains the sayings of Cheng Yi, though he also notes the alternative view that these are Cheng Hao’s sayings.

  4. 4.

    I provide a more comprehensive and primarily philosophical treatment of this question in Shun 2018.

  5. 5.

    Dai Zhen, in his An Evidential Examination of the Key Terms and Ideas in the Mencius (Mengzi ziyi shuzheng 孟子字義疏証) (Dai 1982), emphasizes how reflection on one’s efforts to continue life in oneself should move one to also continue life in others, such as by helping them fulfill their desires.

  6. 6.

    Among Western thinkers, Albert Schweitzer’s emphasis on the idea of reverence for life depicts a similar phenomenon. He notes how reflecting on one’s own “will to live” fills one with reverence for the “will to live” that is in all things, and how reflecting on life in the natural order, including trees, flowers and insects, fills one with a similar sentiment. For him, ethics consists in one’s showing to the “will to live” in all things the same reverence one has to one’s own “will to live”; this involves not just a fellowship in suffering but also in joy and efforts (Schweitzer 2009: 136–40, 158–64).

  7. 7.

    Schweitzer also highlights this sense of responsibility as part of the reverence for life (Schweitzer 2009: 139).

  8. 8.

    See Shun 2018 for further elaborations.

  9. 9.

    This point is presumably part of what is conveyed by the idea that the deepest part of our ethical life has a dimension that goes beyond the theoretical or the rational and that eludes description by language. It involves a kind of experiential insight that has to be personally cultivated, going beyond the endorsement of what one has learnt. Schweitzer puts this point in terms of the mystical that lies at the limit of rationality (Schweitzer 2009: 107–11).

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  1. Department of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Kwong-loi Shun

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Shun, Kl. (2020). Zhu Xi and the Idea of One Body. In: Ng, Kc., Huang, Y. (eds) Dao Companion to ZHUXi’s Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29175-4_19

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