Abstract
With a particular reference to F. S. C. Northrop’s comparative philosophy, a multicultural strategy can be drawn from Confucianism. What comes into focus is the concept of harmony without uniformity or harmonization without being patternized, because it can be deployed to meet with the chaotic times relating to global and glocal tendencies at present stage. It is no longer difficult to come across some Western elements in the Eastern culture and vice versa. On this account, it is needful to reflect upon a new philosophos poiesis with particular reference to an adaptable attitude toward the reciprocal appreciation of all the cultures in addition to a high awareness of their merits and demerits altogether. Such reciprocal appreciation embodies the teleological principle that is pertained to multilateral sensibility, transcultural empathy, dialogical spirit, cosmopolitan outlook, creative transformation, and “world understanding” at its best.
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Notes
- 1.
F. S. C. Northrop, The Meeting of East and West (New York: Macmillan Company, 1946, rep. 1960), p. 454.
- 2.
F. S. C. Northrop, The Meeting of East and West, pp. ix–x.
- 3.
Ibid. , pp. 495–496.
- 4.
Nakamura Moto, Bijiao sixiang lun [A Comparative Study of Ideas] (trans. Wu Zhen, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Renmin Press, 1987), p. 140.
- 5.
The argument is also shared by other Confucian scholars like Luo Chenglie. Cf. Luo Chenglie, “Kongzi de sixiang hexin—hé” [Harmony as the Kernel of Confucius’ Thought], in Fudan Daxue Lishixi (ed.), Rujia sixiang yu weilai shehui [Confucianist Ideas and the Future Society] (Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Press, 1991), pp. 315–326.
- 6.
Yu Dunkang, “The Concept of ‘Great Harmony’ in The Book of Changes,” in Silke Krieger & Rolf Trauzettel (eds.), Confucianism and the Modernization of China (Mainz: v. Hase & Koehler Verlag, 1991), p. 51.
- 7.
Ibid., p. 53.
- 8.
The English translation is modified with a particular reference to these two versions: Confucius, The Analects (trans. D. C. Lau, London: Penguin Books, 1979), p. 61; The Confucian Analects. In The Four Books (trans. James Legge, Changsha: Hunan Press, 1995), p. 69.
- 9.
The English rendering is rephrased with reference to the above two versions by D. C. Lau and James Legge apart from a bilingual one by Cai Xiqin and Lai Bo. See Analects of Confucius (Beijing: Sinolingua, 1994), p. 244.
- 10.
The Confucian Analects (trans. James Legge), 17:13.
- 11.
The passage is quoted from Zuo zhuan [Zuo Qiuming’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals], Zhaogong XX, 522 B. C.
- 12.
Zhang Zai, “Taihe pian” [On Great Harmony], in Wang Fuzhi, Zhangzi zhengmeng zhu [Commentary on Zhang Zai’s Works] (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1975), p. 25. The English rendering is slightly modified with a particular reference to Wing-tsit Chan’s translation. Cf. Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1973), p. 506.
- 13.
The English rendering is slightly modified with a particular reference to Wing-tsit Chan’s translation.
- 14.
The fable is cited from Yanzi chunqiu (Historical Anecdotes of Yanzi). See K. L. Kiu (ed. & tr.), 100 Ancient Chinese Fables (Hong Kong: Commercial Press Limited, 1991), p. 145.
- 15.
Jane Dewy, “Biography of John Dewey,” in P. A. Schilpp (ed.), The Philosophy of John Dewey (New York: Tudor, 1951), p. 42. Also see Richard Shusterman, “Preface to the Chinese Version,” in his Pragmatist Aesthetics (trans. Peng Feng, Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2002), pp. 2–3. Note: The Chinese version is translated from the English original. Cf. Richard Shusterman, Pragmatist Aesthetics: Living Beauty , Rethinking Art (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000).
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Wang, K. (2019). Harmonization Without Being Patternized. In: Chinese Culture of Intelligence. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3173-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3173-2_3
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