Book Review
Review on A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy
Known for its high abstraction and strict logic, philosophy often causes a kind of misunderstanding of unintelligibility and separation from life to the public. As a matter of fact, everything from social groups to individuals is inseparable from philosophy and is guided by philosophy in thoughts and actions. At the same time, in-depth study and understanding of the history of Chinese philosophy is of great significance to individuals and society. The Chinese Philosophy and its history reflect the unique characteristics of Chinese and provide a possible solution to the ideological challenges people face today.
To begin with, the various schools of traditional Chinese philosophy have formed their own theories like colorful flowers in a large garden, each reflecting the particular need or ideal of a different class of Chinese people. "Confucianists are generally literati; Mohism, generally from the travel of the swordsmen; Taoist, generally from the hermit; Logicians are generally a debater; Yin and Yang, generally from the alchemist; Legalists are among the magicians. " Representatives of thought: Confucianism: Confucius, mencius, xunzi; Mohist: mozi; Daoism: Yang zhu, laozi and zhuangzi; Logicians: huishi; Legalist: han fei...It can be seen that Chinese philosophy is extensive and profound .
Chinese philosophy has been constantly updated and enriched in the course of thousands of years of development, along with the development of typical nation character. The new Taoist proposed “stand aloof from worldly success and not to seek fame and wealth”; Song Confucianism fused the three aspects of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism to study "heart" and "principle"......Throughout the history of Chinese philosophy, reflection and criticism within and between schools have played a vital role. The same is true for individual natural persons. The maturity of human thought is inseparable from the fertile soil of reflection and criticism.
Therefore, Chinese philosophy to the Chinese people, especially the ancient Chinese people, has the characteristics of close to religion but very different from religion. Similar to western religions, Chinese philosophy derived from Chinese temperament (such as geography, economy, family system, art, etc.) satisfies the public's pursuit of transcendence; However, what the Chinese people understand and appreciate in Chinese philosophy is more "super ethical", which makes the Chinese people not to form a firm worship and belief in god like the people in other countries in the world. It is helpful for foreigners to understand Chinese philosophy by means of explaining the seeming similarities and substantial differences between Chinese philosophy and western religion. Mapping to the current situation of deep integration between Chinese traditional culture and western culture, the comparison between Chinese philosophy and western religion is endowed with a new connotation of the era -- helping the younger generation of readers to master the past, present and future of Chinese philosophy, and establish cultural confidence and the three views of life, world and values.
From the perspective of history, Mr. Feng youlan, with a macro perspective and time as the clue, has shown us a clear line of thought from the origin to the development of various schools of Chinese philosophy, including Confucianism, Taoism, mohism and so on. In the whole process of its development, it presents us a cultural flourishing period in the complicated world of ancient China. During the spring and autumn period and the warring states period, the hundred schools of scholars wrote books or wandered among the various princes to express their own ways of governing the country. When feng youlan makes a precise exposition of the history of Chinese philosophy, he combines thoughts and interests to make people find that philosophical thinking can also be shown in life [1] .
In modern times, the introduction of western philosophy, science and religion had a great impact on the traditional philosophy. The May 4th movement of the new culture movement is the peak of ideological collision. Faced with opportunities and challenges, some scholars have doubts about traditional philosophy. More and more people use the logic of western philosophy and combine scientific facts to optimize traditional Chinese philosophy. That is when Mr. Feng youlan put forward "go on". This theory also has important implications today. In today's world, the trend toward globalization is unstoppable. We must face the impact of various cultures and trends of thought. The recent violence in Hong Kong is the result of a failure to deal with the clash of Chinese and western philosophies. College students in the face of western culture should not shake the cultural foundation. They should distinguish right from wrong, instead of being credulous. To summary, the interpretation, inheritance and development of Chinese philosophy should be based on the basic concepts of Chinese philosophy, rooted in the long history of Chinese philosophy, mastering over the development and application of ancient and modern times, and in the face of the world's philosophy.
In a word, Feng youlan's book a brief history of Chinese philosophy , which aimes at readers around the world, explains the content of Chinese philosophy in a simple way and clarifies the development of Chinese philosophy. It’s meaningful for young people from both home and abroad to read this book, which contributes to broader horizons as well as the establishment of healthy values.
[1] zhang yue, Lou shuhua. Three dimensions of a brief history of Chinese philosophy by feng youlan [J]. Journal of changchun normal university,2013,32(03):17-18+5.
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