I have heard of Mr. Feng Youlan’s "A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy" for a long time. This book integrates experience in the history of philosophy and philosophical insights, narrating thousands of years of Chinese philosophy history in 200,000 words, which is concise, vivid, profound and easy to understand. I changed my mind from the philosophy books I came across in the past, which I always found to be esoteric and difficult to understand. I thought philosophy was a matter for philosophers and that philosophy was far away from the general public. But after reading "A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy", I suddenly realized that the clouds were clearing and the sun was clear. In fact, philosophy is in China's thousands of years of traditional culture, in everyone's daily life, and is actually nurtured in everyone's mind and reflected in everyone's actions. Therefore, whenever I have free time and pick up this book, I can only read it carefully and think deeply about every word...
"A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy" was written by Mr. Feng Youlan in the United States in 1947. In the words of Zhao Fusan, the translator of the book, from the English lecture notes he gave when he was a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania: "The data are ancient, but the vision is modern." He also said that Mr. Feng Youlan was "a historian when using historical materials, but a historian when discussing issues." philosopher". The ideas and materials in this book written by Mr. Feng Youlan are Chinese, but the perspective on philosophical issues is global. Therefore, this book is still a classic work of philosophy and culture today. Park Geun-hye, the well-known first female president in Korean history, praised this book: "During my most difficult period, the beacon of life that enabled me to regain inner peace was "Chinese Philosophy" written by the famous Chinese scholar Feng Youlan. "A Brief History." It is enough to prove the influence of this book and also shows that classics will never be outdated.
Mr. Feng Youlan compared the spirit and background of Chinese philosophy, Chinese historical and cultural ancestors (Confucius, Zhuzi, Mozi, etc.), Taoism, Confucianism, etc. with Western philosophy, and used his own intelligent thinking and academic language to explain The history of Chinese philosophy.
Chinese philosophy exists in traditional Chinese culture. When talking about philosophy, many people can name the great Western philosophers Kant, Hegel, etc., but in Chinese history, no one is accurately labeled as a philosopher. In fact, this has something to do with the way Chinese cultural people express their thoughts. In terms of expression, Chinese literati like to use proverbs, metaphors and examples to explain their reasoning, which inevitably leads to imperfections. They use hints rather than exhaustive methods. This is what Chinese poetry, painting and other arts pursue. The goal. In the Chinese literary tradition, a good poem often has "endless words and endless meaning." A wise and thoughtful reader can understand the meaning outside the poem when reading a poem, and understand the meaning between the lines when reading. The role of " lies not in its fixed meaning, but in its hints, which lead people to enlightenment. This is the realm pursued by Chinese art and the style of expressing thoughts of Chinese philosophers. For example, the first sentence of the well-known "Three Character Classic", "At the beginning of human beings, nature is inherently good" can be seen as a reflection of the basic thoughts of Mencius' philosophy. Therefore, in the past, if a person received education in China, he would first receive enlightenment education in philosophy. "The Analects", "Mencius", "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", etc. all contain deep philosophical wisdom.
So what is philosophy? Mr. Feng Youlan said this: "Philosophy is a systematic reflection on life." But not all people reflect on life, and even fewer people do systematic reflection. A philosopher always engages in philosophical thinking, which is called reflection, because he regards life as a process of thinking, and in this process, he systematically expresses his thoughts. Sakyamuni believed: "Life is the source of suffering." Is it possible to think that suffering is the wealth of life, and the process of suffering is also a person's thinking process and the formation process of a person's philosophical thinking? Many people believe that Chinese philosophy is a philosophy of life, and it is difficult to say whether this view is right or wrong. Chinese philosophy is both idealism and realism; it is practical but not superficial. Traditional Chinese philosophy focuses on "learning" and "Tao". "Learning", in modern terms, means the increase of positive knowledge, "Tao" means the improvement of the soul, and philosophy is the latter category. The character of a Chinese saint can be described by the four words "inner saint and outer jade". "Inner sage" means that his heart is dedicated to spiritual cultivation; "outer jade" means that he is like a king in social activities. The mission of philosophy is to enable people to establish the character of "inner sage and outer jade".
Ordinary people read and learn philosophy so that they can become human beings, not to become some kind of special person, a superior person, or a person who does not eat the fireworks of the world.
When talking about Chinese philosophy, we have to talk about Chinese Confucianism and Taoism. They are both the ancestors of Chinese cultural philosophy. Confucianism is not only China's social philosophy, but also the Chinese people's philosophy of life, and it has the deepest influence on the Chinese people. Confucianism emphasizes personal social responsibility, while Taoism emphasizes the natural and automatic nature of people's hearts. These two trends of thought in Chinese philosophy are generally similar to the two trends of classicism and romanticism in Western thought. Reading the poems of Du Fu and Li Bai, two poets who both lived in the 8th century, it is not difficult to distinguish the different ideological influences of the two major schools of Chinese thought - Confucianism and Taoism.
Taoism also strictly distinguishes between things belonging to nature and human beings, that is, nature makes people happy, and artificial things make people suffer. It emphasizes the "unity of nature and man", that is, the unity of man, nature and the universe. Until today, when we enter modern society, these are still people's pursuits and yearnings.
Confucianism is the product of China’s farming culture, economic conditions, and geographical environment. Therefore, it is not difficult for the Chinese nation to understand that Confucianism has become China’s orthodox philosophy after more than 2,000 years of feudal history.
Confucianism and Taoism both have their own views on Chinese art and poetry. Confucians regard art and poetry as tools for moral education. Taoism pursues the free flow of the soul and regards nature as the highest ideal, which gives artists endless inspiration.
From this point of view, Chinese philosophy is contained in traditional Chinese culture, blends together, and affects China and the world. Modern society advocates Chinese studies and learning Chinese culture. In this learning process, as long as you calm down and take some time to think, you will be able to appreciate the philosophical wisdom in it. This kind of wisdom is also cultivated carefully by our predecessors and will be left to the modern and future Chinese nation. spiritual wealth.
These are just a few thoughts after reading this book. There is more to learn and think about.