Philosophy for the Ancient
Chinese, as depicted by Confucius, is something that is lived. This is depicted in the way Confucius lays
out the steps for self-cultivation. This self-cultivation is aimed at being a “chun tzu” or a “noble man”. Before we go
over the answer presented above, let us first clarify how the term “philosophy”
is to be understood in the Chinese civilization.
“Philosophy” has varied
definitions and descriptions, depending on the country or on the school of
thought which uses it. However, the Chinese people have a definite
concept of Philosophy. In Fung Yu-Lan’s book, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, he describes “philosophy” in
the Chinese civilization as “a type of reflective and systematic thinking” 1.
What Lan is trying to say in the
description that he gave, was that Philosophy is reflective because its essence
is about knowing and understanding basic life experiences, knowing realities, and
establishing wisdom out of such. It is systematic, because it involves certain
processes about one’s experiences in life that helps him to establish knowledge
and wisdom. These processes begin in one’s recognition of
facts, connecting the facts to the realities in society, and connecting them to
one’s personal vision, aims, and realities. Moreover,
these processes show that every reality or experience always has wisdom in
it. This wisdom is yet for one’s
discovery as he goes along in life. This
then leads him to the elevation of the mind rather than simply recognizing
facts and information. It is in this that
one gets to cultivate himself into a person with values.
Every experience or every reality
has a message. The need to discover its
message and to take this message into the depth of one’s life, are the core
purposes of philosophy. This means that
philosophy, in this sense, assists one to become a noble man. The steps on being a noble man are extending
one’s knowledge, rectifying one’s mind, investigating the knowledge or the
things around one’s environment, and finally making the will sincere. These four steps depict philosophy as
something that is lived, thus experienced, in the principle of action and deep
reflection that is implicit in the said steps.
In extending one’s knowledge, one
needs to utilize all that he had learned by the means of practice. In rectifying one’s mind, one needs to take a
step back and examine his way of thinking things through. In investigating the knowledge or things around
one’s environment, one needs to cross-examine the ideas and find meanings in
them. In making the will sincere, one needs to evaluate
his intentions in order to actualize it.
Based in all of these, it can be said that the
common concept between these is the principle of action. In order to experience something, one must
“initiate” it. One must take the first
step to understand and actualize ideas, principles, or concepts. This
is the same for the steps to cultivate one’s own self. One cannot perform a step without acting it
out. Once cannot “learn” a step unless
he “acts” the step. One cannot extend one’s knowledge without
“acting” the action of extending it. One
cannot make the will sincere without “acting” the action of making it sincere. It is
in action that one is able to experience something new and worthy.
Another common concept among
these is the principle of deep reflection.
Before doing anything, one must
engage in deep reflection. This is
implicit in the steps to self-cultivation.
As one “acts” the action of
extending his knowledge, making his will sincere, rectifying his mind, and
investigating things, he also involves himself in deep thinking. One
cannot cultivate himself properly without having a moment to gather all that he
had learned in the steps and deeply think about its effect and significance in
his way of living. It is in the deep reflection of things that
one is able to appropriate the learning he had gained and the improvements that
he did in the course of cultivating himself.
In this sense the individual
fuses the learning with himself. All the ideals he had gathered are not
suspended in the corners of his mind. It
is embedded in the way he lives these ideals.
It is in reflection that one is able to involve his thoughts, ideals,
and notions to life.
Every message of an experience or
reality has hidden meanings and principles. When one discovers the meanings of the
message and its principles, he becomes a man of knowledge. But
when one applies the meanings of the message and its principles in his life, he
becomes a man of wisdom, a noble man, a “chun
tzu.”
The steps provided by Confucius
to cultivate the self recognizes philosophy as something that is lived. It emphasizes that reflection and action are
significant in the process of self-cultivation.
Philosophy engages the individual
to think deeply about his life. It is
this direct involvement in life which makes the steps philosophical in
nature. It is
a gradual learning and relearning. It is not simply done in a random
fashion. It is life and being transformed by experiences
and realities. Moreover, the steps
justify the notion of experience in the sense of action itself. Experiences
are life’s inputs that should sharpen one’s understanding of self, his relation
with others, his aiming for happiness, and his relation to values. Philosophy
helps one to realize that the meaning of life is truly the practice of knowledge
and wisdom discovered from one’s daily experiences and realities.
Doing the steps of
self-cultivation justifies the notion of Philosophy as something lived. This is because as one cultivates himself, he
involves all that he had learned, whether factual or ethical, in his life. He does this by reflecting deeply with all
the episodes in his life and acting accordingly to the lessons he had realized
in the process. For Confucius, philosophy is something that is
lived. It is lived because all of us
have a share of that labor in thinking deeply and acting out our learning. Philosophy
is something that is lived because it is directly involved in daily life.
These realizations, however, must
not be considered as mere discoveries that one keeps for the sake or for
intellectual satisfaction. This must be
used, be animated in the sense of applying this directly to our lives. Realizing
Confucius’ idea is not enough to fulfill our responsibility to ourselves, to
our family, to our colleagues, and to our community. We must treat this realization as a turning
point for us to do something about our mistakes and align perspectives to moral
standards.
We must treat this realization as a reminder of our responsibilities in
the personal and social aspects of our lives.
Just merely speaking about the good deeds done in the process of
self-cultivation cannot solve the current problems in our lives concerning our
duties to our families, colleagues, teachers, and our government. We
must rid ourselves of the irresponsibility, fear, and laziness in making sense
out of what we learned. We must live out the sense that we had always
been thinking all this time. We must
break free from the four walls of the classroom and start living our lives
properly, with our mind and hearts not separated from each other. This is what we should do with the
realization at hand.
One must stop confining himself only with thinking
or only with speaking. One must do
something about the situation at hand. It is in this way that the knowledge and the
learning that we have accumulated in our educated years will bear fruit and
actually make our lives more fulfilled. In
this way, reforms concerning government, family life, school life, and other
social and individual aspects of our existence will be a reality. One
can be a good citizen, parent, child, and government official, no matter how
bad his character or reputation was. One
must be transformed by life experiences and realities. But one has to exert efforts and connect his
will to understanding life and living it fully.
Connecting all of these points in
the life of a Chinese Philosophy student, it connotes that these Confucian philosophical
principles are useless when one does not practice and live them. Simply memorizing or studying them for the
sake of grades is a philosophical malpractice.
Practicing a philosophical thought or idea is not confined in literally
rushing onto the streets and starting a demonstration. Even in the simple attitude of studying
harder when one fails, accepting opposing thoughts from colleagues, learning
from constructive criticisms, or never failing to submit requirements are real
principles of living. This can also be applied in the student’s
private life, such as being an obedient son or daughter, or a good brother or
sister. How a student is gradually
transformed by every success and failure he or she encounters in classroom, in
society, in family, in relationship, in his or her vision, in his or her
spirituality and in all aspects of life is the measure of the kind of attitudes
he or she has developed in life.
Whether it is a student or a person in any status, every experience or
reality is an element that brings something new in life. But
this something new should be discovered and learned with right attitudes. What Confucius wanted to convey is that whatever
winds that come in life, those with right attitudes can just get along with it
in ease, discover the new additional principles of righteousness, and live these
principles with persistence and consistency.
Merely realizing the essence of
Confucian philosophy is not enough. What
makes it complete is how one student lives with it and relates with it in all
aspects of his life. It is not just a
required subject measured in units or compliance of requirements for passing or
obtaining a satisfactory grade. Anything
in life, framed in whatever situation, should be considered by one in its
value. Any subject in whatever field
of study has premium value in life. This should be realized by any student. In
everything that one does or encounters, he or she should discover its value so
that he or she finds meaning in it. It is meaning that makes the learned value
worth living.
Being a student in Chinese Philosophy is one
chapter of life which has value and meaning.
There is something worthy in
it. One should not take it for
granted. This is also true with other
subjects. Anything has worth for life. Nothing is useless. But one has to discover that worth. It is
transformation in life through learning that matters most. It is being transformed by virtues that
matters most. As a Chinese Philosophy student, one should
experience his thinking by putting into action the ethical principles that he
came to know in his life. It is in this real and active involvement that
one is able to do something about his life.
It is in this active involvement
that one is able to not just be a mere Chinese Philosophy student. It is in this active involvement that a
simple Chinese Philosophy student is able to fashion himself into a modern “chun tzu”. After
all, it is the practice of virtues learned from daily experiences and realities
of life that measures a life fully lived.
This is what Confucius wishes to convey.
It is this
treasure that philosophy wishes each one to find.
Source:
1. Fung
Yu-Lan, “The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy”, (New York: The Free Press, 1948),
In A Short History of Chinese Philosophy,
2.
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