Abstract
At a time before the advancements in science, the heavens, or the sky and its relationship with humans was for ancient Chinese philosophers a key point of investigation and something they keenly sought to resolve. The idea of the heavens therefore played an important role in traditional Chinese philosophy. In the history of Chinese philosophy, there were three ways in which philosophers employed the concept of “the heavens,” first, as major-domo or chief steward of everything in the world.
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Notes
- 1.
When heaven is capitalised, this is meant to indicate a more religious usage for heaven. When it is not capitalised it refers to a more naturalistic understanding of the sky. The same principle applies to tian.
- 2.
Queen and Major (2016: 514), modified.
- 3.
Queen and Major (2016: 363), modified.
- 4.
Queen and Major (2016: 484), modified.
- 5.
Forke (1907: 99), modified. Throughout the translation, I have benefitted from Forke’s translation of Wang Bi’s Arguments Weighed.
- 6.
Forke (1907: 96), modified.
References
Forke, Alfred. 1907. Lun-Hêng: Philosophical Essays of Wang Ch‘ung. Translated by Alfred Forke. London: Luzac & Co.
Queen and Major, Sarah. A., John S. 2016 Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn; Attributed to Dong Zhongshu. Translated by Sarah A. Queen and John S. Major. New York: Columbia University Press.
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Wang, Y., Bao, Q., Guan, G. (2020). The Heavens (tian, 天). In: History of Chinese Philosophy Through Its Key Terms. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2572-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2572-8_3
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