ASIAN STUDIES 
CONFUCIANISM AND EDUCATION 
Volume V (XXI), Issue 2Ljubljana 2017 
ASIAN STUDIES, Volume V (XXI), Issue 2, Ljubljana 2017 
Editor-in-Chief: Jana S. Rošker Editor-in-Charge: Nataša Visočnik Proof Reader: Tina Š. Petrovič in Paul Steed Editorial Board: Ivana Buljan, Bart Dessein, Tamara Ditrich, Shaun Richard O’Dwyer, Raoul David Findeisen, Mark James Hudson, Ana Jelnikar, Mislav Ježić, Jeff Kingston, Mingchang Lin, Beatrix Mecsi,Tamae K. Prindle, Jana S. Rošker, Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik, Nataša Visočnik, Mitja Saje, Geir Sigur.sson,Yuriko Sunakawa, Andrej Ule, Zouli Wang 
All articles are double blind peer-reviewed.The journal is accessable online in the Open Journal System data base: http://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/as. 
Published by: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani/Ljubljana University Press,Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana For: Oddelek za azijske študije/Department of Asian Studies For the publisher: Branka Kalenić Ramšak, Dean of Faculty of ArtsLjubljana, 2017, First editionNumber printed: 50 copiesGraphic Design: Janez MlakarPrinted by: Birografika Bori, d. o. o.Price: 10,00 EUR 
ISSN 2232-5131 This publication is indexed in the Cobiss database. This journal is published two times per year.Yearly subscription: 17 EUR 
Address: Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za azijske študije, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenijatel.: +386 (0)1 24 11 450, +386 (0)24 11 444, faks: +386 (0)1 42 59 337 
This journal is published with the support of the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS). 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. / To delo je ponujeno pod licenco Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva-Deljenje pod enakimi pogoji 4.0 Mednarodna licenca 
CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 
221.7:37(082) 
   CONFUCIANISM and education / [editor-in-chief Jana S. Rošker]. - 1st ed. - Ljubljana : Znanstvena založbaFilozofske fakultete = University Press, Faculty of Arts, 2017. - (Asian studies, ISSN 2232-5131 ; vol. 5 (21), issue 2) 
ISBN 978-961-237-942-1 
1.Rošker, Jana S.290770944 
Contents 

Table of Contents 
Editor’s Foreword: Confucianism and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Jana S. ROŠKER 
Contemporary Implications 
Lessons from Zhu Xi’s Views on Inquiry and Learning for Contemporary Advanced Humanities Education and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Kirill Olle THOMPSON 
Between Tradition and Modernity: Modern Confucianism as a Form of East Asian Social Knowledge  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  43 
Jana S. ROŠKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 
Body and Mind 
Confucius’ Embodied Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Margus OTT 
Explicit and Implicit Aspects of Confucian Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 David BARTOSCH 
Moral Education and Ideology: The Revival of Confucian Values and the Harmonious Shaping of the New Chinese Man . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Selusi AMBROGIO 
Broader Perspectives 
Following the Way of the Ancient Kings:The Concept of “Learning” in the Teachings of Ogyu Sorai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 Marko OGRIZEK 
Confucian Learning and Literacy in Japan’s Schools of the Edo Period . . . . . . . . . . .153 Kristina HMELJAK SANGAWA 
A Vietnamese Reading of the Master’s Classic: Pham Nguye~n 
. Du’s Humble Comments on the Analects as an Example of Transformative Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167 Nam NGUYEN 
Contents 
Asian Studies in Slovenia 
Zbirke starih japonskih razglednic v Republiki Sloveniji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203 Chikako SHIGEMORI BUČAR 
Analiza in kritično ovrednotenje Xu Fuguanove interpretacije koncepta 
qiyun shengdong .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227 Téa SERNELJ 
Reports and Announcements 
A Report on the “Global Integration of Ancient Chinese Books” Project   .  .  .  .  .  .  .253 Peter Wai Ming CHENG 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.5-8 

Editor’s Foreword: Confucianism and Education 
Jana S. ROŠKER* 1 
Since Immanuel Kant’s seminal essay “What is Enlightenment?”, independent,autonomous and critical thinking has stood at the forefront of any “progressive”(and even any reasonable) theory of education. In today’s neo-liberal and glo­balized world, the common trend of making everything a marketable commodity has also affected this, notwithstanding the fact that the ability to establish one’s critical and independent judgement remains the very basis of becoming an auton­omous individual, and represents a central pillar of democracy. As such, critical thinking has become a product that can be bought, sold or even stolen––just like its traditional breeding ground, namely institutionalized education. It may thus be time to mourn the loss of the critical mind, and so mark the sad end of a certain kind of education, one which gave a key place to the humanities. 
However, instead of grieving for such losses and memorializing the end of the European subject, who has obviously lost his free will in the whirlwind of the all-embracing market economy, and sadly died in front of the barbed-wire fenc­es defending his homeland from thousands of unarmed, weakened, starving and freezing refugees, we are searching for alternatives. 
As such, we present in this issue another kind of education. Admittedly, the valuesConfucian education aimed to foster did not include much absolute independence,but it still laid emphasis on autonomous critical thinking and genuine humaneness.While many believe that Confucianism is incompatible with the critical mind andpersonal autonomy, this issue aims to show that this wide-spread prejudice is rootedin a lack of knowledge. The most common image of Confucianism is that it wasadvocating a strict, rigid and hierarchically structured society based on the absoluteobedience of those at the subordinate levels of the system, and, analogously, on ab­solute power of their superiors. However, we would like to present another pictureof Confucian education, one that is more academically justified and closer to thetruth. It is important to recall that this model was originally, and especially in theclassical Confucian teachings, rooted in the principles of complementarity and re­ciprocal responsibility. Moreover, while the autocratic model of hierarchy, by which 
* Jana S. ROŠKER, Professor, Department of Asian Studies,Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.jana.rosker[at]ff.uni-lj.si 

the ruler’s authority was absolute and their responsibility towards their subordinatesreduced to a mere formalism or symbolism, has undeniably held sway in Chinesehistory, we must also bear in mind that Confucianism in its role as the state doctrinerepresented the interests of the ruling class, and as such was defined by legalisticelements that are not found in original Confucianism. We must not forget thathierarchic structures are also present in Western democratic systems, and most im­portantly, authority based on experience, knowledge and abilities is not necessarily anegative ideal, or a threat to individual autonomy. 
The Confucian classics stress the important role of ideational and axiological el­ements, like rituality, relational ethics, the virtues of humaneness and justice, and the crucial role of education as a basic means of cultivating and thus improv­ing (inborn) humaneness in order to achieve progress and social development.While they also lay stress on the so-called “Six Arts”—ritual, music, archery,chariot-riding, calligraphy, and computation—it is clear that the Confucian clas­sics see morality as the most important subject. Confucian didactic methods are rather remarkable. Like Confucius, a Confucian teacher never lectures at length on a subject. Instead, he or she poses questions, quotes passages from the classical works, or applies fitting analogies, and then waits for the students to find the right answers “independently”––by themselves. 
According to the Analects, Confucius pointed out that thinking without learning is blind, and learning without thinking dangerous. Besides, he also asserted that attacking the views of others is harmful. This tolerance is based on a notion of moral autonomy, which is typical for the Confucian ideal personality, and implicit in most of the Confucian discourses. As such, promoting education is one of the most important Confucian values, and it is better to educate one’s children than to give them wealth. However, education is not only the wealth of a person, but also that of the cultures and societies he or she lives within. It is the most valu­able inheritance we can give future generations. Moreover, in today’s globalized world, in which different traditions can interact and learn from each other, this kind of inheritance can be exchanged, combined, synthesized and thus enriched.Therefore, this special issue wishes to present different approaches to achieving and preserving this, in the West, at least, hidden treasure. It also aims to raise awareness regarding a particular, culturally and historically conditioned model of institutions, didactic structures and axiological priorities, which differs profoundly from traditional Euro-American educational models. 
This special issue is structured around three broad themes. The first is linked tothe Contemporary Implications of Confucian Education, and includes two contribu­tions,written by Kirill O.Thompson and Jana S.Rošker,respectively. It opens with Thompson’s article, entitled “Lessons from Zhu Xi’s Views on Inquiry and Learn­ing for Contemporary Advanced Humanities Education and Research”.This paperdeals with important questions regarding the crisis of contemporary humanities,the sense, purpose and function of which seem to be gradually getting lost in ourglobalized world. Because of widescale social transitions, which inevitably also in­fluence education at all levels, formal schooling is increasingly often reduced to justthe training of efficient professional experts, without considering that every societyalso needs responsible, thoughtful and cultivated people. As a meaningful alterna­tive, the author introduces Zhu Xi’s model of “advanced learning”, which is com­parable to the contemporary college education and not only provides students withthe necessary factual knowledge about society and the world, but also cultivatesthem in order to develop their sensibility, logic and abilities of autonomous judge-ment. The author shows that Zhu Xi’s educational theories imply the importanceof such cultivation, which is a necessary and elementary part of every sensitive, re­sponsible, reflective and self-aware human being. Jana S. Rošker, the author of thesecond article on this broad theme, writes about “Contemporary Confucianism asa Form of East Asian Social Knowledge”, and likewise grounds her contributionin the problematic global tendencies seen in contemporary education. Proceedingfrom the notion of Confucianism as a form of social knowledge in East Asia, sheaims to explain why and how the Modern Confucian emphasis on the traditionalConfucian link between comprehension and the ethical evaluation of being is ofgreat importance for a gradual restoration of the “credibility” of ancient Chinesethought in the context of modern social knowledge. 
The second theme, entitled Body and Mind, proceeds from the introduction of thecorporeal aspects of Confucian teachings, through the tacit knowledge implied intheir explicit and implicit epistemological methods, and then directly to its linkagesto ideologies. It opens with Margus Ott’s article “Confucius’ Embodied Knowl­edge”. In this the author argues that the modern embodiment theory could helpus to understand some critical aspects of Confucianism and the Confucian theoryof knowledge, and vice versa. Through a systematic analysis of classical sources, Ottshows that––in contrast to Western ideational history––China in general and Con­fucianism in particular has a very long tradition of embodied knowledge and em­bodied cognition. David Bartosch’s paper, “Explicit and Implicit Aspects of Confu­cian Education”, investigates Confucian methods of manifest and latent knowledgein order to identify possible approaches for their adaptation, modernization andtheir fruitful synthesis with modern educational science. The last paper in this setwas written by Selusi Ambrogio, and deals with another kind of latent knowledge,investigating the process of (often hidden) forms of ideologically guided misuse ofConfucian teachings, and the related teachings of moral education in contemporary China.This article is entitled “Moral Education and Ideology:The Revival of Con­fucian Values and the Harmonious Shaping of the New Chinese Man”. 
The last theme of this special issue deals with Confucian education in the broadergeopolitical context of Eastern and South-East Asia, and thus in different regionsbelonging to the area that was historically influenced by Confucian teachings. Assuch, its title is Broader Perspectives, and it contains three contributions.The first twowere written by Marko Ogrizek and Kristina Hmeljak Sangawa. They both explorecertain transformations and the fate of Confucian teachings in pre-modern Japan.Ogrizek’s article,“Following the Way of the Ancient Kings:The Concept of ‘Learn­ing’ in the Teachings of Ogyu Sorai”, introduces Sorai’s concept of learning, whichis based on studying “the Way of the ancient Kings”. Since Ogyu Sorai is amongthe most famous and influential Japanese Confucian philosophers of the Edo pe­riod, his teachings had wide ranging implications both for the educational and thepolitical system of pre-modern Japan. In order to gain an insight into the ethicaland political consequences of Sorai’s interpretations, the author demonstrates howand why he was basing his interpretation of value and meaning, as prescribed bythe ancient sages, chiefly on the reverence of the unknowable, and his concept offollowing the Way mainly on faith in the sages. Kristina Hmeljak-Sangawa’s paperalso deals with the problem of Confucian teachings and education in pre-modernJapan, although from quite a different perspective. In her article entitled “ConfucianLearning and Literacy in Japan’s Schools of the Edo Period”, she investigates thesocial functions and implications of Chinese Confucian teachings that were writtenin the kanbun style, on the development of the Japanese educational system andstrategies of literacy. Last, but not least, we have to introduce the article “A Viet­namese Reading of the Master’s Classic: Pha. m Nguyee~n Du’s Humble Comments on the Analects as an Example of Transformative Learning”, which was written by theVietnamese scholar Nam Nguyen. It offers a remarkable insight into an area, whichis still widely unknown in Western scholarship, namely the Vietnamese receptionand re-interpretation of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism. 
We hope that this diverse issue, which illuminates Confucian teachings and views on education from several different perspectives, will help readers to obtain a bet­ter understanding of this important element of ancient and traditional East Asian cultural heritage. It is an especially valuable heritage, which can––inter alia––en­able us to understand that education is much more than a few years of training in professional expertise. It is a lifelong process, because learning to be truly human is a never-ending project. 
Jana S. Rošker, Chief editor 


Contemporary Implications 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.11-42 

Lessons from Zhu Xi’s Views on Inquiry and Learning for Contemporary Advanced Humanities Education and Research 
Kirill Olle THOMPSON * 2 
We don’t read poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering… these are noble pur­suits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love…These are what we stay alive for. (Kleinbaum 1989) 
Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown, we may hope 
to understand but we may have to learn at the same time a new way of 
understanding. (Werner Heisenberg) 
Abstract 
We are bearing witness to the rapid rise of a brave new world of education as flashy websites and interactive software replace individual study and classroom lectures. The expansion of college lecture halls has been stretched thin with video lessons and distance learning, and the siren call of massive open online courses (MOOCs) by star Ivy League professors renders the traditional classroom barren in the eyes of savvy students who have the system pegged. 
Several questions arise in this context. Can the students of today receive a college educa­tion in the full sense? Does learning still have the same quality without close interactions with teachers and classmates in small to medium sized classrooms? Does research hold the same significance today when much of the work is done and so much information supplied by computers? What lessons do Zhu Xi’s teachings on inquiry and learning have for this educational world of e-texts and cyber-lessons? While not a Luddite tract, the present study raises questions and concerns about the goals and conduct of higher edu­cation today which, as Heisenberg avers, should not only aim at transmitting knowledge understood in set ways, but also at inculcating new ways of thinking and understanding. 
A college education, as Zhu Xi holds for “advanced learning”, is as much about cultivat­ing a thoughtful, responsible person as producing a professional expert. Such education should include cultivating a student’s sensitivity, logic, and judgment, as well as knowledge 
* Kirill Olle THOMPSON, National Taiwan University,Taipei, Taiwan.ktviking[at]ntu.edu.tw 

about humanity, society, and the world. It is often forgotten that such sensitivity, logic,knowledge, and commitment not only make the student more thoughtful and responsible,in short more self-conscious, but also give her additional perspectives and enhance her professional expertise. 
Keywords: Zhu Xi, the humanities, advanced research, self-consciousness, moral perspective 
Predavanje z Zhu Xijevega vidika o povpraševanju in učenju za sodobno na­predno humanistično učenje in raziskovanje 

Izvleček 
V sodobnem svetu smo priča eksplozivnemu naraščanju izobraževalnih sistemov krasne­ga novega sveta. Bleščeče spletne strani in interaktivni programi so v nekaterih primerih že nadomestili individualne pedagoške pristope ter učenje v predavalnicah in učilnicah.Tako študij vse pogosteje poteka preko posnetih predavanj in učenja na daljavo. Skušn­jave množičnih spletnih tečajev odprtega tipa so že premamile marsikaterega študenta in marsikdo že meni, da so tradicionalne učilnice zastarele in premalo učinkovite. 
S tem se odpira vrsta vprašanj. Ali imajo študentje na sodobnih fakultetah sploh še možnost pridobivanja celovite univerzitetne izobrazbe? Ali je pouk brez osebnega stika med učitelji in učenci v fizičnih učilnicah res enako kakovosten? Ali je raziskovanje dan­danes, ko lahko veliko dela namesto nas opravijo računalniki, ki nas zalagajo z nepregled-no množico informacij, še vedno enako pomembno, kot je bilo prej? In kaj bi nas lahko v svetu digitalnih besedil in spletnih tečajev naučil Zhu Xi? Študija sicer nima namena najti rešitve za vse probleme, ki nastajajo v procesu omenjene tranzicije, vendar obravnava vprašanja, povezana s cilji in postopki sodobnega izobraževanja, ki naj bi, kot poudarja Henderson, pomenilo več kot zgolj posredovanje znanja. Pravo izobraževanje bi moralo namreč temeljiti tudi na uvajanju novih načinov razmišljanja in razumevanja. 
Zhu Xijevo tako imenovano »napredno učenje«, ki je primerljivo s sodobnim univer­zitetnim izobraževanjem, se ne osredotoča zgolj na proizvodnjo strokovno podkovanih specialistov, temveč tudi na kultivacijo razmišljajočega, odgovornega človeka. Takšna izo­brazba mora vključevati tako razvoj logičnega mišljenja in razumnega odločanja kot tudi razumevanje človeka, družbe in sveta. Dandanes se pogosto pozablja, da je treba faktično znanje in logično razmišljanje povezati tudi s senzibilnostjo in predanostjo; takšna celovi­ta izobrazba pomaga študentom do večjega samozaupanja, hkrati pa odpira nove perspek­tive in s tem izboljšuje tudi njihovo strokovno znanje. 
Ključne besede: Zhu Xi, humanistika, napredno raziskovanje, samozaupanje, moralne perspektive 

Introduction 
We contemporary scholars feel empowered by our access to digitized data and research materials, not to mention the research aids, search engines, and data crunchers at our fingertips. We enjoy unprecedented data reach and computation­al capacity, as well as tools for compiling and arranging materials for our research work and writing. Indeed, I can only imagine the sorts of digital research paper templates now available, and wonder what would Zhu Xi make of these rich data troves and analytic tools? How would he assess the computer assisted approaches people now take in conducting research, reflection, and writing, in the humanities in particular?1 Would he regard it as adaptable to one’s larger purpose of dedicated self-cultivation and person-making, or as inimical to this?2 
One might respond that Zhu Xi’s notion of inquiry and learning is closely bound up with his concept of self-realization under a specific set of values and cultural practices, at some remove from the free-spirited, liberal sort of education that typifies this day and age. For the present discussion, however, let us grant that Zhu Xi’s value orientation and notion of knowledge and learning are sufficiently general to be relevant for assessing the advanced level approaches to research, re­flection, and writing that are now adopted, and especially in the humanities. 
Believing that nature and human life operate according to given sets of patterns,formations, and principles, which make them essentially understandable,3 Zhu Xi would tend to consider that “humanities” research, reflection, and writing in general should elicit similar sets of patterns and formations, and provoke, whether implicitly or explicitly, similar patterns of cultivational, humanizing self-reflec­tion, development, and realization. That is, while Zhu Xi does adhere to a specific set of Confucian values, cultural practices, and cultivation goals, we here make the assumption that he would tend to see similar sets of values, practices, and goals in play in almost any sincerely and openly conducted humanities reflection,research, and writing. I would venture to add that university and advanced level humanities research and writing in today’s universities are thought to involve a project of self-cultivation, reflection, and realization as the student/researcher ipso 
1 I highlight humanities research, reflection, and writing in particular because they are construed to have, to a certain extent, a cultivational, humanizing effect on the researcher/writer (Nussbaum 1998). Research, reflection, and writing in other fields should have this effect, as well, in terms of the logic and values involved in conducting research, reflection, and writing with honest objectivity,yet with a sense of compassion and good purpose. Humanities research, reflection, and writing tend to involve additional personal self-examination and value reflections. 
2 In the Southern Song, Zhu Xi was already concerned that the easy availability of mass printed books was detrimental to learning and cultivation, for students increasingly no longer needed to memorize and recite texts or take them so deeply to heart. He also feared the proliferation of com­mentaries that could be misleading as often as they were enlightening. 
3 Zhu Xi understood these patterns and formations as mapped into focus-fields, li-qi (.. ) orders and aesthetic order, and as manifested variously and to be discerned in diverse lights and perspec­tives. On focus-field and aesthetic order, see Hall and Ames 1987. On li-qi orders, see Thompson 2015, 150–6. 
facto breaks through her original naive, parochial, biased views and values along the way to establishing the epistemic objectivity, value awareness, and authority necessary for preparing her dissertation, launching her career, and becoming a fully responsible, self-conscious human being.4 

Cultural and Cultivational Context of Zhu Xi’s Approach to Inquiry and Learning 
Zhu Xi’s approach to inquiry and learning is bound up with what he regards as thecore cultivation efforts of abiding in jing . (reverence), nurturing the root, and ex­amining the self. For the present considerations, we can regard jing as covering theattitudes of concentration, openness, and alertness. Mindfulness has been offered asa suggestive cover term for jing cultivation and practice.5 Nurturing the root is about preserving one’s native moral propensities, sense of fairness, and impulse towardgoodness and truth.6 It is to free oneself of acquired prejudices, biases and self-cen­teredness.7 Moreover, self-examination refers to assessing the probity of one’s moti­vations and the sincerity of one’s intentions, particularly in learning and inquiry in this case, but also in one’s life conduct in general. Moreover, Zhu Xi also came tounderstand that, in order to have purpose and be fruitful, one’s inquiry and learningneed to have dedication and purpose, so he stressed establishing resolve (lizhi .. ) as crucial, and cast off his practice of offering learning packages or outlines: 
…it is essential for learners to establish resolve. Consider the saying,“Strive to restore the roots of one’s basic propensities (xing. ) and 
4 Back in the 1970s, some professors of metaethics stressed that metaethical analysis was purely objective, and to be conducted irrespective of any particular set of normative rules. One professor of mine even gave the example of the ethicist McTaggart, a century earlier, shooting neighborhood cats in the night, arguing that the best metaethical analyst might have no personal ethical com­mitments. At the time, colleagues and graduate students countered that simply by virtue of being a responsible member of a family, community, etc., such an analyst would still recognize and follow basic normative rules that make civilized life possible. Virtually all humanities disciplines deliver insight into the importance of values and rules.The best metaethicist should thus know the impor­tance of values and rules in her bones. 
5 I use the Romanized Chinese term jing . in the following, taking reverence or reverential regard as the core, and concentration, seriousness, and mindfulness as connotations that, respectively, gain relevance in context. 
6 This harks back to Mencius’ teachings on basic human propensities, the four beginnings (siduan .. ), and inborn knowledge of the good (liangzhi .. ) (Lau 1970). These are basic planks in most liberal humanistic outlooks. 
7 One thinks of Plato’s dialogue Meno (Guthrie 1956), which shows how faulty knowledge can lead people astray. 
endowment (ming . ),8 aspire to surpass the achievements of the sages and worthies.” One who establishes resolve will make determined efforts. It doesn’t do to just aim to be a good person and rest content after re­alizing several daoli (.. ; general truisms).9 Such a person won’t make further progress. Consider, rather, Yan Hui’s “inability to give up, even if he had wanted to” (Analects 9.11; Ames 1998, 128f ), and the petty man’s “working tirelessly for his own benefit”, constantly bearing it in mind (Mencius 7A:25; Lau 1970, 187). The cultivation effort of those who lack in resolve will not succeed in the long run. (Zhu 1986, ch. 118) 
The resolve that drives one’s conduct of inquiry and learning is existential, and will continue to empower one throughout life. Indeed, 
In the conduct of all sorts of affairs, one must first establish resolve. One maintains jing in the midst of conducting affairs and things… One’s re­solve, however, transcends the matters at hand; thus, it can’t be over­whelmed and shattered into tiny pieces. (ibid., ch.118) 
Zhu even maintained that the achievements of Confucius, the sage, could be at­tributed, not just to his gifts, talents, and special destiny, but to the existential resolve of his deepest purpose. 
In the world are countless roads and crossings, why didn’t the sage take other roads? He only arrived at this particular juncture because his [exis­tential] resolve expressed his deepest purpose. (ibid., ch. 23)10 
At the same time, Zhu cautioned that one’s resolve and dedication should not be translated into an exclusive concern with certain focal texts and topics. While pursuing core projects and concerns, the learner/researcher should stay open, alert,observant, and develop a practical grasp of the things around her, so as to add tex­ture and depth to her knowledge, and thus enhance her versatility in responding 
8 This carries the connotation of one’s life mission, particularly in terms of interpersonal responsibil­ities to family, society, and career. 
9 Zhu Xi is contrasting empty, wooden truisms with the deeper array of organizing patterns that constitute life and value, and motivate cultivation. Zhu Xi’s use of daoli here diverges from modern Mandarin, in which questioning whether an idea or proposition has any daoli is to asking whether it is reasonable, that is to say, reasonably grounded. 
10 Much is made of Confucius’ nurturing a hoary tradition, but he learned from many teachers and his greatness lay in continuously reorienting tradition on an ethical foundation of mutual care and responsibility. His example proves Sartre’s observation, “There is no traced out path to salvation; one must constantly invent one’s own path. But, to invent it, one is free, responsible, without excuse,and every hope lies within him” (Flynn 2014). 
to all matters. Such a grasp and versatility distinguish a vital learner from an emp­ty pedant, and make one’s life increasingly resonant and fluent. 
Generally, in free time one should strive to grasp the things at hand. By developing a practical grasp of things, whenever you encounter new af­fairs your knowledge will be extended case by case. But, people nowadays feel disinclined to grasp things in their leisure time. When they encoun­ter affairs they balk at investigating their daoli11 anew and take ease in their own shallowness and vulgarity. Such people don’t mature or make much progress; in the end, they have no achievements. The problem is that they lack resolve and waste their lives in vain. (Zhu 1986, 15) 
Moreover, establishing resolve does not involve casting off guided programs of learning per se. Rather, it empowers one to get more out of such systematic learn­ing while not becoming narrow and enclosed within it as an epistemic cocoon. 
Having established resolve, one should still endeavor to learn gradually step-by-step, bearing the general framework of appropriateness and pat­tern (yili .. )12 in mind. Thus determined, one who feels trepidation can engage in discussion, nurture the root, practice self-examination, and expect to make some progress. Those who are satisfied to be dabblers need to wake up and redouble their seriousness, jing, dedication, and nurturing, lest their progress be intermittent and their efforts wasted for lacking the certitude of clear comprehension and the efficacy of personal experience. (Zhu 2002, ch. 55, letter to Chen Zhaozeng) 
Zhu Xi’s primary cultivations of abiding in jing, nurturing the root, examining the self, and establishing resolve are attitudinal, orientational, and existential. They keep one grounded and centred as one embarks on inquiry and learning, and facilitate one’s efforts at knowledge acquisition, self-transformation, and self-real­ization. When Zhu Xi speaks of staying open to the things going on, it reminds us of the long-term value of acquainting oneself with a variety of fields to establish a well-rounded knowledge of humanity, society, and nature, and have a context for appreciating one’s own chosen field.13 
11 In this passage, daoli pertains to the operative general patterns that shape and guide phenomena and events. The meaning thus differs from its alternative usage discussed in note 9, above. 
12 Appropriateness (yi . ) pertains to one’s sensitivity and discernment as to what is most fitting in context, all things considered, against the backdrop of immanent patterning (li . ), that structure and balance phenomena and events. 
13 James Austin underscores the positive role of side interests and knowledge in enhancing one’s ability to see connections and creativity (Austin 2003). As Austin shows, Alexander Fleming’s side interests, extracurricular knowledge, and quirks were indispensable to his discovery of penicillin. 
Even in this brave new world of computerized learning and research and digi­tized data, advanced students and researchers understand the need to stay com­mitted and motivated to achieve their educational goals. They have demonstra­bly less cognizance, however, of the need to abide in jing, nurture the root, andexamine the self. That is, they lose sense of the need to stay alert and be aware ofeverything one does, to maintain one’s basic sense of innocence and humanity,and to reflect on what one is thinking and doing. Computerized learning anddigitized data are highly mediated and automated, and stir a sort of distancingfrom the self and mindlessness that can lead to self as well as other aliena­tion. Moreover, the more one keeps directly interacting with digital machinesthrough keyboards and monitors, the more one’s crucial interpersonal inter­course becomes indirect and mediated. In this sort of increasingly impersonalcognitive environment, any notion of nurturing the root would tend to go by thewayside, and self-examination would have more to do with data managementskills and control than with examining the probity of one’s ethical conduct and conscience.14 Yet, without doubt, such attitudinal, orientational, and existentialcultivations remain necessary to the proper and personally enriching conduct ofadvanced reading, reflection, and research in the humanities. 

Conducting Inquiry to Attain Knowledge 
The notion of “attaining knowledge” (zhizhi.. )15 is central to Zhu Xi’s ap­proach to cultivating mind, and he insists that one attains knowledge by actively investigating things. For Zhu, attaining knowledge is tantamount to exploring their constituent patterns and propensities. Zhu’s account of knowledge seeks a sort of working “knowing that”, getting things right, the value of which lay in the Rylean facet of “knowing how”. That is, the getting things right is in order to inform one’s responses. Since so much Confucian knowledge has to do with propriety and appropriateness in conduct, the accumulation of such knowledge, 
14 This does not necessarily mark an East-West difference in approaching humanities research. I 
would instead put it that traditional, pre-computerized humanities research in the West tacitly 
involved the assumption of Zhu Xi’s attitudinal, orientational, and existential cultivations. By the 
same token, contemporary students of Zhu Xi will use computers and digital data to access his 
writings and his ideas. Whereas traditional students had to plod and ponder his texts, turning to 
printed dictionaries along the way, the new breed roams enhanced texts with built-in dictionaries 
and explanations that appear at the press of a key. However, with the exponentially expanding use 
of study aids of all sorts, too many standard answers are given and facile understandings arrived at.
The reduced pondering, too, results in less intimacy and resonance with the text, as one’s own tacit 
assumptions and lines of approach remain unchallenged as one heedlessly plows ahead. 15 The connotation of “extending knowledge” is often implied. 
be it knowing how or knowing that,16 lays the ground for attaining performative “tacit knowledge”, a la Michael Polanyi (1966, 2002). Zhu remains concerned with accuracy and getting it right; for not only do we depend on such proper understanding to inform our instincts and emotions, and guide our judgments and actions, many moralists make mistaken judgments and make inappropriate responses precisely because they do not know the warp and woof of the world in depth, but only general truisms and customs of the tradition.17 
What then does Zhu mean by “investigating things”? He generally supports ChengYi’s account of “investigating things”, which involves striking a balance betweensubjectivity and objectivity, perspective and detail. Zhu Xi is attentive to striking thissort of balance in his own approach to investigating things to attain knowledge. Bydeveloping the notion of pattern as the nexus of order and knowledge, and stressinga commonality of pattern, patterning in the heart-mind and in phenomena andaffairs, Zhu epistemically seeks a sort of inner resonance in investigating phenom­ena and affairs. Achieving such an inner resonance is important, since patterns areimplicated not just formally and cognitively, but also emotively and interactively,in their instantiations (basic propensities) and settings. The knowledge one attainsinvolves grasping such patterns and propensities in the contexts, or matrices, of theirinteractive relations, as well as one’s impulses of appropriate response. 
To be sure, Zhu Xi broadened Cheng Yi’s account of investigating things and made it more inclusive. In this effort, he gave the first definitive Neo-Confucian account of investigating things in the “Supplement on investigating things” he appended to chapter 5 in the Advanced Learning (.. Daxue), which reads: 
The expression “attaining knowledge lies in investigating things” means that, if one intends to attain knowledge, it lies in exploring the patterns of the things one encounters. Indeed, there is nothing the discerning human mind cannot comprehend, for there is nothing in the world that doesn’t possess patterns. It is just because there remain some patterns one hasn’t explored that one’s knowledge is not exhaustive. This is why the first step in advanced learning is, regarding everything in the world, for 
16 Gilbert Ryle’s famous distinction between knowing that and knowing how (Ryle 1949). Know­ing that is cognitive and discursive and involves confirming the facts. Knowing how is behavioral and often cannot be put into words. I would put that for Zhu Xi a continuum exists between the knowing obtained by study and knowing how, in that all sorts of “knowing that” inform one’s con­siderations, judgments, even impulses, in taking action. He would agree with biologists that every bit of knowledge feeds into our epistemic maps for navigating and responding to events as best we can; for Zhu Xi, it would be “as appropriately we can, and with utmost propriety”. 
17 The Buddha was similarly concerned with accurate knowledge to support enlightened awareness and conduct. 
the learner to proceed in each instance on the basis of what he already knows of their patterns, to explore them further in order to understand them to the utmost. Having exerted oneself at this for a long time, one will suddenly have a penetrating comprehension. One will penetrate the latent and the manifest, the seed and chaff of all things and understand the whole substance and far-reaching function of mind. This is what is called “investigating things”, it is what is called, “the utmost of knowl­edge” (adapted from Chan 1963, 89). 
Notably, since the self-same patterns/patterning constitute the heart-mind as form the living world, the investigation of things and affairs discloses not only their patterns of formation and intercourse but ipso facto the patterns constituting the heart-mind and its perceptual and responsive operations. For Zhu Xi, object realization as much as other realization is a mirror to reflexive self-realization. At the same time, how can one hope to comprehend “all things in the world”, even in principle? Zhu Xi explains that patterns/patterning are patterned, comprehended,and manifested throughout reality. Since the patterns unfold organically in the flux of phenomena and the formation and development of things, they are all organically related, parallel, symmetrical in form, and can be traced back to their originating form as the single pattern.18 Hence, every new bit of knowledge one acquires, every new facet of pattern one grasps, casts additional light onto the new phenomena and the constituent patterns that one encounters. 
These subtle, fine-mesh daoli are utterly inexhaustible. There is no di­mension in which they aren’t manifested. They penetrate and connect all the myriad complexities (Zhu 1986, ch. 22). 
The manifold complexities ultimately all trace back to the one pattern (ibid., ch. 41). 
Daoli is distributed amongst all things and affairs. It definitely isn’t con­centrated in one place (ibid., ch.120). 
Such daoli penetrate everywhere equally—seed and chaff, small and large—in every direction. Grasp all four sides together in comprehending them (ibid., ch. 116). 
For Zhu, this extension, unfolding, and dispersal, not to mention folding and return, of patterns throughout the world mean that patterns are at once integrat­ed and also manifested variously in multi-perspectival ways. For this reason, one 
18 The originative single pattern would be supreme polarity (taiji .. ), which triggers the yin-yang polarity in qi. 
has to be constantly prepared to adjust one’s pre-conceptions and stance to see through the phenomena appropriately, and grasp their patterns effectively. Zhu observed this need for multiple perspectives for understanding human affairs, nat­ural phenomena, and even artefacts. 19 
The learning of the common person usually deviates toward one set pat­tern and stresses one position.Therefore, fierce debates break out because people don’t see all four sides.20 The sage [Confucius] stayed balanced,upright, in harmony and fair, and thus remained free of deviation or bias.(Zhu 1986, ch. 8)21 
Although the myriad patterns are ultimately expressions of the single [originative] pattern, learners still must attend to the manifold complex­ities within the myriad patterns. By drawing together all four sides, they will naturally realize the single pattern. Not attending to those myriadpatterns but attending solely to one set pattern is groundless imagining.(ibid., ch.117) 
Gather examples of all species in order to observe the spirit of transfor­mations in nature. Collect all kinds of construction materials to under­stand their respective functions in the building of a house. One must re­lease one’s mind and spirit in order to pay attention. (Zhu 1986, ch. 117) 
What is important is to comprehend inner and outer, root and branch,hidden and manifest, seed and chaff, completely and comprehensively in each respect. (ibid., ch.18) 
Interestingly, in Zhu Xi’s account of patterns/patterning in the “Supplement to Chapter 5” quoted above, he elaborates on patterns/patterning in more or less general and specific, abstract and concrete senses.22 Zhu Xi also stresses time and again that “understanding [a] pattern exhaustively” must be undertaken on the basis of investigating things; he sees no sense in examining the idea of patternsimpliciter, in abstraction from phenomena; for the significance of patterns/pat­terning surely lies in its formative role in processes, cycles, phenomena, and affairs.Li must be implicated in phenomena or affairs to be discernible and have epis­temic value, practical traction, and ethical significance. 
19 See Zhuangzi’s similar position in ch. 17,“Autumn Floods” (Watson 1968), and also see Thompson (2015, 150–6). 20 “Four” stands for multiple. 21 A reference perhaps to Confucius’ four abstentions (Analects 9.4; Ames 1998, 127). 22 This can perhaps be likened to Russell’s notion of type levels and Hegel’s notion of levels of abstract universals and concrete universals 
Is any of this instructive for the contemporary computer-assisted conduct of research, reflection, and writing? I would tend to say yes. While we might not subscribe specifically to Zhu Xi’s ontology of pattern, or pattern and qi, his un­derlying conception of patterns/patterning, set in real dynamic contexts, remains instructive and provides a handle for understanding and responding to things and affairs.23 The notion of pattern cuts to the chase of human perception and knowl­edge, as contemporary neural science tells us that our perceptions are coded on the basis of pattern recognition, which apparently goes much deeper and is more ex­acting than, say, the venerable Aristotelian categories.24 I would add that whenever we conduct research and reflection, we arrange sets of relevant distinctions and categories for the data for the purpose of that project. We could say that the logic,categories, and structure that we project in our understanding of the data tend to shape both the data sets (the phenomena) we are dealing with and our mindset as we attempt to conceptualize the data and work with them. In that sense, the self­same patterns are at work together both in (our views of ) things and affairs and in our minds and conceptualizations, particularly as our understandings get closer to the truth. So, it is important not only to get things right, but also to think about the things in a relevant and effective, systematic order. 
Importantly, Zhu Xi at the same time understands that we can and do get thingswrong and invariably need to rethink everything when the data, or experiential orexperimental results, turn out very differently from our conceptual or hypotheticalexpectations. Zhu Xi understands the provisional nature of human understandingsof the structure and processes of the world; hence, he knows that an accurate accountof a pattern with respect to knowledge and, by extension, value, would refer it to thefinal outcome of ongoing inquiry and reflection, rather than something given asunderstood at the outset.25 It is important to realize that Zhu Xi’s notion of the this same patterns/patterning permeating world and mind is reminiscent of the earlyWittgenstein’s claim of a common logical space answering to world, language, andthought, by virtue of which language—and knowledge—mirrors reality and allowsus to talk about real facts. Zhu’s notion of the basic intelligibility of the world byvirtue of the patterns which permeate and run through it parallels Wittgenstein’s idea that every state of affairs in the world, in principle, can be expressed as a fact in 
23 See David Wade, Li: Dynamic Form in Nature (2003). 24 Think of the thousands of faces we can distinguish based on raw pattern recognition as compared 
to the relatively few we could distinguish using Aristotelian categories. Neural research shows our 
categorical understanding is parasitic on our pattern recognition, without which it could not take 
place. See Hawkins 2004, 60f. 25 This result is consistent with the “Supplement to Chapter 5” of the Great Learning and exemplified 
in some of Zhu Xi’s observations of natural phenomena. 
language, and so that my language constitutes my world. Zhu Xi would be commit­ted to the notion that we express our cognizance of patterns/patterning proposition­ally, and manifest that understanding performatively through speech and action.26 

Responsive Chord within Cognition 
A decisive plank in Zhu’s “Supplement to Chapter 5” of the Advanced Learning is,“On the basis of what one already knows of their patterns, to explore them further”.This key insight harks back to the notion of instinctual human responses,27 as well as knowing how and the tacit knowledge one builds up of how things happen inthe world.28 Though this might seem to be a departure from foundational, “ob­jective” Western styled research, in the humanities one tends to conduct researchon topics that one feels an affinity with and responds to, that strike a chord, thatresonate. I would propose that the researcher’s resonance with his or her chosen research area contributes to his or her arriving at an approach and basic argumentabout the data.29 Furthermore, this notion of resonance helps to explain the under­lying human reasonableness of giving charitable readings or interpretations. Suchreadings are not merely charity work conducted out of sympathy, but reflect thatthe critic’s responsiveness to the author’s basic feelings and take on the material.Uncharitable readings and interpretations are often false to the extent that theydepart from the inclination and spirit of the original and push it in alien directions,which might be formally justified but are just false to the spirit of the material, evento the spirit of the argument. For example, many critical expositions of argumentsin Plato are only correct when the arguments have been abstracted from their di­alogical contexts and ironed out to fit logical stencils, however they miss subtletiesand nuances of the dialogue and its context, and thus turn out to be irrelevant ormerely a sidelight to Plato’s own intentions and project. For his part, Zhu explains: 
One must pay attention on the basis of one’s instincts (Zhu 1986, ch. 8). 
One must infer from what one knows in order to eventually reach the 
level of knowing all (ibid., ch. 15). 
26 Thus answering to the later as well as early Wittgenstein. 27 This refers to preserving the root and Mencius’ four beginnings, etc., mentioned above. See note 6. 28 See Zhuangzi’s comments on the knowledge of nature and the knowledge of the human, and the 
knowledge that one knows vis-a-vis the knowledge one does not know in the opening paragraphs 
of Zhuangzi, chapter 6,“The Venerable Teacher” (Watson 1968).Wittgenstein offers similar reflec­
tions in On Certainty (Wittgenstein 1971). 29 This goes on as well in much research that is deemed prima facie objective. Even mathematicians 
and physicists speak of the beauty (aesthetics) of a compelling, well-formed argument or theory. 
What learners mean by “investigating things” nowadays lacks initial clues andis merely blindly investigating by inquiring into things (Zhu 1986, ch. 15). 
To date, all verifiable knowledge is human knowledge, and to that extent subject to human sensitivity. 

Investigating Things to Extend Knowledge 
Zhu’s “Supplement to Chapter 5” of the Advanced Learning enjoins us to, “Seek to reach its ultimate”. This imperative involves making efforts to attain an under­standing of the full range of the implications of a phenomenon, concept, or value.This is not pointing to an essentialist platonic ideal, but rather the full range, the full gamut of what a phenomenon, concept, or value involves. As Zhu Xi explains: 
Everyone knows that a son knows to be filial, and a father knows to be af­fectionate. The problem is that people just don’t understand these virtues thoroughly. What’s important is to want to understand these virtues in depth. Consider a light shining through a hole. The light grows brighter when the hole is enlarged. All things have their patterns, and people are acquainted with their own [constitutive life] patterns, such as filiality and affection. But, if one’s knowledge is not very penetrating it is as if one remains mostly in the dark. (ibid.) 
Hence, Zhu’s imperative “to reach its ultimate”, is intended to encourage people to reach a penetrating comprehension of the concept or matter or value under consideration. If one’s penetration is shallow one’s comprehension will be weak and unsteady, like the narrow beams of light peeping through tiny holes. While students tend to be uninterested in thinking about basic issues like filiality and eager to consider more exotic, esoteric matters, Zhu Xi considered that people who remain unclear or in the dark about such basics as filiality and filial affection would tend to be fuzzy headed and unable to grasp the deeper things very well.Therefore, he set up genuine or authentic working knowledge as a goal, 
“Attaining knowledge” is the means by which one seeks authentic knowledge. 
Authentic knowledge involves penetrating things to the marrow to com­prehend them thoroughly. (ibid.) 
Knowledge, to be authentic, must penetrate to the marrow. Thus,the Master further said, “Investigating things is just attending to phenomena, while the knowledge attained is this mind’s penetrating comprehension”. (ibid.) 
Cutting through the metaphors, we may consider Zhu Xi’s notion of penetrating knowledge as in-depth knowledge that is at once detailed and comprehensive. For Zhu Xi, this would involve sensitivity to fine details, distinctions, and differences.He stressed the importance of achieving penetrating, in-depth knowledge, sensi­tive to fine distinctions, because he saw that many people judge things crudely and act on vague, general concepts, and thus while they might make judgments and perform actions that are prima facie in accord with custom and virtue, on a closer look they actually violate or contradict the values of propriety and humaneness.30 In the case of values, in particular, one arrives at a penetrating comprehension by drawing inferences in a variety of cases cued by one’s basic impulses in response to what one intuits and knows within. 
Consider King Xuan’s seeing an ox and feeling that he couldn’t bear the suffering of others [Mencius 1A:6]. To extend this feeling such that allthings are covered by its empathetic concern is precisely what is meantby “investigating” and “attaining”. This is to investigate, infer, explore,and attain to the utmost. Each person has his own store of knowledgeand experience to draw on; nobody can be called completely ignorant—even the infant knows to love its parents and, as it grows up, to respectits elder brothers and so forth, down to knowing the basic distinctionsbetween good and bad and right and wrong, which one then discernsclearly. But, as to one who doesn’t go on to infer, extend, and expand onsuch feelings, experiences, and knowledge, one’s experience and knowl­edge will, ultimately, remain like this. [...What is important is to ex­plore and investigate on the basis of the clues of one’s initial feelings]. (ibid.) 
This passage goes beyond one’s usual study and inquiry to consider the inborn moral sensitivities that begin to inform the researcher and develop in her think­ing in the course of conducting humanities research. I stress moral sensitivities as opposed to strict virtues or principles, because this involves filling out and refining one’s basic responsive life knowledge with the deeper lessons and insights that take place as one undertakes research and reflection in the humanities. We might say that Zhu Xi stresses the importance of sensitivity and empathetic inquiry, and the bottom line is that one put oneself fully into it. 
30 For this reason, Zhu Xi, following Mencius, spoke of the need to overturn ritual to fulfill humane­ness in cases in which a standard observance of the ritual would cause harm or suffering. 
In investigating things, what is important is to pay close attention through the self. (Zhu 1986, ch.15; italics added) 
To just explore the patterns of the myriad things in the world broadly,without endeavouring to grasp them through the self, is what is described by… [the Cheng Masters] as “galloping off with no point of return.” (ibid., ch. 18; italics added) 
Putting one’s heart into it is clearly a departure from the disinterested objectivism that is encouraged by so-called advanced, computer-driven research in today’s digital data. However, as Zhu Xi would remind us, the very nature of humanities materials calls for sensitivity and empathetic reading and inquiry. The humanities researcher who does not read, reflect, and respond in a responsive, humane way will not be up to the task. 
Putting one’s heart into it turns out to be epistemologically justified for Zhu Xi,in that his notion of heart-mind is emotionally (and responsively) as well as cog­nitively (and rationally) wired into the living world of qi and patterns/patterning such that, 
…there is nothing the discerning human mind cannot comprehend, for there is nothing in the world that doesn’t possess patterns. It is just because there remain some patterns one hasn’t explored that one’s knowledge is not exhaustive. This is why…, regarding everything in the world,… the learner proceeds in each instance on the basis of what he or she already knows of their patterns, to explore them further in order to understand them to the utmost. (Daxue zhangju, ch. 5) 
Not only is putting one’s heart into it epistemologically justified for Zhu Xi; sincethe same pattern/patterning constitute the heart-mind and knowledge as the world,phenomena, and affairs, one’s exhaustive knowledge of the world is tantamount toexhaustive knowledge of the heart-mind and self, not to mention humanity. 
Since the heart-mind is limitless, how could it be exhausted? Since things are countless, how could they be exhausted? But, one who reaches the level of penetrating realization and really grasps it will understand it all.This is to be exhaustive. (Zhu 1986, ch. 60) 
One can’t exhaust the function of heart-mind; what can be exhausted are just the patterns/patterning of the heart-mind. (ibid.) 
Ultimately, we, “Investigate things in order to illuminate this very heart-mind.” (ibid., ch. 118) 
“Illuminate this mind” refers to the inner realization that one has arrived at penetrating knowledge, authentic knowledge, which gets into the marrow. Thisis the sort of knowledge one acquires by investigating things to explore patterns/patterning. One who has explored the patterns of numerous phenomena, andreached the level of a sudden penetrating realization, in effect, has fully graspedthe patterns/patterning of the heart-mind; thereafter, one is equipped to seethrough the myriads sorts of matters that arise. For Zhu Xi, one who is armedwith this sort of penetrating realization is equipped to grasp quite readily anynew things as they arise. 
Nobody conducting inquiry and research in the humanities, or even the human sciences, would today make such sweeping claims for the general applicability of their epistemico-ontological assumptions, such as Zhu Xi’s basic ideas of patterns/ patterning, qi, basic propensities, and heart-mind. However, these assumptions do not make Zhu’s ideas or system rigid or limited. They stir the imagination, and provide useful ways to look at the facts and assess our feelings. One must keep in mind at the same time that Zhu Xi’s ideas of patterns/patterning and daoli do not form a linear, logocentric system, but rather are multivalent, holistic, and regarded as organically unfolding as well as re-enfolding. As noted above, this extending and dispersal, as well as folding and return, of patterns/patterning throughout this flowing world mean that patterns/patterning are regarded as at once integrated and also manifested variously in multi-perspectival ways, such that one has to constantly adjust one’s ideas and stance to grasp the phenomena and their basic propensities and guiding patterns sensitively and appropriately. Zhu Xi thus ob­served the need for multiple perspectives for understanding human affairs, natural phenomena, and even artefacts.31 
Although the myriad patterns ultimately are expressions of the single [originative] pattern, learners still must attend to the manifold complex­ities within the myriad patterns. By drawing together all four sides, they will naturally realize the single [originative] pattern. Not attending to those myriad patterns but attending solely to the single originative pat­tern is groundless imagining. (Zhu 1986, ch. 117) 
The learning of the common person usually deviates toward one set pat­tern and stresses one position.Therefore, fierce debates break out because people don’t see all four sides. The sage [Confucius] stayed balanced, up­right, in harmony and fair, and thus remained free of deviation or bias.(ibid., ch.8) 
31 See Zhuangzi’s similar position in ch. 17, “Autumn Floods” (Watson 1968). 
The argument might be made that Zhu Xi’s system and approach allow for mul­tiple perspectives and understandings, for multivalency and different reads of the basic propensities and patterns, because they are more about life praxis than the­oretical understanding, which is the typical goal of advanced inquiry at present.They are not about reaching the sort of definitive explanation and understanding that are the earmarks of traditional Western philosophy and contemporary ad­vanced research, in the humanities as in other fields. For the moment, I would propose that Zhu Xi’s system and approach are aimed at precisely the sort of subjective comprehension (objectively validated, nonetheless) that lends itself to enhanced self-realization and self-conscious personhood and practice that remain the everlasting, though increasingly tacit, goal of work in the humanities, whether creative or academic. 

Zhu Xi on the Conduct of Learning and Reading 
Again, for Zhu Xi, learning and reading are part of one’s self-cultivation efforts and goal, essentially to become a sensitive, responsible, and self-conscious person,dedicated to humane values and living. The value to be derived from mastering the subtleties of the texts lay in the basic truths of life they convey, their ethical import. Zhu Xi was critical of those students of ancient texts who seek esoterica and “enjoy mysteries and subtleties. They even probingly speak of the imageless and formless (which are unspeakable).” (ibid., ch. 26) 
By contrast, 
The sage (Confucius) expressed himself plainly and uprightly. But, peo­ple nowadays insist on seeking marvels and expounding on the lofty and far-reaching. When interpreting texts, they insist on explaining even the obviously shallow commonplace passages in profound phrases. Concern­ing the outer, they insist on discussing the inner. (ibid.) 
Above, we saw that Zhu Xi’s approach to inquiry was bound up with the core cultivation efforts of abiding in jing, nurturing the root, and examining self. One’s serious learning and reading, especially of the classics, should involve the project of establishing one’s great root, in effect, grounding and centring oneself in those patterns, principles, values, and way of life. As Zhu elaborates, 
In the conduct of learning, one first must establish the great root. In the 
beginning, one is quite narrow. In the middle phase of learning, one ex­
pands and broadens while at the end one again narrows down. Recently 
learners have liked to pursue the narrow, but without seeking to go on to broaden themselves; how are they then to confirm their narrow un­derstanding? There are also those who seek only to broaden themselves without returning back to the narrow. Their ailment is even worse than that of being too narrow and lacking in breadth. (Zhu 1986, ch. 11) 
Zhu regarded the middle stage of learning, the effort of broadening oneself, as the most crucial and painstaking part of learning. This is where one learns about the differences and fine distinctions that make one more discerning and one’s responses more appropriate. The narrow “great root” is orientational and pertains to the laying and setting of one’s foundation. The process back from breadth to narrowness refers to one’s integrating and synthesizing one’s wide learning, mak­ing it viable for refining one’s judgments and actions, making them acute and propitious; this process would be a major step in fulfilling one’s existential resolve to be a sensitive, responsible, self-conscious person. 
Reading, for Zhu Xi, is an inherent part of the other cultivation efforts, linked to the broader conduct of inquiry, culminating in investigating things to understand their patterns exhaustively. It is a little-known fact that Zhu was the only promi­nent Neo-Confucian master to register the central role of reading, and to discuss it extensively. His account of reading with regard to interpreting and understand­ing classical texts is particularly relevant to discussions on the study of humanities texts today. Importantly, he teaches keeping an open mind about a text, being wary of forcing one’s preconceptions and personal views on it, and the important of reading a text over and over again, and immersing and steeping oneself in it.For example, Zhu Xi writes, 
In reading, one mustn’t foist one’s personal views onto the text. Look at it according to the actual meaning of the words; distinguish the meaning of the text clearly on the basis of the words. Review it tirelessly in this way for long days and deep months. (ibid.) 
If you read with preconceptions, since they aren’t necessarily correct you shouldn’t stubbornly stick to them. Just set them aside and read the text over again in order to arrive at a fresh view. (ibid.) 
It’s like draining muddy water, after which the clear water appears. (ibid.) 
For Zhu Xi, besides staying open-minded and free of pre-conceptions, the reader must stay concentrated and focus on the text at hand. 
Review and reread the passages one comprehends. (Zhu 1986, ch. 10) 
Just read according to the sequence of the text; each guiding pattern then will appear naturally in context. In this way after a long time, one will experience an overall grasp. (ibid., ch. 11) 
One needs this sort of solid mastery of a text for dealing with the problems of interpretation that arise. Moreover, such problems and doubts are inevitable for a serious reader who questions consistency and implications, as well as basic mean­ings. For example, 
The points at which the explanations of various masters differ or agree are worthy of note. Supposing A explains it in one way, just grasp A’s po­sition and examine his account thoroughly; then, suppose B explains it in another way, just grasp B’s position and examine his account thoroughly.Having explored these two masters’ positions completely, proceed to in­vestigate the text further and consider the matter exhaustively. Certainly one of the accounts will turn out to be correct. (ibid.) 32 
Encountering doubts and problems are the bread and butter of serious reading,which make it an intriguing exercise, and an utterly unproblematic philosophy text would seem facile and vapid. 
Read up to the point at which numerous doubts arise, such that you neglect to sleep and eat. In this way, you can make rapid progress…. It is like deploying troops: you have to score a major kill to be deemed adept at gaining victory. (ibid., ch. 10) 
Although one shouldn’t concoct groundless explanations, when doubts arise in reading one will form opinions of one’s own. At such times, one can’t help but form an explanation. Those who haven’t formed an expla­nation simply haven’t encountered any doubtful places in their reading. (ibid., ch. 11) 
Such valid doubts reflect the seriousness with which one reads. At the same time, the reader’s doubts must be well founded and not made up and arbitrary.One who commences reading a text with doubts, in current jargon simply prob-lematizing for the sake of problematizing, is not going to grasp anything ormake serious headway in reading. Indeed, feeling and expressing doubt witha true point and purpose depend on a basic initial mastery of the overall text. 
32 There is no reason there might not be more than two possible interpretations or readings of a text. 
Otherwise, one won’t be equipped to extend doubt meaningfully, not to mentionto explain the problem. 
Ultimately, such valid exercises of doubt involve bringing one’s cultivated knowl­edge, values, logic, and powers of judgment into play. One’s development as a resourceful, passionate thinker proceeds as much through such exercises of doubt as by reading the noble thoughts of the sages. 
During their famous symposium at Goose Lake, Zhu Xi wrote the following poem in response to the poems by Lu Xiangshan and his brothers, which cele­brated insight learning: 
Discuss past learning to increase your subtlety; Nurture new understandings to increase your depth. 
For Zhu, the first line expresses a requirement for carrying out the second. It is bestfor the intellectual and moral vanguard to nurture their new understandings in thelight of the long experience and lasting truths of earlier generations. This is truewhether one is basically accepting or rejecting the truths of the past; otherwise,each successive generation will find itself in the position of reinventing the wheel. 
Zhu Xi’s discussions on reading become more pointed and begin to approximate modern hermeneutics when he considers reading the ancient classics, yet he also finds much to criticize in the predilections of classical commentators of his day.The Book of Changes remains among the most challenging of the classics. As Zhu notes, understanding this text is not simply a matter of understanding the words on the page and the underlying principles; it is a matter of grasping patterns of change and transformation in nature and human life. 
The Book of Changes contains detailed information about material facts and covers human affairs thoroughly. All the matters mentioned really occurred. Learners today just review and recite every day beneath their lamp or window without personally having responded or adapted to changes in the world. Suddenly given this book to read, they are ill-pre­pared to grasp it. (Zhu 1986, ch.11) 
The Book of Change describes the patterns/patterning of things and af­fairs according to transformations of yin and yang. Great and small, seedand chaff, the Book of Changes covers them all. In particular, one can’tread it with a biased mind, stressing the inner but neglecting the outer,bored of action and craving ease and tranquillity. (Zhu 2002, ch. 43,letter to Li Kelian) 
Clearly, for Zhu, it is useless to study the Book of Changes in a scholastic way, qui­etly under a lamp or window. Zhu understands the limits of bookish learning and becoming a well-versed reader without knowing how things actually transpire in the world, and so places equal emphasis on practical experience. 
Moreover, Zhu understands that not all canonical texts are equal and present the same sorts of problems to the reader and interpreter. For instance, 
Naturally, some books are suitable for anyone to read, such as the Ad­vanced Learning, Analects, Mencius and Zhongyong. Indeed, how could one simply not read them? By reading these four books, one grasps the indispensable daoli of daily life, as well as the proper sequence of learning.Afterwards, one can go on to read the Odes, Documents, Rites, and Music. Although I heard others claim they’d read the Book of Changes, I took them to be mistaken because they hadn’t observed the proper sequence of learning. The Book of Changes doesn’t directly present these daoli and is by no means a common textbook. (Zhu 1986, ch. 67) 
Indeed, recognizing that the Book of Changes was originally a divination manual,Zhu first studied the images and the calculations (xiangshu.. ) in the work,treating them as more important than the significance attributed to the text by Cheng Yi. He explains, “…the Book of Changes is especially difficult. Before open­ing the scripts, one must have made a serious effort to master the images and calculations.” (Zhu 2002, ch. 35, letter to Chen Mingzhong) 
Since the Book of Odes is a literary text, Zhu Xi’s account of his efforts to interpret it is also relevant: 
When I interpreted the Odes, I’d just read the original text forty or fif­ty times and gain a sixty to seventy percent comprehension. Then, I’d see how my impressions jibed with the various commentaries. After I’d gained a general grasp of an ode in this way, I’d reread it thirty or forty more times and become conversant with its main idea, and get it for my­self. (Zhu 1986, ch. 80) 
Zhu’s tended to study individual odes in the Book of Odes in three stages. He’d first recite the ode many times. After attaining a basic mastery of the ode, he would consult the commentaries, which was the second stage. He tended to draw on all of the commentaries, old and new. Having mastered these interpretations, he would reread the ode thirty or forty times more; the third stage. At this point, he usually felt adequately conversant with the daoli of the ode, that he’d “got it for himself ”. Zhu approached the other classics in much the same way he approached the Odes. Consequently, his learning drew upon the traditional readings and was solidly based on original texts. Yet he also ventured to come up with innovative readings of his own. 
What’s important in becoming well versed in an ode is to immerse one­self completely in reading it a hundred times through. In that way, the ex­quisite parts will come out and its subtleties and peculiarities will appear.In reading this one ode, you should spare no effort in reading it over and over until you’ve thoroughly mastered it. Read it like there is no second ode; that would be the best. But, if you just read this first ode and then go on to the second one, you will never succeed in reading it with compre­hension. This would be to be lacking in concentration. It is important to slay your “mindset to wander off and pursue other things”, so you can just settle down to read. (Zhu 1986, ch. 80) 
As a methodical reader, Zhu understands that the Odes has its own inner structure, as does the Book of Changes. In approaching each classic one should first inquire into its inner structure. Consequently, to read the Odes and the Book of Changes simply according to one’s initial subjective impressions would not be a valid appli­cation of “investigating things to understand pattern exhaustively”. Moreover, in reading the Odes Zhu understands that their literary merits transcend the didactic intent of most Confucian interpreters. 
In reading the Odes, besides their didactic significance, it’s even better to appreciate their literary composition. (ibid.) 
An ancient said one may be inspired by reading the Odes (Analects 8/8); what’s important is that in reading the Odes one feels inspired at certain points. That is to read the Odes. (ibid.) 
The Odes contain moving sentiments. One who reads them without be­ing moved simply is one whose sensibility was slain by the various Con­fucian commentators. (ibid.) 
Completely wash away the old interpretations and the sense of the Odes will come to life. (ibid.) 
Zhu Xi’s approach to these two classics reveals that his commitment to truth goes well beyond the ideology and didacticism of the Confucian tradition, and that he is keenly interested in the actual patterns, principles, and propensities operative in the world and the deeper sentiments of human life, as expressed through poetry and song. Naturally, the books of Confucius, Zisi, and Mencius express valid pat­terns, principles, and ideals that Zhu Xi embraces and identifies as his own, yet at the same time he examines and comments on these texts with the same keen critical eye. We thus see Zhu registering several levels and valences of truth cor­responding to the course of nature and human life, the deeper sentiments of hu­manity, and Way and teachings of Confucius and the sage kings and formative Confucian masters. 
Concerning Zhu Xi’s quest for truth in these ways, Peng Guosheng usefully com­pares his approach to reading and interpreting the Confucian classics with Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. While Zhu Xi engages in what may be termed Gadamerian baseline textual interpretation to elicit the original meaning(s) of the extant text, and second order textual reconstruction to clarify and elaborate the guiding principles at work it, particularly with respect to the Four Books, and with an eye to praxis, Zhu exhibits a sort of exuberance in his readings and commentaries that is not evident in drier Gadamerian approaches (Peng 2015, 326). Peng accounts for Zhu’s exuberance in his reading and inter­preting as due to his not just participating in, but devotedly cultivating himself, in “sacred” Confucian traditions. 
In my view, Zhu Xi’s exuberance about not just learning and reading but inquiryin general traces back to his inveterate hunger to probe to the marrow, and under­stand deeply and practically the world and human existence. His existential resolveto realize himself as a sensitive, responsible, self-conscious person is not just tofulfil the Confucian ideal, but more broadly to be conversant with the flux of realityin nature as well as himself. Certainly, he would advise today’s advanced humanities researchers and writers not only to delve whole-heartedly into their focal concerns,but also have a healthy interest in a broad array of matters and phenomena. 

Zhu Xi on Extracurricular Learning 
Zhu Xi was rather unique in the Confucian tradition for seeking a firm grasp of the patterns of change and transformation that constitute the world and human life.33 Most of his Neo-Confucian brethren devoted themselves more narrowly to what they considered orthodox learning, and often sought to purge “extracurricular 
33 It might be contested that this impulse underlay the production and use of the Book of Changes, and that Shao Yong anticipated Zhu Xi with the notion of observation. I would reply that among Con­fucian scholars Zhu Xi did the most to think about and develop a method of investigating things to extend knowledge. He developed this notion in greater depth and applied it more broadly than had Shao Yong or any other Confucian in traditional China. 
materials”. Some regarded even literary and historical inquiries as borderline ex­tracurricular, creating for themselves the appearance of empty moralizers and life­less pedants. By contrast, Zhu Xi sought to understand the dynamics and depths of life and conducted his own learning in a broad and encompassing way. To his Neo-Confucian peers, he would ask, “How can one claim to grasp and carry out the Way if one doesn’t have a handle on the ways of the world and society in which one lives, if one doesn’t register the pulse of everyday life?” As emphasized by Qian Mu, the scope of Zhu’s “investigating things to understand pattern ex­haustively” was potentially all-embracing, and so his pursuit of learning extended into what other Confucians would regard as borderline areas and beyond. Two extracurricular realms of particular interest to Zhu Xi were roaming freely in the arts and investigating natural knowledge (Qian 1991, 215). 34 
Confucius advised his students to roam freely in the arts in their free time. Zhu Xi saw value in such roaming, in that it encourages one to notice the little things, the details, the finer things at hand in daily life, and that it allows one to continue cul­tivating oneself whether in action or repose. In this way, every moment becomes a precious occasion to be unlocked and appreciated. Indeed, Zhu considered that learners who thus stay in the moment during downtime as well as up-time would tend to have a firmer sense of priorities, and be prone to nurture root and branch,inner and outer together. 
For his part, Zhu Xi took joy in painting and drawing, and did some self-portraits.He also enjoyed the lute and was versed in harmony and melodies. When a mas­ter of the lute, Cai Yuanding ( Jitong, 1135–1198), came to study with him, Zhu received him as an old friend and later discussed the instrument in a letter to the master that linked the principles of the lute with the appropriateness and patterns of the myriad things: 
Generally speaking, as to the myriad affairs in the world, their appropri­ateness and patterns are inexhaustibly subtle; it isn’t easy to determine them thoroughly in a word. One must peer through them as through a crystal screen such that they do not obstruct one another; that is a con­firmation of investigating things. (Zhu 2002, ch. 44, letter to Cai Jitong) 
Zhu also studied the major works on health, medicine, and the principles ofnourishing life, and discussed them knowledgeably. He even investigated theart of quiet-sitting to nourish life, and discussed this with Cai Yuanting in con­nection with the Daoist text Can-tong-qi ... (The Three Ways Unified and 
34 The following examples were drawn from Qian 1991, ch. 30. 
Harmonized). When Cai was about to go into exile, Zhu discussed the Can-tong-qi with gusto when seeing him off. Incredibly, Zhu later wrote a com­mentary on this text under the nom d’plume Kongtong daoshi Zou Xin ...... (Daoist master of vacuity and identity Zou Xin). Some later scholarsridiculed him for writing this commentary; however, they hadn’t grasped that Zhu’s version of Neo-Confucianism was all embracing, and thus included theseother dimensions.35 
As noted above, Zhu’s method of investigating things was applicable in principle to everything from the cosmos and heavens above, to humanity and the myriad creatures below. Moreover, Zhu’s entire effort manifested and authenticated his resolve to attain and extend knowledge by “investigating things to understand patterns exhaustively”. It must be noted that while Zhu’s teaching of “investi­gating things” was more about culture and ethics than scientific matters, he did make some salient scientific or proto-scientific observations at a time when few Chinese intellectuals concerned themselves with such things, and officialdom did not hold technologists or engineers in very high regard (Kim 2000). Zhu Xi made numerous observations of natural phenomena couched in (and to a certain extent rationalized) in his li-qi conceptual framework. He always sought the underlying patterns and qi permutations of the natural phenomena he observed––as well as of the human conduct and texts he investigated. The following are several examples of Zhu Xi’s observations of and reflections on natural phenomena. 
At several times, Zhu Xi observed fossil shells on mountaintops, and with some amazement inferred a notion of geological evolution in light of received principles of transformation. He writes, for example, 
I often see the snail and clam shells atop high mountains, or embedded inside stones: these stones are made of the soil of an earlier time. But,snails and clams live in the water.Thus, the low transforms into the high,the soft transforms into the hard. These matters, if one thinks deeply about them, involve facts that can be confirmed. (Zhu 1986, ch. 94) 
Now there are often various types of oyster shells embedded in stones atop high mountains. Oysters must certainly live in the mud but, there they are, in stone. Heaven and earth are changing and rotating; how can anything remain constant? At the time when the mountains, rivers and the great Earth were first produced, their settings must have been quite soft. (Zhu 1985, ch. 1) 
35 This text could be regarded as an extension or application of Zhou Dunyi’s Explanation of the Di­agram of the Supreme Polarity, the cornerstone of Zhu Xi’s system of thought. 
Moreover, while Zhu held that the earth was stationary vis-a-vis the rotating heavens above, later when he considered that the earth lies nested below or within the heavens, he raised the question that while 
Heaven rotates on the outside, isn’t the earth revolving along with it? Sitting here now, we don’t feel that the earth is moving, but how do we know that while heaven rotates on the outside the earth isn’t revolving along with it? (Zhu 1985, ch. 86)36
 Zhu Xi also offered a probing reflection on the formation of the cosmos. Remi­niscent of Spinoza’s notion of immanent reason and Wittgenstein’s logical space,he regarded patterns/patterning as penetrating everything and not conditioned or limited by extension, dimension, or direction. By the same token, he understood that almanac makers only catch certain discernible annual cycles and seasonal patterns in the world; they cannot register anything deeper or get into the hows or whys these phenomena. 
Someone said, “Shao Yong spoke of that which ‘lies beyond the six directions.’ I fear there is nothing beyond them.”The Master replied,“Assuredly, patternis free of inner and outer. The pattern of the six directions certainly has inner and outer.When almanac makers calculate the qi, they just calculate the revolutions of the sun, moon, and stars. Beyond this, they cannot calculate. And, how could these matters be free of inner and outer?” (Zhu 1986, ch.1) 
As to comprehending heaven, the cosmos, and its revolutions more generally, Zhu speaks exuberantly of expanding one’s mind and feelings, one’s consciousness; by extending from all that one feels, sees, knows, and can imagine, one can begin to get a sense of its immensity.This appears to be an application of Zhu Xi’s method of “investigating things to attain knowledge” to nature writ large: 
Heaven is just a vast entity; one must enlarge one’s mind and feelings tobegin to gaze upon it. As to the revolution of heaven, in one day it defi­nitely revolves in one cycle. But, there are also major revolution cycles; onecannot approach this matter from just one perspective. (Zhu 1985, ch. 1) 
It is fascinating to consider the sorts of existential reflection that would accompa­ny such reflective observations of nature itself. 
Interestingly, besides making such discerning scientific remarks, Zhu Xi some­times also came up with what might be deemed a scientific or proto-scientific 
36 This is the sort of question that Copernicus, Kepler, and Columbus were asking themselves. 
model or thought experiment to facilitate understanding of natural phenomena.In one such case, Zhu uses a steaming rice pot as a model for understanding precipitation: 
When qi vaporizes and produces rain, it is just like when the rice pot is covered: the qi pressurizes, condenses, and produces droplets. When qi vaporizes and produces fog, it is just like when the rice pot isn’t covered: the qi disperses and is not recovered. (Zhu 1985, ch. 111)37 
Zhu Xi was at once rational and empirical in spirit. He observed events carefullywith a keen eye and yet sought underlying patterns and offered reasoned spec­ulations on the workings of natural phenomena. He found such inquiries intonatural truths invigorating, almost empowering, touching reality in ways thatcultural, textual truths never could. Zhu was deeply interested in the patternsconstituting, connecting, and guiding physical phenomena; and he investigatednatural phenomena in the spirit of roaming freely in the arts, that is, he didn’tneglect to observe even the most trifling matters. And, as in his conduct of textu­al studies and formation of cultivation approaches, he strove to confirm his ideasand hypotheses against the evidence or the touchstone of effectiveness, often indynamic terms, more in the sense of asking whether that was “how somethingworked” in situ, rather than whether “it was simply true or false”. In any case,he wouldn’t accept claims or ideas without some indication of their truth, theirpractical veracity. For example: 
A while back, there was a monk who claimed, “In the growth of bam­boo sprouts one can observe the ‘night vapor’. So, I stuck a pole into the ground to record the growth of a bamboo sprout. From morning until night it grew less than one inch. When I observed it at dawn the next day,it had already grown by several inches.” Afterwards, I tested the story at the Jade Mountain Monastery, and found that the bamboo sprouts grew the same amount by day or night. Their actual growth differed entirely from that claim of the monk. (Zhu 1986, 138) 
Qian Mu notes that this story presents an interesting contrast to Wang Shouren’sanecdote about investigating the bamboo in front of his hall. While the youngWang just sat there and stared blankly at bamboo sprouts expecting their pat­terning to be manifested before his eyes, and gained no knowledge from the 
37 It is a shame that nobody realized that the pressurized steam in a vessel could produce power. Laozi planted the seed for this discovery in Laozi, ch. 11. But the suggestion was never noticed. See Ames and Hall (2003, 91f). 
exercise, Zhu’s teaching and practice of “investigating things” involved observingwith a clear question in mind, to be tested and confirmed. Thus, after hearingthe monk’s claim about the growth of the plants, Zhu proceeded to measure theactual growth of the bamboo sprouts by day and night when he had some freetime (Qian 1991, 219). 
Above, we observed that Zhu Xi would have questioned the narrowness and over-professionalization of current humanities research and writing at the college level. In this age of accelerated advanced degree programs, scholars are no longer limited just to the boundaries of their disciplines, but now to their chosen areas and fields within their disciplines.38This trend not only erodes the scholars’ aware­ness of the intellectual-historical context of their chosen academic niches, but also alienates them from the constellations of other disciplines surrounding their own.Zhu Xi realized that his own focal concerns, such as the Confucian Way, self-cul­tivation, and so on, could only be understood, attested, and made more meaning­ful within larger contexts of knowledge and awareness. His central preoccupations could only come alive when related to a working sense of the world, history, his tradition, other traditions, human nature, and the like. Consequently, his example demonstrates that humanities students and researchers should acquaint them­selves broadly within their own field, as well as with smatterings of other fields,in order to add depth and reality to their thought and research. In my case, my earlier efforts to study some science and the philosophy of science were repaid not only in a firmer grasp of recent developments in this area, but also in the writing of a crucial book review (Thompson 2002) and academia presentation (Thompson 2016). These studies also facilitated my recent work in agricultural and sustaina­bility ethics, which has reinvigorated my academic and professional life.39 
Calls to expand the purview of one’s interests and learning—so as to include not only attending to and grasping the flow of events going on, whether at hand or in the press, but also making oneself aware of and conversant in ever wider swaths of one’s own discipline, as well as trends of others—perhaps sound like a siren’s call, an impossible dream, in this age of information overload. At present, our focal studies and research efforts are already vastly overwhelmed by the wealth of information at our grasp with the aid of digitization, computers, and the internet.We used to despair at reams of information, now new information pours in by the gigabyte and megabyte! How can we be expected to cast our vision beyond this focal amplitude, this infinite depth, which we can barely begin to get a grip on? In 
38 I once heard an American Chinese historian say that he was only knowledgeable about the last fifty 
years of the Tang dynasty and not to ask him about the early Tang or any other period of Chinese 
history. Hopefully, he was exaggerating. 
39 See also Thompson 2012a, 2012b, and 2013. 
this time and age, such calls, as implied in Zhu Xi’s teaching and practice, seem delusional if not downright sadistic. However, I maintain that this call is crucial if contemporary humanities researchers and writers are to restore a sense of not only their intellectual balance and equilibrium, but also of their academic com­mitments and life direction. It is crucial, indeed, to keeping one’s academic work and career relevant to life as well as in harness with one’s primary resolve to be a sensitive, responsible, self-conscious human being. 
Now to the question, how is the contemporary humanities researcher to do this? That is, how is she to keep abreast developments in her own area, not to men­tion her field at large, while keeping aware the events going on in other fields of knowledge? After all, there are only 24 hours in a day, and seven days in a week! Well, to this end, the internet may be of service. One may subscribe to several news and academic sites to receive periodic newsletters. One may choose news sites that reflect one’s outlook and politics, although it would be healthier to also receive postings of contrary views. Among academic sites, one may choose some that directly reflect one’s interests, although again it would also be good to receive newsletters with a more general interest in the field, as well as science reports,such as from the New Scientist or Science Newsletter. One might visit the new books shelf and the current periodicals room at a university library, say, twice per month, to browse everything. It would also be intellectually expansive to read books from other fields at least once or twice a year, not just for expanding one’s intellectual breadth, but for challenging oneself to explore outside one’s intellec­tual comfort zone. 

Conclusion 
Zhu Xi’s views and teachings on inquiry, learning, and reading, as understood in the context of his approach to self-cultivation, are highly relevant for rethinking and addressing the state of advanced education, study, research, reflection, and writing in the contemporary academy, especially in the humanities. While the tools of digitization, computers, and the internet grant us access to unimagina­ble riches of information, and empower us to explore and crunch that data, they and their applications in MOOCs, distance learning, and video classrooms are ultimately dehumanizing in various ways, and detract from the animating spirit of humanities studies. Consequently, we in this day and age are rapidly losing touch with some of the core elements of humanities education and learning.These elements are closely connected with the human touch, the personal touch, and are directly involved with the reasons why one enters the humanities in the first place. They have to do with the human spirit, with questions of the meaning and purpose of human life, with the reasons why we all find the courage and conviction to get up in the morning to face yet another day—or not. So much of the true and significant humanities work depends on personal immersion in the focal materials, struggling with them, trying to read the author behind the writings, attempting to make personal sense of his or her productions, efforts that easily become vapid on computer monitors when one is easily distracted by other things online. So much of humanities training and interning involves teachers and students, or just the latter, intensively reading and discussing core texts together,trying to make general sense of these texts together while seeking personal mean­ing for oneself or one’s set. Such activities and quests animated several advanced courses I took in philosophy and literature as a university student, for example on Plato, Melville, Thoreau, the Romantics, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein,and others, and as a graduate student, such as on Laozi, Zhuangzi, Seng Zhao,the Neo-Confucians, and so forth.40 These sorts of activities can be mimicked in online chat rooms, but those dialogues never carry the same feeling or punch as face-to-face conversations. 
This sort of humanities spirit and practice underlay Zhu Xi’s experience, commit­ment, practice and teaching, which makes his ideas continue to be relevant and suggestive even today, when this personal and face-to-face sort of learning and study are being supplanted by digital and online tools and apps. Fundamentally,Zhu Xi reminds us that the value of the humanities, and of advanced work in this field in particular, lies precisely in one’s establishing the existential resolve to see the project through, not merely as an intellectual task to be completed, but even more as part of the existential humanizing project of cultivating oneself into a more sensitive, reflective, responsible, self-conscious human being. 
In closing, what Kleinbaum wrote of poetry could certainly be said broadly of the humanities, and Zhu Xi would concur: 
…We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engi­neering… are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beau­ty, romance, love…. These are what we stay alive for. (Kleinbaum 1989)41 
40 These readings and activities made these courses absolutely crucial in my personal development as 
a sensitive, responsible human being, as well as a humanities scholar. 41 A theory obsessed literature colleague called The Dead Poets Society a nice, sentimental story. I re­
plied that this story gets at why we as human beings produce, enjoy and study poetry, and literature 
generally, in the first place. Theory often loses sight of this, and becomes irrelevant to appreciating 
and responding to what is humanly important and interesting in literature. 

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DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.43-62 



Between Tradition and Modernity: Modern Confucianism as a Form of East Asian Social Knowledge 
Jana S. ROŠKER* 42 
Abstract 
In the last decades of the 20th century, the revival of traditional Confucianism assumedincreasing importance and relevance. The revitalization of its complex philosophicalheritage thus became part of the most important theoretical currents in contemporaryEast Asian societies. Due to its potentially stabilizing social function and compatibilitywith capitalism, Confucianism is often seen as the Asian equivalent of Max Weber’s “protestant ethic”. In modern sinology, this view is known as the “post-Confucian hy­pothesis”. The appearance of the “vacuum of values” in modern China and its problem-atization and connection to the transformation of the structure, role, and function ofsocial knowledge provide a good example of the consequences of explosive social trans-formation.This also raises the question of whether the Confucian modernization modelis indeed capable of generating a non-individualistic version of modernity. Proceedingfrom this hypothesis, the present paper aims to show that the purported relation be­tween modernity and individualism, which international modernization theories havealways viewed as “inevitable” or “intrinsic”, is, in fact, little more than an outcome ofWestern historical paradigms. 
Keywords: Confucianism, Modern Confucianism, cultural heritage, East Asian modern­ization, social knowledge 
Med tradicijo in modernostjo: moderno konfucijanstvo kot oblika vzhod­noazijskega družbenega vedenja 

Izvleček 
V zadnjih desetletjih dvajsetega stoletja postaja preporod konfucijanstva v vzhodnoazi­jskih regijah vse pomembnejši. Ponovna oživitev njegove raznovrstne idejne in kulturnedediščine postaja v teh regijah vse vplivnejša. Idejno ozadje konfucijanstva pa sodi kosrednjim temam teoretske struje modernega konfucijanstva, ki se uvršča k najpomem­bnejšim diskurzom sodobne Vzhodne Azije. Njegovo zmožnost, da uravnoveša družboin da je združljiv s kapitalističnim sistemom, pogosto primerjajo s funkcijami, ki jih je 
* Jana S. ROŠKER, Professor, Department of Asian Studies,Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.jana.rosker[at]ff.uni-lj.si 

po Webru prevzela protestantska etika. V sodobni sinologiji se pogled na konfucijan­stvo imenuje »post-konfucijanska hipoteza«. Problematizacija t.i. »vakuuma vrednot« vsodobni Vzhodni Aziji in njegova povezava z družbenim znanjem ter s transformacijonjegove strukture, njegovih vlog ter funkcij nam lahko služi kot dober primer poslediceksplozivnih družbenih sprememb. Vse to nas med drugim napeljuje na vprašanje otem, ali je model modernizacije konfucijanstva sploh sposoben generirati ne-individ­ualistično inačico modernosti. Izhajajoč iz te hipoteze bo obravnavani članek prikazaldejstvo, da je povezava med individualizmom in modernostjo, ki v večini klasičnih za­hodnih teorij modernizacije velja za intristično oziroma nujno, v resnici zgolj rezultatzahodnih zgodovinskih paradigem. 
Ključne besede: konfucijanstvo, moderno konfucijanstvo, kulturna dediščina, vzhod­noazijska modernizacija, družbeno znanje 

Introduction––Social Knowledge and the Confucian Revival in East Asia 
Proceeding from the notion of Confucianism as a form of social knowledge in East Asia, and speaking about its impact upon the specific features of East Asian modernization, we first have to clarify the meaning of these crucial terms within the referential framework of the present paper. In this paper, the term East Asia does not refer to a geographic or geo-political area, but rather to a cultural zone,one that is defined through various common cultural heritages, especially through the common Confucian ideational tradition. In this sense, Vietnam, for instance,is also part of East Asia, although in a strictly geographic sense it belongs to Southeast Asia. 
When speaking about a “common Confucian tradition” we must ask ourselves how this term, which refers to a complex ideational system, relates to a common East Asian culture and its epistemology. Confucianism as a form of knowledge is a particularly important part of the ideas and ideologies underlying East Asian societies, and constitutes the main body of traditional learning (Li and Yan 2006,561). Various parts of this multi-faceted ideational system this form important elements of contemporary East Asian social knowledge. This is a form of knowl­edge that constitutes an epistemological common thread in societies, cultures, and communities. In contrast to personal knowledge, social knowledge is formed by a common ideational background, which provides a set of evaluative criteria that incoming information is assessed by. In other words: while personal knowledge and justification are based on the coherent integration of individual information,social knowledge and justification are based on the coherent aggregation of social information (Lehrer 1987, 87), as shared by individuals belonging to a certain social group. Here, we must also point out that this kind of social information is not limited to learning or perceiving what is conveyed or represented in the realm of factuality, but also includes ideas and values. 
Confucianism as a form of knowledge has had a profound and widespread impact on traditional Asian societies1. However, social transformations in modern times have dislodged traditional and pre-modern forms of Confucianism from the cen­tre of these societies (Li and Yan 2006, 561). On the other hand, the revitalization of traditional Confucian thought is one of the most important intellectual cur­rents in contemporary Eastern Asia. In China, which is the historical “cradle” of Confucian cultures and philosophies, this revitalization began on the threshold of the 20th century, and manifested itself in the intellectual current of the so-called New or Modern Confucianism (Xin ruxue2). 
In international sinology, this line of thought is translated with various names,ranging from Neo-Confucianism or Contemporary or Modern Neo-Confucianism, to New Confucianism and Modern or Contemporary Confucianism. The first set,which includes the term Neo-Confucianism, is impractical because it is oftenconfused with Neo-Confucianism (sic), a term that in Western sinology denotesthe reformed Confucian philosophies of the Song and Ming periods (li xue or xingli xue). I therefore generally prefer the term Modern Confucianism, given thatwe are dealing with philosophical discourses that belong to Chinese modernity. 
Because the Confucian renaissance as a new, modern intellectual movement start­ed in China, its main representatives are also mainly found among modern andcontemporary Chinese philosophers, although the Confucian revival is increasinglyshaping the current academic scenes in other East Asian societies. In the presentpaper, however, we will concentrate upon the work of the central representatives ofthese currents who lived and worked (or still live and work) in the Chinese linguisticarea. In order to clarify the abovementioned research question on the relation be­tween Confucianism as a form of social knowledge on the one hand, and its impactupon the specific features of East Asian modernization on the other, we shall thusexamine and introduce some of the most important epistemological elements con­tained in the writings of the most prominent representatives of this revival. Theseanalyses will be based on the works of many philosophers belonging to all three 
1 For scholars such as Joseph Levenson, Myron Cohen, and Margery Wolf, Confucianism is anoutdated patriarchal ideology whose gradual disappearance is highly desirable, as this would openup areas for the consolidation of a new and much-needed cultural transformation. Instead, for otherscholars, Confucianism is a sine qua non for any “Chineseness”, and must thus be maintainedand further developed in the contemporary world (Ames 2001, 71). 
2...
generations of Modern Confucianism,3 including Xiong Shili, Zhang Junmai, andLiang Shuming from the first generation, Mou Zongsan, Xu Fuguan, Tang Junyi,and Fang Dongmei from the second,and Tu Weiming and Chen Lai from the third. 

Modern Confucianism and the Special Features of East Asian Modernization 
Modern Confucianism is defined by a search for syntheses between Euro-Amer­ican and traditional East Asian thought. It aims to develop a system of values,ideas and concepts that could prove itself capable of resolving the social, political,and axiological problems of globalized modern societies. In order to establish a model in which modernization is not simply equated or confused with Western­ization, scholars who belong to this stream of thought often attempt to revive “classical Confucian” values by adapting and reconciling them with the demands of the present time (see Tu 2000 and 2014). 
In this context, it is important to consider the fact that since the latter half of the previous century East Asian societies have been constantly changing the map of world progress: as a result, the balance of economic and political power is shifting from the West to the East. This process has its roots in a number of transforma­tions in ideational and material paradigms by which the development of East Asian regions can be defined, and which also strongly influence international re­lations at the global level. If we want to understand these transformations in the context of their individual cultural backgrounds, we must adopt a broader perspec­tive, for their internal structures are by no means limited to (visible and measura­ble) economic, political, and ecological issues. On a deeper ideational level, these transformations are also tightly linked to the political and social roles of culturally conditioned values and ideologies.These––often only latently present––ideational factors represent the crucial axiological and epistemological foundations, as well as an inherent binding, of all the specific institutions that are typical for these societies. Confucianism undoubtedly is one of these key ideational foundations. It is based on the incorporation of ideas linked to the concept of a “relational self ”.The concrete collective social consciousness that underlies this mode of (self )-re­flection manifests itself in the condition of the relational individual, who is nec­essarily and existentially an organic part of a social group. Such consciousness is reflected in the manner in which any given individuals come to view themselves as a part of a group, and in which patterns of commonality among individuals 
The categorization into “generations” follows a long tradition in Confucian scholarship, which is ultimately rooted in classical Confucianism. 
bring explicit unity to inter-personal relations. This specific view of the relation between the individual and society has been of crucial importance for shaping the Modern Confucian version of “Chinese” or “East Asian Modernity”, for in this renewed system the concept of individualism can be replaced by individualisation (Abbeg 1970, 210), i.e. in the full realization of each individual’s potential within the relational network of their interactions with the “Others”. 
The prevailing classical Western modernization theories have created a tradition that interprets the relation between past and present (i.e. “tradition” and “mo­dernity”) in a Eurocentric manner, one that remains globally predominant even today. Although they differ from each other, they still have a common basis, estab­lished upon the supposition that “traditional” and “modern” cultures or societies always represent two systems of interrelated variables. In their various re-formula­tions of the dichotomy between tradition and modernity, this transition has been understood as a process in which the first one falls into decline and the latter is then established (Bendix 1967, 307–8). As such, according to these theories social systems are grounded on a “before and after” model (ibid. 309). In this model “tra­ditional” and “modern” social structures are distinguished by two sets of dichot­omous attributes, and individual societies are classified as more or less “modern”according to the degree to which they exhibit one set of attributes rather than an­other (Rošker 2015, 13). In this context, tradition and modernity are widely used as polar opposites in a linear theory of social change. In such a view, the concept of change in economically growing societies, such as those seen in contemporary East Asia, can be understood as one which is conditioned by a linear development from a traditional, “conservative” past towards a “highly modernized” future. A significant presumption in this bipolar model of change is that the existing insti­tutions and values that form the “content” of tradition are barriers to progress and social change, and are thus seen as obstacles to modernization (ibid.). 
Following such ideas, most dominant Western theories of modernization have naturally assumed that East Asia could only develop a dynamic, modern society if it abandoned its most important traditional heritage, namely Confucianism.Indeed, Karl Marx and several other classical Western modernization theorists firmly believed that this ideational system was hindering any kind of real mod­ernization in this part of the world. For example, Max Weber wrote extensively on Asia, especially India and China, concluding that Asian philosophical, religious,or cultural traditions could by no means serve as an ideational basis for social,political and economic modernization (Makeham 2003, 33). 
On the other hand, Joseph R. Gusfield (1967, 351) pointed out that relations between“tradition” and “modernity” do not necessarily imply displacement, exclusiveness or conflicts. Hence, the “modern” must not necessarily or categorically impair the “tradi­tional”. He noted that traditional forms do not always hinder change and progress, butcan also provide support for them. 
Modern Confucian scholars also follow similar presumptions. Hence Weber’s widely known thesis, according to which Protestant ethics were instrumental in the rise and spread of modernization, stands in contrast to a presumption that has appeared in Eastern Asia during recent decades, and which is known as the “post-Confucian hypothesis”.This hypothesis argues that societies based on Con­fucian ethics might prove themselves not only as equal, but even superior, to the West in terms of modernization, industrialization, and affluence. 
The abovementioned revitalization of Confucian thought, which first appeared at the threshold of the twentieth century and which developed in the theoretical stream of so-called Modern Confucianism, is certainly among the most important factors within such new modernization ideologies (Li 1996, 544). Contemporary Confucian scholars thus generally believe that the successful development of East Asian societies has been, and remains, mostly due to the particular modernization model that has been adopted, one known as “Confucian capitalism” (e.g. Kahn 1979; Vogel 1979). 
This model is characterised by strong state leadership with a well-developed ad­ministrative structure, a hierarchical social structure with a well-developed net­work of social relations, and an emphasis on education. It also stresses virtues such as diligence, reliability and persistence together with cooperation, loyalty and a strong sense of affiliation with one’s community or organization (Rošker 2015, 3). 
In order to acquire a more coherent understanding of the East Asian Confucian revival, its socio-epistemological functions in the modernization process, and its theories, it is also important to understand that it cannot be seen as a mono­lithic ideational formation. This revival includes a wide scope of theoretical dis­courses, which are rooted in a tradition that is already in itself very complex and heterogeneous. 

Epistemology and Axiology of Social Transformations 
Over the last few decades the developmental process of the Confucian revival has been tightly linked to the dynamic and complex social transformations seen in East Asian societies, in which it functions as one of the most important elements of common cultural heritage and social knowledge. In this context, social knowl­edge can also be defined as one’s ability to understand and predict others’ general patterns of behaviour. Therefore, social transformations are necessarily linked to simultaneous transformations of social knowledge.The revival of traditional Con­fucian values thus represents one of these ideational transformations. 
As already noted, the Confucian revival is rooted in the presumption that East Asian modernization cannot be completely identified with Westernization, and that the process of modernization necessarily includes both universal and cultur­ally conditioned elements. Here, we cannot forget that the term modernity, which generally denotes a period of social transformation, was developed within Eu-ro-American discourses, and thus defining the “general” theoretical evolution of this concept means (once again) addressing the development of Western theory.Hence, we should also stress that in this context that we are not referring to any notion of so-called “classic modernity”, i.e. to the Western “New Era”. We rather apply this term in the sense of a process of general social transformation or social revival, one linked to certain specific conditions that dictate modernization (e.g.the enlightenment movements, the dominant role and function of intellectuals,the spread of industrialization, and so on). Depending on the concrete specific tradition or specific cultural environment in which they took place, such processes followed different pathways. However, they always involved the transformation of many of the conditions defining transitional societies. 
Since the latter half of the 20th century, Southeast Asia has been one of themost dynamic economies in the developing world. This process of economicchange has always been accompanied by several other attributes of modern­ization, such as the spread of education, modern transportation systems, andmass media (Hirschman and Edwards 2007, 4376). The reasons underlying theeconomic success of some countries and the stagnation of others are still subjectto dispute. The East Asian model of state-sponsored export industrializationis widely discussed in academic circles and among policymakers, but the par­allels between East and Southeast Asian strategies of economic developmentremain rather unclear. An important element in this context is the presence ofmarket-driven capitalism. However, the function of the regional governmentsin managing their economies has also been integral to economic developmentin the area. Hirschman and Edwards (2007, 4377) also points to the degree towhich economic development in the region has been carried out by fairly au­thoritarian states. “The relationship between democracy and economic growthand development, argued to go hand in hand by modernization theorists, seemedto be challenged by the experience of Southeast Asian tigers towards the endof the twentieth century” (ibid.). However, a lot of research remains to be doneto investigate the reasons for and implications of economic development andmodernization in this area. 
In dealing with the relation between economic growth and democracy, we of­ten come across the phrase “Asian values”. This has often been used to express a key concept put forward by a number of authoritarian ideologies, which claims that, in order to contain the presumed threat and risks of “Western” individualism within in their own societies, there is a need to promote the “virtues” of Asian communitarianism and rigorous government. 
“Asian values” as a doctrine of developmentalism can be understood as the claim that, until prosperity is achieved, democracy remains an “unaf-fordable luxury”. This “Protestant ethic” form of “Asian values” attributes high growth rates to certain cultural traits. These characteristics include hard work, frugality, discipline, and teamwork. Western democracy hin­ders rapid development, claim authoritarian rulers in the East Asia, and thus must be delayed until substantial development has been achieved (Thompson 2001, 155–6). 
This ideology thus warns against careless assumptions of “Western” democracy, ar­guing that it could lead Asian countries down the slippery slope of degeneration.In this way, “Asian values” have become the dichotomous opposite of everything that is seen as wrong with the West. The concept is very problematic, however, as it relies on the (wrongly understood) notion of “cultural relativism”, or the idea that human rights are contingent upon Asian cultural heritage (Moody 1996,166). In such contexts, Western countries are seen as having no right to impose their views, concepts and practices on other cultures. 
Even though this notion of “Asian values” has often been closely identified with the Confucian tradition (see for example, Fetzer and Soper 2007; Yu 2000; de Bary 1998; Lee 2003), this expression, in fact, has almost nothing to do with the Modern Confucian scholars or their philosophies. Hence, it is very important to be aware of the significant differences between modern and contemporary ad­aptations of Confucian theory and the related discourse on Asian values, which is often mistakenly comprehended as forming part of the Modern Confucian stream of thought. 
In general, this stream of thought has nothing much against Western influences,as it is even based upon searching for syntheses between Euro-American and traditional Chinese (especially Confucian) discourses. The founders of Modern Confucianism as a system aimed at a more systematic re-interpretation of tra­ditional Chinese philosophy and culture, based on a deeper and more compre­hensive understanding of Western philosophy, especially the thought of Plato,Kant and Hegel, as well as other representatives of German Idealism. Given that Modern Confucians viewed modernization primarily as a rationalization of the world, they explored their own tradition for authentic concepts comparable to the two Western paradigms essential for modernization, i.e. the concepts of subjectiv­ity, and of reason and rationality. 
However, this stream of thought also aims to elaborate and modernize some Con­fucian values that could be used as a counterweight to the general dispersion of values, which is typical for industrial and post-industrial societies. Because one of the central axiological elements accompanying profit-driven capitalistic develop­ments is widespread social alienation, traditional ideational systems have––inter alia––been investigated in order to find a solution to the so-called “vacuum of values” that appear as an omnipresent manifestation of this phenomenon. In this context, Modern Confucianism aims to elaborate on traditional epistemological approaches linked to the inherent connections between knowledge and values or knowledge and wisdom, focusing on the cultural and axiological conditionality of comprehension. In this sense, Confucian philosophers have followed the pre­sumption that traditional epistemological and ethical concepts could serve as a foundation for an “East Asian” modernization theory. 

Knowledge and Value 
In order to obtain a deeper understanding of the contributions of Modern Confu­cianism to the solving of the global crisis of values, the present paper will critically introduce the epistemological thought of some of its most important represent­atives. It aims to show the development of the traditional Chinese epistemolog­ical presumption that moral cultivation is a precondition for any comprehensive knowledge. An implication of this premise is that human perception and com­prehension of reality, which is, in itself, permeated by ethical values4, is not only rational, for it is, among other factors, also defined by intentions, desires, and feel­ings. Modern Confucians assume that the very same demarcation line that divides reason and intuition also divides science and philosophy or the humanities. 
In general, Modern Confucians do not oppose science, but are against scientism.Moreover, most of them argue that science, which aims at the recognition of objects in the external natural world by applying rational and analytical method­ology, will never be able to solve questions linked to the meaning of life, nor have a significant impact on an individual’s worldview. While science explores facts, 
On this basis, the contemporary Chinese philosopher Chen Lai elaborated an ontology of the central Confucian virtue of humanness (ren) and introduced a vision of a humanness-based ethics, pertinent to modern times (Lai 2014). 
philosophy and the humanities investigate meanings and values. As such, Modern Confucians claim that the boundary between reason and intuition not only sepa­rates science and philosophy, but also the realm of phenomena from that of values (see for instance Xiong 1992, 357; Mou 1995, 549; Fang 1936, 160; Xu 1960, 2;Tang 2000, 293 etc.). 
Here we shall take into account that in the holistic Confucian tradition episte­mology is inseparable from ontology, since every object of cognition is also cogni­tion itself. The concrete manner of an object’s existence is therefore tightly linked to our understanding of it. This link is interactive, for it includes mutual co-de­pendency. We thus cannot oversimplify the Confucian view by claiming that it represents a solipsistic conceptualisation of the world. What is true for the per­ception of the external world also holds for its comprehension and interpretation,which cannot be separated from the whole, but individualized and thoroughly changeable, existence of the objects of cognition. 
The main streams of thought in traditional Chinese epistemology were primarily based on the method of introspection and the intuitive perception of reality. In the Neo-Confucianism of the Song (960–1279) and Ming (1368–1644) Dynas­ties (upon which the majority of Modern Confucian discourses are grounded),there were two schools: the first was “realistic”, and was known as the School of the Structure (Li xue.. ) or the School of Reason (Xingli xue... ). Greatly influenced by the teachings of the most important medieval Chinese philosopher,Zhu Xi, this epistemology emphasizes realistic modes for the perception of reality,and it introduced a new methodology suited to this form of recognition called “exploring objects” (ge wu .. ). The latter school, which instead advocated more idealistic and intuitive methods of recognizing reality, was named the School of the Heart-Mind (Xin xue.. ), and was led by the most famous philosopher of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Shouren5. Most Modern Confucian philosophers are more influenced by this latter school of thought than by the more realistic phi­losophy of Zhu Xi. Moreover, they derive their concept of reason from German philosophy, which generally occupies an important position in their theories. 
While in China, Marxist theoreticians (such as Jin Yuelin) prescribed absolute priority to the rational method, most Modern Confucians (especially Xiong Shili and Mou Zongsan) applied the intuitive one. Some of them, however, like Liang Shuming (1924, 97–102) and Zhang Junmai (Chang 1954, 100), drew attention to the traditional binary understanding of reason and intuition. Here, the two methods of inquiry are not only linked to each other, but are also connected to the method of reasoning as such, because reasoning is always based on distinguishing. 
Also known as Wang Yangming. 
In such a view, philosophers who apply the method of intuition at the same time must also apply methods of formal logic and dual differentiations; and those who apply the rational method simultaneously use the intuitive one, as well as dual dis­tinctions6. For Modern Confucians, all these methods––those of dual distinctions and intuition, as well as of formal analysis and inferences––are necessary compo­nents for any coherent philosophical activity. However, the recognition obtained from intuitive perception is deeply rooted in cognition, human will, and feelings,and thus represents a synthesis on a high epistemological level. Zhang Junmai,for instance, pointed out that this synthesis cannot be established by study alone,in which intuition and reason appear in a mutually contradictory relation, but only on the basis of much broader platforms (Chang 1954, 100). In this con­text, Xiong Shili and his student Xu Fuguan upgraded Wang Shouren’s method of recognition, which they called tiren.. (bodily recognition) and tizhi.. (knowledge obtained through the body),respectively.This method is not based on intuition in the usual sense, nor on rational reasoning about the logical relations between premises and inferences. Instead, tiren is a retrospective and active pro­cess in which “the subject discovers moral subjectivity in the pseudo-subjectivity of human desires and affirms and develops it” (Ni 2002, 287). Here, the word “ren” (recognition) means both realization and recognition. One reveals one’s own mor­al nature through “overcoming the self ” and by “reducing sensual desires” (ibid.). 
Most Modern Confucian philosophers are also profoundly interested in ques­tions regarding the nature of the relation between theory and praxis, i.e. between “knowledge and action” (zhi xing.. ), which also represented one of the central epistemological problems of traditional, especially Neo-Confucian, discourses7 (see for instance He Lin 1938). 
In the traditional Confucian conceptual and referential frameworks, the transcend­ent and empirical spheres of human performance mostly correspond to the dual antipodes of “inner sage” and “external ruler” (“neisheng .. ” and “waiwang.. ”). As Lee Ming-Huei points out (2001, 15), most Modern Confucians see the “inner sage” as a foundation for the concept of the “external ruler”. However, the latter cannot be understood only as a kind of extension of the former. Due to their striving to establish an East Asian theory of modernization, Modern Confucians 
6 The comprehension of reality based on the method of dual differentiation and distinction, respec­
tively, is rooted in the awareness of binary oppositions like hard-soft, black-white, pleasure-pain,
etc. They form a contrast, through which objects can be easily categorized and hence integrated 
into the comprehensive perception of reality. 7 In the framework of the Neo-Confucian philosophy (i.e. the reformed Confucian discourses from 
the Song and Ming Dynasties), this view has been elaborated in greatest detail by Wang Shouren 
and some other representatives of the School of the Heart-Mind (Xin xue). 
aim to establish within the complementary relation between the two polar oppo­sites something similar to the Western conception of the subject. 
A subject so constituted could thus unite in itself the awareness of the “subject of moral practice” (daode shijiande zhuti) in the sphere of spiritual life, the awareness of the “political subject” (zhengzhi zhuti) in the field of society, and the awareness of the “cognitive subject” or the “subject of recognition” (renshi zhuti) in the realm of epistemology and the natural world. The inner sage thus had to be posited in the complementary rela­tion with a “new external ruler” (xin waiwang) who was responsible for the development of science and democracy. (Rošker 2016, 156) 
In this process of recognition, the unity of knowledge and action (zhixing heyi .... ), as well as the subject and object of recognition, merge into unity. If the subject of recognition wants to gain objective knowledge, it must “immerse” (Ni 2002, 292) itself in the object of recognition, i.e. in all that can be recognized in that object. Only in this way can a certain insight becomes genuine knowledge.On such a basis, the separation between knowledge and the subject of recognition can be completely eliminated, and the incorporation of what has been recognized becomes a precondition for its actual and complete recognition. 
In the Neo-Confucian philosophies of the Song and Ming Dynasties, the intui­tive recognition of reality was closely linked to the concept of innate knowledge (liangzhi.. ), which constitutes the core of the moral nature of any individu­al. This concept, which can be seen as a creative link connecting fact and value,has profoundly influenced the entirety of Modern Confucian epistemology. For Xiong Shili (1992, 548), one of the pioneers of Modern Confucian stream of thought, this innate knowledge, which manifests itself in the infinite heart-mind (wuxiande zhixin..... ) and its phenomenal form denoted by the origi­nal heart-mind (ben xin .. ), is the basic human moral substance and provides a foundation of moral performance; it is transcendent and infinitely universal8. Many later Modern Confucians, such as Mou Zongsan (1995, 38) and Tang Junyi (1985, 53–54), have seen it as a kind of moral compass intrinsic to every individ­ual. Similarly, Xu Fuguan appropriated the traditional concept of moral reason (daode lixing.... ), which serves as a fundamental principle for the guidance and regulation of human life within the moral heart-mind, and manifests itself 
The human heart-mind (xin) as a necessary and constitutional part of the inner moral substance (or the inherent individual moral Self ) is the key component in the recognition process. When recognizing other human beings, this sensual compatibility must also be based on empathy, a core notion defining the abovementioned central Confucian virtue of humanness (ren). 
as an awareness of the good and ethical within the moral Self or original heart-mind (Xu 2005, 178). Most Modern Confucian epistemological discourses are also based on the presumption that this awareness is innate to all human beings. 
All this led to a modern elaboration of the traditional Confucian moral spir­it, which is both immanent and transcendent. The Modern Confucian elabora­tions of such a moral spirit are based on the internalization of traditional religious concepts, which were transformed and changed from abstract external ideas into symbols denoting different existential forms of the inner moral substance (ibid.). 
As already noted, Modern Confucian epistemology is closely related to its ontol­ogy, for scholars belonging to this current usually see the world as a metaphysical reality that is immanent to all that exists in the universe, while also possessing moral qualities (Chan 2002, 306). In this respect, the central Confucian virtue of (co)humanness or mutuality (ren . ) is already part of the cosmic entirety (see Chen 2014), while its recognition, or its simultaneous incorporation and internal­ization, manifests itself in the moral performance of individuals. Chen Lai, who is one of the most important current Chinese philosophers, also points out that the ideational foundations of this virtue form a basis for a unification between the Self and Other, since they are rooted in an awareness of the importance of community,and thus in an awareness of one’s own social responsibility (Chen 2014a, 41). 

Knowledge and Wisdom 
This kind of ethically conditioned knowledge is also tightly connected to the no­tion of wisdom, or, in other words, to the differentiation between factual and ax­iological knowledge. In contrast to the former, the latter is not only grounded in perceiving, gathering, and applying factual information, but also includes its con­crete evaluation, allowing us to apply it in reasonable and ethically irreproachable ways. This kind of knowledge is grounded in an ethically aware understanding and evaluating of different positions in various social contexts. It is rooted in the difference between facts and values, i.e. in a classical epistemological distinction,which appeared in almost all traditional philosophies, and which has gained a lot of attention in modern times in the form of the increasingly problematic relation between science and humanities. 
Hence, throughout the twentieth century, various attempts at clarifying the re­lation between knowledge and wisdom emerged to the forefront of Modern Confucian philosophies. This task implied the need for a transformation of these traditional discourses, which could not be comprehended, applied, reproduced, or developed beyond the specific frameworks of the Chinese tradition. Hence,this aspect has been connected to the need for the analytical reconstruction of traditional concepts in the context of social modernization. Most of the Modern Confucians were well aware of the importance of this task, for it preconditioned any possibility of adapting these frameworks to the modern era and, hence, of turning them into a possible foundation of new, contemporary social knowledge.In these endeavours they aimed to fill the emerging “vacuum of values”, which manifested itself in social dispersion and a complete lack of generally binding axiological norms or criteria. 
Many Modern Confucians elaborated on the concept of wisdom, as can alreadybe found in Xiong Shili’s theories on the difference between qualitative (xingzhi.. ) and quantitative (liangzhi .. ) understanding (Rošker 2009, 376). In his Three Kinds of Philosophical Wisdom (Zhexue san hui, 2007), Fang Dongmei also unites the notions “li. ” (reason) and “qing. ” (feeling, sensation) into an epistemological concept of “sensuous reason (qingli.. )”. In its unification ofrationality and feelings, this notion provides a fundamental and original core, orbasis of recognition. Fang thus denoted it as a “seed of wisdom” (zhihui chongzi.... ). Tang Junyi’s epistemology also implies both a theory of knowledgeand a theory of wisdom. In Tang’s philosophy, intuition and reason are thor­oughly interconnected. Based on this interconnection and the mutual influenceamongst the different mechanisms and segments of the heart-mind, and withthe help of analytical philosophy, Tang formulated an innovative and very in­teresting hypothesis regarding the creativity of wisdom (zhihuide chuangzaoxing...... ). For him, knowledge (zhishi.. ) includes ideas or concepts,logical cognitive laws, inferences, and empirical intuition. Wisdom, however, isunderstood as a kind of “miraculous creativity” (shenmiaode chuangzaoxing...... ), i.e. a type of intuitive reasoning that is neither completely empir­ical, nor exclusively rational. It is a kind of thought that can apply previouslyobtained knowledge, but only based on prior independent decisions for such ap­plication. As such, knowledge is both integrated and surpassed. In both theories,morality plays a central role, because it represents the foundation of the Self andthus of the heart-mind. In this regard, Tang argues that his concept of rationalintuition is able to directly “penetrate” the patterns that were established on thegrounds of synthesizing premises, and so can rather easily obtain valid conclu­sions. This, of course, implies that rational intuition is above logical reason. Atthe same time, however, Tang believes that pure rational intuition can only leadto knowledge and not wisdom, because it is only capable of non-inferential rea­soning. He has also never fully elaborated on or analysed in detail his notion of“miraculous creative wisdom.” All that can be said of this idea is merely that it is founded on the moral heart-mind, which is understood as a vital part of thehuman Self, and that it functions instantly and unconsciously. 
In contrast, Mou Zongsan criticized the traditional concepts of intuition and wis­dom, claiming that they have had a devastating impact on Chinese history: 
Historically, Confucian theoretical works had always treated intuition as a manifestation of the personality of a sage or a saint, i.e. in terms of the magical effects of wisdom…These effects were always posited within humanity (or mutuality, ren), and therefore could not be separated from it, even temporarily, in order to gain “pure recognition”. This is why logic and mathematics were never developed in China9 (Mou Zongsan in Han and Zhao 1994, 176). 
However, on the basis of elaborating and synthesizing Kant’s epistemology, Moualso developed a concept of specifically Chinese intellectual intuition (zhide zhi­jue .... ) that enabled people to perceive and comprehend not only objectsfrom the phenomenal world, but also the sphere of noumena10. When manifest in humans, this kind of “divine recognition” (Mou 1971, 51) is certainly a kindof wisdom. 
The traditional Confucian notion of wisdom was also developed and modernized by several philosophers, who until recently have not been seen as Modern (or contemporary) Confucians, but rather as purely Marxist theoreticians. This holds particularly true for Jin Yuelin’s student Feng Qi, and his innovative work in the development of Chinese epistemology. 
While Jin Yuelin’s theories of knowledge were based upon the traditional Western understanding of epistemology as a discipline limited to a pure theory of knowl­edge, Feng attempted to extend this approach and, based on traditional Chinese discourses, sought to create an epistemology in a broader sense, which he called “expanded epistemology” (guangyi renshi lun ..... ). 
He believed that epistemology should not be limited to the theory of knowl­edge, but should also include the problem of exploring wisdom. In this context,he strove to consider all the basic approaches to the main philosophical issues 
9........... , ................ , ......... …........... , ........... »..... «. .. , ........ . 
10 Mou Zongsan tried to define the position of reason within traditional Chinese thought by compar­ing Western and Chinese cultures, arguing that they were based on different representational forms of human reason. He called the Chinese form “functional or intensive” (lixingzhi yunyong biaoxian...... ) and the Western “constructive or extensive” (lixingzhi jiagou biaoxian...... ) (Mou 1995, 544–53). 
of both ancient and modern times. For him, these basic approaches were clearlyexpressed in both Western metaphysical inquiries and in the ancient Chinesemethods of cultivating the ideal personality. Similar endeavours were also clear­ly visible in his general philosophical and/or methodological research, throughwhich he tried to establish a new approach to solving the contradiction betweenthe natural sciences and humanities. His attempt to transcend the boundariesbetween ignorance and knowledge, and his theory of distinguishing betweenknowledge and wisdom, not only referred to epistemological problems, but alsoimplied ontological and metaphysical issues. By consistently integrating onto­logical and ethical suppositions into the framework of his “expanded epistemol­ogy,” Feng provided a unique and original solution to the dichotomous relationsof substance and phenomena. His epistemological system, which included sys­tematic, rational distinctions, as well as a holistic reunification of comprehen­sion, was a felicitous attempt at establishing a theoretical framework that couldprovide the basis for fresher, more complex methodologies in contemporarytheoretical discourses (Feng 1983, 54). 
For Chen Lai, wisdom belongs to the four central Confucian virtues, which are categorized into ethics (Chen 2014, 251). Confucianism, since the time of Con­fucius, emphasizes “practical wisdom” as the realization of philosophy: 
This approach accentuates the practical aspects of wisdom rather than 
the analytical rationale of the intellect. 
Emphasison practical wisdom persistently reinforces a moral foundation that is not differentiated from personal virtue. At the same time, prac­tical wisdom in Confucianism stresses self-cultivation, or the complete transformation of the self, derived from the internal state of the heart/mind (xin). Finally, Confucianism insists that practical wisdom must be transformed into practical action. (Chen 2015, 69) 
In his commentaries on Feng Youlan’s philosophy, Chen Lai also exposes the dif­ference between moral and intellectual (or, in Feng’s own words, “non-moral”) knowledge, pointing out that they belong to two different categories of rational­ity. These two types of rationality must be sharply distinguished, for the objects of moral rationality are moral principles, whereas those of intellectual rationality are existing laws (Chen and Xin 2007, 368). He also lays stress upon the fact that one of the main critiques of Confucianism by classical Western theories of modernization was centred on said theories’ suppositions that Confucian ethics were incompatible with the rationalization inherent in the process of modern­ization. In this regard, the very Confucian concept of wisdom was seen as one of the main culprits for this “incompatibleness,” because Confucianism allegedly “stressed the wisdom of feelings rather than knowledge born of experience and assessment” (Chen 2009, 234). This was one of the central claims in the theories of Talcott Parsons, Weber’s successor, who in the 1960s established the hypothesis that Confucianism was an obstacle to modernization. However, only a decade later the prevailing opinion on the relation between Confucianism and modern­ization had radically changed not only in the Asian academic world, but also in the Euro-American one. 

Conclusion 
As we have seen above, the Modern Confucian emphasis on the traditional Con­fucian link between comprehension and the ethical evaluation of being is animportant part of the related epistemology. This epistemology, which cannot beseparated from ontology, is of utmost importance for the gradual restorationof the “credibility” of ancient Chinese thought in the context of modern socialknowledge. In the framework of such onto-epistemological discourses, the im­parting of meaning does not refer solely to the subject, but also to his or herintimate connection with fellow human beings who are thus seen as being some­thing more than just the “Others”. In this sense, such discourses could be well ontheir way to establishing a new, specifically East Asian model of modernity. Sucha model is by no means grounded in individualism, (which is, in the frameworkof classical Western modernization theories, an absolutely necessary precondi­tion for any kind of modernization), but rather in the abovementioned notion ofindividualization. 
A subject in the sense of a moral Self, who is––in addition to analytical andrational skills also endowed with intuition and wisdom, represents one of thepossible Modern Confucian responses to the global questions of the presenttime. These questions are linked to the dilemmas of the modern subject who istrapped within the complex technologies of the profit-seeking natural world,and has thus forgotten the ethical dimensions which define his or her humanity.A new East Asian social epistemology, which could be based upon the Confu­cian notions of values and wisdom, might represent an instrumental factor inreviving traditional values and sensibly adapting them to the requirements ofthe new social knowledge, making them suitable for the lives of people in bothmodern and post-modern eras. The digital period in which we live is definedby an overflow of factual, auditory, and visual information, along with the ac­companying overburdening of people’s sensory organs. In such times, wisdom, which is a characteristic feature of Confucian sages, can be more than useful,especially considering the fact that the original meaning11 of the Chinese term sage (sheng ren) is “one who listens carefully”. 

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Body and Mind 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.65-85 

Confucius’ Embodied Knowledge1 
Margus OTT* 
Abstract 
The main purpose of the present article is to explicitly link the Analects to the embodiment theory (ET). As indicated in the introduction, embodiment has been an important top­ic in recent Sinological research, but until now rather few explicit connections have beenmade with the ET. In relation to the embodied knowledge, the article discusses the followingtopics: embodiment, embeddedness, enactment, extendedness, emotivity, implicitness, emer­gence, joy and apprenticeship or self-cultivation.The same themes are found to be importantin the Analects, with a plethora of examples. Arguably ET could thus be a useful paradigmfor discussing several important themes of the Analects. And the Analects being one of thefounding texts of the Chinese philosophical tradition (though similar concerns are manifestalso in other texts), it could also be beneficial to further developments in the ET itself, on thecondition that its proponents familiarize themselves with the Chinese philosophical tradi­tion where important issues of ET have been explicitly discussed for two and a half millennia. 
Keywords: embodiment theory, Confucianism, Analects, comparative philosophy, enactivism 
Konfucijeva utelešena vednost 

Izvleček 
Poglavitni namen obravnavanega članka je vzpostaviti eksplicitno povezavo med Pogovoriin teorijo utelešenja (ang. embodiment theory – ET). Kot je nakazano v uvodu, utelešenje vzadnjem času postaja pomembna tema sinološkega raziskovanja, a je bilo do pred kratkimpredstavljenih relativno malo neposrednih povezav z ET-jem.V kontekstu teorije utelešenjačlanek obravnava naslednje teme: utelešenost, vdelanje, izvajanje, podaljšanost, emotivnost,implicitnost, nujnost, radost ter vajeništvo oziroma samovzgoja. Enake teme se, s pestrimnaborom primerov, kot pomembne kažejo tudi v Pogovorih. ET bi bil tako lahko koristna paradigma za obravnavo ključnih tem v Pogovorih, sámo delo, ki je eden od ustanovnih tek­stov kitajske filozofske tradicije (čeprav se podobne teme pojavijo tudi v drugih besedilih),pa bi lahko prav tako prispevalo k nadaljnjemu razvoju ET-ja samega – seveda pod pogojem,da se njegovi zagovorniki seznanijo s kitajsko filozofsko tradicijo, ki pomembna vprašanjateorije utelešenja eksplicitno obravnava že dve tisočletji in pol. 
Ključne besede: utelešenje, konfucijanstvo, Pogovori, primerjalna filozofija, enaktivizem 
This article, as part of a larger project, was funded byTaiwan Fellowship scholarship MOFATF20160021. 
* Margus OTT, PhD student, Xiamen University.motlus[at]gmail.com. 


Introduction 
Several intuitions similar to the conception outlined in this article have been pro­nounced about the Chinese tradition from nineteenth century until today. No­tably, Chinese thought has been described as “concrete” in contrast to “abstract”,“practical” in contrast to “theoretical”, “aesthetical” in contrast to “scientific” (cf Hall and Ames 1998; Nakamura 1964; Li 2010; Jung 2011), etc. In this article,I propose the Embodiment Theory (ET) as a useful framework for bringing out deeper distinctions which, among others, could give a more precise meaning to the claims of those authors. 
The ET formed partly as a critique of the previously dominant understanding of knowledge as disembodied, abstract, general, contemplative, explicit, representa­tional, free from emotions and particular contexts, etc.2 This is a derived mode of knowledge that can never be completely separated from its embodied context.Interest in different aspects of ET has been widespread in recent decades (for an overview see Shapiro 2014; Wilson and Foglia 2015; Gallagher and Schmicking 2010, 181–252). 
Also in Sinology, there has been a growing interest in embodiment viewed from different angles and concerning its different aspects like the history of Chinese thought (Emerson 1996; Sivin 1995; Lewis 2006; Jullien 2007; Sommer 2008),medicine (Kuriyama 2002; Hsu 2007), daoism (Schipper 1978; Despeux 2005;Kohn 2006), senses (Geaney 2002; Sterckx 2003), emotions (Zhang 2007), power (Zito and Barlow 1994), to bring just a few examples. Some fields, like medicine,inherently involve the body. Also, in principle, all overviews of early Confucianism should contain an explanation of the role of rituals and hence some presentation of embodiment. 
Still, in Sinological works there are few explicit connections with contemporary ET, and at the same time the Western scholarship on embodiment has scarce ref­erences to other traditions (perhaps simply due to the isolation of curricula).3 The aim of the present article is to explicitly connect ET with the Chinese tradition. 
In what follows, I will shortly describe some aspects of embodied cognition andthen pass to a more detailed presentation of the corresponding topics in the Analects. 
2 See Nietzsche’s (spuriously edited) Will to Power § 636 (1967, 339–40) and “On the Despisers of 
the Body” of the Thus Spoke Zarathustra (2006, 22–24) and Merleau-Ponty’s “Phenomenology of 
Perception” (1945). 
3 Although there are, of course, places where they come together. For instance, National Taiwan 
University Press has a recent book series called “Body and Nature” (..... ) that has a volume 
edited by Shunde Yu (2015), directly concerning questions of embodiment in both traditions. 

Embodied Knowledge 
It has been shown that our knowledge is shaped by the kind of body we have (Shapiro 2014; Lakoff and Johnson 1980). Embodiment extends beyond the brain and nervous system and even beyond our skin to other persons and the en­vironment. Without the body, it is difficult to conceive how anything could have a meaning or relevance, because meaning is something that stands out from a background: something is selected and paid special attention to, while everything else is left unheeded. Selecting everything equals selecting nothing. But who or what selects, if not our body, we as embodied agents? From the very beginning,the field of experience is differentiated and we make axiological distinctions be­cause our body, we as embodied and social beings have positive needs for food,drink, warmth, human company, etc., and negative needs to avoid excessive tactile,chemical, auditory, visual stimuli, human aggression, etc. 
Cognition and existence in general are embedded in a certain physical, social, cul­tural, historical context (Damasio 1994, 83–113; Heidegger 19964; Dawson 2014;see also Uexküll 1926 and 1957 for a general theory of Umwelt). As we said, the world we are embedded in is not homogeneous and isotropic, but heterogeneous and anisotropic, i.e. it has distinctions and preferred directions according to our needs and desires. We do not live in an indifferent 3D space, but the space as we experience it opens up from a certain viewpoint; it indicates possible movements and interactions in it; we experience space and things as affording certain actions and inhibiting others. An experienced space is already a meaningful one. 
Cognition is also enacted. We do not live in a predefined world that we should somehow just “observe” and take notice of (this would require a special effort),but, in the last analysis, we have to form all of our knowledge in an experiential,enacted way (Varela et al 1991; Noë and Thompson 2002; Noë 2004). It implies sensorimotor engagement with our environment. The two parts, perceiving and acting, cannot be separated as in the traditional “sandwich model”, according to which we receive some input (perception), process it (cognition) and give some output (action) (see Ward and Stapleton 2012). Initially and for the most part, we do not perceive for some theoretical reasons, but perception is meant to inform our action. While acting, we create certain perceptions that are fed back into the system, so that the results of our actions can modulate the way we act and that we can become more adapted in our activities. 
See, in particular his analysis of Being-in-the-world, Being-together, Attunement, Care, Facticity and Historicity. Heidegger shows how the “ontic” spatiotemporal and social determinations are based on a more primordial Being-in-the-world, Being-Together and Being-toward-death, and how these determinations are not extrinsic to the existence, but belong to its very core. 
As already implied in embeddedness, the embodied cognition is also extended:we think to a large extent with the help of the things in our environment. The body itself has an extension and duration, and it can extend to other things, e.g.for a blind person, the stick becomes a sensing organ; when we drive a car, our perceived bodily dimensions extend to the car (so we can feel where we can pass and where not), etc. A very special way of extending embodied knowledge is to adopt another person’s viewpoint. Other persons are very important “tools” for extending and correcting our knowledge and behaviour. 
Embodiment always also entails a certain emotive background for our life and activities (Damasio 1994, 127–64; Maiese 2014). On a very basic level, the needs that structure our world and experience have an intrinsic affective aspect: by defi­nition, a need is something we feel as a need. It concerns our bodily existence in a positive or negative way and we feel it as first-person subjects. On an even more basic level we could say in a Spinozist way that the very fact of being directed to­wards our surroundings and being interested in it is an affect, more specifically, a desire (see Ethics III, prop. 6–9, Spinoza 2002, 283–4, cf. also Maiese 2011). Em­bodied existence is a desiring existence. It is deeper than our conscious activities and self-understanding which presuppose it. Desire is the basis of our intention­ality, directedness towards something. 
In addition to the five “E’s” mentioned above (embodied, enacted, embedded, ex­tended, emotive) there are other important topics related to embodiment. First of all, implicitness. This is an important aspect of the “personal” or “tacit knowledge”discussed by Michael Polanyi (1962): a behaviour always contains more than can be expressed in words or rules. In order to master an art (swimming, sawing,playing the piano etc.), textbook information is not enough, instead, one has to acquire personal and experiential understanding of the art. This applies not only in sports and crafts, but also in science (how to handle a scientific apparatus, how to read the results etc). 
Embodied knowledge is emergent, it is not previously given in a program, but emerges in interactions with the environment. For example, Esther Thelen and Linda Smith (1996) have shown that although the general developmental his­tories of children can be similar, they accomplish them by very different means.Andy Clark (1998) has discussed emergence in the case of robotics, with impor­tant implications to the general theory of embodiment. 
There is one aspect that is present, but not particularly stressed in the current ET,namely the joy entailed in a skillful performance of an art or skill, when one is not constrained by the particulars of the art, but is able to perform them smoothly,gracefully, effortlessly (the “feeling of flow”, see Csikszentmihalyi 2014). 
Finally, embodied knowledge has to be learned through experience and with guidance: 
Connoisseurship, like skill, can be communicated only by example, not by precept. To become an expert wine-taster, to acquire a knowledge of innumerable different blends of tea or to be trained as a medical diag­nostician, you must go through a long course of experience under the guidance of a master. (Polanyi 1962, 56; cf Deleuze 1994, 164 sqq) 
It has also implications for moral self-development ( Jackson 1983; Strejcek and Zhong 2014). In the following, we trace the aforementioned topics in the Analects. 

Embodied Knowledge in the Analects 
With the help of the embodiment theory, we can make sense of the parts of the Analects that would seem the least philosophical to a Western reader5, for instance the descriptions of Confucius’ behaviour in book 10. 
When called on by his lord to receive a guest, his countenance would be­come alert and serious, and he would hasten his steps. When he saluted those in attendance beside him—extending his clasped hands to the left or right, as their position required—his robes remained perfectly arrayed,both front and back. Hastening forward, he moved smoothly, as though gliding upon wings. Once the guest had left, he would always return to report, “The guest is no longer looking back.” (10.3)6
....,....,.........,.......,
......,......,....:....... 7 
When entering the gate of his Duke, he would draw himself in, as if the gate were not large enough to admit him. He would not come to a halt at the centre of the doorway and when walking would not tread upon the threshold. When passing by his appointed place, his countenance would become alert and serious, he would hasten his steps, his words falling to a whisper as if he could barely get them out. When he ascended to the Duke’s dais with the hem of his gown gathered in his hands, he would draw himself in, slowing his breath to the point that it seemed as if he 
5 “This chapter is often skipped over in embarrassment by Western scholars” ( Jones 2008, 121). 6 All the English translations of the Analects are from Slingerland 2003. 7 The Chinese originals are from the Chinese Text Project. 
were not breathing at all. Upon leaving the Duke’s dais, his expression would relax as he descended the top stair, and he would seem at ease. On reaching the bottom of the stairs, he would hasten forward smoothly, as though gliding upon wings. When returning to his own place, he would resume his attitude of cautious respect. (10.4)
...,....,........,.......,....,....,...........,....,........,...,...,.........,.......,..... 
This shows Confucius’speech, behaviour and even physiological reactions to changeadequately according to the situation.8 His actions have attained a supreme grace,smoothness and ease (he seems to “glide upon wings”... ). His steps, counte­nance, breathing and everything else changes according to the context: on officialoccasions he is serious, barely breaths, hastens his steps, at home he is relaxed. 
When grasping the official jade tablet, he would draw himself in, as if he could not bear its weight. Sometimes he held it high against his forehead as if saluting, while at other times he held it low at his waist as if offering a gift. Alert and serious, his expression would be like someone about to go into battle, and he would walk with shortened steps as though each movement were carefully scripted. During the ceremonial exchange of gifts, his countenance was accommodating; when having his private au­dience, he seemed at ease. (10.5)
..,....,.......,........,...,......,......,..... 
The same book of the Analects also describes Confucius’ way of dressing, eating,sleeping, sitting, riding a carriage etc. This shows how all of his behaviour is ritu­alized, up to the very details of his everyday life and even unconscious behaviour (sleeping, dreaming, cf. 7.5). This implies that Confucius’ teaching is well embod­ied and embedded in a context. 

Embedded (Temporal) 
This is summed up in the final piece of book 10, where Confucius says: “This pheasant upon the mountain bridge—how timely it is!” (....,..!. 
It is indeed an ars contextualis, as Hall and Ames (1998) put it. 
.! ). This timeliness has been traditionally understood as describing his own behaviour––Confucius is a “timely sage”. In the embodiment theory, it is stressed how the agent is embedded in a context, and this context should not be under­stood only in spatial, but also in temporal terms: an action takes place at a certain time, with certain temporal modulations (the swiftness or relaxation of Confucius’steps, for example), and at a certain age of the agent: 
My master only spoke when the time was right, and so people never grew impatient listening to him. (14.13)
......,..... 
To speak when it is not yet time to speak—this is called being rash. To not speak when it is time to speak—this is called being secretive. To speak without taking into account the countenance of one’s lord—this is called being blind. (16.6)
.........,.........,.......... 
Confucius said, “The gentleman guards against three things: when he is young, and his blood and vital essence are still unstable, he guards against the temptation of female beauty; when he reaches his prime, and his blood and vital essence have become unyielding, he guards against being contentious; when he reaches old age, and his blood and vital essence have begun to decline, he guards against being acquisitive.” (16.7)
...:......:...,....,....;....,....,....;....,....,...... 
This means that there cannot be a context-independent set of principles that one could apply anytime anywhere. Or to put it differently, the most universal princi­ples necessarily have to be enacted according to the time and context. The same action can be right or not right, depending on the conditions. Flexibility is thus an inevitable part of adaptive embodied behavior. A smooth and graceful action is an action that in real-time feedback from the environment is able to change and adapt itself9. This is obvious on the everyday level: for example, when I walk around, my feet and body spontaneously adapt to the conditions of the terrain (whether it is slippery or not, what obstacles there are, in ascent or descent etc.),or, when I write with a pencil, I automatically adapt to the specific pen and paper 
This does notnecessarily mean being “spineless”, because certain social contexts (a tyranny, for in­stance) might themselves be unadaptive to a wider order of things, to the dao. The Analects contain plenty of denunciations of the social order of the time by Confucius. 
I have at hand (its thickness, the degree of pressure needed, the qualities of the paper and the support it is on, etc.).10 
Flexibility as sensitivity to context is highly valued by Confucians: 
The Master was entirely free of four faults: arbitrariness, inflexibility, ri­gidity, and selfishness. (9.4)
...:..,..,..,... 
The Master said, “The gentleman is true, but not rigidly trustworthy.”(15.37)
..:......... 
On one occasion, two students ask Confucius the same question, but he gives two different answers to them. A third student overhears both exchanges and asks for the reason. Confucius replies: 
The Master said,“Ran Qiu is overly cautious, and so I wished to urge him on. Zilu, on the other hand, is too impetuous, and so I sought to hold him back.” (11.22)
..:....,...;....,..... 
A good teacher is able to adapt the message according to the receiver. 
The Confucian self-cultivation extends flexibility to very complex situations of so­cial behaviour. Experientially, such adaptivity is clear and easy, but computational­ly, due to the real-time feedback and the non-linearity that arises from it, it is ex­tremely complex. This is why machines, while excelling in things we find difficult (computing), tend to be clumsy in things we find very easy (smooth movement). 

Enacted 
Confucius makes it clear that true knowledge is enacted and expresses itself in corresponding actions: knowledge is meant to enlighten action and action reveals the level of knowledge: 
10 Merleau-Ponty (1945, 180–1) remarks the ease with which organists are able to adapt themselves to different organs that can be very different from each other in their physical makeup. A few hours of practice are sufficient for an organist to be able to play on a new organ. Keys, stops and pedals are placed at different places and distances, but the organist has the “feeling” how to play organs,and s/he is able to adapt to the actual instrument. 
The Master said, “I can talk all day long with Yan Hui without him oncedisagreeing with me. In this way, he seems a bit stupid. And yet when weretire and I observe his private behaviour, I see that it is in fact worthy toserve as an illustration of what I have taught. Hui is not stupid at all” (2.9).
..:.......,..........,.......,.... 
The Master said, “Look at the means a man employs, observe the basis from which he acts, and discover where it is that he feels at ease. Where can he hide? Where can he hide?” (2.10).
..:.....,....,................ 
Someone who is accomplished is upright in his native substance and fond of rightness. He examines other people’s words and observes their demeanour, and always takes the interests of his inferiors into account when considering something. (12.20)
....,.....,.....,..... 
The Master replied, “I observed him sitting in the presence of adults, and also walking alongside his elders. He is not looking to improve himself,but is just after quick success.” (14.44)
..:........,..............,....... 
Words, speaking and language are one of the important aspects of expression, but they are also suspect, because it is much easier to lie with words than with bodily behaviour; it is easy to talk more than one understands, giving rein to boasting,deception, make-believe. 
The Master said, “People in ancient times were not eager to speak, be­cause they would be ashamed if their actions did not measure up to their words.” (4.22)
..:.......,........ 
The kernel of Confucius’ thought is the practice of rites, which is a set of chore­ographed movements, songs and utterances, i.e. it is intrinsically embodied and enacted. There is more to the rites than just rote repetition, and we shall come to it when we talk about self-cultivation (see section 11 below). 

Extended 
One aspect of the embeddedness and contextuality of knowledge is that it is ex­tended (Aizawa 2014). First, the body itself is an extended vehicle of understand­ing, and second, it also extends to the items in the surroundings. For example,for a Confucian, musical instruments, ritual clothes and vessels, books, bows and arrows, etc. are all part and parcel of knowledge and meaning-making. 
Ru Bei [sent a messenger expressing his] wish to have an audience with Confucius, but Confucius declined, saying that he was ill. As soon as the messenger went out the door, however, Confucius picked up his zither and sang, making sure that the messenger could hear him. (17.20)
......,...........,....,..... 
Those instruments extend the body, through them we are lead to the higher mean­ings of existence (filial piety, humaneness, appropriateness etc).11 
The most important extensions of knowledge are other human beings and the most important extension is to displace one’s viewpoint to another human beings’ viewpoint. This is the golden rule: 
Do not impose upon others what you yourself do not desire. (12.2 and 15.24)
....,..... 
This is the prerequisite for becoming humane, ren . . It is both descriptive and prescriptive: on the one hand, humans have (as Mencius later explained) a pro­clivity to empathize with others (as exemplified in Mencius’ famous story of spon­taneously wanting to help a child who is about to fall into a well); and, on the other hand, during our life-time we should expand and develop this capacity. It potentiates self-awareness: I am aware of others being aware of me. This leads to a generalized self-reflection (fan . ) in Mencius. 

Emotive 
In this framework, emotions are not inherently an impediment for knowledge;the aim of self-cultivation is not to rid oneself from emotions, but to refine 
11 It should be noted that in the Western embodiment descriptions very often technical devices are 
used as examples of extendedness (e.g. already the analysis of the “things at hand” by Heidegger 
1996, 94–97). 
and deepen them. A ritual without emotions is dead and without any realmeaning and value. Our being-in-the-world and being-with-others are ladenwith emotive valences. Some of our strongest emotions are related to fellowhuman beings: there is affection between parents and children, husband andwife, between friends etc. This is what happened after the death of Confucius’favourite student: 
When Yan Hui passed away, the Master cried for him excessively. The disciples reproved him, saying, “Master, surely you are showing exces­sive grief!”The Master replied,“Am I showing excessive grief? Well, for whom would I show excessive grief, if not for this man?” (11.10)
...,........:.......:..............!. 
Two things are important here: first, that Confucius behaves in this way not just in any situation, but in this special case, that is, he is not emotionally unstable. And second, that he does not seek to inhibit himself at the death of his favourite stu­dent, that is, he is a sensitive human being who is emotionally affected by the most intimate human relations. Feelings come first and ritual comes later (see 3.8). 
Emotional engagement is one of the most important prerequisites of the rites: 
The Master said, “A man who is not humane—what has he to do with ritual? A man who is not humane—what has he to do with music?” (3.3,translation modified)
..:.....,........,..... 
Lin Fang asked about the roots of ritual. The Master exclaimed, “What a noble question! When it comes to ritual, it is better to be spare than extravagant. When it comes to mourning, it is better to be excessively sorrowful than fastidious.” (3.4)
.........:....!.,....,..;.,....,.... 
Emotions are the basis and with rituals one can refine them, thus improving the whole human personality. 
In general, an exemplary person is free from negative emotions: 
Sima Niu asked about the gentleman. The Master replied, “The gentle­man is free of anxiety and fear.” “‘Free of anxiety and fear’—is that all there is to being a gentleman?” “If you can look inside yourself and find no faults, what cause is there for anxiety or fear?” (12.4)
.........:..........:.....,...........:.....,....... 
Those emotions are not so much discarded by a conscious effort, but rather disap­pear by themselves when the personality is refined. 

Implicitness 
The contextuality of knowledge leads also to specific linguistic practices. On the one hand, words and sentences, of course, enable us to take a distance from the immediate situation and to take into consideration further facts and details. But on the other hand, this very distancing capacity of language has the danger of not suiting in the context. Better than giving a general explanation is to give hints and suggestions, so that the person concerned can work out her own understanding in the particular context. 
The Master said, “I will not open the door for a mind that is not already striving to understand, nor will I provide words to a tongue that is not already struggling to speak. If I hold up one corner of a problem, and the student cannot come back to me with the other three, I will not attempt to instruct him again.” (7.8)
..:.....,....,........,...... 
The main aim of studying is to learn to (re)construct, to attain the genetic princi­ples that manifest themselves in a specific situation.The teacher gives one “corner”,one aspect, and the student has to guess the other, related aspects or “corners”. In another fragment, Confucius approvingly says: 
Zigong, you are precisely the kind of person with whom one can begin to discuss the Odes. Informed as to what has gone before, you know what is to come. (1.15)
..,.......!........ 
Embodied knowledge is inherently overdetermined and the linguistic strategies thatwant to conform to this knowledge must also be greatly implicit, in an intentionalattempt to imply in an utterance more than is explicitly said. An attempt to directly phrase an idea would remain inherently partial, poor. This kind of teaching was latertaken to the extreme in the encounter dialogues of the chan Buddhism tradition,where a certain way of speaking and behaving was deemed to express enlightenment.Confucius’ acts and words were also taken to express the right dao, a certain broaderway of existence that one had to unfold for oneself from the cues that he gave. 

Emergence 
A contextual and embodied knowledge is essentially emergent. It does not containuniversal ideas that are given beforehand, but arises in a specific context between spe­cific interacting agents. We considered a fragment where Confucius gave differentadvice to different students according to the situation––this means that he did nothave a ready precept, but that the knowledge emerged in the specific situation, takinginto account the character of the given student. Another example is the following: 
The Master said, “Do I possess wisdom? No, I do not. [For example,recently] a common fellow asked a question of me, and I came up com­pletely empty. But I discussed the problem with him from beginning to end until we finally got to the bottom of it.” (9.8)
..:.................,....,..
........ 
This is also a model to follow. One should encounter a situation with as few pre­suppositions as possible, being as “empty” as possible, and so let the articulations of the situation emerge by themselves. The problem with pre-given knowledge is that it makes you “full”, so that you are not able to see the situation objectively,impartially, but take some arbitrary familiar aspects of it and bend the whole sit­uation according to some pre-existing matrix. Instead, if one is “empty”, then one does not impose a ready-made framework on the situation, but is able to listen to the nuances of the particular situation, and then respond adequately. 

Ease and Joy 
The thorough ritualization of life should not be understood to mean that Confu­cius was constantly following some ritual rules and thus must have been rigidly formal all the time (although some of his critiques might have said so). On the contrary, we see that he switched between effort in official occasions and relaxa­tion in other times (cf. “In his leisure moments, the Master was composed and yet fully at ease”,....,....,.... , 7.4), and that he achieved an ease also in those official occasions. In the words of Confucius’ student You Ruo: 
When it comes to the practice of ritual, it is harmonious ease that is to be valued. It is precisely such harmony that makes the Way of the Former Kings so beautiful. If you merely stick rigidly to ritual in all matters, great and small, there will remain that which you cannot accomplish. Yet if you know enough to value harmonious ease but try to attain it without being regulated by the rites, this will not work either. (1.12)
...,...........,.........,....,.....,...... 
Or as Confucius puts it: 
One who knows it is not the equal of one who loves it, and one who loves it is not the equal of one who takes joy in it. (6.20)
........,......... 
Here, there is a deepening emotional involvement: first you know, then you like andfinally you are able to enjoy it. The most famous quotation in this respect is 2.4: 
The Master said,“At fifteen, I set my mind upon learning; at thirty, I took my place in society; at forty, I became free of doubts; at fifty, I understood Heaven’s Mandate; at sixty, my ear was attuned; and at seventy, I could follow my heart’s desires without overstepping the bounds of propriety.”
..:.........,....,.....,......,.....,.......,..... 
Here finally Confucius is in a sense able to forget about the ritual, so that even when he follows his heart’s desires, he does not overstep propriety. The joy that a smooth action brings is consistent with the findings of contemporary psychology:Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (2014) speaks about the “feeling of the flow” in certain activities that require concentration and exercise (playing the piano, tennis etc.).Sportsmen, dancers, musicians can attain this feeling during a good performance,and it is rewarding and enjoyable in itself. 
Joy is directly related to the ability to live out one’s years––both for internal reasons(it can be supposed that good mood generally produces better health) and most im­portantly for external reasons (when you are joyful, you get along better with othersand thus it lessens the probability of punishments, mutilations and execution): 
Min Ziqian was attending the Master, standing at his side in a straight and correct manner; [also attending were] Zilu, looking bold and un­compromising, and Ran Qiu and Zigong, both of whom appeared happy and at ease. The Master was pleased, but remarked, “Someone like Zilu will not get to live out his years.” (11.13)
....,....;..,....;.....,...
.........,....... 
Emotional self-cultivation does not imply suppressing emotions, but rather reg­ulating them: 
Confucius said, “Beneficial types of joy number three, as do harmful types of joy. Taking joy in regulating yourself through the rites and mu­sic, in commending the excellence of others, or in possessing many wor­thy friends—these are the beneficial types of joy. Taking joy in arrogant behaviour, idle amusements, or decadent licentiousness—these are the harmful types of joys.” (16.5)
...:........:.........,.....
....,........... 
An exemplary person avoids, to use Spinoza’s terms, partial joys (or “tickle” tit-illatio, as he calls them) that concern just one part of our body, not the whole of us. Note that all of the beneficial joys are social. Most of the time, the exemplary person is at ease and joyful. 
This leads to a wuwei situation, to effortless action: 
The Master said, “One who rules through the power of Virtue is anal­ogous to the Pole Star: it simply remains in its place and receives the homage of the myriad lesser stars.” (2.1)
..:.....,....,.......... 
The Master said,“How majestic! Shun and Yu possessed the entire world 
and yet had no need to actively manage (yu. ) it.” (8.18)
..:....!.......,...... 
The Master said, “Is Shun not an example of someone who ruled by means of wu-wei? What did he do? He made himself reverent and took his proper [ritual] position facing south, that is all.” (15.5)
..:......,.........,..........
Whereas Mihalyi Csikszentmihaly speaks about the feeling of flow in the case of master performers in sports and music, here the feeling arises from life as a whole,most of one’s actions being adequate to the context. 

Self-cultivation 
Michael Polanyi (1962) has distinguished between explicit and tacit knowledge,and embodied knowledge is very much about the second. Explicit knowledge can be sufficiently specified in detail and transmitted by prescription over big spati­otemporal gaps (e.g. when I read a book written in another country in another era), and its understanding can be nearly instantaneous (e.g. if I learn the fact that 1+1=2 or that Zhu Xi .. was born on October 18, 1130). But embodied knowl­edge is to a large extent tacit, it cannot be adequately specified and its teaching involves personal example and a process of experience that cannot be shortened at will. 
Much of Confucius’ educational programme was precisely about how to convey tacit, implicit, embodied knowledge, and his personal example was extremely im­portant (hence also the importance of his behaviour described in book 10 and discussed above).This kind of apprenticeship for students involves personal devel­opment and self-cultivation. It might seem strange that Chinese traditions lack­ing many aspects of religion (most notably, a description of gods or a God), like Confucianism or Mohism, have nevertheless inspired people for several centuries or even millennia with a fervour and dedication that otherwise seem to charac­terize religious movements. While surely there were also aspects of religion in the narrow sense, they were often downplayed and at least part of this assiduousness may come from the embodied and contextual practices themselves. Ritual, for Confucius, is by itself self-cultivation: 
The Master said, “If you are respectful but lack ritual you will become exasperating; if you are careful but lack ritual you will become timid; if you are courageous but lack ritual you will become unruly; and if you are upright but lack ritual you will become inflexible. (8.2)
..:.......,......,......,...
.........,.....;....,...... 
The ritual decides whether a characteristic trait (carefulness, courage, respect,uprightness) becomes a weakness or strength. The ritual has an integrating and modulating effect on different aspects of character. A weakness is something that is separated from the rest of the personality, community and nature; ritual is the way to integrate them and thus to refine the character as a whole, developing its different aspects, preventing it from remaining one-sided.12 
This self-cultivation entails both effort and non-effort: 
The Master said, “When native substance overwhelms cultural refine­ment, the result is a crude rustic. When cultural refinement overwhelms native substance, the result is a foppish pedant. Only when culture and native substance are perfectly mixed and balanced do you have a gentle­man.” (6.18)
..:......,..........,...... 
The whole of self-cultivation is not only a conscious striving, but the aim is to engage oneself as a whole, one’s whole body, including unconscious strivings. The aim is not to artificially create a new man, but with the help of artificial or exter­nal means, like rites and music, to cultivate and refine one’s natural character. As in Mencius’ famous simile: one should not force one’s nature like plucking the seedlings in order to “help them grow”, but rather take care of one’s nature and to gradually, in the course of time cultivate it, so that it grows by itself and becomes more nuanced. 
Ritual is a kind of ascesis: 
Yan Hui asked about humaneness. The Master said, “Restraining your­self and returning to the rites constitutes humaneness. If for one day you managed to restrain yourself and return to the rites, in this way you could lead the entire world back to humaneness.The key to achieving hu­maneness lies within yourself—how could it come from others?”Yan Hui asked,“May I inquire as to the specifics?”The Master said,“Do not look unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not listen unless it is in accord­ance with ritual; do not speak unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not move unless it is in accordance with ritual.” Yan Hui replied, “Although I am not quick to understand, I ask permission to devote myself to this teaching.” (12.1, translation modified) 
12 In C. G. Jung’s (1971) theory the human psyche tends to develop, in the course of life, also aspects that are less pronounced in the beginning, so that under ideal conditions a person in a sense finally changes into his/her opposite. This is the phenomenon of “enantiodromia” or becoming-opposite.Of course, the previous dominant characteristics do not go away, so that the outcome is not a sim­ple opposite of the initial situation, but a more nuanced, richer personality. It must be noted that Jung was also directly influenced by the Chinese yin-yang thinking. 
.......:..............,..........,..........:.........:.....,....,....,.........:.....,....... 
Zizhang asked about getting by in the world. The Master replied, “In your speech, be dutiful and trustworthy, and in your conduct be sincere and respectful. [...] When standing still, visualize these principles stand­ing by your side; when riding in your carriage, see them resting before you on the crossbar. Only then will you get by in the world.” Zizhang then wrote these words on the end of his sash. (15.6)
.......:....,..., [...] .,.......;..,.................... 
Ritual becomes a constant means of self-monitoring, a vehicle for self-develop­ment and also a very high ideal. Supposedly it means, on the one hand, an ever more graceful and perfect performing of the rites in the strict sense of the word,but on the other hand, it also develops a feeling of flow that one should strive to attain in every life-situation. By perfecting the rites in the narrow sense, Con­fucius’ follower refines his/her psycho-somatic capacities and learns to become “empty”; then s/he extends this attitude to all of the existence. As we said, the feeling of ease and joy that it brings is also immediately rewarding, not to mention its generally positive effects on one’s social interactions. 

Conclusion 
In this article I argued that the Embodiment Theory could help us understand some critical aspects of the Chinese tradition in general and of the Analects in par­ticular. I brought out several important topics of the ET in the Analects: embod­iment, embeddedness, enactment, extendedness, emotivity, implicitness, emer­gence, joy and self-cultivation. Arguably the abundance of examples suggests that those topics were also important in the Analects, and that ET could be used as a useful framework for interpreting the Analects. This article focused on the Ana­lects, but it must be said that similar examples can easily be found in most of the Chinese philosophical texts. Contemporary ET formed quite recently, and largely as a critique of the former dominant Western understanding of knowledge, but as we can see, its central topics were discussed early on in the Chinese tradition. Due to the more or less continuous development of this tradition over two and a half millennia, a large body of philosophical texts has accumulated that could be useful for the development of ET itself, on the condition that its proponents become more aware of similar ideas in the Chinese tradition. 

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DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.87-112 



Explicit and Implicit Aspects of Confucian Education 
David BARTOSCH*13 
Abstract 
The following essay contains a more general philosophical reflection on the significanceand some main elements of pre-modern Confucian learning. The topic is developed bypresenting some essential elements in the whole range from explicit (linguistically express­ible) knowledge to symbolic aspects as well as the (philosophical) problem of ineffableknowing. The essay starts with the general conception of man which underlies the main­stream of Confucian learning. On that basis, the more explicit contents and easily expli­cable subjects or branches of classical Confucian learning are mapped out. This becomesthe starting point to move on to reflect on a more symbolic layer of Confucian learning.Finally, the core level of Confucian learning is addressed.This presents us with the problemof ineffability. The reference points of the present essay are restricted to some importantclassical passages as well as the thought of Wang Yangming ... (1472–1529). 
Keywords: Confucian learning, ren. , explicit knowledge, implicit knowing, ineffability, Wang Yangming 
Eksplicitni in implicitni vidiki konfucijanskega izobraževanja 

Izvleček 
Esej vsebuje splošno filozofsko razmišljanje o pomembnosti in nekaterih glavnih elemen­tih predmodernega konfucijanskega učenja. Tema se razvija skozi predstavitev nekaterih bistvenih elementov vse od eksplicitnega (lingvistično izraznega) vedenja do simboličnih vidikov ter (filozofskih) problemov neizrekljivega vedenja. Esej se začne s splošnim po­jmovanjem človeka, ki poudarja glavno usmeritev konfucijanskega učenja. Na tej podlagi se izrišejo eksplicitni in lahko izrekljivi subjekti ali veje klasičnega konfucijanskega učenja.To je točka, s katere je mogoč premik naprej, in ta osvetljuje bolj simbolično plast konfuci­janskega učenja. Na koncu je obravnavano še jedro konfucijanskega učenja, ki nam pred­stavi problem neizrekljivosti. Referenčne točke eseja so omejene na nekatere pomembne klasične odlomke ter na misli Wang Yangminga ... (1472–1529). 
Ključne besede: konfucijansko učenje, ren . , eksplicitno vedenje, implicitno vedenje, neizrekljivost, Wang Yangming 
* David BARTOSCH, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing,Peoples’ Republic of China.david.bartosch[at]hotmail.com 


As a Starting Point: A General Confucian Conception of Man 
In the Liji.. , man is defined as tian-di zhi xin .... (“heart of Heav­en-Earth”).1 In the case of Confucian learning, the centrality of man doesn’t mean a fixed “acquis”, let alone a formal designation of a central characteristic of some­thing like an eternal substance (much less in a sense assimilable to that of tra­ditions of Aristotelian descent or other comparable traditions of philosophical thought). From the original Confucian angle, speaking of a centrality of man first and foremost means a practical obligation. Amongst other things, this is also expressed in the context of Wang Yangming’s ... (1472–1529) discussions on “zhi-xing he yi.... ” (“knowing-taking action, together (as) one”).2 To understand and internalize the Confucian endeavor properly, we must strive to be in compliance with that obligation in each and every possible situation of our life: 
Human––from time immemorial, this (word) means the excellence of tian-di .. (“Heaven-Earth”), the crossing of yin-yang.. , the get-together of (earthly) spirits and (heavenly) gods, the refined qi. of the wu xing.. (“five phases”). […] That is why man is the heart of Heaven and Earth, the foundation of the five phases.3 
The “heartness”of ren. (“man”4), i.e. the conversion and center of tian-di .. , “is” only as real in as much as it is permanently realized through one’s own actions.Wang Yangming describes this as the basis of the learning of the sheng ren .. (“sage-man”). By following the directionality of his innate and unceasing liang zhi .. (“good knowing”) permanently and freely, man is able to realize that “Heaven-Earth 
1 See below the first quotation in the running text (and the related footnote 3). 2 Cf., f. ex., Wang (1933a, 38–39): “...... ·.... ·... ·...... ·” [“[To know,DB] one has to have a heart which is eager to take action. After that, one knows the road. (That eagerness) is yi. (‘will’) and that is already the beginning of taking action.” (tr. DB)] Regarding further extensive analysis concerning zhi-xing he yi, cf. Bartosch 2015, 520–90. With regard to Wang Yangming, the famous German-French philosopher Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) once remarked: “Concerning the implementation of the thought that trueness is an experience in which cognition and taking action are involved in each other in a mysterious way, Wang Yangming has truly been a consummator of the teachings of Kongzi and Mengzi.” (Schweitzer 2002, 275, tr. DB) 3 Liji.. , “Liyun .. ”, 20: “...,.....,....,....,....... […] ...,.....,....., […]. ” (tr. DB) 4 This general translation is due to the more generalizing philosophical nature of this essay. And it is related to the above cited passage of the Liji and the use of the word, f. ex., in the context of the thought of Wang Yangming. The author is conscious of the fact that with regard to different clas­sical authors as well as regarding each of these cases separately, “. ” might also be translated more specifically and divergently. In this regard, the author must also thank Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kubin for some enlightening talks at Beijing Foreign Studies University. 
cannot appear as Heaven-Earth without man’s liang zhi: Heaven-Earth (and) the ten thousand things form one ti. (“(self-)organizing whole”5) with man.”6 
To exemplify (this), (we can talk about) the body of a human being: The eyessee, the ears hear, the hands grab, the feet walk. (They all) contribute to the(living) functioning of (this) body as a whole. The eyes are not embarrassedabout themselves (for) not (being able to) hear. But (when) the ears noticesomething, the eyes will necessarily turn towards where (the sound is comingfrom). The hands are not embarrassed about themselves not (being able to)grab. But (when) the hand is reaching for something, the feet by necessityare moving there (with it too). Under the surface, his source-qi is operatingeverywhere (in this body) in the same way. And blood and veins show noimpairment.Thereby (we can say that) if one is troubled by an itching or oneis out of breath, a (reciprocal) reaction of our thoughts and emotions is takingplace in a mysterious way. We don’t have any words for it, and yet its mirac­ulous mysteriousness can be noticed. That’s why [in the wider sense, DB] the learning of the sheng ren is very simple and extremely uncomplicated; (itis) easy to know and simple to follow.The learning is easy, competences andskills are easy to obtain. (It’s) just (about) matching the great goal sincerely,
i.e. to remain in the primordial state of xinti .. (the “heart’s (self-)organ­izing whole”)––(which is) equality. Extensive knowledge [f. ex., in the senseof Zhu Xi, DB] and technical abilities have no place in this teaching.7 
Seen from that angle, the foundational level of human consciousness might bestbe understood as an integrated state of intuitive spontaneity which is constantlyin accord with the situational changes of what pre-modern Neo-Confucians havedefined as li . (“organizing principle”). This kind of an integrated spontaneity isto be thought of as something which (as a form of naturally “knowing-in-action”8) always lives through one’s own actions while being permanently directed from ren . 
5 This has often been translated as “body”, but I think that the special expression “(self-)organizing whole” is more fitting, because it presents us with a more conceptual meaning than “body” (which sounds more metaphorical). 
6 Wang (1933b, 13): “....... ·....... ·..... ·...... …” (tr. DB); cf. also my German translation in Bartosch 2015b, 157. 
7 Cf., f. ex., Wang (1933a, 51): “...... ·.... ·.... ·...... ·...... ·..... ·.... ·...... ·..... ·.... ·...... ·.... ·...... ·.... ·....... ·........... ·.... ·........ ·............ ·..... ·..... ” (tr. DB); cf. my German transla­tion in Bartosch 2015b, 530–1, as well. 
8 This termed is used here in a transferred sense with regard to Wang Yangming’s zhi-xing he yi. Regarding the origin of the expression “knowing-in-action”, cf. Neuweg 2005, 582–3. 
(“humane (interrelationship)”9) and growing out of a fundamental interrelatednessof all humans and living beings. In this sense it is to be understood as the basiccondition as well as the main agent of the fountainhead of every living existence. 
Accordingly, Confucius already sowed some important seeds for the later discus­sions. In the Lunyu .. , he states: “Man is born for uprightness.”10 Here, the idea of an inborn or innate completeness of man is already foreshadowed:11 “I heard from Zengzi what [Zengzi, DB] had heard the Master say: That which Heaven pro­duces (and grows) and that which Earth (gives birth to) and raises––none (of it is) as great as man. By completing, his parents give birth and raise his childlikeness all complete, and he returns it, which can be considered as xiao . (“filial love-and-duty12”).”13 More explicitly, an innate goodness of man has been highlighted as the starting point or central theme of Confucian education by Mengzi .. and by such great proponents of Confucian education like, f. ex., Zhu Xi .. or Wang Yangming as well as others later on. Mengzi already remarks: “To desire to be honored is the common mind of men. And all men have in themselves that which is truly honorable. Only they do not think of it.”14 
In that sense, every human consciousness is born into his or her unique personal andever-evolving constellations and patterns of existing with a common obligation: Fromthe womb of his/her mother, every man/woman is centered in between Heaven andEarth like a promising seed.15 In this figurative sense, every personal appearance of 
9 I am translating “ren” as “humane (interrelationship)”, because the “Classical” translations by Legge and others, like, f. ex., “benevolence” or “humaneness” do not address the above-stated fact (see running text) that in this case the humaneness isn’t to be thought of as the actuality of an individual character trait, but as naturally “growing out” of the human interrelationships which the natural human personality (as it might best be defined) is born into. This point of view holds true at least to the mainstream of Confucians who followed thinkers like Mengzi, Zhu Xi or Wang Yangming.Translating “ren” by using, f. ex., the expression “humaneness”, tend to “veil” the interrelational very nature of this humaneness as such. Therefore, I have used “humane (interrelationship)” here––one could also say to also represent more explicitly the “. ” in the translation of “. ”. 
10 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Yongye .. ”,19: “..... ” (trans. Legge) 11 Cf. also the discussion in Reich; Wei 1997, 39–40. 12 The original translation using “piety” has been critized much, so I am using the special expression 
“love-and-duty”, instead. 13 Cf. Liji.. , “Jiyi .. ”, 29: “.....,.......:.....,....,............,.....,..... ” (tr. DB) 14 Cf. Mengzi.. , “Gaozi shang ... ”, 17: “...,.............,.... ” (tr. Legge) 15 This is an allusion to the following passage, cf. Lunyu .. , “Zi han.. ”, 22: “..:.........!........!. ” “[The Master said, ‘There are cases in which the blade springs, but the plant does not go on to flower! There are cases where it flowers but no fruit is sub­sequently produced!’” (tr. Legge)] 
human consciousness (to be understood as a unique relation of general humanity intime and space) exists in a way of being enabled to permanently grow in an indispen­sable network of human and extra-human relations. In the sense of naturally followingwhat might best be pinpointed by using Wang Yangming’s famous maxim zhi-xing he yi.... (“knowing-taking action, together (as) one”)16 here, such a perma­nent enfoldment or constant realization of human consciousness in itself should be understood as a natural process by means of which man can be characterized as theheart of Heaven and Earth (tian-di)––not as a mere theoretical aftermath of doing things, but as doing things in the state of an undivided (and yet itself differentiating)attentiveness which is in accordance with a dynamic harmony of all relations in thecourse of the whole process of Heaven, Earth and ten thousand things: 
The heart17 of the sheng ren resembles a clear and bright mirror, (it is) simply clear and bright. Then to follow (what is being) sensed and to respond––there is no thing which wouldn’t be mirrored. There are no former appearances which would still be contained by it. (And) there are no appearances which would be mirrored in advance.18 
In this state, the student experiences the meaning of Wang Yangming’s famous statements, like, f. ex.: “Xin. ––this is li. Could there be anything under Heaven outside of xin, (could there be) some li outside of xin?”19 
On the other hand, man is not a string puppet of dao, so-to-speak. He has the “freedom” to reject the Way. Human existence inherits the possibility to choose evil or the wrong path. Man is able to decide to walk the way he shouldn’t, i.e. the wrong path of his own “belittlement”. Either unconsciously or even consciously,he or she may choose to be a xiaoren .. (“(self-)belittling human being”).20 
Wang Yangming defines this condition as a state of zisizili.... (“egoma­nia” or “selfishness”) and comprehends this as the exclusive root of all human evil. 
16 See also footnote 2. 17 With regard to consistency, I am staying with the translation “heart” for “xin” in the present paper (as introduced with regard to the first citation above). I am not using the alternative expressions “heart-and-mind” or “heart-mind”, which otherwise would have been possible to use, of course. 18 Wang (1933, 11): “....... ·..... ·..... ·.... ·........ ·....... ·” (tr. DB); cf. also my German translation in Bartosch 2015, 99. 19 Ibid., 2: “.... ·........ ·..... ·” (tr. DB); cf. also my German translation in Bartosch 2015b, 177, footnote 185. 20 Cf. my analysis in Bartosch 2015, 679–706 (the chapter “Äußerste‚ Mühen (gongfu) um‚ Men-schlichkeit (ren)” [“Utmost ‘Efforts’ (gongfu) to [Implement] ‘Humaneness’ (ren)”], which also con­tains some transcultural (comparative) remarks regarding the Christian tradition (Master Eckhart,Nicolaus Cusanus). 
And––evil doesn’t dwell in solitude: The neglect of ren or dao (in the Confuciansense of a self-induced “belittlement” of man) naturally comes with consequences.And these always seem to expand their reach. Human consciousness is not separatefrom everything else. The denying road of egoism inevitably affects the self in itssocial and environmental embeddedness. As a consequence, it furthers a destruc­tive and self-declining possibility of everything that the turbid xin of the xiaoren comes into contact with.This is especially the case if such a person’s social function is that of a decision-maker (like that of a politician, a manager, a general, etc). 
Therefore Confucian education and (constant) training have been established as a way to prevent humankind––or at least the decisive administrative elites––from this road of a self-induced decline and dehumanization.––For two and a half millen­nia, the proponents or members of the Rujia.. (“the Confucian schools”) havediscussed, reflected and practiced ways of swimming against the stream of thosegnawing forces of humanity’s possible decline, so-to-speak. Although all of themdo not share the same opinions in many respects, all of them share the same moti­vation: They all strive for the right way of how to become fully human, i.e. how toredeem man’s great promise of being the heart of Heaven-Earth (tian-di zhi xin). 
In this context, it is important to remember that in Confucianism man is not seen as a creature.21 That means humans are not seen as separate creations in the context of a cosmic, to use a word from Medieval Christian philosophy tradition,creatio continua. Humans are not depending on some personal over-human force of creation in the sense of a creator (or “Deus”, “unum” etc.) here. On the contrary, in schools like Xinxue.. (“Learning of the Heart”), man himself is compre­hended as the central living aspect (i.e. the xin) of Heaven and Earth––without the need of a creator “above”of him.In an ideal sense, the central human aspect or “tian-di zhi xin”22 should generate itself in uniform progression with the auto-po­etic transformations of the universal whole. Consequently, Confucians did/do not believe in any kind of godlike savior or messiah who hopefully might be working in favor of humanity. There is no savior of humanity but humanity himself.23 
For a Confucian, no religiously connoted consolation and neither paradise nor hell awaits man besides what he/she may creates during his/her life-time in the varying contexts of his respective social surroundings and by living through all the special situations of his/her unique life-experiences. Concerning death, the only possible “remuneration” which man can hope for might be a feeling of satisfaction 
21 Cf. my comparison of the philosophies of Nicolaus Cusanus and Wang Yangming in this regard in 
Bartosch 2015b, 25–122 (the chapter “Kreativität” [“Creativity”]). 22 See above, the first citation in this paper and footnote 3. 23 Although it seems hard sometimes, we, at least in this regard, shouldn’t give up hope. 
that, at least, the continuation of the family is possible and that his/her right deeds may help to provide stability for his descendants as well as for other humans and for future generations, in general. 
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to contribute to a floating and flexible equi­librium of the social relationships of one’s family members as well as to the stabil­ity of the state which one lives in. In this regard, the only true and lasting salvation of humanity lies in persistent learning and teaching as well as moral training and reciprocal self-cultivation: 
However fine the viands be, if one do not eat, he does not know their taste; however perfect the course may be, if one do not learn it, he does not know its goodness. Therefore when he learns, one knows his own deficiencies; when he teaches, he knows the difficulties of learning. After he knows his deficiencies, one is able to turn round and examine himself;after he knows the difficulties, he is able to stimulate himself to effort.Hence it is said, “Teaching and learning help each other;” as it is said in [Duiming .. , DB], “Teaching is the half of learning.”24 
In the Confucian sphere of influence, it was not a religion or some other kind of dogmatic belief system which became the prime mover of civilization: In China and some of its neighboring lands, learning, education and the path of spontane­ous insights into general wisdom themselves became the forces which have glued (and still glue) together many important aspects of society: 
The jade uncut will not form a vessel for use; and if men do not learn,they do not know the way (in which they should go). On this account the ancient kings, when establishing states and governing the people, made instruction and schools a primary object; as it is said in [Duiming, DB], “The thoughts from first to last should be fixed on learning.”25 
For man to fulfill his obligation as xin of Heaven and Earth, it is necessary toprevent human society from descending into chaos. Therefore the people haveto be provided with special ways of learning which will enable them to keepthe heart in a permanent state of realizing itself in permanent communion witheverybody as well as with tian-di wan wu, in general. These methods of learning 
24 Cf. Liji.. , “Xueji .. ”, 3: “....,..,.....;....,..,.............,.........,......;..,......,..:......«..».:...........! ” (tr. Legge) 
25 Cf. ibid., “Xueji .. ”, 2: “...,...;...,..............,.....«..»...............! ” (tr. Legge) 
should be of help in the reflection and realization of the people’s full dignity as tian-di zhi xin. From a Confucian perspective, every kind of learning which doesn’t fit this goal of achieving one’s innermost human(e) completeness wouldhave to be labeled pointless. 

Explicit Knowing in Confucian Learning: Subjects and Modalities 
But how is man’s innate goodness––or to use the term which has been made prominent by Wang Yangming: liang zhi.. (“good knowing”)––to be nour­ished and cultivated? To start with, it can thus be stated that it is evident that man has to learn some basic skills and techniques which will provide him with the means necessary to create a civilized state of human existence. In the present pa­per, this kind of knowledge or know-how is also called explicit knowledge (of Con­fucian learning). In this context, we also have to bear in mind that although this kind of knowledge seems to be in the foreground, we will see that in the long run it turns out to be more like a kind of a “user surface”which contains––and in some respects more or less overlays––some deeper aspects of Confucian learning.26 
Starting with the “outer layer” of Confucian learning, we can say that although Kongzi is generally known as a “moral teacher”, he didn’t forget to integrate the field of objective knowledge into his way of learning. In Lunyu, f. ex., he empha­sizes the value of the Shijing.. , because one can learn much about animals and plants in that work.27 Such forms of explicit knowledge (or know-how) can also be understood as explicit contents of Confucian education. And not completely without justification, Wang Yangming has been criticized for the attempt to cut back this aspect of original Confucian lore. With regard to a modern environ­ment, but also with regard to maybe sorting out new ways to reunite the positions 
26 In that wider sense, the explicit knowledge in Confucian learning must be understood as some “apparitional circumference” (as one might call it) of a wisdom which shines through all of these necessary fields of knowing and skills which are taught at school in a much more subtle or implicitsense. With regard to Confucianism, objective forms of knowing must be understood as a kind of impetus for a deeper kind of learning. The goal of this deeper kind of learning is how to become a decent human being. The explicit content and subject of the Confucian learning of antiquity can also be comprehended as an integral part of the whole “body” of (inter-personal) human existence and reflection, so-to-speak. 
27 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Yang Huo .. ”, 9: “.......... ” In my opinion, this also opens up the tradition of Confucian learning as a practice of personal self-cultivation for a modern sci-ence-based environment in the 21st century. It means no contradiction to follow the path of a modern Confucian learning and to be a natural scientist. Besides, one can find many examples of pre-modern Confucian scholars which have done marvelous scientific work. The famous prince Zhu Zaiyu ... (1536–1610), f. ex., who, in a very scientific manner, has combined music, phys­ics, mathematics and astronomy to create a new way of Confucian self-cultivation is one of them. 
of Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming in the future, we have to respect this aspect of Confucian learning. With regard to present requirements, the science of nature which is mainly based on the inseparable unity of knowledge (theories) and prac­tice (experiments in the context of certain experimental systems and scientific communities) could easily be analyzed in an extended and modernized frame­work of Yangming’s zhi-xing he yi.28 
In principal, we can say that such contents can easily be denominated and taught, because they are expressible in a systematic way. Therefore, explicit knowledge might be understood as, respectively compared to a functional equivalent to some teachable technical know-how which is also needed not the least because of keeping society alive, to balance human communities out internally, or to improve human living conditions in general. In this sense, explicit contents of Confucian learning were mediated in contexts of comparatively mature educational systems, very early on: 
According to the system of ancient teaching, for the families of (a ham­let) there was the village school; for a neighborhood there was the [xiang. , DB]; for the larger districts there was the [xu . , DB]; and in the capitals there was the college [xue. , DB]. Every year some entered the college, and every second year there was a comparative examination. In the first year it was seen whether they could read the texts intelligently,and what was the meaning of each; in the third year, whether they were reverently attentive to their work, and what companionship was most pleasant to them; in the fifth year, how they extended their studies and sought the company of their teachers; in the seventh year, how they could discuss the subjects of their studies and select their friends. They were now said to have made some small attainments. In the ninth year, when they knew the different classes of subjects and had gained a general in­telligence, were firmly established and would not fall back, they were said to have made grand attainments. After this the training was sufficient to transform the people, and to change (anything bad in) manners and customs.Those who lived near at hand submitted with delight, and those who were far off thought (of the teaching) with longing desire. Such was the method of the Great Learning; as is said in the Record,“The little ant continually exercises the art (of amassing).”29 
28 The author is not sure how far this has already been done. If not, this would be a viable philosoph­ical task to write upon. 
29 Cf. Liji .. , “Xueji .. ”, 4: “....,...,...,...,........,............,.......,.......,.......,....;......,.....,..............,....,.....,.......«.».:.............! ” (tr. Legge) 
This leads us to the question, which kinds of subjects or fields of study Kongzi .. was propagating. The Master discerns several fields of study. In my opinion, all of these subjects blend into each other as a sort of holistic training. In that context, Kongzi attaches great importance to activate his student’s own abilities to reflect and to act and to grow independently. 
The subjects of writing and mathematics were seen as basic skills or Xiaoyi .. (“Learning of the Smaller Arts”). Based on that, Confucius propagates another four subjects: poetry, history, customs (or ritual knowledge) and music. 
In this context, the followers of Kongzi have always stressed the importance of learning by rote––especially with regard to the content of the Shijing:30 
My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry? The Odes serve to stimulate the mind.They may be used for purposes of self-contempla­tion. They teach the art of sociability. They show how to regulate feelings of resentment. From them you learn the more immediate duty of serving one’s father, and the remoter one of serving one’s prince.31 
History was an important task, because it helps a great deal to get an orientation in political practice. One ought to learn from the past. Therefore, “[t]he Master said,‘A transmitter and not a maker, believing in and loving the ancients, I venture to compare myself with our old Peng.’”32 
Music was to be practiced on a regular basis: “The Master said, ‘It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused. It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is estab­lished. It is from Music that the finish is received.’”33 “For changing their manners and altering their customs, there is nothing better than music.”34 
Besides these skills and fields of knowledge35, Confucius also bore in mind the importance of physical education. Hence Confucius introduced archery and the art of the charioteer as another two subjects which his students were obliged to practice diligently. The idea behind this was that the personalities of the students 
30 Rote learning has been an important aspect of all high cultures. One striking example would also be the Vedic culture of India. But also some great scientists of the twentieth century were friends of rote learning, cf., f. ex., Lorenz; Kreuzer 1988, 49. 
31 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Yang Huo .. ”, 9: “..!.......,...,...,...,........,..... ” (tr. Legge) 32 Cf. ibid., “Shu Er .. ”, 1: “..:.....,....,........ ” (tr. Legge) 33 Cf. ibid., “Tai Bo .. ”,8: “..:....,......... ” (tr. Legge) 34 Cf. Xiaojing.. , “Guang Yaodao ... ”,1: “....,..... ” (tr. Legge) 35 According to the Xiaoxue .. , all of the aforementioned subjects were later subdivided into a plurality of minor subjects. 
should be shaped by these specific forms of taking action.The general background here was that “[f ]rom the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides.“36 Until today,East Asian cultures which have been influenced by Confucianism can still partly also be analyzed with regard to this aspect of xiu shen.. (“cultivating (the so­matic) character”)––which does not only include the ways of an individual human being, but especially also the social “community-characters” of groups of people in that context, of course. 
Last but not least, we can also learn something about some foundational modalities of a way of holistic learning in the ancient Confucian teachings. In my opinion, theseare still very inspiring with regard to possible modern understandings of education.A passage from the Zhongyong.. sheds a light upon these foundational modali­ties of learning.They were named as follows: (1) boxue.. (“extensive study”), (2) shenwen.. (“accurate inquiry”), (3) shensi .. (“careful reflection”), (4) mingbi­an.. (“clear discrimination”), (5) duxing.. (“earnest practice”): 
He who attains to sincerity is he who chooses what is good, and firmlyholds it fast. To this attainment there are requisite the extensive studyof what is good, accurate inquiry about it, careful reflection on it, theclear discrimination of it, and the earnest practice of it. The superiorman, while there is anything he has not studied, or while in what he hasstudied there is anything he cannot understand, will not intermit hislabor. While there is anything he has not inquired about, or anythingin what he has inquired about which he does not know, he will not in-termit his labor. While there is anything which he has not reflected on,or anything in what he has reflected on which he does not apprehend,he will not intermit his labor. While there is anything which he has notdiscriminated or his discrimination is not clear, he will not intermit hislabor. If there be anything which he has not practiced, or his practicefails in earnestness, he will not intermit his labor. If another man suc­ceeds by one effort, he will use a hundred efforts. If another man suc­ceeds by ten efforts, he will use a thousand. Let a man proceed in thisway, and, though dull, he will surely become intelligent; though weak,he will surely become strong.37 
36 Cf. Liji .. , “Daxue .. ”, 2: “........,......... ” (trans. Legge) 37 Cf. ibid., “Zhongyong .. ”, 22: “...,............,...,...,...,.......,....,...;...,....,...;...,....,...;...,....,...,...,....,...........,.............,....,..... ” (tr. Legge) 

The Crossing: Ren and Confucian “Bildung” 
Keeping in mind that the above-mentioned skills and fields of knowledge as well as the modalities of Confucian learning might best be understood as an “outer layer” of the endeavor to become a junzi.. 38, we also have to draw attention to some core aspects which are not so easy to mediate––at least not theoretically.The reason for this is clear: To assist the student to transform himself into a better human being, it would not be enough to provide him with some technical know­how or to teach him music or, generally speaking, some arts of bodily movement or skills in bodily performance (like archery or charioteering) without any deeper significance attached to it. Self-cultivation is not just a way of achieving any mer­its for the external recognition of others, but the (re)transformation of one’s whole personality in the direction of one’s afore-mentioned (universal) innate goodness. 
The genuine way of this Confucian “Bildung”39 starts from the valuable insight that man is permanently “woven in and out” of an ever-changing net of (transpersonal) human relations. Every human being is an internal relation of a living family sys­tem which, in turn, is integrated or embedded as an inherent relational appearance of the dynamic overall-relation of tian-di (“Heaven-Earth”). 
In this context, the lasting point of departure in all forms of human self-cultiva­tion is reflected in the Confucian term “ren”. 
In a narrower sense, this word stands for the loving and caring relationship be­tween a giving and caring father and a receiving and obedient son. For Confucians, 
38 The word is at least partly translatable into German as “(ein) Edler”/ “(der) Edle” while the English word “gentleman” is even worse. Unluckily, there is no English expression which transports the same possibilities of meaning as “(der) Edle” in German. It contains possible uses of the words “noble-minded”, “exquisite”, “gentle”, “generous”, “genteel”, “virtuous”, “lofty” (in a positive sense),“gallant”. The word “(der) Edle” is akin to “Adel” (“nobility”), but can also be related to “Geistesadel” (close to “noble spirit” / “spirit of nobility”, but with a wider “halo” of meanings). But be it as it may,the translation of “junzi.. ” into English and other Indo-European languages is still a rather unresolved issue. 
39 During the nineteenth and twentieth century, the discourse of German philosophy connected the word “Bildung” with criteria for an education which in a certain sense shows several touching points with the intent of Confucian learning. “Bildung” is a word which has no counterpart in the English language. Until around the end of the last century, when the traditional German study sys­tem and the understanding of its philosophical background in the teachings of von Humboldt and others started to be replaced by other principles, the word “Bildung” meant a process which trans­forms and activates the whole person, its mores and manners and its skillfulness while nourishing the self-reflexivity of the learning person. In this sense, one might think of Germany’s famous writer, poet, scientist and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as an equivalent to some of the polymaths of Confucian learning and administration in China (the ones who were truly striving to live the life of a junzi ). It might be in this regard that Goethe once wrote to a friend: “The Chinese people share many similarities with the Germans.” (Eckermann 1982, 458) 
this is the archetype for a humane interrelationship. From a Confucian perspec­tive, this eminent human(e) relationship is to be understood as the “gravitational center” of all human civilization and cultivation. (With regard to Kongzi’s own words, which have been cited above40, the common neglect of the female aspect in this context is to be seen as a sort of “constriction”, of course.There is still space for up-to-date Confucian gender studies.) 
The son sees the father as a kind of role-model, while his father reflects himself as a son in relation to the grandfather of his son. From their respective fathers, the sons receive their basic human principles of conduct and common decency. On that basis, the fundamentals of human society should be kept alive and practiced on a daily basis. In addition, the loving and caring meaning of ren in the sense of a reciprocal relationship of giving and taking, of teaching and being taught is also valid regarding the relationship of older brother and younger brother, husband and spouse as well as the human relation of older friend and younger friend––a relation which also marks the connection of the family system with its surround­ing sociological habitat. 
Traditionally, ren is also comprehended as a prevalent definition of the relation­ship of ruler and minister. Last but not least,“ren” is an important part of the word “ren’ai.. ” (“humane loving”)41 which expresses the way how superiors should regulate their environment and the common circumstances of their subordinates.As all the families (in their basic human interrelatedness in the sense of ren) can be seen as the constituent organs of a community, so is the relationship of ruler and minister to be understood as the main constituent of the political meta struc­ture––an institution which is meant to center all actions of the people in a kind of organic and dynamic equilibrium as a whole. In a certain symbolic sense, the rela­tion of ruler and minister in the field of governance and administration resembles the relationship of father and son. 
The difference, of course, lies in the fact that the relationship of ruler and minister isn’t based on bodily descent and family ties but should be related exclusively to the worthiness of the subordinate administrator. And the superior should also be worth to take the leadership position, of course: At least in the ideal sense,the most worthy son of the dynasty should also ascend the throne. According to the meritocratic principles which became prevalent in Chinese “imperial man­agement”, only the most learned and skilled man were to be entrusted with the administration of the country. At least in an ideal sense, only the worthiest “sons”of the country were to be granted such responsible posts. 
40 See footnote 13. 41 Regarding this term cf. Chen 1991, 268–76. 
In accordance with that, the character of the ruler was supposed to have been molded by the practice of xiao . as well: Even as emperors (with no other human being superior to them) the rulers of Zhongguo.. were then not only under­stood as children of their parents, but also as the one and only tianzi .. (“Son of Heaven”). They had to implement tianming.. (“the decree of Heaven”). At least in the sense of an ideal, they were seen as the channel or pathway, so-to-speak, to provide human society with the omnipresent cosmic order and celestial harmony and to connect humanity as much as possible with the ways of Heaven and the order of ever enfolding and permanently transforming yi. (“(universal) change(s)”). 
In this connection, one ought not to forget that the imperial family itself was supposed to serve as an educational example for all other families under Heaven.In Daxue.. , we can find some important text passages considering that topic: 
What is meant by “In order rightly to govern the state, it is necessary first to regulate the family”, is this: It is not possible for one to teach others,while he cannot teach his own family. Therefore, the ruler, without go­ing beyond his family, completes the lessons for the state. There is filial [love-and-duty, DB]––therewith the sovereign should be served.There is fraternal submission––therewith elders and superiors should be served.There is kindness––therewith the multitude should be treated.42 
[(Coming from the example of ) one (imperial) family (which realiz­es the trait of ) humane (interrelationships internally), a whole statebecomes (a developing) humane (interrelatedness), DB], and from itscourtesies the whole state becomes courteous while, from the ambi­tion and perverseness of the One man, the whole state may be led torebellious disorder. Such is the nature of the influence. This verifies the saying, “Affairs may be ruined by a single sentence; a kingdom may besettled by its One man.”43 
[W]hen the ruler, as a father, a son, and a brother, is a model, then the people imitate him. This is what is meant by saying, “The government of his kingdom depends on his regulation of the family.”44 
42 Cf. Liji.. , “Daxue .. ”, 11: “..........,..........,..............:..,.....;..,.....;..,...... ” (tr. Legge) 
43 Cf. ibid.: “...,....;...,....;....,................,..... ” (tr. Legge, with changes by DB) 44 Cf. ibid.: “........,................ ” (tr. Legge) 
We therefore see that the innate goodness of man has to be cultivated from at least two different angles which are inseparably interconnected. One environment of Confucian learning is the family. Secondly, we have to take into consideration the social environment of human coexistence. Furthermore, the aforementioned relation of older friend and younger friend might be seen as a third kind of specific area of cultivating one’s innate human goodness. And one might just think of the reciprocal relationships of Confucius and his disciples to see that the relationship of teacher and pupil has also been understood as based on friendship, originally. A person who unites all of these three attributes in his personal self-cultivation and his striving to enfold his learning to the utmost extreme was/is to be characterized as a junzi. 
If we analyze the core principles of Confucian ways of teaching humanity humane ways, we can see that a very substantial task thereby lies in the stimulation of (a naturally inborn) xiao as well as an all-encompassing and caring (or empathic) practice of ren which starts with the closest relatives and is supposed to be extend­ed in a way that it may become one’s exclusive regulating scheme for all possible human relations and situations. In this regard, it is Wang Yangming who states: 
Therefore [when I] “connect (lovingly and) as closely as possible with”(qin . ) my father as well as the fathers [of other] people as well as the fathers [of all] people under Heaven, then my humanity truly joins with my father, the fathers [of other] people as well as the fathers of all peo­ple under Heaven and it forms one (self-)organizing whole [with all of them]. This true togetherness of forming one (self-)organizing whole is followed by the brightening of the clear virtue of filial love-and-duty. 
When I connect (lovingly and) as closely as possible with my older broth­er and the older brothers [of other] people as well as the older brothers [of all] people under Heaven, then my humanity truly joins with my older brother, the older brothers [of other] people as well as the older brothers of all people under Heaven and it forms one (self-)organizing whole [with all of them]. This true togetherness of forming one (self-)organizing whole is followed by the brightening of the clear virtue of the younger brother. Ruler and minister, husband and wife, friends––up to mountains and rivers, gods and demons, birds and land animals, trees and plants––to attain the humane (interrelationship) of myself forming one (self-)organizing whole (with Heaven, Earth and ten thousand things),there is nothing which would not be connected (in love and) as closely as possible (to myself ) in that sense. Only in this case, there is nothing which would not be brightened in (the light of ) my clear virtue. And the one (and only) body of Heaven, Earth and ten thousand things can truly be realized in this way.”45 
We should also remember what Confucius himself points out: “[Xiao (“filial love-and-duty”, DB] is the root of (all) virtue, and (the stem) out of which (all moral) teaching is growing.”46 
In that context, Kongzi also emphasizes the ruler’s responsibility not only for the well-being of his subordinates but also for a public education which meets the end of an all-encompassing realization of ren in the whole of the human community. Therefore, in Lunyu, we can find the statement that 
[w]hen the Master went to Wei, [Ran You .. , DB] acted as driver of his carriage. The Master observed, “How numerous are the people!” You said, “Since they are thus numerous, what more shall be done for them?”“Enrich them,” was the reply. “And when they have been enriched, what more shall be done?”The Master said,“Teach them.”47 
By means of educating the people and thereby raising as much worthy citizens as possible for the administration of the state and the common good, the ruler is also supposed to act as a role model himself. In this sense, he should be capable to serve as the perfect teacher. He ought to provide his people with examples to help them mastering the never-ending struggle of the realization of ren. Therefore, it is emphasized: 
These were the words of the Master––Difficult is it to attain to what is called the perfect humanity of the superior man! It is said in the Book of Poetry, “The happy and courteous prince is the father and mother of his people.” Happy, he (yet) vigorously teaches them; courteous, he makes them pleased and restful. With all their happiness, there is no wild ex­travagance; with all their observance of ceremonial usages, there is the feeling of affection. Notwithstanding his awing gravity, they are restful;notwithstanding his son-like gentleness, they are respectful. Thus he 
45 Cf. Wang (1933c, 36–37): “...... ·..... ·....... ·........................ ·...... ·......... ·.... ·..... ·....... ·........................ ·...... ·......... ·... ·... ·... ·............ ·....... ·....... ·.......... ·............ ·” (tr. DB) 
46 Cf. Xiaojing.. , “Kaizongmingyi .... ”, 1: “..,....,....... ” (tr. Leg-ge) 47 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Zi Lu .. ”, 9:“...,......:....!....:............:......:....,.......:..... ”(tr. Legge) 
causes them to honor him as their father, and love him as their mother.There must be all this before he is the father and mother of his people.Could anyone who was not possessed of perfect virtue be able to accom­plish this?48 
In a similar manner, or in a wider sense, this also accounts for every Confucian teacher in his relations to his respective students. The personality of the teacher is utterly important. Besides the mere contents of his teaching, a Confucian teacher is also supposed to serve as a role model, so-to-speak. As mentioned earlier, this is especially the case when it comes to educate future leaders and political adminis­trators. In Lunyu, Confucius therefore states with regard to the outcome of such an education: “If one is acting properly, things demanded will happen without commands.”49 
Kongzi felt responsible for the learning of more than 3000 students. In his ac­tions, he was exemplifying the practice of empathy––thereby didactically medi­ating one of the root principles of his teaching without using language itself. In Lunyu, we find the following passage: “When the Master was eating by the side of a mourner, he never ate to the full.”50 And the Sage even taught empathy with respect to the animal kingdom.51 
Originating from this practice of empathy, Confucius is also able to see through the personal characteristics of each of his students. In Lunyu, he states: “See what a man does. Mark his motives. Examine in what things he rests. How can a man conceal his character? How can a man conceal his character?”52 
In his teaching, Confucius likes to draw on actual situations of every-day life which then can become valuable examples of certain general insights into the same special situation. On one occasion, when the Master sees a bird-catcher who intentionally is catching only young sparrows, he asks the man why he doesn’t try to catch any old birds. The bird-catcher’s answer is quite insightful: “The old sparrow is very smart, that’s why he is hard to catch. The young ones are only des­perate for food. For this reason, they are easy to catch.”The Master then addresses his students and, amongst other considerations, draws the following comparison: 
48 Cf. Liji.. , “Biaoji .. ”, 26: “...:...........!«.».:.....,...........;..........,....,....,...........,................,.......... “ (tr. Legge) 
49 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Zi Lu .. ”, 6: “....,....; […]” (tr. DB) 50 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Shu Er .. ”,9: “........,..... ” (tr. Legge) 51 Cf. Bartosch 2015a. 52 Lunyu .. , “Wei Zheng .. ”, 10:“.....,....,.............
... ” (tr. Legge) 
Did you listen? […] Happiness and sorrow of the sparrow depend onwhich road the sparrow follows: […] If one follows the excellent thoughtsof the ancients – whatever the danger might be––one is safe. If one followsthe ideas of the inexperienced youth, one easily experiences great sorrow.53 

Implicit Knowing in Confucian Education: The Ineffable Center 
At this stage of our investigation, we might think back to what has been intro­duced as explicit knowledge in Confucian teaching and learning in second part.As already indicated, I would like to stress again that all the above-mentioned subjects and practices were not only to teach the students some practical skills or knowledge or some techniques in the sense of “l’art pour l’art”. Even in the case of explicit contents of learning, the underlying intention is always implicitly two-fold, so-to-speak. Similar to Confucius’ aforementioned method of drawing his pupils’ attention to actual situations of every-day life, all of these practices and subjects of explicit learning in a symbolical sense refer to an ineffable aspect of Confucian teaching, i.e. insights and understanding which cannot be transmitted like the characteristics of a physical object, the steps of a technical process, or the mere technical aspects of an art (for example the know-how of how to hold the writing-brush properly or how to shoot an arrow with the bow). But nevertheless,the student has to realize this symbolic extension of learning. He has to realize it by himself and by means of his own efforts. 
Symbolic meaning, as an underlying dimension of meaning, is not precise; it tran­scends the boundaries of fixed notions; it always remains open for further per­sonal development and it has to be carried out practically and regularly until itbecomes permanent and has put down roots into the all-encompassing foun­tainhead of xin. By practicing the art of charioteering, f. ex., the student alsoopened a way for himself to be enabled to maybe eventually grasp an underlyingsymbolic meaning of this activity (in the sense of a meaning which cannot befinalized and which is permanently enriching itself ): In this sense of a symboli­cal practice of learning, the practice of charioteering also in an alluded sense wasmeant to help the learner to understand how to always attentively follow theright road or right path in life. 
53 Cf. the whole passage in Kongzi Jiayu.... , “Liu Ben .. ”, 7: “......,.............:......,.......:........,.............,...;.....,............:......,.....,....,......................,......;.....,......... ” (tr. DB) 
Here we touch upon the first aspects of a topic which concerns a more hiddenbut rather central issue. Kongzi tries to mediate this issue throughout his teach­ings. In my opinion, all of Kongzi’s sayings contain a deeper symbolic mean­ing. In this regard, something is always left unspoken and therefore points to alevel of wisdom, to an unspeakable dimension of understanding––a dimensionwhich cannot be put into words, conclusively. Although this level of wisdomand achievement might be referred to from different angles allusively, it staysunspeakable in its entirety or totality. In brief: It confronts us with the philo­sophical problem of ineffability. 
From a transcultural comparative perspective, this might be compared to aspects of education, f. ex., in late pagan Neo-Platonism. In this context, the student had to master several branches of philosophical learning (metaphysics, ethics, psychol­ogy etc.).The uniform processing of these branches of learning should then lead to an experience of a fundamental understanding or “enlightenment”, i.e. a universal understanding which cannot be mediated by words sufficiently, as the author of the famous Platonic Seventh Letter (originally ascribed to Plato) explained.54 At least in the sense of a partial analogy, the branches of explicit learning in Confu­cianism also lead back to a hidden center of wisdom. In one of his poems, Wang Yangming hints at this, when he states: “Every human heart has a Kongzi.”55 
To be able to reflect on this issue more clearly, we might imagine the branches of the Liu Yi .. (“Six Arts”) as a six-pointed star in the form of a snow-flake, with little twigs on the respective branches of the crystal which then are supposed to symbolize the respective subdivisions of each of the Six Arts).The ineffable aspect of Confucian learning then might be referred to as the center-point of this “snow­flake” or “six-pointed star”, symbolically.The center is the seventh aspect. All other six branches are rooted in it and also coincide in it. 
But Kongzi shifted the main attention to other areas than, f. ex., Neo-Platonist philosophers. The big difference is that, in the case of early Confucianism, the problem of ineffability is not connected to any metaphysical issues (in a pos­sible Western meaning of “metaphysics”). Instead, Kongzi––and I am not talk­ing about any later developments, especially not about those in Neo-Confucian philosophy of the twentieth or twenty-first century––keeps his attention mainly focused to the moral fountainhead. He strives for the betterment of humankind 
54 Cf. also Edelstein 1966, 100: “But to be sure, such a vision is not a vision of ordinary experience or 
thought. Unlike such experiences or thoughts, it can, the letter holds, not be expressed in words. It 
also falls within the province of a specially gifted soul.‘Neither receptivity or memory can ever help 
him who is not kindred to the object [to see it], for it does not arise to start with in alien states [of 
the soul]’ (344 A).” 55 Wang (1933d, 128): “....... ” (tr. DB) 
without looking for any remedies outside of humanity itself (in the sense of his understanding of humanity). This is comparatively special and keeps his way of self-perfection focused on man himself.Therefore Confucians are in the favorable situation of not being susceptible to get lost in mental visions or religious mythol­ogy of any sort, let alone any distracting theological disputes.56 
In this favorable and unique sense (which keeps up a more or less agnostic position), the unspeakable becoming of dao. cannot be put into terms as such. But it can be achieved indirectly (and only situational) by indicative allusions of the Master (who himself is already dwelling in––or as––limitless processuality and oneness of dao): Kongzi and other great Confucians like Wang Yangming did not explain what dao is. Unlike Socrates, Plato and others in ancient Greece, they didn’t fol­low a theoretical road in search for any abstract or transcendent meanings of the main terms they were using. Any such ways in modern Confucian philosophy of the the twentieth and twenty-first century are influenced by the reading of Western philosophies like that of Kant, or the classics of Greek antiquity etc. The words “theoretical” and “theory” point to a very different origin than Confucian thought and its special enlightening or educational function.57––Kongzi himself was not trying to create any abstract meanings which then would have been tied to the idea to transcend them into “higher” intellectual spheres of self-reflection. Such kinds of practices would have been pointless under these earlier pre-modern Con­fucian circumstances. 
Instead, these original Confucian teachers used their language in a varying and therefore always contextualizing manner (i.e. in accord with the individual sit­uations and unique (inter)personal circumstances of their respective students).The reason for this is that they always used their speech to regulate the conduct of 
56 For a transcultural comparison which deals with the philosophical problem of ineffability in Neo-Platonism and Neo-Confucianism, cf. Bartosch 2015b, 233–300. 
57 There is not enough sufficient space left in the present paper to address this important issue more in detail. For supplementary reference please see my extensive and partly comparative analysis on the topic with regard to Plato’s and Aristotle’s as well as other notions and origins of the philosophical use of the word “......” in Bartosch 2015b, 489–506 (the chapter “Exkurs: Zu Kontexten der cusanischen Theorieauffassung” [“Excursus: On the Contexts of da Cusa’s Views Regarding Theo­ry.”]). Let me just emphasize here that Kongzi didn’t strive to live the theoretical life in the sense of Aristotle; his sayings are not an aspect of a sort of vita contemplativa; and he also doesn’t have a Platonic “.... ......” (“vision of God”) in mind; the philosophical sense of “I run and see” of the original meaning of Greek “.....” (according to Nicolaus Cusanus (1401–1464)) also doesn’t fit to describe the Confucian ways, cf. ibid., 500 and the citation on page 291 as well. Cf. also Rausch 1982, 21–47: The most important original meaning of the “theorist” (......) is that of an envoy to a religious festival who leaves his polis to “see the god” (f. ex. a statue in a temple) at another place of cult or another polis.To put it in other words and more bluntly: Confucian rituals are not about visio Dei. Confucian lore is not theoretical in the classical Western sense. 
their students.58 The Confucian situational use of terms might best be understood as the use of semantic “pointers” or “pointing-rods” (“Zeigestäbe”, Max Scheler (1874–1928)). This method simply consists in pointing out (or pointing at) the right “direction” in the context of a situation, semantically. Wang Yangming even goes so far as to explain this with regard to Chan . : 
“Once there was a master of Chan. People came to ask for the method (of the Buddha). But he just lifted a feather duster. One day, his students hid his duster. They were curious to know how he’d demonstrate the method. The Chan master was looking for his duster which he didn’t find and rose his empty hand into the air, instead. My (remarks on) ‘good knowing’ (liang zhi.. ) (can be compared to) the demonstration of the method by means of the duster. What else could I raise into the air besides this (expression).” A little later another friend asked with regard to the essen­tials of the task. Yangming looked besides himself and said: “Where is my duster?” Instantaneously, (that which he had alluded to) appeared to all of those who were sitting around him in a vital and lively way.59 
On no account, the teacher would have told the student directly what to do (in the sense of direct prescriptions for his actions). He wouldn’t have tried to define the terms he uses in the sense of a fixed or “immovable” meaning.60 The overall/gener­al meaning always stays ineffable, it can only be “catched” (or, figuratively speak­ing, be “fished” out of the “pond” of the deeper layers of the heart) situation-wise (while it stays ineffable, i.e. non-expressible by just trying to put it into words).To put it another way: Confucius and his followers knew that the moral content of their respective student’s personalities could only be awakened from the inside. At the same time, they also kept in mind the fact that it was and will never be possi­ble to drum the life of the junzi into the pupil’s xin from the outside, so-to-speak. 
In that sense, the wisdom which is the fountainhead of Confucian education is unspeakable and relates to the field of implicit knowledge. It is in itself without words. It can be understood as the harmony and overall progression which moves 
58 Cf. Schmidt 2005, 134; Bartosch 2015b, 261. 59 Wang (1933b, 19): “....... ·... ·.... ·....... ·........ ·.... ·.. ·....... ·..... ·... ·..... ·..... ·...... ·...... ·.... ·.......... ·. ·........ ·... ·....... ·....... ·.... ·.... ·...... ·.. ·........ ·...... ·....... ·...... ·............ ·.... ·..... ·.. ·......... ·..... ·..... ·........ ·” (tr. DB) 60 This is because there is no such fixed sense. Meanings are created by the use of words. This usage is always situational. 
and brings forth and navigates everything through everything and which con­nects everything in a constant overall movement or transformation of the whole of “Heaven, Earth and ten thousand things” (tian-di wan wu). 
From a Confucian angle, learning can be regarded as a gentle accession processtowards that ineffable wisdom (another “feather duster” would be the word “dao”) which Confucius also alludes to as “one to permeate everything”. In that context, Con­fucius asks one of his pupils: “‘Ci, you think, I suppose, that I am one who learnsmany things and keeps them in memory?’ [The answer was, DB], ‘Yes––but perhaps it is not so?’ ‘No’, was the answer; [‘I have one to permeate everything. DB]’”61 In another passage, the Master says: “[M]y doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity.”62 
But we can still ask: What does this “one” mean? In principal, we can say that “it” cannot be defined conclusively. “It” is “something” which permanently (in the sense of a verb) “principles” and is always correcting through all the changing oc­currences of our lives in accord with the constant self-development and self-mod­ification of everything’s situations themselves. One might hint at it by saying that it is the fully realized, permanent self-reflection in and as concrete action. In that sense, the obligation of man (as the heart of Heaven and Earth) lies in mirror­ing or self-reflecting the flow of situations in their ever-changing process of the promulgation of things––permanently and without aberration. Concerning the included aspect of ineffability, Confucius himself states that he would rather like to realize his teaching without using any words: 
The Master said,“I would prefer not speaking.” Zi Gong said,“If you, Mas­ter, do not speak, what shall we, your disciples, have to record?”The Mastersaid, “Does Heaven speak? The four seasons pursue their courses, and allthings are continually being produced, but does Heaven say anything?”63 
In a sense, this reminds us of the central importance of this topic for another great stream of earlier Chinese thinkers which stems from Daodejing ... and the basics of earlier Daoists, like, f. ex., Zhuangzi .. , who stated that dao which is the root of all wording is itself without words.64 
61 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Wei Ling Gong ... ”, 3:“...,...............:..,.....:...,....... ” (tr. Legge, with changes by DB) 62 Cf. ibid., “Li Ren .. ”, 15: “...!........ ” (tr. Legge) 63 Cf. ibid., “Yang Huo .. ”, 19: “..:..........:.....,..........:..........,....,...... ” (tr. Legge) 
64 Cf. the famous beginning of the Daodejing ... , 1; alternatively cf. ibid., 41: “........,..... ” [“Dao––hidden and without name, this dao alone is good at bestowing and completing.” (tr. DB)] 
But Wang Bi .. already has stated that Kongzi’s dealing with the ineffability of dao (respectively wu . ) is to be valued as more elaborate than that of Laozi .. and Zhuangzi who have stressed the ineffability of dao more emphatically. In contrast to them and instead of speaking about the ineffability of dao, it turns out that Confucius embodies the unspeakable fountainhead of all wisdom and world­ly transformation.65 While centering his efforts towards the human plane, he is thereby constantly giving signs from that all-pervading oneness. Later, Wang Yangming and also many others have combined Daoist and also Chan-Buddhist ways of communicating the incommunicability of dao with an understanding of the embodiment of dao in Confucian learning in various ways. On one occasion,Wang Yangming calls this da dao .. (“Great Way”).66 
In a symbolical or transferred sense, the latter thereby even compares or relates the activities of Confucian learning and teaching to acts of divination (bushi.. ). In that context and in Yangming’s sense, the aforementioned five foundational mo­dalities of holistic learning from the Zhongyong (see part 3)––i.e. (1) boxue (“ex­tensive study”), (2) shenwen (“accurate inquiry”), (3) shensi (“careful reflection”), 
(4) mingbian (“clear discrimination”), (5) duxing (“earnest practice”)––should be understood as fundamental ways of “divination” in a much deeper or symbolical (and therefore extended) sense. That is to say that these modalities should be un­derstood as direct ways of reflecting the ineffable source of the ever-present trans­formation of tian-di wan wu. In this regard, Wang Yangming states: 
[Most people] do not know that questions and answers between friends,extensive studies, accurate inquiry, careful reflection, clear discrimination and earnest practice are all [ways of ] divination [i. e. “reading”/reflecting dao in the context of a specific situation, DB].67 
On the basis of these deeper levels of learning and teaching, Kongzi himself real­izes to walk in on the road of wisdom in such a way that, according to every situa­tion and change of his life, he can earnestly state: “I have no course for which I am predetermined, and no course against which I am predetermined.”68 At this stage of learning, human consciousness is led back to its utmost clarity and spontanei­ty––while at the same time still being confronted with the implied (philosophical) problem of (in)effability. 
65 Cf. Yuet 1999, 64; cf. also Wagner 1991, 463. 66 Cf. Wang (2006, 1180): “.........,...........,.......
.....,...... ” 67 Cf. Wang (1933b, 12): “........ ·.. ·.. ·.. ·.. ·.... ·.... ·” (tr. DB) 68 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Wei Zi .. ”, 8: “......,....... ” (tr. Legge) 

Outlook 
Concerning further internationalization of Confucian-based practice of learning and self-cultivation, we have to ask ourselves how we might connect classical Confucian learning and the modes of learning and understanding presented in this paper with any fitting conceptions of modern Western education.69 In my opinion, some aspects of pre-modern Confucian general understanding and learning would fit exceedingly well to assist in solving the problems of the mod­ern world. The element of ineffability and the way how pre-modern Confucian teachers have dealt with it are still inspiring. Confucian scholars and practitioners have shown that their way of learning stays open to receive and absorb anything which might provide some means to solve current affairs or any problems of the day.70 It seems very obvious that our modern and future world of the Information Age will have to be “recharged” by means of the interpersonal human(e) bonds which naturally “grow out” of ren, so-to-speak: We face the problem that our modern way of education is mostly fixated on the cultivation of forms of explicit knowledge. We should start to understand that our technological and informa­tional rationality and her artificial extension are nothing more than a superficial exterior of total human(e) learning. In these contexts, it is important that hu­manity learns not be carried away by the technological reality, by its overstrained senses and by its current outcomes of technologically enhanced explicit knowl­edge. Without neglecting the achievements of modernity, man has the obligation to return to his original wisdom today, i.e. the symbolic and situational root of an intuitive and situational consciousness which always finds its way by striving for a continuous and humane self-integration in the constant flow of Heaven, Earth and the ten thousand things. Reviving Confucianism to a new form and adapting it to the needs of the twenty-first century or combining it with modern educa­tional or philosophical concepts might help humanity to swim against the stream of entropy which was involuntarily amplified by the technological and scientific revolutions of the last 200 years. Achieving equilibrium and keeping an economic,ecological and social balance should be the furthermost concern of humanity as a whole. In this regard, pre-modern Confucian learning might provide us with a lot of helpful insight. 
69 For a proposal in this regard cf. Bartosch 2015b, 427, 522–8. 70 Cf. Lunyu .. , “Li Ren .. ”, 10: “........,...,...,...... ” 
[“The Master said, ‘The superior man, in the world, does not set his mind either for anything, or 
against anything; what is right he will follow.’” (tr. Legge)] 

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DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.113-135 



Moral Education and Ideology:The Revival of Confucian Values and the Harmonious Shaping of the New Chinese Man 
Selusi AMBROGIO*1 
Abstract 
In this paper, we will investigate the re-emergence of Confucianism in contemporary Chi­na as a complex intersection of political, cultural, educational and popular perspectives.This resurgence is neither a kind of Chinese Neoclassicism nor a nostalgic backwardness,instead it is the emblem of the new China’s identity. Confucius and Confucianism, vio­lently despised as the remains of feudalism since the May Fourth Movement and during Maoism, are nowadays a fertile source for the fulfilment of “Socialism with Chinese char­acteristics” (zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi........ ) on both the educational and political levels.We carry out the investigation in three steps: 1.The political rehabilitation of Confucianism as part of the “Chinese dream” (zhongguo meng... ); 2.The common social perception of Confucianism and tradition as a shared and unavoidable background;
3. The definition of two possible Confucianisms (namely New Confucianism and Politi­cal Confucianism) and their possible influences on Chinese society and moral education.Our conclusions will deal with Chinese cultural soft power, and the shaping of a new Confucian identity based on both modernity and tradition. 
Keywords: political Confucianism, new Confucianism, Chinese dream, moral education 
Moralna izobrazba in ideologija: preporod konfucianističnih vrednot in har­monično oblikovanje novega kitajskega človeka 

Izvleček 
V tem članku bomo raziskovali ponovno pojavljanje konfucianizma v sodobni Kitajski kot kompleksnem križišču političnih, kulturnih, izobraževalnih in popularnih perspektiv.Tovrstno oživljanje ni vrsta novega kitajskega neoklasicizma ne nostalgično pogledovanje nazaj, ampak predstavlja simbol nove kitajske identitete. Konfucij in konfucianizem, ki so ju na silo prezirali kot ostanek fevdalizma vse od Gibanja četrtega maja in tudi med mao­izmom, sta danes plodna vira za izpopolnjevanje »socializma s kitajskimi značilnostmi« (zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi ........ ), tako na izobraževalni kot na politični ravni. Raziskavo izvajamo v teh korakih: 1. Politična rehabilitacija konfucianizma kot del 
* Selusi Ambrogio, Professor in Chinese Studies,University of Macerata, Italy.aselusi[at]yahoo.it 

»kitajskih sanj« (zhongguo meng... ); 2. Skupno družbeno dojemanje konfucianizma in tradicije kot skupno in neizogibno ozadje; 3. Definicije dveh mogočih konfucianizmov 
(t. i. novi konfucianizem in politični konfucianizem) in novih mogočih vplivov na kitajsko družbo in moralno izobrazbo. Zaključki se ukvarjajo s kitajsko »mehko močjo« in oblik­ovanjem nove kitajske identitete, ki temeljita na modernosti in tradiciji. 
Ključne besede: politični konfucianizem, novi konfucianizem, kitajske sanje, moralna izobrazba 

Politics and the Confucian Chinese Dream 
On February 7, 2014, President Xi Jinping, commenting on the decisions of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, explained that a new “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” (zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi........ ) meant a complete revival or rejuvenation (fuxing .. ) of Chinese society and policy through traditional culture. He stated that: 
since the introduction of the reform and opening-up policy some three decades ago, our Party has begun to ponder the issue of the national governance system from a new perspective, […]. Today, we are tasked with an important historic mission, that is to make our socialist system with Chinese characteristics more mature and better established, and provide a more complete, more stable and more effective system for the development of the Party and the nation, the well-being of the people,social harmony and stability, and the enduring prosperity and stability of the country. Our governance system will become more efficient as long as we focus on improving the Party’s governance capacity while raising the moral and political standards, scientific and cultural levels, and the professional abilities of officials […].The kind of governance system best suited for a country is determined by that country’s historical heritage and cultural traditions and its level of social and economic development,and it is ultimately decided by that country’s people. Our current na­tional governance system has been developed and gradually improved over a long period of time on the basis of our storied heritage, cultural traditions, and social and economic development. […] A nation’s culture is a unique feature that distinguishes that nation from others. We should delve deeper into and better elucidate China’s excellent traditional cul­ture, and make greater efforts to creatively transform and develop tradi­tional Chinese virtues, promoting a cultural spirit that transcends time and national boundaries, and has eternal attraction and contemporary 
value. […] As long as the Chinese people pursue lofty virtues generation 
after generation our nation will be forever filled with hope. (Xi 2014a). 
Xi Jinping always praises China’s last thirty-five years of extraordinary develop­ment, which started when Deng Xiaoping proposed the opening of the Chinese economy and society to the world market. According to Xi and all the other Presidents since Deng, this was the only possible way of achieving policy reforms,economic growth and a better quality of life for all Chinese people. Xi openly stated that while in the 1980s and 1990s the priority was opening of free markets along with industrial and financial growth, in recent years the new focus has been on the shaping of a fair society, with this being achieved by: promoting culture and values, the only two weapons that can safeguard long-term growth and fight corruption. The term culture here refers to the traditional culture of Chinese his­tory, the same tradition that was rejected by the leading thinkers of the May Forth Movement, as well as the founder of the Communist Party, Chen Duxiu. In 1916,Chen Duxiu contrasted the new ideology of independence (duli zhuyi.... ) with Confucian values, and the latter were described as completely outdated and repressive, while independence was the condition of a modern economy and growth. Confucianism was thus seen as preventing the improvement of Chinese society. Further, Chen Duxiu (1916) declared that Confucius lived in a “feudal epoch”, and therefore he provided only a feudalistic moral way (fengjian shidai zhi daode....... ). This opinion of the founder of the Chinese Communist Party was shared by Mao, who used the term “feudalism” (fengjian.. ) as a label to use against enemies of the socialist project. However, the use of the terms “feu­dal” and “feudalism” is obviously only ideological, since in Chinese history they apply only to the Western Zhou (1066–771 BC).The correct meaning of the term fengjian.. is the decentralised system of government that was used during the Zhou dynasty. In the early 20th century, this same term was applied to mean the “Chinese empire” in order to fit into the Marxist social stages of development. As such, how could it be that Xi Jinping, and before him Hu Jintao, were so clearly working to recover the Chinese tradition of Confucianism, which is nowadays often improperly labelled as “feudalistic”? 
We can find a clear answer to this question in Hu Jintao’s speech at the 90th Anniversary of the founding of CPC on July 1, 2011. Hu devoted part of his long speech to an outline of the last two centuries of Chinese history and, without plainly disavowing the fact that imperialistic China was “feudalistic”, he attrib­uted the reasons for these “feudalistic” conditions to the Opium Wars and the arrogance of foreign powers, reshaping the Marxist concept as it had been applied to China. This external corruption caused the ruin of Chinese civilisation, the suffering of the Chinese poor, and the development of corruption. At that time,using Hu’s words, “China gradually became a semi-colony and semi-feudalistic society (zhongguo zhubu chengwei ban zhimindi ban fengjian shehui............... )” (Hu 2011). To fight this imported corruption was thus the primary mission of the Communist Party, and it worked on this aim until the complete defeat of Japanese Imperialism and the “reactionaries” of the Guomin-dang in 1949. According to Hu, what followed was the creation of a socialist so­ciety under Mao, but the real success was the third phase, when China undertook the process of reform and economic opening with Deng Xiaoping, finally creating a socialistic society with Chinese characteristics. This is a Chinese Socialism that needs, in order to be truly Chinese, not only economic growth but, first of all,Chinese culture, literature, tradition and wisdom, which are no longer seen as “feudalistic relics”. 
This is the reason why Xi Jinping set out the idea of the “Chinese dream” (zhong­guo meng... ) as the goal of his mandate, a dream of prosperity and harmony that necessarily needs Chinese traditions, values and the close study of ancient texts. In a speech on October 21, 2013, the Chinese President gave example of some exemplary students: Confucius, Sun Jing, Su Qin, Kuang Heng, Chen Yi and Sun Kang, the six leading figures of classical Chinese Confucianism, and even quoted Mozi’s “exaltation of the virtuous is fundamental to governance” (Xi 2013a). Again, on June 6, 2014, while speaking to Overseas Chinese Associations,he highlighted the role of culture and tradition as the common link among all Chinese, and therefore as the real Chinese identity, which is shared, we can guess,even by those who left China before 1949. Here, Xi said: 
For Chinese people both at home and abroad, a united Chinese nation is our shared root, the profound Chinese culture is our shared soul, and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is our shared dream. […] Chinese civilization, with a history going back more than 5,000 years, provides strong intellectual support for the country’s ceaseless self-improvement and growth. No matter where a Chinese is, he always bears the distinc­tive brand of the Chinese culture, which is the common heritage of all the sons and daughters of China. I hope all Chinese will continue to car­ry forward Chinese culture and draw strength from it, while promoting exchanges between Chinese civilizations and other civilizations. Let us tell the stories of China well, and make our voices heard […] (Xi 2014b) 
In this excerpt from Xi’s speech, Chinese tradition is presented not only as Chi­nese heritage, as the links among a dispersed and fragmented civilisation, but also as a universal philosophy, able to attract people from different countries and civili­sations. As such, all other civilisations have to respect and take into consideration this thousands-year old tradition, full of wisdom and moral probity. Therefore,both within and outside China, tradition was set up the central tenet of the new policy. Within the country it provides the backbone of society and the means for the process of moralisation at all levels, while outside it is the presentable and attractive face of the nation, which grants stable international relationships and equal cultural exchanges. Tradition is thus the emblem of China’s soft power (Scarpari 2015), as Xi Jinping noted on December 30, 2013: 
The strengthening of our cultural soft power is decisive for China to reach the Two Centenary Goals and realize the Chinese dream of rejuve­nation of the Chinese nation. […] To strengthen our cultural soft power,we should disseminate the values of modern China. During its 5,000­year history, the Chinese nation has created a brilliant and profound cul­ture. We should disseminate the most fundamental Chinese culture in a popular way to attract more people to participate in it, matching modern culture and society. We should popularize our cultural spirit across coun­tries as well as across time and space, with contemporary values and the eternal charm of Chinese culture, which feature both excellent tradition and modern spirit, both nationally and internationally. (Xi 2013b) 
We thus see, at least in these Presidents’ speeches, the growing interest in Chinese tradition within the political elite, and as a real asset of Chinese policy. Chinese Presidents clearly understood that in order to compete with the USA and Europe,the country needs not only a strong economy and stable market, but also compet­itive scientific culture and broad cultural appeal. The “Chinese dream” thus needs to look backward in order to look forwards. 

Confucianism as a Contemporary Social Asset 
Now we should try to understand whether this use of traditional culture was just a political campaign led by the last two Presidents, or instead the expression of a mass phenomenon already rooted in society. The answer is not simple, but we can simply say that in this regard the Communist Party is meeting a social demand for the rehabilitation of tradition, since traditional culture––despite almost a century of condemnation––never really disappeared among the common people. We can find support for this incontrovertible fact in several ways, and one of the best is to consult a few recent surveys on social perceptions of cultural values. 
Between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014, the website zhongguo zhengzhi zuobiaoxi....... (The Chinese Political Compass) conducted a large survey with fifty questions, which included items on national and international politics, micro and macro-economy, security, culture and society. Over those two years there were more than 460,000 online responses, with the possible answers to the related statements being: strongly disagree, disagree, agree and strongly agree.Of the fifty questions, the following five are of great interest to our investigation:
42. “One should not openly comment on the shortcomings of our elders” (bu ying kai tanlun ziji zhangbei de quedian............. ); 43. “Modern Chinese society needs Confucianism” (xiandai zhongguo shehui xuyao rujia sixiang............ ); 46. “The eight diagrams of The Book of Changes can explain many facts” (zhouyi bagua nengguo youxiao de jieshi henduo shiqing............... ); 47. “The perspective of traditional Chinese medicine on human health is superior to that of modern mainstream medical science” (zhongguo chuantong yixue dui renti jiankang de guannian bi xiandai zhu­liu yixue geng gaoming........................ ); 49. “Traditional Chinese classics should be the basic education material for children” (yingdang zhongguo chanting wenhua de jingdian zuopin wei ertong jichu jiaoyu duwu....................... ). 
Question n. 42 raises the central tenet of Chinese traditional society as based on social rites (li . ), namely xiao. , that is usually translated in English as filial piety and states the unconditional love and respect of children for their par­ents. In the Analects 4.18 Confucius says: “In serving your father and mother,remonstrate with them gently. On seeing that they do not heed your suggestions,remain respectful and do not act contrary. Although concerned, voice no resent­ment” (Ames and Rosemont 1998),..:...........,....,...... . Confucius is thus suggesting that children should never act against their parents, even if they seem to be at fault. The Chinese respondents were almost equally divided, with 7.3% strongly disagreed, 38% disagreed, 34.8% agreed and 19.9% strongly agreed. In short, 45.3% of them disagreed while 54.7% agreed, suggesting the endurance of classical Chinese social values even among internet users aged mostly between 18 and 30. 
On the relevance of Confucianism (n. 43), the vast majority disagreed (73.4%),however this negative answer is counterintuitive, since filial piety, rituals, and et­iquette are the core of Confucian thought. Therefore, according to this survey,Confucianism in China still suffers from a negative image, but as an institution of power and not as a social norm or form education. We will return to this point later (see 4. Conclusions). 
Question n. 46 is about one of the most famous books of Chinese wisdom, TheBook of Changes (Yijing.. or Zhou Yi.. ). The eight diagrams are the baseof the sixty-four hexagrams that are used to predict and explain events, and tounderstand the deep nature of each person. These diagrams were seen as ineffec­tive by 47.7% of the respondents, while effective for 52.3% of them. Again, as forfilial piety, for this item a slight majority of the respondents seemed to defendtraditional culture. 
However, the most surprising data are related to the last two questions. Ques­tion n. 47, on the validity of Chinese medicine, received 64.3% positive answers,indicating that most respondents felt that this approach to the human body and health was superior to modern, mainstream medicine. Similarly, 62.1% of the respondents agreed with the use of Chinese classics as core texts for children in school (n. 49), or to be more accurate only 3.9% strongly disagreed, 33.9% disa­greed, 51.2% agreed and 10.9% strongly agreed... (Classics) is a general term meaning many different ancient works, but among them we could mention the Five Classics (wujing.. ), namely The Book of Documents (Shujing.. ), The Book of Poetry (Shijing.. ), The Classics of Rites (Liji.. ), The Book of Changes (Yijing.. ), The Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu.. ) and, the four Con­fucian Books (sishu.. ), including The Analects (Lunyu.. ) by Confucius and Mencius (Mengzi.. ). In our opinion, comparing the answers to questions n. 43 and n. 49 we find a clear incongruity, since Confucianism was seen as unneces­sary for a large majority of the respondents, but the Classics, which were largely shaped and influenced by Confucianism (sishu wujing.... ), are suitable as a basis for children’s education. We thus suggest that Confucianism as a political institution is being rejected, while Confucianism as a moral practice and as a so­cial regulator is still appreciated by a large number of Chinese people. 
S. Billioud and J. Thoraval (2014), have recently shown that since the year 2000 a clear Confucian renewal has taken place in three areas: 1. In education, with the creation of the Confucian scholastic academies (sishu.. ); 2. In the religious or spiritual area, with the growing relevance of traditional ritualism, with rites of passage and celebrations in honour of Confucius, particularly in his hometown Qufu; and 3. Confucianism as moral path or rendao.. for all Chinese people.The two authors, at the end of their comprehensive investigation, suggest that we are facing two kinds of Confucianism: a popular one, active in Chinese villages and among humble people living traditional rural lives; and an elitist one, in order to educate a new political class. We clearly see the double concern of modern Confucianism here: the growth of popular consent, and the active role of a new elite in the socio-political future of the country. In this context tradition is not to be seen as something confined to isolated rural backwardness, but rather the future of one of the most powerful nations in the world. As we have seen in previ­ous paragraphs, Chinese traditions and Confucianism are the core of the “Chinese dream” launched by Xi Jinping. 
Connected with the issues of “popular Confucianism” and a “Confucian elite”, Shi Tianjian (2015) suggests, through the use of several thorough surveys, that we can find two kinds of democratic orientations among modern Chinese people:
1. Idiocentric, namely a policy theory centred on individuals; and 2. Allocentric,where social relationships, communitarian life and relational values are the real core. The allocentric democratic orientation is very diffused in China, and traces its origins back to Confucius himself, as, in The Analects 2.3 he teaches: “Lead the people with administrative injunctions and keep them orderly with penal law,and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame (chi. ). Lead them with moral excellence and keep them orderly through observing ritual propriety and they will develop a sense of shame, and moreover, will order them­selves” (Ames and Rosemont 1998),..:.....,....,.....;....,....,...... . Confucius thus bases his system on the sense of shame (chi. /. ), and so the social burden of admonition and punishment is displaced from a central governmental authority to society itself,and particularly to the family. This leads to a collective society where the allocen­tric orientation is more natural, while the idiocentric is in complete contrast with tradition and culture, perceived as an imported Western ideology, mostly diffused in large cities and coastal provinces––as the study by J. Pan and Xu Yiqing (2015) has also shown about the diffusion of more liberal ideas. 
Contemporary China is searching for its “Chinese socialist way” within a renovat­ed “allocentric” orientation that has Confucianism as driver and champion. How­ever, this rich vein of morality and wisdom is not univocal, since in the last century Confucianism underwent several important changes and alterations. Therefore,we have to try to investigate which Confucianism can be dreamt within the “Chi­nese dream” (zhongguo meng... ), and which can be proposed as the basis of a new “Confucian education”. 

The Two Approaches to Confucianism: Political or Personal Education? 
In 1911 the Chinese Empire collapsed together with all the institutions based on Confucian tradition: the Imperial Examinations (which had already ended in 1905), the Imperial Hanlin Academy, the rituals performed by the Imperial Court,the temples and so on. The May Fourth Movement and the Communist party fought against any traces of Confucianism and other traditional values. However, within the recently founded Chinese universities, traditional values found strong supporters in the fields of philosophy and classical studies. When the Communist Republic was established 1949, the majority of intellectuals left China for Taiwan,Hong Kong and even western countries, such as the USA, the UK, or France. 
New Confucianism 
Among those intellectuals there was the philosophical school of New Confucian­ism, with Xiong Shili, Mou Zongsan and Tang Junyi as leading thinkers. New Confucianism xinrujia... is not a recent phenomenon: rather it is rooted in the thought of the Song Dynasty (960–1279), when Confucian thinkers, in­fluenced by the Buddhist universal metaphysics of the “Buddha nature” foxing.. in all men, started to present good human nature shanxing.. as universal and common to all beings. Therefore, since this time Confucian philosophy has shown more abstract and metaphysical concerns as compared with the practi­cal political interests of Confucius or Mencius. Obviously, “practical or politi­cal Confucianism” never disappeared from Chinese society, Confucianism being the institutional foundations of the Imperial system. However, when in 1911 the Empire collapsed, Institutional Confucianism lost not only Imperial support, but also its reason for being. That is why, even in Taiwan or Hong Kong, where the societies guarded its traditional aspects, Institutional Confucianism often lost its place to the metaphysical New Confucian philosophy that bloomed in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly within the international cross-cultural academic milieu. 
But we now need to bear in mind that in the mid-19th century, when the military and economic power of the Empire showed all its weaknesses in the Opium Wars and the Taiping Revolution, a four-character expression circulated among learned Chinese men: zhong ti xi yong.... , which we can translate as “Chinese [culture] is essence, while Western [knowledge or science] is function”. The idea was that Western military capacity and scientific knowledge were indisputably superior to those of the Chinese, but these abilities were only devoted to practical ends, and the continuous evolution of techniques and knowledge within China would make this superiority unstable and temporary. On the opposite side, Chi­nese traditional wisdom of self-cultivation and moral norms were the unchangea­ble structure of society, and went straight to the core of an unalterable human na­ture. The author who diffused this sentence was the eminent Qing official Zhang Zhidong, who explained, in his Exhortation to Study (Quanxue pian ... ), the necessity of both science and morality (Zhang 1998). The Confucian reformers of the last decades of the Qing Empire, such as Kang Youwei, tried to use this concept of “Chinese culture as structure” (zhong ti.. ) as a basis for the reform of Chinese society, but their attempt failed, being repressed by court conservatism.After 1911 this programmatic proposition was gradually dismissed and lost its social appeal under the attack of both modernism and New Confucianism. 
As we said above, Confucianism survived as a system of thought among those philosophers who mostly belonged to the school of Modern New Confucianism xiandai xinrujia..... . Those thinkers were not backward traditionalists,but rather philosophers fully aware of Western philosophical thought who strug­gled to find and claim a place for Chinese thought within World Philosophy.They refused the zhong ti xi yong.... theory (Chinese culture as essence and Western as function), since they were trying to insert Chinese philosophy in a direct dialogue with other philosophies, and this was incompatible with the pre­sumed superiority of Chinese wisdom. But at the same time, they were refusing the Western theory of Chinese intrinsic inferiority as advocated within the Hege­lian, Positivist or Weberian schools. Their proposed systems of thought––we can­not investigate these in detail in this article––were refined adaptations of Chinese thought on human nature and human education to the language and concepts of Western humanities. For instance, Mou Zongsan proposed a critical analysis of Kantian moral thought which led to the creation of a “moral metaphysics”,where we have not a metaphysics applied to morality––as in Kant––but instead a metaphysical investigation that in its doing provides a morality rooted in human nature itself. Turning Kant’s system upside-down, while the latter limited man’s understanding only to sensible intuition, Mou believed that man has a direct in­tuition of reality that derives from his human nature, and that this is shared with the whole of Nature (i.e. with all beings). According to Mou, each man is a unique “through-hole” tongkong.. , and “through-holes” are the only ways for truth to reveal itself to the world. We can say that men are necessary for truth. Therefore,each man, being this “through-hole”, has direct access to the essence (noumenon) of reality or truth (dao. ). Humans have direct access to reality, and this is the perfect teaching of New Confucianism. Chinese philosophy is “concrete philos­ophy” juti de zhexue..... searching for a concrete universal juti de pubian..... truth, and not, as for Western philosophy, an abstract chouxian de... , a truth far from human life (Mou 2009, ch. 1–2). 
According to Mou, despite the greatness of this idea, China has lost its creative energy since the Qing dynasty, when Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism first started to be despised as abstract and useless thought, and under the Commu­nist government the complete destruction of traditional culture reached its apex (ibid., ch. 19). Against this attack on the Chinese soul, in 1958 Mou Zongsan,Tang Junyi and several other leading thinkers of New Confucianism––despite this having never been a coherent school (Makeham 2003, part. I) – signed and diffused in the Hong Kong press their “Declaration on Behalf of Chinese Cul­ture Respectfully Announced to the People of the World” (wei zhongguo wenhua jinggao shijie renshi xuanyan............. ), a document that we now see as a conservative and a doomed attempt to restore Confucian thought against the ruse of Positivist Western thought and Communism.This declaration,although unfulfilled, was the first collective action of New Confucian thinkers,and in some ways shaped their identity. It was only with the opening of China,guided by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s, that Chinese New Confucian think­ers openly expressed their thoughts in mainland China and started to create a common identity with real affiliations among schools and subgroup branches, in order to find an orthodox thought and lineage. As noted by Makeham, we could identify at least seven characteristics shared by New Confucian thinking: 
[1.] Confucianism is accepted as the orthodoxy and main pillar of Chi­nese culture. As a branch or school within Confucianism, the New Con­fucians place a high value on xin xing zhi xue .... . […2.] New Confucians regard China’s historical culture as a spiritual reality (jingsh-en shiti.... ) and the flow of this historical culture is where this spiritual reality is manifest. [… 3.] New Confucians affirm the notion of daotong.. (interconnecting thread of the way) as the basis for na­tionhood and the source of cultural transformation. [… 4.] New Confu­cians emphasize the need to adopt a respectful and empathetic attitude to China’s historical culture. [… 5.] New Confucians have a strong sense of “origin; roots (genyuan.. ).” […6.] New Confucians evidence a keen awareness of the crisis facing Chinese culture [… 7.] New Confucianism is rich in religious sentiment and has a strong sense of mission to rejuve­nate Chinese culture. (Makeham 2003, 29–30) 
Obviously those seven threads are disputable, but they enrich our discussion on the contemporary “Chinese dream” and on the relevance of Confucian education to today’s China. As to the first point, for New Confucianists Confucianism is the core of Chinese culture, the origin or at least the most relevant actor in establish­ing the Classics and the bases of Chinese traditional culture. Clearly, other schools of thought, such as Daoism, Legalism, and even Buddhism. have been relevant,however none of them could compete with the active shaping of society carried out by Confucianism, this being the leading school of thought within the Imperi­al Court and the Imperial Hanlin Academy. The further characteristics shared by the New Confucians, from 3 to 6, above, have to do with the mission those think­ers undertook, namely the protection of Confucian or Neo-Confucian thought as the well-spring of Chinese tradition and culture. But two points are much more relevant, numbers 2 and 7, which see New Confucianism, or simply Con­fucianism, as a religious teaching that could rejuvenate the nation. Confucianism is both a philosophical system and spiritual belief, which can enrich a soulless society. In order to understand this point, we need to look closer at what the es­tablishment of a correct tradition meant in China. In pre-Imperial China, history was interpreted through a correlative scheme of five agents,.. , and these are descriptive concepts that the possible configurations of qi. , the vital energy that underlies everything in the world. This correlative scheme of five elements––wood, fire, soil, metal and water––is used to understand and define everything in the world, biological life as diseases, the individual psychological dispositions as physical characteristics, the correct form of education in human life, the seasons as colours, but, most relevant for us, historical events––i.e. the collapse of dynasties and the breaking out of wars––as social relationships (Graham 1986; Graham 1989). Therefore, Confucianism as an interpreter of political and social life is the only effective way to forecast, prevent and understand events. We thus argue that this ability to penetrate the essence of qi, as acknowledged for Confucianism, is the reason for both the definition of Chinese culture as a “spiritual reality”(jingsh-en shiti.... ), and the central role Confucianism must have in the “revival” fuxing .. of this culture.We know that the term “renaissance” is the heart of the “Chinese dream”, and it is the core of a new education of Chinese society from its psychological and historical roots. 

Political Confucianism 
In 1983 the Confucius Foundation was set up in Beijing with the full support ofDeng Xiaoping and the Communist Party, and we can see this as the starting pointof Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream”. In 1989, at the 2540th anniversary of Confucius’sbirthday, the President of the People’s Republic Jiang Zemin blessed the event,praised all the participants’ speeches, noted the historical relevance of Confucius asthe father of Chinese culture, and highlighted Confucius’s teachings as a model ofcorrect moral education. At this event, Gu Mu, who was Deng’s right-hand man inthe economic modernisation program, delivered a long speech advocating the deci­sive role of Confucianism in China’s past, present and future. He praised Confucianvalues such as harmony, wisdom, social relationships, respect for authority, and com­plete pedagogy, as valid tools against the spiritual pollution from the West that hadcaused the Tiananmen demonstrations. From this moment forward, Confucianismstarted to be a conservative and traditional force that could be used to maintain authority. We quote just a few lines of this speech, as follows: 
The Chinese nation has had a long history and brilliant ancient culture.For a long period of time in human history, the Chinese culture, with Confucian school of thought as the mainstream, glittered with colour­ful splendour […] Culture serves both as the emblem of the level of civilization of a nation or a country, and the guidance for its political and economic life. To promote prosperity and peace for a nation and for mankind in general, it is necessary to develop a compatible culture. In this regard, a proper attitude toward the traditional national culture is very important. (Gu 2000) 
Reading these lines from Gu Mu’s 1989 speech, it is natural to find analogies with those of Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping. Already in 1989 the new cultural course of Chinese socialism had begun. While it was not termed “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, it was already allied with the conservative and nationalist forces of Chinese learned society. At this time, the Chinese Communist Party, which is considered a leftist force in the West, moved closer to the nationalist and conserv­ative Confucian side, which in the West would be considered on the right side of the political spectrum. This is the reason for a contemporary society split in two,with the Communists and traditionalists on one side, and liberal, reformist and Westernised people on the other. 
Now we understand the relevance of a correct definition of Confucianism, since it became an active force in Chinese society at both the political and social levels.Is this Confucianism the New Confucianism we just outlined, or not? Is there a different kind of Confucianism in contemporary China? The answer to both questions is positive, since we have at least one other huge theoretical Confucian school that is gradually imposing its interpretation on the old teachings. This school is usually termed “Political Confucianism”or “Institutional Confucianism”,and it is headed by Jiang Qing, who in 1996 founded the Yangming Academy .... in Guiyang (Guizhou), a Confucian-based academic institution that is defined in several websites as being devoted to ancient Chinese culture, being “the modern school that most aims at restoring the ancient way” (.... —........ ), and therefore the emblem of contemporary Confucian education. 
Jiang Qing is an open enemy of Neo-Confucian and New Confucian philoso­phy, since he contends that the related philosophers were influenced by liberal democracy, and that their schools are not based on Confucian philosophy but on Western Kantianism and Idealism, to the point where we can find no traces of Confucian logic in their discourses. As everyone learned in Confucian philosophy since the time of Confucius should know, Confucianism is twofold, since it is devoted to the teaching of both external kingship (waiwang .. ), and internal wisdom (neisheng .. ). The external kingship is an effective system, with good ruling and political institutions that include all the Confucian rites. The internal wisdom refers to the interior development of the individual, who cultivates his moral nature, educates his heart-mind (. ) and achieves the final, perfect state of a wise man. After Jiang, New Confucian philosophers completely neglected the first aim of Confucian teaching, since they devoted their attention only to internal cultivation, and this is the reason for calling this school of thought “Mind Confucianism”, which is the translation of xin xing ruxue.... , namely Con­fucianism devoted the study of the nature of the heart-mind. Jiang Qing quotes as best example of this deviation Mou Zongsan and Tang Junyi, who paid attention only to the “good life” and not “good ruling”, since they implicitly supported the liberal democratic society of the West. Therefore, Jiang Qing contends that the New Confucians proposed that Chinese people should live in a Western society,where their moral and internal wisdom could find a perfect fulfilment; we can say “(ancient) Chinese within, but Western outside”. 
As Jiang Qing argues: 
I think this contemporary neo-Confucian solution is mistaken because it treats Western democracy and science as the ultimate standard for the development of Chinese socio-political institutions, thus justifying the suspicion that it advocates a disguised version of China’s Westernization rather than authentically developing Confucianism. Neo-Confucianism’s solution attempts to derive Confucian socio-political institutions exclu­sively from the Mind Confucianism scholarship and ignores the exist­ence of another strand of the Confucian tradition, namely, Political Con­fucianism, which has many resources for developing political systems.It is unfortunate that contemporary Neo-Confucians regard modern science as intrinsically valuable. Science is only instrumentally valuable.The Chinese can certainly learn from and adopt modern science in their society, but they must regulate science according to Confucian moral val­ues. ( Jiang 2011, 24). 
We see in Jiang’s words the concept underlying the already quoted four-character expression of the late Qing, namely “Chinese culture as essence and Western as function” zhong ti xi yong.... . Science has to be studied and used, but the only standard in its use should be Confucian morality. The same goes for democ­racy, that it should be studied but never applied to Chinese society, since, as Jiang explains in several essays, this political system has Western roots and is linked to European religions, and furthermore, it is an imperfect system that promises but never really aims at achieving equality. This political system is thus unsuitable for China, and would destroy Chinese tradition and Confucianism. 
Jiang Qing thus prefers the Confucian lineage of Gong Yang’s (.. ) scholar­ship that has Xunzi––an opponent of Mencius’s “good nature theory” followed by New Confucians––among its most ancient supporters. The Gong Yang school of thought was developed during the Han dynasty period (Li 2014, 243–4), and it was very influential. Afterwards, during the Song and Ming eras, it was neglected because of the power of Neo-Confucians (i.e. Mind Confucianism), and it was finally rescued by late Qing Confucians such as Kang Youwei (1858–1927). The major works of this lineage are The Book of Rites (Liji .. ) and The Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu.. ), together with the Han dynasty commentaries ( Jiang 2011, 25). Jiang Qing even reassures New Confucians when he argues that both Confucian lineages have legitimacy, but that they must converge again,together providing a teaching of external kingship (wai wang.. ) and internal wisdom (nei sheng .. ). 
Jiang Qing goes even further, proposing a modern “external kingship” or political system based on Confucian wisdom. He shapes a tricameral system as follows: 1.“The House of Profound Confucians” (tong ru yuan... ), where Confucian learned men maintain and protect the legitimacy of the sacred way (dao. ); 2. “The House of National Continuity” (guoti yuan... ) where deep connois­seurs of cultural heritage and tradition deliberate about ancient values; 3. “The House of Plebeians” (shumin yuan... ), where common people’s needs and desires are represented ( Jiang 2013). The first chamber finds its legitimacy with respect for the sacred way, and thus in the spiritual or religious realm. The second chamber has legitimacy from Chinese tradition and ancient learning. The last chamber’s legitimacy lies in the common people’s will. Therefore, the sacred or holy, the perfect learning and the people are all represented, and each chamber has its duty and field of deliberation. This refined and complex tripartite structure reflects the ancient Chinese cosmology that combines the Sky (tian. ), Earth (di. ) and Humanity (ren. ) in one organic body. The Sky is the normative princi­ple that regulates everything and legitimates any change; the Earth is the produc­tive power, the feminine womb where life puts down its roots; the Humanity is the higher form of life, and has in itself a regulative role being the principal actor with regard to stability between Sky and Earth, but Humanity is also the most dangerous cause of instability. 
Wang Ruichang (2011) claims that this system merges together pre-modernabsolutism, because it imposes a State religion (i.e. Confucianism), and a kindof modern liberalism, because it speaks openly about people’s desires and wills (in the last chamber). Therefore, according to Jiang, China needs to establishConfucianism as the State religion, since legitimacy, stability, correct ethics andspiritual cultivation would arise from this system. To critics who fear an intol­erant society where only the belief in Confucianism would be accepted, Jiangreplies that Confucianism has always been tolerant, and that the State religionwould not regulate private beliefs. Anybody can thus have private religious be­liefs, just like in Western countries, but this private belief––such as the Christianreligion, Buddhism, etc.––should never contend for the role of the State religion( Jiang 2013, 170–1). The same goes for any social questions, such as that of ho­mosexuality, that, according to Jiang, should be tolerated, while everybody hasto respect the Confucian social system. Nothing that diverges from stability andlegitimacy would be allowed, but private life would be respected. He even speaksof a possible monarch with an ancient blood lineage from Confucius, who shouldhave a symbolic role, like the Thai monarch, a kind of embodiment of legitimacy,a cultural and spiritual guarantor. 
We see in Jiang Qing’s project the clear intention to revitalise Confucianism not only at the popular level, namely as education, but also at the institutional one.While New Confucians’ Confucianism is for people living in a modern politi­cal society, with modern––and likely desacralized and secular––institutions, Jiang Qing’s Confucianism aims at becoming the foundation of society itself. These two ways of Confucianism could not be more different, they are the separate sides of the already quoted “inner wisdom” (nei sheng.. ) and “outer kingship” (wai wang.. ) dichotomy. It seems impossible to bridge this gap, since they are Confucianism’s two faces, but are they perhaps two faces of the same coin? 

Conclusions 
Now the time has come to inquire which one of these two faces shall be the Chinese Confucianism of its future political and educations systems. More cor­rectly: which one is more compatible with Xi Jinping’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics”? 
We think there is not an unequivocal answer to these questions. What is indis­putable for scholars is that New Confucianism is usually interpreted as bending to Western liberal democracy, something hardly compatible with the Chinese po­litical system. However, since Stephen C. Angle (2012) suggests that a perfect de­mocracy is almost impossible, and so what is possible in Chinese society is a kind of “moderate perfectionism”, where the widely shared values of Confucianism are supported and protected by the State, but the majority of choices are set free. The values the State protects are humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faithfulness, and thus education. In this “moderately perfected democracy”, New Confucianism should establish its political party without becoming a religious teaching, but instead a pedagogical and spiritual asset. What Angle does not dis­cuss is the feasibility of this project in a one-party political system, i.e. the role of the Communist Party. In our opinion, it is more natural that a trend within the Communist Party would gradually endorse Confucian values as a political project,and that is actually what Xi Jinping is suggesting without naming this project in Confucian terms. 
What about Jiang Qing’s three chambers? Socialist Chinese politics are laic but guarantee religious freedom. In the 1982 Constitution it is stated that “The State protects legitimate religious activities. No one may use religion to carry out coun­ter-revolutionary activities or activities that disrupt public order, harm the health of citizens or obstruct the educational systems of the state. No religious affairs may be dominated by any foreign country.” (Yoshiko and Wank 2009, 11). Chi­nese Constitution does not consider a State religion or even religious education to be possible, i.e. Confucian schools cannot replace national education. It is more likely that Institutional Confucianism will gradually gain more relevance, but in the given spaces guaranteed by the Chinese State. As Chau clearly explains: 
There are broadly speaking two strategies which people “doing religion”in China adopt in negotiating with the party-state to attain a higher degree of legitimacy. The first is “getting into the official fold”, which is to obtain the status of belonging to one of the five officially recognized religions and becoming an officially recognized “venue for religious ac­tivities”. […] The second strategy is “creative dissimulation”, which is to disguise one’s religious activities as something else that is more palatable in official eyes. […] to get their deity worship or ritual practice recog­nized (and accredited) by the State as “intangible cultural heritage” […] (Chau 2011). 
While the first strategy, to become a religious official, is suitable for Buddhism,Daoism, and Islam, and far from Jiang Qing’s project, it is the second which seems more suitable for Institutional Confucianism, and in effect he has founded an academy for this in Guizhou. However, even if this is the more suitable way to become approved as “religious thought”, this does not mean that it will become a “State religion”, since this would seriously interfere with the Chinese political status quo. We note that since the year 2000 the question of whether Confucian­ism is a religion has provoked a harsh “religion debate” (Sun 2013, 82–93) that remains unresolved, because, as we know thanks to our analysis, the concept of “religion” is not only a cultural label, but a relevant (conservative) political asset,while traditional education seems more neutral. 
As we said for New Confucian, which could be partially absorbed by the Party, the same is true for Institutional Confucianism. More than a completely new institu­tional configuration, a gradual alignment of some of the Party with this system is more likely. This political trend would represent all the three Chambers in itself,including experts of Confucian wisdom, traditional knowledge and the common people. As we have seen on reading Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping’s speeches, Confu­cianism is already labelled as a national force, the deep roots of Chinese culture and the grounds for a Chinese future. Therefore, within the Communist Party a large percentage of leading politicians already share the project of the “Confu­cianisation” of society, but this does not mean they will become “Confucians” in­stead of “socialists”. There are even several socialist thinkers who present a natural convergence between Confucian and Marxist values, since both support people’s moral transformation and an “allocentric” attitude, as Shi Tianjian (2015) termed it. Moreover, Confucianism has never really been eradicated from Chinese society,and people are fond of Confucius’s texts, as seen in the unpredictable success of Yu Dan’s self-help book on the Analects, which has sold over ten millions copies (including six millions pirated ones), with Daniel E. Bell even suggesting a new wave of Confucianism in Chinese public schools and within the Central Party School in Beijing Bell 2010, 26, 59). However, this “wave” still does not imply that the Party is leaving behind its socialist soul, but rather that the socialist and the Confucian souls are merging together into one “Chinese soul”. Confucianism guarantees all the main Chinese political characteristics: a society based on social relationships, paternalism, moralism, strong government control, limited political dissent, social harmony and so on. 
Therefore, we suggest that both forms of Confucianism are suitable in the con­struction of China’s internal and global identity. Internally, Jiang Qing’s political thought would provide a strong validation for an authoritarian and stable sys­tem, where the wealth of the society as a whole is always more relevant than the wealth of its individuals. Clearly, harmony (he . ) often means the flattening of creativity, as seen in the recent suppression of artistic freedom (Breacher 2014) and censorship (Sala 2016) demonstrate. Xi Jinping is worried by any alternative to his “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, and critics are perceived as devi­ant actors with political motives. Suggesting a long-lasting tradition of Political Confucianism that allows limited freedom, Jiang Qing provides a cultural and identitary reason for this authoritarian system. This is why any Western claim for freedom or form of protest––within or outside China––would first be marked as a cultural offence. We believe that China has the right to protect its culture and social system against foreign arrogance, but that does not mean that this culture should prevent any form of dissent, as dissent has always been a key part of Chi­nese cultural, literacy and political tradition, such as Confucius leaving his official position, as well as the actions of Qu Yuan, Su Shi and many other relevant think­ers in different epochs of Chinese history. 
On the other hand, the New Confucian theories of inner cultivation and moral behaviour make a great contribution to the education of a rapidly modernising society in search of identity. The contradictory results of the first survey we quot­ed in chapter 2 may be interpreted as being in accord with this form of Confu­cianism. In our opinion, the strong rejection of the usefulness of Confucianism in modern society proves the respondents’ suspicions concerning applying this tradition to contemporary political thought, since they see Confucian institutions as oppressive. However, this rejection does not concern Confucianism as a way of perfection or as wisdom, since the same respondents acknowledge the relevance of the Confucian classics, Confucian moral values, Chinese education, and Chinese medicine in the shaping of Chinese identity. This means that, according to this survey and the others we quoted, Chinese society is largely compatible with New Confucianism, but less so with Institutional Confucianism. We thus suggest that the Chinese political system is likely far more attracted by a strong authoritari­an Confucian identity, while Chinese modern society––mostly in the big coastal cities––would at the most accept the New Confucian form, which belongs to in­dividuals and does not determine the shape of society. We propose the following image: Political Confucianism demands Confucianism to be the body of Chinese society, while New Confucian teaching is mostly devoted to the establishing of a renovated Chinese soul. Apparently, the “Chinese dream” of recent years is closer to the New Confucian project, and does not envisage a Confucianisation of so­ciety, but the authoritarian appeal of Institutional Confucianism would probably gain consent within the Party. 
China is looking at the economically developed states at its borders, such as Japan,Taiwan, South Korea, and so on. All these nations are examples of a combinationof Western economic development, moderate freedom, traditional nationalism,traditional and modern education systems, and overall mixed societies that includeboth Confucian aspects (i.e. filial piety in family relations) and Westernised waysof life. China sees a Confucianisation of its internal and global identity as thechance to really become a peer with the most developed Asian countries, Euro­pean countries, and the USA, rather than just the “world’s low-quality factory”.If “socialism with Chinese characteristics” is defined in Confucian forms, Chinawould be able to place itself completely outside the remaining Cold War “two power blocks” system, which necessarily places China on the side of Russia, NorthKorea, and so on. This “Confucian Socialism” would allow China to create a newglobalised identity, and this plan is evident if we look at the “one road, one belt” (yi lu yi dai.... ) project, which places China at the source of a new globalisedregion that covers all of the Eurasian––or even Afro-Eurasian––continent. In theenduring Russia-USA competition, Confucianism is a neutral identity that allowsChina to maintain a certain impartiality. Moreover, this “cultural soft power” findsa telling instance in the creation of Confucius Institutes around the world, whichare warmly welcomed in impoverished departments of humanities and actuallyprovide an extraordinary contribution to Chinese language learning and culturalknowledge, but, at the same time, are often accused of limiting research freedomin these foreign universities (Sahlins 2015). What is really interesting is that theseinstitutes rarely organise any conferences devoted to Communist or socialist theo­ries, but instead focus on the Chinese language and traditional culture, since this isChina’s new international image, as part of the new “China’s charm offensive”, asKurlantzick (2007) and Hartig (2015) termed it. What China wants, is to competenot only at the economic and political levels, but also to be as culturally attractiveas Japan, since China is the source of several aspects of Japanese culture that are be­loved worldwide, and are the main asset of Japan’s soft power (Vyas 2011, 59–62).Japan was the first Asian country to use cultural NGOs (i.e. Japan Foundations thatbelong to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Japan-China Friendship Associations)as instruments of cultural soft power (ibid., 152–9), and Confucius Institutes areevidence that China has learned from this approach. China’s efforts here have been so effective that recently two American senators proposed the “Countering Infor­mation Warfare Act 2016 (S.2692)” against Chinese and Russian media (Portmanand Murphy 2016), in order to control the circulation of information from thesetwo countries thanks to worldwide channels as RT, Sputnik, PLA Daily, CCTV,and so (Chu 2016). Another instance of this “charm offensive” is the growing in­terest in buying European football teams and increasing investment in any kindof sport, since sport is a good way to create a new image of Chinese abroad. Weshould perhaps ask ourselves why Japanese or American soft power does not causeas much irritation to European countries as Chinese soft power does. 
As a final instance of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” (zhongguo meng... ) com­munication strategy, we want to mention the Chinese message to the world at Expo2015 in Milan. China’s Pavilion, the first one set up overseas, focused the visitors’attention on the ground floor on traditional culture (i.e. the threefold cosmology wediscussed earlier), and on spectacular Yunnan rice fields created with multicoloured,tubular LED bulbs. On the first floor, there was a small theatre, where a fascinatingtraditional Yunnan dance was performed. Before the dance, president Xi Jinping welcomed visitors by presenting the brilliance of ancient China’s agricultural civili­sation, and the richness of the country’s cuisine, as well as contemporary scientificand technological developments in food production. He closed his short speech bysaying “We look forward to exchanges of agricultural expertise with all other coun­tries to jointly ensure food security in the world and advance human civilization” (Xi2015). The advance of human civilisation needs China, and China needs its ancientpast, and only within this circular process will future progress be possible.That is thefuxing, the retrospection or return to tradition in order to have a harmonious (he) fu­ture. After the President’s welcome, the visitors could watch a nine-minute cartoonabout the celebration of the New Year Lantern Festival in a traditional rural family,when the three––yes, we said three––grown up and successful children (a chemist,musician and cook) go back home and express their love for their grandparents andparents. Only the cook cannot go back home, but he greets the family thanks to avideo call (see link to the video at the end of Bibliographic references). This idyllicand bucolic scene is the new image China wishes to diffuse abroad and within thecountry. Loving children who follow the Confucian principle of filial piety (xiao. ), family affection as the basis for any social relationship (i.e. allocentrism), andancient Chinese festivals, which represent a continued connection with tradition(fuxing). However, at the same time the three grown up children are modern andsuccessful people.They represent science and technology, culture and arts, and final­ly the Chinese culture of the body (traditional medicine and food). According tothis image, Confucian moral and cultural education is fully compatible with West­ernized education and culture. It is no more the zhong ti xi yong.... , since both structural (ti . ) and functional (yong. ) sides are a harmonious composition of China zhong. and West xi. . This cartoon testifies that Confucianism is not a temporary wave, but rather the new Chinese course, the “socialism with Chinesecharacteristics” (zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi........ ), between tradition and modernity, a path still far from complete achievement. 


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Broader Perspectives 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.139-151 

Following the Way of the Ancient Kings:The Con­cept of “Learning” in the Teachings of Ogyu Sorai 
Marko OGRIZEK*2 
Abstract 
Ogyu Sorai conceptualizes “learning” as the study of the way of the ancient kings.The way thus represents the rites, music, penal laws and administrative systems which the ancient kings established. Making faith in the sages the foundation of learning, Sorai designates the ancient kings as intermediaries between the ordering activity of heaven and human society. This article tries to examine some of the implications of such a conceptualization,both for the proposed system of social organization as well as for Sorai’s own project of elucidating the way. 
Keywords: Ogyu Sorai,Tokugawa Confucianism, learning, way of the ancient kings, sages 
Sledenje poti kitajskih prakraljev: koncept »učenja« v poučevanju Ogyu Soraija 

Izvleček 
Ogyu Sorai »učenje« pojmuje kot preučevanje poti kitajskih prakraljev. Pot predstavljajo obredje, glasba, kazenski zakonik in administrativni sistemi, ki so jih zasnovali prakralji. S tem, ko zaupanje oziroma vero v prakralje postavi za temelj učenja, Sorai prakralje določi za posrednike med urejevalno dejavnostjo neba in človeško družbo. Članek poskuša po­kazati nekatere posledice takšnega pojmovanja tako za predlagani sistem družbene organ-izacije kot za Soraijev lastni projekt razjasnitve poti. 
Ključne besede: Ogyu Sorai, konfucijanstvo v obdobju Tokugawa, učenje, pot prakraljev, svetniki 

Introduction 
Ogyu Sorai (1666–1728) is considered one of the most influential Japanese think­ers of the Edo period (1603–1868) and a sharp critic of Zhu Xi’s School of Struc­tural Principle. His central works are the two philosophical dictionaries––the 
* Marko OGRIZEK, PhD Student, Department of Asian Studies,Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.marko.ogrizek[at]ff.uni-lj.si 

Bendo.. 1 and the Benmei.. 2—in which he systematically discusses a wide variety of classical Confucian concepts: chief among which is the way of the an­cient kings (senno no michi, .... ).This article tries to examine Sorai’s project based on his concept of “learning” (xue/gaku . )––firstly from the perspective of the proposed subject, methodology and goals; and secondly by taking a closer look at some of its ideological and political implications. 
Sorai promotes the study of the ancient kings’ way. The way of the ancient kings is the sages’ creation––it is not a natural way. It is the way of governing the people and bringing peace and stability to the kingdom under heaven. As such it has its concrete form—the rites, music, penal laws and the administrative systems (li le xing zheng/reigakukeisei.... ), which the ancient kings founded. By follow­ing the way, the people are brought to their proper virtues (de/toku . ). By gaining their proper virtues the people find their place within society. The societal whole is in turn ordered and made peaceful. 
The way is the way of the early kings––but while the kings are many, the wayis always one. Sorai struggles to provide a proper explanation as to how theone way functions through a myriad of different cultural expressions; and alsohow the way is adapted through time. There seems to be no better way forhim to try to square a variety of traditions with the one true ordering activityof the way than to assert the extraordinary intelligence of the sage kings andits wide-ranging influence. The ancient sages are used as a societal/historicalmyth—to bridge the gap between the activities of heaven and human society,while at the same time providing an explanation for the value of particular cul­tural expressions over others. 
Sorai’s concept of the way of the ancient kings places the way firmly within a cer­tain historical and cultural context––but the way also possesses universal aspects:namely, its ordering activity. By connecting the origin of the way with the concept of the patterns of heaven––which the sages alone could understand and convey––Sorai sets reverence (jing/kei . ) for heaven (tian/ten . ) and faith (shin. ) in the ancient sages (sheng/sei . ) as the foundations of learning. 
This article tries to examine some of the reasoning for, as well as the implications of, such a conceptualization of “learning”, for both the system of social organiza­tion that is proposed as well as Sorai’s own project of elucidating the way. 
1 Distinguishing the Way. 2 Distinguishing Names. 

The Way of the Ancient Kings 
Sorai’s interpretation of classical Confucian concepts is characterized by a sharp move away from discussions of personal self-cultivation and in the direction of the social and political. Sorai’s work itself can in a way be considered political in ambition, though it is first and foremost educational in nature. 
To demonstrate the deeper ideological and political aspects of Sorai’s concept of “learning”, it is necessary to first explore its proposed subject, methods and goals.Sorai sets these out in a simple and precise manner, as follows: 
“Learning” refers to studying the way of the ancient kings. The ancient kings’ way is contained within the Book of Poetry, the Book of History, the Book of Rites, and the Book of Music. The method of learning should con­sist of studying what is in the Books of Poetry, History, Rites, and Music, and that is all. These subjects are the “four teachings” or “four arts”3. The Book of Poetry and the Book of History are repositories of ritual principle, the Book of Rites and the Book of Music set out the models for virtue4. Vir­tue refers to that by which the self is established; ritual principle refers to what is followed in governing. Studying the Book of Poems, the Book of History, the Book of Rites, and the Book of Music is sufficient for educating scholar-knights.5 
Possessing extraordinary virtue and intelligence, through which they were able to follow heaven’s decree (tian ming/tenmei .. ), the ancient sages established the way, which the princes study and the people follow (Ogyu 1974, 219). The act of founding the way is in fact what defines sages as sages––no one can reproduce their work and no amount of learning can make the people of today into sages (ibid., 216). Rather, the goals of education encompass developing the talents and virtues needed to follow the way that the sages have already set out. 
Studying the way of the ancient kings consists of following what the ancient kings established, but according to Sorai this itself has now become one of the cen­tral problems, because the sages’ way, as a living transformational force, has been 
3 Sorai here quotes from: Liji, Wangzhi. 4 Sorai here quotes from: Chunqiu Zuozhuan, Xi gong ershiqi nian. 5.......................................
..................................................... (Ogyu 1974, 249; Ogyu 2006, 312) In rendering various parts of the Bendo and the Benmei into English, I lean heavily on the English translations by John Allen Tucker in Ogyu, 2006. To not burden the text with marking how the translations differ, I provide page references to Tucker’s original translation). 
completely depleted since even the time of Confucius. Confucius––who according to Sorai was himself born in the wrong age to be a proper founder––nevertheless helped convey the proper teachings through editing the six classics (Ogyu 1974,217).The six classics then came to represent the sole repositories of the way of the ancient kings. Unfortunately, in time even the proper understanding of ancient words and phrases became lost, and wrong interpretations of the texts thus came to prevail (ibid., 209–210). 
Being a creation of the sages is a key aspect of the way: “The way of the ancient kings consists in what the ancient kings formulated. It is not the natural way of heaven and earth.”6 
With the way being a creation, the ultimate standard (ji/kyoku. )––the fun­damental standard of what is proper and good—is also wholly defined by the ancient kings (ibid., 248). Sorai explicitly discards the cosmo-ontological discus­sions of his predecessors, and sets the ancient sages as the sole originators of not only a common system of values and meaning represented in the way, but also as the originators of the only possibility of a common standard, and therefore of any common system of value and meaning as such. Sorai does not believe people can live outside such a system. Through his conceptualization of the heart-mind, he identifies the people’s need for a life within a community––a fundamental natural tendency of the people. While they can differ from one another greatly and are basically prone to disordered lives, the people are fundamentally communal: 
While natural tendencies of people do differ from person to person, re­gardless of an individual’s knowledge or ignorance, worthiness or un­worthiness, all are the same in having heart-minds that mutually love,nourish, assist, and perfect one another. People are alike in their capac­ity to work together and undertake tasks cooperatively. Thus for gov­ernment, we depend on the ruler; for nourishment, we depend on the people. Farmers, artisans, and merchants all make a living for themselves by relying upon each other. One cannot forsake society and live alone in a deserted land: these are simply people’s natural tendencies.7 
People’s natural tendencies are turned towards communal life and cooperation––but they are at the same time disordered and without proper standards and there­fore need to be directed along the way of the ancient kings—ordered, so that 
6.................... (Ogyu 1974, 201; Ogyu 2006, 142). 7................................................................................ (Ogyu 1974, 213; Ogyu 2006, 187) 
society can be ordered in turn. The way of the ancient kings brings the people to their proper virtues and in this manner orders and defines society as a whole. The way encompasses the proper practices and institutions established by the early kings; while virtues represent what people each gain by following the way accord­ing to their natural tendencies (xing/sei. ), talents and abilities (Ogyu 1974, 212). 
The way of the ancient kings possesses an explicit purpose. Sorai writes: “Theway of the ancient kings is the way that provides for the peace of the kingdomunder heaven.”8 
Because the way has been lost as a concrete system of common practices, which once held the living transformational and ordering powers of the sages’ own vir­tues, and because even the ancient words and phrases are now misunderstood and wilfully reinterpreted, the project of distinguishing names must be undertaken—one with a special emphasis on the proper philological study of ancient words and phrases (kobunjigaku .... ) (ibid., 251). This becomes Sorai’s central project. 
Everyone can follow the way, but understanding it is extremely rare (ibid., 215)—people may thus only follow it according to their capabilities. Knowledge of the way comes from the proper practice of the rites, which happens through a process of internalization. This is also what “investigating things” (gewu/kakubutsu .. ) means to Sorai (ibid., 250). By understanding the names of ‘the concrete’, the people can practice the way and develop virtues—which then further strengthen the way. Sorai claims the way to be a “universal way” (ibid., 212)—and thus there are not different ways for rulers and the ruled—but it is also quite clear that the concept of education for Sorai is a multi-tiered process: one which is not the same for those who rule and those who are ruled. 
Possessing concrete form, the way is further placed within a definite historical and cultural context: 
The way is a comprehensive name. It refers to everything that the ancient kings established, especially the rites, music, penal laws and administra­tive institutions. The way embraces and designates them all. There is not something called the “the way” apart from their rites, music, penal laws,and administrative systems of government.9 
The way of the ancient kings is a comprehensive term which combines different as­pects of a well-ordered society: the legal, political and cultural. The penal laws and 
8............ (Ogyu 1974, 200; Ogyu 2006, 139) 9....................................
.. (Ogyu 1974, 201; Ogyu 2006, 140) 
the administrative system are both part of the way, but in the Bendo and the Ben-mei Sorai does not put much emphasis on them. More than once he emphasizesthat even though they represent the legal and the political aspects of the way, theyare not enough to bring about a well-ordered society of peace and stability—andneither is learning through language alone (Ogyu 1974, 219). The way can only beactualized through rites and music, which represent its concrete cultural substance. 
Unfortunately, Sorai never properly problematizes his own concepts, and in theBendo and Benmei remains rather vague about the related rites and music as such.He states that the way is one of bringing peace and stability to the kingdom underheaven—but he never questions what such a peace would actually entail. A gener­ous reading of his views therefore offers a system in which people each find theirplace within the common way according to their abilities and natural tendencies. Aless generous reading offers a well-argued excuse for a system of strict social hier­archy in a deeply unequal society not unlike the Tokugawa shogunate of the time10. 

Culture as the Concrete Form of the Way 
The way of the ancient kings was created by the sages and encompasses the rites,music, penal laws and administrative systems that they founded. The sages estab­lished these by properly naming “the concrete”, and thus enabling the people to follow and finally comprehend the correct practices: 
Since humanity was born into the world11, where there has been the con­crete, there have been names12. Of names, from the start it was the case that ordinary people coined some of them. Yet these were only names given to the concrete having form. When it came to the concrete having no form, because ordinary people could not discern it, the sages estab­lished names for it. Thereafter even ordinary people could perceive and comprehend it. 13 
Having set the ultimate standard (ji/kyoku), the sages created the way for people tobe brought together from a separate standardless existence and guided to surpasstheir natural tendencies through being ordered according to the way.The names are 
10 Anachronistic as such criticisms might seem. 11 Sorai quotes from: Mengzi, Liang Huiwang xia. 12 Sorai quotes from: Shijing, Sheng Min. 13......................................
.................................. (Ogyu 1974, 209; Ogyu 2006, 171). 
therefore to be understood for what the sages put into them—for Sorai they mustnot be wilfully interpreted (Ogyu 1974, 209–10) or the way cannot be recovered. 
To further emphasize that the ancient kings’ way follows no natural law, but estab­lishes the only proper laws for itself, Sorai maintains that the sages did not pattern their way on any structural principles, and thus the way cannot be known through any study of these. 
Structural principles are what all affairs and things naturally have. In using our minds to figure matters, in some [courses of action] we see how to do what we must and should do, and how to do what we necessarily should not do. Such calculations involve structural principles. Whoever wants to do good indeed will see the structural principles for what they should do and will do it. Whoever wants to do evil also will see the structural principles for what they should do and will do it. In either case,out heart-minds see what should be done and we do it. Thus structural principles offer no fixed standards.14 
To Sorai, the structural principles—in offering a way for both the good and thebad, whichever a person sets their intention to—can offer no fixed standards for theproper practice of the people, and thus no true foundations for the way. Sorai evenclaims that though the sages understood the structural principles perfectly, they stilldid not base their way on them (ibid., 245). The structural principles are thereforenot something which needs to be studied, nor something which can even be under­stood in a manner that would benefit either those learning or the way itself. 
In the same sense Sorai denies that rightness (yi/gi. ) is among the virtues (ibid.,221), the people can attain. For him rightness, as part of the way of the ancientkings, is strictly the rightness of the rituals, as prescribed by the sages—rather, a setof ‘ritual principles’. Value and meaning of any kind cannot be found in what thingspossess naturally, nor do virtues themselves originate from people’s natural tenden­cies or their heart-minds (xin/shin. ). The only common systems of value andmeaning, which can actually thrive in peace and stability, derive from the way of theancient kings, and only in relation to such systems can we further speak of virtues. 
People usually understand that the rites are those founded by the ancientkings, but do not realize that the principles of rightness are the ritualprinciples of these rites. Because of this, none of their interpretations of 
14.......................................................................................... (Ogyu 1974, 244; Ogyu 2006, 295). 
rightness make sense. Now, rightness is best understood as part of the way.The myriad differences and the myriad distinctions within the rites eachhave their rightful place.Therefore, it is said,“Rightness is what is right”15 16. 
Sorai considers ancient debates about people’s natural tendencies (xing/sei)—whether they are inherently good or not—to be unproductive (Ogyu 1974, 204).Rightness, which gives the basis for standardized value and meaning, is not some­thing which is internal to people—it belongs to the rites of the way. Therefore what is proper and right is measured against the way of the ancient kings. When people follow the way, they gain their respective virtues—virtues are thus what is gained by the proper directing of people’s natural tendencies along the way, and what determines each person’s contributions to it. People differ in their natural tendencies, and so they also differ in the virtues they are able to complete (ibid.). 
Sorai in some ways recognizes that any cultural expression is built on the founda­tions of history, and also that the way of the ancient kings cannot be reduced to either the wholly universal or the wholly particular. On the one hand the way is seen as something concrete and particular, and on the other as possessing univer­sal ordering powers. 
Bito Masahide remarks on this in a concise fashion: 
In the section on the Way in Bemmei, we are told the Way is universal,but that certain of its aspects change from age to age, and why this is something only the sages know. [Sorai] is suggesting here that when the Way is altered to meet the conditions of each age, only its phenome­nological aspect changes, not its essential substance. In his description,the Way actually exists as real social institutions––as ritual, music, pun­ishments, and governing––so it is natural for the Way to change as the world moves from one age, and from the institutions a sage created to meet its needs, to another. The sages, however, are plural, while the Way,as Sorai describes it, is presumably singular. Nowhere is there even the slightest hint that there are a variety of Ways. Rather, he notes repeated­ly, as he does in the section on learning in the Bemmei, that the Way is always the same, past and present (Bito 1978, 154–5). 
The way draws its essential substance from its ordering power and purpose, since it is the way which provides for peace and stability for the kingdom under heaven. 
15 Sorai quotes from: Liji, Zhongyong. 16...................................................... (Ogyu 1974, 220; Ogyu 2006, 210–1). 
Such a purpose then also becomes the central measure of the proper way—the proper way is such that it brings peace and stability. How the different cultural ex­pressions of the way would exist and have this universal effect, and how even then there can be no such way except that of the ancient kings, Sorai remains vague17. In the same manner, he does not provide any clear means of adapting the way to the present time. As the system was set out by the sages—who were people of the most extraordinary intelligence—it cannot be adapted in any meaningful way without the hand of another sage, whose coming remains a mystery. 
This then leaves Sorai with the task of trying to explain why the ancient Chinese kings’ way is the one way to bring peace to all under heaven––a task which many Edo period scholars tried their hand at through many different approaches18. So­rai’s own approach is not to try and overwrite the Chinese cultural specifics of the way, like some other scholars of the period, but rather to claim that while the way does indeed come from the ancient kings of China, their influence was far reaching and left its mark on ancient Japan as well. Some of the traces of the way,which may have already been lost in contemporary China, might therefore have been better preserved in Japan19. 
This of course does not solve the stated problem in any meaningful way, and only seems to produce further ideological burdens. In the end Sorai turns to a different solution—one that is very well described by Kate Wildman Nakai: 
Might not one conclude that the Tokugawa thinkers considered here,faced with a set of contradictions that offered no ready prospect of dia­lectical resolution, chose both consciously and unconsciously to deal with them as such, to regard the world as a series of fractured truths, each absolute only within its own sphere? To live it was necessary to make a commitment, take a stance; as Sorai says, to make up one’s mind on the basis of faith. But it was also necessary simultaneously to recognize, on another level, that there are no true absolutes, only a contradictory mul­tiplicity of apparent ones (Wildman Nakai 1980, 198–9). 
Sorai sets faith in the sages as the foundation of learning, and while this offers a certain powerful insight into the nature of any common system of value and meaning—that in some ways it is always based on an implicit faith in the value 
17 Sorai goes only as far as to say neither the east nor the west ever produced sages––only the Middle Kingdom. (Ogyu 1974, 256) 18 For a study of this, see Wildman Nakai 1980. 19 Ibid. It is also notable that the reason given is that Japan does not possess such original thinkers as China, and thus the way would have been left in its primitive (and proper) state in the former. 
of participation—it also brings with it certain ideological and political considera­tions, which should be further explored. 

Faith in the Sages and the Reverence of Heaven 
“Learning” means studying the ancient kings’way, and adhering to their stand­ards. There is no natural law on which the way is based––yet to affirm thatthe way of the sages and it alone possesses not only its unique common-val­ue-and-meaning giving space, but also its proper ordering powers, Sorai doesassert that the authority of the sages comes from the special relationship theyhad with heaven. 
Culture (bun) is the reason that the way acquired a form and name.Now, what is in the heavens, the sages called patterns (bun). Whatis in the earth was called structural principle. The great origin of theway emerged from heaven. Indeed, the ancient sage kings of antiqui­ty founded the way by modelling it on heaven. For this reason, theyprovided the way with form as brilliant rites and music. Thus these arereferred to as culture.20 
Sorai conceptualizes heaven as the origin of all ordering activity, and connects it closely with the concept of the Lord on High (di/tei . )—the concept of both the absolute ancestral presence and the absolute ruler. Sorai describes the relationship between the sages and heaven both in its epistemological and religious dimen­sions—the sages possessed both special insight into heaven’s decree as well as perfect reverence of heaven itself. In this sense, their work was unique: they named the formless, overcame the standardless and brought to the people the cultural essence of the way, through which they may complete their proper virtues. And in this light, Sorai’s insistence that the work of the sages cannot be reproduced can also perhaps be understood better. 
Furthermore, Sorai’s concept of heaven possesses yet another key characteristic—being fundamentally unfathomable. 
Heaven cannot be fathomed. For this reason the ancient classics state,“Heaven’s decree is not constant” and “The decree is not constant”. The ancient sages perfectly worshiped, revered, and stood in awe of it without 
20....................................................... (Ogyu 1974, 151; Ogyu 2006, 322) 
cease. In doing so, they expressed the utmost reverence in relation to it.
They did this precisely because they were not able to fathom heaven.21 
Heaven being unfathomable, even the sages themselves could not understand it in an exhaustive way—they could only appreciate and revere it. Possessing perfect virtue, they were able to model themselves on heaven’s activity—to model their ordering activity on the ordering activity of heaven. Heaven’s activity is itself not based on law, but is instead the activity of an absolute ruler. Rather than being un­derstood, heaven is to be revered: the first ritual principle of the way itself becomes the reverence of the unknowable, whose activity is only ever properly appreciated in following the way. As the sages have brought forth value and meaning through revering the unfathomable, such value and meaning can, with the sages gone, now only be reproduced through proper reverence. The sages represent a looming his-torical/societal myth, but one that in Sorai’s formulation actually loses most of its living dimensions, although very much present in classical Confucianism. 
Here Sorai, who supposedly values rites and music above legal and administrative systems, in fact comes across as possibly manipulative in a way that classical Con­fucianism was not. Bito Masahide offers a pointed critique on this point: 
There is no question that the idea of instructing the people by means of “ritual” or “ritual and music” occurs in classical Confucianism. Instruction by ritual though usually refers to ritual’s encouraging a moral awareness in men. It does not mean that ritual is to be used to induce men, through manipulation of their collective mentality, to act in a specific manner.(Bito 1978, 158) 
The sages stand as the brilliant forefathers, who could name the formless and make comprehensible what the people could otherwise not comprehend, but the sages-as-intermediaries, being gone from the world, now also turn into a barrier between contemporary people and heaven’s activity itself. The sages’ way is the proper way for rulers to model themselves after, and the only way for the people to be brought to their proper virtues. The ultimate standards belong to the special relationship sages had with heaven—one, which can now no longer be replicated in its epistemological dimensions, but only in its religious ones. 
This of course also carries with it certain political implications. The sages are not only people of a special higher intelligence, they are as a rule also the leaders of antiquity—and as such are the models for the rulers of today.Their way is the way, 
21........................................................ (Ogyu 1974, 235; Ogyu 2006, 264) 
which defines the ultimate standard. When the ruler and the ruled both work in service of the way, there can be no real questioning of a ruler’s authority without also questioning the way and the sages. Because the origin of a ruler’s authority is unfathomable and unassailable—the ruler being the one who is carrying out the rites of the way—a person would have to be a sage to actually question the ruler.The practical implications of this are that the ruler rules (with reverence) and the people follow (with reverence). Learning is no longer a noble path of rising above one’s station in life—it is a way to properly conform. 
It is thus no coincidence that Sorai’s own project in some ways falls victim to his concepts. The strict adherence to the scriptural integrity of the ancient classics as the sole repositories of the way of the ancient kings brings with it an unpleasant undercurrent in Sorai’s work, which John Allen Tucker describes as authoritarian: 
Sorai’s reconceptualization […] was based upon his presumed insights into the nature of meaning, and was meant to achieve nothing less than the recovery of the way and, thereby, realization of the grounds for pos­sibility of a peaceful and stable, well-ordered realm in which all could achieve their innate capacities. While the latter was an undeniably hu­manitarian ambition, Sorai’s system of meaning announced in the Bendo and Benmei was also intensely authoritarian, adamantly turning against the semantically liberal and innovative tendencies that had earlier de­veloped in association with the genre [of philosophical lexicography].(Ogyu 2006, 15) 

Conclusion 
Sorai sets faith in the sages as the foundation of learning. While this seems to solve certain of his ideological problems, it at the same time produces implications which reverberate throughout his whole system, coming at the end to dominate even his own project of semantic research. While Sorai’s project is most definite­ly a work of seminal importance—one, which offers a powerful insight into the ways societies are constructed on ideological foundations—it cannot escape the impression that in important ways it ultimately reveals just as much by what it manages to say as by what it fails to say. 
And while at first glance Sorai’s teachings bring forth a humanitarian project of reclaiming the way of the ancient kings and bringing peace and stability to the realm under heaven, a study of some of his concepts—with knowledge and learning chief among them—can also paint a different picture: of a somewhat dishonest epistemological doctrine, which yet again reinforces the parts of the Confucian legacy which most aim to uphold the deep inequalities of its patriar­chal hierarchies. 

References 
Bito, Masahide. 1978. “Ogyu Sorai and the Distinguishing Features of Japanese Confucianism.” In Thought in the Tokugawa Period 1600–1868, edited by Tet­suo Najita and Irwin Scheiner, 153–60. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
Chunqiu Zuozhuan .... (The Chronicle of Zuo). 2017. In Chinese Text Project. Accessed January 14, 2017. http://ctext.org/chun–qiu-zuo-zhuan. 
Liji .. (Book of Rites). 2017. In Chinese Text Project. Accessed January 14, 2017. http://ctext.org/liji.
Mengzi.. (Mencius). 2017. In Chinese Text Project. Accessed January 14, 2017. http://ctext.org/mengzi.
Ogyu, Sorai .... . 1974 (1973). Nihon shiso taikei 36. Ogyu Sorai. ......36·.... . (The System of Japanese Thought 36. Ogyu Sorai). Tokyo: Iwanami shoten. 
Ogyu, Sorai. 2006. Ogyu Sorai’s Philosophical Masterworks. Translated and edited by John Tucker. Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies, University of Ha­wai’i Press (Asian Interactions and Comparisons). 
Shijing .. (Book of Poetry). 2017. In Chinese Text Project. Accessed January 14, 2017. http://ctext.org/book-of-poetry.
Wildman Nakai, Kate. 1980. “The Naturalization of Confucianism in Tokuga­wa Japan: The Problem of Sinocentrism.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Stud­ies 40 (1), Jun.: 157–99. Accessed January 14, 2017. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2718919. 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.153-166 



Confucian Learning and Literacy in Japan’s Schools of the Edo Period 
Kristina HMELJAK SANGAWA* 1 
Abstract 
With the political stability, economic growth and cultural revitalisation of Japan after its unification by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the educational infrastructure also grew to meet new literacy demands. Governmental schools endowed by the shogunate (Shoheiko) and by the domains (hanko), which catered to the upper military class of the samurai, focused on classical Chinese studies, particularly the Neo-Confucian canon taught in kanbun, astyle of classical Chinese. Given the prestige of Neo-Confucian Chinese learning and of the kanbun writing style, these were taught also in temple schools (terakoya) and private academies (juku) that were open to the lower classes, thus contributing to the spread of this particular type of literacy. However, Chinese learning in these schools often involved memorising rather than reading, both because of educational traditions and socio-ideo­logical factors, and also because of the sheer difficulty of reading kanbun, a de facto foreign language. The present article investigates the contrasting implications of Neo-Confucian learning and of the kanbun writing style for the development of education and literacy in Japanese society: while the prestige of Chinese learning contributed to the demand for and development of educational facilities, its complexity also acted as an obstacle to the development of widespread functional literacy. 
Keywords: literacy, Confucianism, Tokugawa period, history of education in Japan 
Konfucijansko učenje in pismenost v japonskih šolah obdobja Edo 

Izvleček 
Potem ko je Tokugawa Ieyasu združil Japonsko, se je s politično stabilnostjo, gospodar­sko rastjo in kulturnim preporodom ter zaradi rastoče potrebe po pismenosti razvila tudi izobraževalna infrastruktura. V šolah pod okriljem šogunata (Shoheiko) in provinc (hanko), kjer so se izobraževali samuraji, so poudarjali študij kitajskih klasikov, zlasti neokonfuci­janskega kanona zapisanega v slogu kanbun, tj. vrsti klasične kitajščine. Zaradi velikega ugleda tako neokonfucijanskih kitajskih študij kot tudi pisnega sloga kanbun so se te vsebine učile tudi v šolah pod okriljem templjev (terakoya) in zasebnih šolah (juku), ki so bile dostopne nižjim družbenim slojem. To je prispevalo k širjenju te vrste pismenosti,toda učenje kitajskih vsebin v teh šolah je pogosto potekalo v obliki pomnjenja na pamet 
* Kristina HMELJAK SANGAWA, Assistant Professor,Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.kristina.hmeljak[at]ff.uni-lj.si 

bolj kot branja in razumevanja, tako zaradi družbeno-ideoloških dejavnikov in japonske vzgojne tradicije, kot tudi zaradi težavnosti branja sloga kanbun, ki je bil dejansko tuj jezik.Članek obravnava nasprotujoča si vpliva neokonfucijanskega učenja in uporabe pisnega sloga kanbun na razvoj izobraževanja in pismenosti v Japonski družbi: po eni strani je ugled kitajske učenosti prispeval k povpraševanju po izobraževalnih ustanovah in k nji­hovemu razvoju, po drugi pa je kompleksnost tega sloga in sistema pisanja delovala kot ovira k razvoju splošne funkcijske pismenosti. 
Ključne besede: pismenost, konfucijanstvo, obdobje Tokugawa, zgodovina izobraževanja na Japonskem 

Introduction 
After the demilitarisation and relocation of “country samurai” (jizamurai.. ) to castle towns ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi .... in 1588 stimulated the growth of urban areas, and when the political and military unification of Japan by Tokugawa Ieyasu .... at the start of the 17th century brought relative stability, economic prosperity and cultural revitalisation to Japan, conditions were met for the growth of educational facilities to meet the new needs for literacy of the warrior class with diminished military duties, of the growing merchant class and of village headmen in new administrative roles. 
Headmen of farming villages were invested with new administrative duties follow­ing Hideyoshi’s decree in 1591 that divided society into four hierarchical classes:the samurai (shi . or bushi.. ), the highest class, followed by farmers (no . or hyakusho.. , high on the social scale because they produced food), artisans (ko . ) and merchants (sho . ), officially the lowest class because handling money was ideologically despicable, but in fact a wealthy class. Warriors and peasants became two legally distinct classes and rural samurai were confronted with the choice of staying in the country and be classified as farmers, or moving to the daimyo’s cas­tle town and become bureaucrats, and most chose the latter. These administrators who lived in the castles were thus physically separated from their villages, and supervised farming villages by means of written documents, rules and regulations.As a consequence, village headmen throughout the country were entrusted with local administration and had to acquire reading and writing skills on the level of their samurai supervisors (Rubinger 2007, 14–15). 
Having obtained political unification, the Tokugawa, advised by the philosopher Hayashi Razan ... , adopted and promoted Neo-Confucianism as a national doctrine that would help them preserve political stability. The doctrine embraced by the Tokugawa shogunate was a syncretic ideology comprising elements of Buddhism and local Shintoism, but mostly based on the Neo-Confucian thought of Zhu Xi .. (Walker 2015, 126), and envisaging a static and hierarchically divided society whose order reflects the order of nature (Rošker 2016). In order to strengthen his control over feudal lords (daimyo .. ), Ieyasu introduced the system of sankinkotai .... , under which feudal lords were forced to serve the shogun in Edo in alternate years, thus contributing to the development of a road infrastructure and the flourishing of commerce. 
In such a period of political stability, the military class could devote more time to education, which mainly consisted of classical Chinese studies, revived also by the Neo-Confucian doctrine adopted by the shogunate. The military class, however,was not the only one to invest into education: growing commerce in urban centres called for more widespread literacy and numeracy among merchants, and higher standards of living brought about by economic growth favoured cultural endeav-ours, the spread of book publishing and lending and the rise of readership. At the same time, as the separation of the warrior class and the peasant class had shifted administrative work and tax-assessment in rural areas to village headmen of the agricultural class, literacy also spread among the farmers (Rubinger 2007, 14–15). 

Educational Institutions and Literacy in the Edo Period 
Up to the 19th century, classes below the samurai (peasants, merchants and ar­tisans) had little access to formal education (Anderson Sawada 1993, 9–10).Nonetheless, they were not altogether precluded from attending school, as there were three different types of educational institutions in Japan during the Tokuga­wa period (1603–1867), two of which catered also to the lower classes. The first type were official governmental schools for elementary and advanced education of youth from the samurai class, including the Confucian academy of the sho­gunate (Shoheizaka gakumonjo...... or Shoheiko ... ), some other institutions founded by the shogunate, and domain schools established by feudal lords (hanko .. ). The second type were private elementary schools for com­moners run by temples (terakoya ... ) and attended by farmers, artisans and merchants. Thirdly, there were private academies (juku . or shijuku .. ), often run by a single scholar, that were open both to samurai and commoners (Dore 1965; Passin 1965; Rubinger 1982; Ishikawa 1929; Sasaki 1943). 
While official shogunal and domain schools were focused on classical Chinese and Neo-Confucian studies, schools for commoners (terakoya) provided also more practical skills for vocational training besides reading, writing and abacus (Ishi­kawa 1960), whereas private academies had very varied educational contents, de­pending on their headmaster. Private academies (shijuku), which were open to all classes and generally had no geographical barriers, were typically privately run,often at the home of the scholar who lead the academy. The curriculum was de­cided by the headmaster and there was no official control over its contents. These academies otherwise varied considerably in terms of size, level of education and organisation (Rubinger 1982, 196–7). To take an example, two of the most re­nown private academies offering Confucian studies in the Tokugawa period had distinctly different approaches to education: the academy Shoka sonjuku .... , lead by Yoshida Shoin .... and attended by many who later became leaders of the Meiji reformation such as Ito Hirobumi .... and Takasugi Shinsaku .... , stressed character development through studying Confucian classics, but also through discussions on current affairs aimed at political action,while the very strict Chinese-studies academy Kangien... founded by the Confucian scholar Hirose Tanso .... at Hita (Oita) had a wide ranging curriculum centred on Chinese studies, but comprising also Japanese and Western subjects of study (Mehl 2003, 14–16; Kassel 1996). 
At the beginning of the 17th century, when a large part of the samurai class was relocated to cities, and villages became more self-administered, village headmen and other officials in rural areas needed to develop higher levels of literacy to carry out administrative duties. Headmen were the first farmers to develop administra­tive literacy, and use kanbun style, the Sino-Japanese hybrid language used by the samurai class, to write administrative and tax reports. Following the appointment of village headmen to the administration of taxes, other villagers were motivat­ed to invest time and resources in improving their own reading skills, as can be inferred from several documented lawsuits filed by villagers regarding the tax re­cords compiled by the village headman (Rubinger 2007, 30–32). 
This development, however, mainly influenced the literacy rate among the male population, while women in rural areas had very limited access to schooling and literacy. Gradually, literacy spread to household heads and eventually to the lowest ranking individuals, women and servants, but regional disparities persisted up to the 19th century, and literacy rates varied considerably according to region (ibid.,41–42, 134–6). Although the number of female scholars increased in the late Tokugawa period, they were an exception rather than the rule, often the daughters of scholars of Chinese learning (kangaku .. ) (Mehl 2001, 580). 
Gender disparities also varied conspicuously among regions. While in rural areas the male/female school attendance ratio was 20:1 (Rubinger 2007, 134), in ur­ban areas the disparity was not as conspicuous. This regional variation in gender disparity may stem from the different motivations for learning to read in urban and rural areas. While in urban areas literacy was largely motivated by commerce, where it was not uncommon for women to participate in commercial activities,in rural areas, on the other hand, literacy was needed mainly for administrative duties that were exclusively a male domain, thus implying no need for female education (Rubinger 2007, 140–2). 
Exact figures and statistics are still debated, but it seems that by the late Tokugawa period, in a country with a population of 30 million, there were as many as 14,000 temple schools, 300 domain schools, and approximately 1,500 private academies (Dore 1965; Passin 1965). Factors influencing the literacy rates in different re­gions were political and economical: centres of politics and commerce (cities and wider commercialised regions) had higher literacy rates, confirming the strong relation of literacy to power in all its forms. 
Up to the first half of the nineteenth century, despite spreading literacy levels,qualitative differences in the attainment of literacy remained, and most ordinary farmers only attained the most basic skills, if any (Rubinger 2007, 160–1). Re­gional differences finally declined only in the early 1900s, with the establishment of a thoroughly organised national education system (Spaulding 1983), while widespread functional literacy was hindered for centuries by an extremely com­plex writing system and by the continued use of multiple writing styles and lin­guistic variants that included kanbun, a de facto foreign language but considered as a variant of educated Japanese. 

Kanbun and the Influence of Chinese Studies on the Concept of Reading and Literacy 
The reading of Confucian classics, which was the focus of learning at official sho­gunal and domain schools, as well as being taught in temple schools for com­moners and in private academies, implied reading kanbun using the method of kanbun-kundoku .... , literally “Chinese text read by explanation / in the Japanese manner” (Wakabayashi 2005a, 121), a technique of “reading through glossing” (Denecke 2014, 47), that had developed from the ninth century and consisted in using diacritic marks to annotate classical Chinese text to be “read” in (or rather interpreted and translated into) Japanese. 
The development of kanbun-kundoku, a practice that has been attested in other civilitazions within the Sinitic cultural sphere, including Japan, the Korean pen­insula and Vietnam, is likely to have been favoured by the primarily logograph­ic nature of Chinese writing (Frellesvig 2010, 258–9), since individual Chinese characters could be individually “read” or interpreted in an oral rendition that used vernacular equivalents instead of the Chinese words these characters original­ly represented. However, a word-for-word translation or interpretation of single characters in the order they occurred in Chinese texts would not produce under­standable Japanese sentences because of the marked syntactical and morpholog­ical differences between Chinese and Japanese. Chinese is an isolating language with no inflectional morphology, it expresses grammatical relations by means of word order, and categories such as mood and negation by means of grammatical-ised preposed verbs and adverbs; Japanese, on the other hand, is an agglutinative language with relatively rich morphology (verbal and adjectival inflections), it specifies syntactic roles by means of grammatical particles (postpositions) rath­er than word order, and expresses modal categories by means of verbal affixes and clause-final auxiliary verbs (Frellesvig 2010, 259). The primary word order is subject-verb-object in Chinese, while Japanese has a basically free word order (except for verbs that always occur in final position) and is usually classified as a subject-object-verb language. Chinese texts could thus not be “read” and trans­lated character by character, but rather needed to be parsed and reassembled into Japanese, adding grammatical information to produce understandable Japanese. 
Reading classical Chinese texts using the kanbun-kundoku technique required three layers of processing: 1) translation, 2) transposition and 3) interpolation (Frellesvig 2010, 259; Denecke 2014, 47). Readers firstly had to associate Chinese logographs with Japanese words, i.e. find suitable Japanese translation equivalents for both content and function words of the Chinese text, a process that required knowing both the character forms and the Japanese renditions normally asso­ciated with them. Secondly, they had to transpose and reorder the words to fit Japanese syntax. And thirdly, they had to infer and add grammatical particles and inflectional morphemes that were absent in the Chinese text. 
A complex system of annotation developed through the centuries to aid readers using this demanding technique. The invention of this system has been ascribed to Kibi no Makibi .... , an eighth century scholar, politician and envoy to China (Wakabayashi 2005a, 121), but it was refined and developed in the fol­lowing centuries. The reading marks are collectively known as kunten.. and include different categories of marks and glosses that function as aids in each of the processing steps explained above (Frellesvig 2010, 259–60). 
The oldest type of marks, dating back to the eighth century, are punctuation marks or kutoten... that show the division of a text into sentences and phrases, and “reversal marks” or kaeriten ... , smaller marks on the left side of the full-size characters of the main text that indicate the order in which words are to be read in Japanese, thus aiding the process of transposition. For example, the mark . , originally used in Chinese texts to indicate the correct order of characters that had been mistakenly written in a wrong sequence, came to be used as a mark to indicate that two characters should be read in inverted order.The numbers . , . , the characters for up . and down . and other marks came to be used to indicate more complex inversions of multiple character sequences. 
Another type of marks that developed mainly in the Heian period are kana .. glosses, abbreviated characters in smaller size that indicate the pronunciation of a character, which could be either a Sino-Japanese word, i.e. a borrowed Chi­nese word phonologically adapted to the Japanese sound system, or a Japanese word used to translate the Chinese word represented by the character.This type of glossing is generally viewed as the origin of the katakana phonetic script. 
A third type of marks, okoto-ten.... or tenioha.... marks, indicate grammatical morphemes, particles, auxiliary verbs and inflectional endings.These marks are dots, lines, hooks and other shapes placed next to or on kanji characters according to one of several systems of positioning. For example, in the system giv­en in Figure 1 (quoted from Frellesvig 2010, 260), a dot next to the top right cor­ner of a kanji character would indicate that the word represented by that character should be followed by the particle o, indicating a direct object. Many different systems developed in the 9th and 10th century, as different temples and scholars created and standardised their own conventions; Tsukishima (1986) describes 26 different systems of okoto-ten.
. mu· 
ni .·

·. o 
·.. koto ka / ga ./.·
·. to te.·
·. pa/wa
·. 
Figure 1. An example of an okototen system 
Classical Chinese texts were thus annotated with marks and symbols to show the order in which the words should be rearranged, the “correct reading” of sin­gle characters, and the grammatical particles and inflectional endings that need­ed to be added to render the Chinese text orally. The rendition was in Japanese, althought in a variety of Japanese that was very much influenced by Chinese vocabulary and syntax, but nonetheless considered a style of Japanese and at the same time a faithful rendition of the Chinese original. 
In the following example (quoted from Denecke 2014, 47), the opening of the Confucian Analects given in line b) below would be annotated as in Figure 2.Marks on the left-hand side of the vertically written text indicate the reading or­der: the mark . between . and the . indicate that the direct object . should be read before the verb . , according to Japanese syntax, while the mark . (two) below the negation . and the number . (one) below . (pleasant) together in­dicate that the negative form . should be added after the adjective . , again ac­cording to Japanese grammar. Smaller katakana characters on the right-hand side of the text indicate case particles to be added when reading or the pronunciation of the Chinese characters. The text in Figure 2 could be orally rendered as in line 
e) (or a similar variation). This oral rendering according to Japanese grammar is known as yomi-kudashi.... (literally “reading down”).The romanized gloss­es in line f ) show in boldface those parts of the Japanese sentence which are added during yomi-kudashi and not present in the Chinese text. 

Figure 2. Text with kunten marks 
a) original word order b) Chinese textc) modern Mandarin pronunciation  1 2 ..xue er 1 2  3 .shi 3  4 .xi 5  5 .zhi 4  6 .bu 7  7 8 ..yi yue 8 6  9 . hu 9  
d) kanbun-kundoku word order .. . . . . .. .  
e) f) g)  .manabi learn  .te and  .toki ni at times  .kore o this  .narafu review,  .mata also  .yorokobashikara pleasant  .zu NEG.  . ya EXCL.  

“to learn and sometimes review what one has learnt, is that not pleasure?”
(Denecke 2014, 47) 
The widespread use of kanbun-kundoku as a reading technique lead to the use of the same conventions in reverse, also to write down (according to classical Chi­nese syntax and word order) texts that were meant to be read in the kanbun-yo­mikudashi style of Japanese in the first place. This method of writing and the literary works written in this style have been alternatively termed Sino-Japanese (Rabinovitch 1996; Wixted 1998; see especially Kornicki 2010 for a thorough discussion of this terminology and its implications) or Chinese style (Seeley 1991,25), since it is not always possible to ascertain whether a text was meant to be read in Chinese or in Japanese. 
With time, the kanbun-yomikudashi rendering of Chinese texts came to be written down also in full, in Japanese word order and spelling out all grammatical infor­mation that would be less explicit in kanbun style, but the ability to read and write kanbun remained an essential skill of educated Japanese speakers up to the 20th century, and even today the technique of kanbun-kundoku is taught as a compul­sory subject in Japanese schools, thus attesting to its importance in the Japanese literary tradition. 
Alongside the technique of kanbun-kundoku, Chinese texts could also be read as Chinese, as a foreign language, retaining the original word order and approximat­ing Chinese pronunciation, a reading technique known as ondoku.. , used for the recitation of poetry, chanting of Buddhist texts and memorisation (Denecke 2014, 47).This way of reading Chinese introduced a very large amount of Chinese loanwords into Japanese. 
Given the presence of the original text that could be read either in Chinese (maintaining Chinese word order and a more or less Chinese pronunciation of the single words), or in Japanese (substituting one part of the Chinese vocabulary with equivalent native Japanese words and rearranging word order), such texts were not perceived as foreign texts to be translated, but rather as texts in one of the two main “styles” (buntai.. ) that had to be mastered by literate Japanese of the time: Chinese style (kanbun.. ) and Japanese style (wabun.. ). While the Japanese style was indeed a style of Japanese, albeit following archaic conven­tions of spelling and style, the Chinese style could be seen as a foreign language,but it was often not recognised as such. The question whether kanbun-kundoku is a special type of translation, a “highly source-oriented approach to translation”, or a style of Japanese, or a reading technique, is still debated, and neither Japanese nor foreign theoreticians have yet reached a consensus on this point (Wakabayas-hi 2005b, 24; Semizu 2006). Indeed, words such as hon’yaku adopted to describe translation from European and other languages from the 16th century onwards (Wakabayashi 2009) have never been associated with the rendering of written classical Chinese texts into kanbun-kundoku. 
This reading technique enabled highly literate readers to read the Chinese texts while mentally translating them directly into Japanese (Seeley 1991, 25; Waka­bayashi 2009). In this style of writing and reading, most of the vocabulary was borrowed from Chinese, and readers were thus expected to master both Japanese domestic vocabulary and an almost equal amount of loanwords. Reading kanbun thus required an exceedingly high level of literacy, including the knowledge of thousands of characters for an essentially foreign vocabulary and their native Jap­anese equivalents, and the mastering of syntactical and transposing rules used to mentally translate the text into Japanese. 
The reading of classic texts was particularly difficult for pupils learning to read, andinvolved considerable amounts of memorisation. One of the most popular copy­books used in schools of the Tokugawa period was Teikin Orai.... , a col­lection of letters written by aristocrats centuries earlier, widely used for the moralteachings they included and that were meant to serve as both examples of writingstyle and as models of personal conduct. However, in line with culturally groundedteaching practices that emphasised rote learning, and also given the difficulty ofthese archaic texts in kanbun style, pupils learned to “read” the texts by memorisingthem rather than by understanding the actual words (Ingulsrud and Allen 2009, 76). 
At the same time, the difficulty inherent in such a writing and reading practiceencouraged the spread of a subsidiary writing system, i.e. pronunciation glosses (fu-rigana) alongside the Chinese characters to enable readers with limited knowledgeof Chinese characters to read more complex texts.This practice helped the spread ofmore difficult Confucian and other classical readings even among the less literate. 

Conclusion: kanbun and Forms of Literacy 
By the middle of the 19th century, literacy rates as estimated from rates of school attendance were relatively high. Different estimates and calculations can be found in the literature: Dore (1965) estimates that 40 to 50 percent of Japanese boys and 10 to 15 percent of girls were attending school in 1870, while Tone (1981), who studied temple schools (terakoya) in the Kanto region, found different attendance rates in the three groups of schools he distinguished on the basis of their differ­ent socioeconomic settings. He found that in traditional farming villages school attendance was 20%, in post-towns 38%, and 50 to 70% in commercially active villages (Tone 1981, 83, 186; as cited by Rubinger 2007, 131–2), which compares favourably with major contemporary centres in Europe.The high levels of literacy stemming from the value ascribed to education and the considerable amount of time and resources invested voluntarily into education at all levels of society in the Tokugawa period have been cited as one of the bases for the social transfor­mations and fast economic and military growth of the Meiji period (Dore 1965).When compared with contemporary countries of the Western world, Japan had indeed relatively high rates of literacy in the Tokugawa period. However, literacy should be defined not only in quantitative, but also in qualitative terms: the liter­acy levels attained were qualitatively uneven, given the extremely complex system of writing and the widespread use of kanbun, i.e. annotated but not translated Chinese texts in official administration and even in basic schooling, where such texts were often chosen for their moral value rather than for their accessibility to pupils. The complexity of kanbun, both as a script and as a language variety, was such a formidable challenge that “widespread literacy” did not necessarily entail “the ability to read any written document” (Twine 1983). 
As Unger (1991, 549) points out, while it can be said that Japan was a relatively literate nation even during the Tokugawa period, this only holds true for literacy as usually defined in technical studies, i.e. a minimal ability to read and write,while “literacy as a vehicle for full and free participation in society” was not as widespread. In the Japanese context, a minimal ability to read and write could simply mean reading and writing the phonetic script hiragana, but not knowing Chinese characters and not being able to read documents in the kanbun style used in official transactions. 
Nonetheless, the prestige of the Chinese learning tradition and the inherent in­terest of the upper literate classes to keep standards of acceptable writing high enough so as to limit access to such elite status, contributed to the maintenance of an exceedingly complex writing system through the Tokugawa and Meiji period and up to the present day (Culiberg 2011 and 2015). 
Indeed, after the end of the Tokugawa regime and the advent of the Meiji restora­tion in 1868, when rising the literacy and educational level of the whole nation, seenas a prerequisite for building a strong centralised nation that could withstand thepressures of Western colonial powers, became one of the priorities of the Meiji gov­ernment (Visočnik 2015 and 2016; Ichimiya 2011), the problem of rising literacywas approached from both sides: on one hand by imposing compulsory educationof four years upon the entire school-age population of Japan, and on the other handby embarking in several reforms aimed at standardising the spoken and writtenlanguage, discouraging the use of cumbersome stylistic conventions entailed in theSino-Japanese kanbun style of writing, and simplifying the elements of the writingsystem itself, limiting the number of Chinese characters for public use and simplify­ing the forms of the more complicated characters (Gottlieb 1995). 
The complex writing system and the unwieldy practice of kanbun sight translation that endured for centuries because of the prestige enjoyed by the classical Chinese tradition, were thus at the same time a motivating force for the investment of re­sources into education, but also an obstacle to the spread of literacy both in terms of width, among all classes of society, and in terms of depth, allowing each literate individual to fully participate in society. 

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DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.167-199 



A Vietnamese Reading of the Master’s Classic:Pha.m Nguye~n Du’s Humble Comments on the Ana­lects as an Example of Transformative Learning1 
Nam NGUYEN* 
Abstract 
Ph.m Nguy.n Du’s influentialtext Humble Comments on the Analects (Lu.^n Ngu~ Ngu Án .... ) is outstanding example of a Vietnamese adaptation and reworking of 
an East Asian intellean ctual tradition. In organizing his work, Ph.m departed from conven­tion by rearranging the extant chapters of the Analects into four “books”: “Sage” (Thánh. ), “Learning”(Ho.c. ), “Official” (Si. ), and “Politics” (Chính. ). Moreover, Ph.m placed particular emphasis on the “Learning” book, and thus underscored his contention that the classic text was especially relevant and meaningful to eighteenth-century Viet­nam. This paper attempts to read Ph.m’s work in the contexts of both Confucian tradi­tion and contemporary education. First, it examines Ph.m’s composition of the Humble Comments based on Jack Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning. Ph.m’s writing process in this work presents a fascinating case of transformative learning, in which the author questions received assumptions about the world and himself, puts forward 
propositions, and elaborates these via an original reading of a classic. Through the anal­new ysis of Ph.m Nguy.n Du’s life and his preface to the Humble Comments, can also gain a better view of the Vietnamese reception of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism, aone nd more particularly, of Zhu’s dictum of “learning for the sake of one’s self” (weiji zhi xue..
.. ). Lastly, this dictum will be reappraised to show its validity in contemporary edu­cational contexts. 
Keywords: Sage, learning for the sake of one’s self, transformative learning, civil service examination, kunzhi (acquiring true knowledge from predicaments) 
This research is funded by Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) under grant number (C2015-18b-05)/HĐ-KHCN.The author's genuine thanks go to two anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions greatly helped to improve the paper's quality. The author also would like to extend his heartfelt gratitude to the journal's editor for carefully editing and proofreading the manuscript. 
* Nam NGUYEN, Lecturer of the Department of Orietnal Studies, 
Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Vietnam National University, 
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
ngnam2[at]gmail.com 
Vietnamsko branje klasike mojstra: Ph.m Nguy.n Dujevi Skromni komen­tarji k Pogovorom kot primer transformativnega učenja 
Izvleček 
Skromni komentarji k Pogovorovom(Lu.^n Ngu~ Ngu A´n.... ) je odličen primer vi-etnamskega prilagajanja oz. predelave vzhodnoazijske idejne tradicije. Pham je v svojem delu izhajal iz odloka, ki poglavja Pogovorov preureja v štiri »knjige«: Svetnik (Thánh. ), Učenje (Ho.c. ), Državnik (Si . ) in Politika (Chính . ). Pham je posebno pozor­nost posvetil knjigi Učenje in tako poudaril svojo tezo, da je bilo to klasično besedilo za Vietnam še posebej pomembno v osemnajstem stoletju. Obravnavani članek poskuša razumeti Phamovo delo tako v kontekstu konfucijanske tradicije kot tudi sodobnega izo­braževanja. Najprej preuči Phamovo sestavo Skromnih komentarjev, ki temelji na teoriji transformativnega učenja Jacka Mezirowa. Phamov proces pisanja predstavlja v tem delu zanimiv primertransformativnega učenja, v katerem se avtor ukvarja s sprejetimi pred­postavkami svetu in sebi in navede nove predloge, ki jih izdela ob izvornem branju 
klasičnega delo a. Skozi analizo Ph.m Nguy.n Dujevega življenja in njegovega predgovo­ra k Skromnim komentarjem lahko dobimo boljši vpogled v vietnamsko sprejemanje Zhu Xijevega neokonfucianizma, še posebej Zhujevega izreka »učenje zavoljo sebe« (weiji zhi xue.... ). V zadnjempoglavju članka je ta izrek ponovno ovrednoten, s čimer se pokaže njegova veljavnost v kontekstu sodobnega izobraževanja. 
Ključne besede: svetnik, učenje zavoljo sebe, transformativno učenje, preiskava javne službe, kunzhi (pridobivanje pravega znanja iz težavnega položaja) 

Introduction 
Although much ink has been spilled on the subject of Confucianism in early mod-
Vietnam, there are many aspects of this important topic that remain poorly undern erstood. How did Vietnamese literati receive and adapt Neo-Confucianism? How were the Confucian classics read to meet the particular needs of Vietnamese intellectuals living in a society structured by civil service exams? What do the lives and careers of individual Vietnamese Confucians reveal about the broader picture of Confucian practices in Vietnam? 
In this paper, I consider these questions by examining the career of Ph.m Nguy.n Du ... (1739–1786) and his Humble Comments on the Analects (Lu.^n Ngu~ Ngu A´n .... , hereafter Humble Comments), commentary on Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian thought. I contend that Ph.m’s life aa nd his composition of the Humble Comments can be analysed as a form of transformative learning. As first defined by Jack Mezirow (1923–2014) in the middle of the 1970s and then devel­oped by other scholars, the theory of transformative learning has become popular in North America, and is “gaining the interest of scholars in Europe, Asia, and Africa” (Jarvis 2012, 201). The application of transformative learning theory to the case of Ph.m’s life and his Humble Comments allows a better understanding of his intellectual evolution and distinctive understanding of the Confucian dic­tum of “learning for the sake of one’s self”. This paper begins with an overview of transformative learning theory, followed by a brief biography of Ph.m Nguy.n Du. As we examine the Humble Comments, traces of Zhu Xi’s Collected Com­ments on the Analects (Lunyu jizhu.... , hereafter Collected Comments) become observable, providing us with an example of the Vietnamese reception of Neo-Confucianism. This paper will make the case for the Humble Comments as an instance of transformative learning, as reflected in Ph.m’s struggles to es­cape his intellectual and social predicaments and gain true knowledge. Finally, the Confucian dictum of “learning for the sake of one’s self”, as advocated in the Humble Comments, will be reappraised to indicate the its validity in the contexts of contemporary education. 

“Transformative Learning”––An Overview 
The theory of “perspective transformation” was first put forward in 1975 by Jack Mezirow, an American sociologist and professor of adult and continuing educa­tion (Jarvis 2012, xiii). Mezirow was inspired in part by the experiences of his wife, Edee, who returned to school as an adult (Lawrence 2015, 1). Mezirow’s framework would later be developed into what is now known as transformative learning, a theory of why and how human beings persistently struggle to better comprehend their world and cultivate a more critical outlook. 
“Frame of reference” is a foundational concept in the theory of transformative learning. This term has been defined as “the meaning structures of assumptions and expectations that frame an individual’s tacit points of view and influence their thinking, beliefs, and actions.” Each frame of reference has two dimen­sions, known as “habits of mind” and “points of view”. Understood as habitu­al means of thinking, feeling, and acting effected by cultural, political, social, educational, and economic assumptions about the world of the subject, habits of mind can turn into a person’s viewpoints, or in other words, they “get ex­pressed in a specific point of view” (Jarvis 2012, 196). Transformative learning has been defined by Mezirow and others as a process “leading to a deep shift in perspective during which habits of mind become more open, more permeable, more discriminating, and better justified” (Cranton 2006 in Kroth 2014, 3). The deep shift in question is also known as a perspective transformation, or paradig­matic shift, and this often proceeds 
…[T]hrough a series of cumulative transformed meaning schemes or as a result of an acute personal or social crisis, for example, a natural disas­ter, the death of a significant other, divorce, a debilitating accident, war, job loss, or retirement (Taylor 2008, 6). 
Going beyond the initial experiences that Mezirow observed through the spe­cific case of women’s re-entry programs in communitycollege, the perspective transformation is clearly “not limited to women and appears even in traditional cultures characterized by Gemeinschaft social relationships” (Mezirow 1978, 55). Scholars in the field have also pointed out that transformative learning can take place in any situation in which adults are learning, including “formal settings, informal settings, and in independent, autodidactic settings” (Kroth 2014, xv). Moreover, transformative learning is not exclusively a form of individual learn­ing, as it can also include group learning processes and certain forms of social change (Jarvis 2012, 201). 
Mezirow’s well known “ten phases of transformative learning” are summarized in the chart below. 
Phase 1  A disorienting dilemma  
Phase 2  A self-examination with feelings of guilt or shame  
Phase 3  A critical assessment of epistemic, sociocultural, or psychic assumptions  
Phase 4  Recognition that one’s discontent and the process of transformation are shared and that others have negotiated a similar change  
Phase 5  Exploration of options for new roles, relationships, and actions  
Phase 6  Planning of a course of action  
Phase 7  Acquisition of knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plans  
Phase 8  Provisional trying of new roles  
Phase 9  Building of competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships  
Phase 10  A reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s perspective  

Table 1: Mezirow’s Ten Phases of Transformative Learning (Adapted from Kitchenham 
2008, 105) 
As these ten phases are well suited to Ph.m Nguy.n Du’s life and his composition of the Humble Comments, they are employed as an interpretive tool to present the development of Ph.m’s thoughts. In its turn, Ph.m’s case can serve as an exem­plary narrative to be added to the repertoire of stories of transformative learning. 
Using the ten phases listed in this chart, a careful analysis of Ph.m’s life and his preface to the Humble Comments illuminates the process of reception and adap­tation of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism in eighteenth-century Vietnam in general, and Ph.m’s transformative learning process in particular. 

Ph.m Nguy.n Du: A Widower Confucian in Eighteenth-Century Civil-war Torn Đ.i Vi.t 
Ph.m Nguy.n Du ... lived in a time of chaos and civil strife. He was born and grew up in the divided kingdom of Đ.i Vi.t, which had split into rival northern and southern realms during the seventeenth century. Over the course of his life, Đ.i Vi.t would be torn by rebellions and civil war, culminating eventually in the conflagration known as the Tây Son war (1771–1802). As an intellectual living amid war and political and social upheaval, Ph.m Nguy.n Du ... was a Confucian who longed for an imagined earlier golden age of peace and order. 
Originally from Ngh. An (a province in todays’ central Vietnam, known for its intellectual traditions as well as the rebellious spirit of its residents), Ph.m Nguy.n Du was first known as Ph.m Huy Khiem ... ; he later used the names Hi.u Đ.c .. and Du.ng Hien .. , while often writing under the literary of Th.ch Đ.ng .. . Renowned for his cleverness a youth, Ph.m was recname ruited to serve in the Imperial Diary Office of the Le-Tras .nh .. Court, which ruled the northern realm of Đang Ngoai (literally “outer region”). Ph.m passed the Metropolitan Examination in the 40th year of the reign of C.nh Hung .. (1779), when he 40 years old, and was promoted to the Hanlin Academy and Historiography Iwas nstitute.2A loyalist to the Restored Le dynasty, Ph.m considered all anti-Le-dynasty powers (including the leaders of the Tây Son uprising) to be usurpers, and maintained this conviction despite considerable evidence that the Le dynasty was corrupt and in decline. Accord­ing to the Records on Ngh. An (Ngh. An ký... ) and Comprehensive Study of the Metropolitan Graduates through the Dynasties (L.ch tri.u đăng khoa b. kh.o...... ), Ph.m serving as the official in charge of Ngh. An province in 1786 when he learnewas d that the Tây Son had seized Phú Xuân, the capital of Đang Ngoai’s southern rival. Faced with this alarming news, he left for Thanh Chuong-Nam Đan, intending to recruit soldiers to fight against the Tây Son. But he fell ill and died before he could put his defence plans into 
In his preface to the Humble Comments on the Analects, Ph.m also indicated that he was reinstated into the Hanlin Academy as commissioner in 1778. 
action (this brief biography of Ph.m Nguy.n Du is based on “Ph.m Nguy.n Du and His Records of a Broken Heart” in Ph.m 2001, 5–6). 
Beyond socio-political events, Ph.m’s worldview was deeply affected by per­sonal tragedy. In 1772, while serving in the Ministry of Personnel, Ph.m re­ceived the sad news that his wife of 13 years, Nguy.n Th. Đoan Huong .... , had passed away at the age of twenty-nine. Just sixteen years old at the time of her wedding, Đoan Huong joined Ph.m in marriage that was happy but often interrupted by his civil service duties. The dea ath of Ph.m’s wife was a devastating loss, and grief-stricken he mourned her with 14 eulogies, 49 paral­lel couplets, and 34 sorrowful poems. These writings were later arranged chron­ologically in collection titled Records of a Broken Heart (Đo.n tru.ng l.c... ) (ibid. a 2001, 38–39). This collection reveals much about Ph.m’s emo­tional inner life; yet it also reflects his thoughts about learning and the purposes 
of knowledge. On the heels of this personal tragedy, Ph.m also underwent an intellectual crisis that would change him forever. Rereading the Analects and writing commentary on it apparently helped Ph.m to reorganise his life around the goal of Confucian enlightenment, and to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties standing in his way. 
The Humble Comments on the Analects and Zhu Xi’s Collected Comments 
Ph.m Nguy.n Du wrote the Humble Comments on the Analects3between 1778 and 1780, while serving as a court official. The connection between his work and Zhu Xi’s Collected Comments (Lunyu jizhu.... ) is shown in the title of Ph.m’s text. Ph.m obviously familiar with Zhu’s Collected Comments, 
he mentioned it in his dwas escription of the composition of his Humble Comments. as “At first I read the main text until becoming intimately familiar with it,” he wrote, “then [I] elaborately examined the Collected Commentaries, and later carefully went through other Confucians’ explanations” (Ph.m Nguy.n Du’s “Preface” to the Humble Comments). Ph.m’s attitude toward Zhu Xi’s work is consistent with the Confucian notion of “Study of Principle” (Lixue.. ), as practiced by Le dy­nasty literati in eighteenth-century Vietnam (Zhang 2008, 22–26). In his Collect­ed Comments, Zhu employed the phrase “humble comment” (yu’an.. ) about twenty times in total throughout the work when introducing his commentaries 
For its analyses, the paper relies on the handwritten copy preserved in the Institute of Han-Nom Studies (Hanoi), call number VHV 349/1–2, reproduced as Ph.m 2011; and as part of Ph.m 2013, 817–1001. 
on specific chapters of the Analects (Chinese Text Project). By borrowing this phrase, Ph.m was indicating his admiration and intellectual debt to Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian philosophy. At the same time, however, the Humble Comments’ distinctive attempt to re-interpret Zhu Xi’s ideas can be glimpsed in Ph.m’s anno­tations to the original text, and especially in the unusual organizational structure he adopted. 
After carefully studying every chapter of the Analects in its extant form, Ph.m decided to take another step in his autodidactic process: writing comments 
the classic. But instead of following the original work’s structure, Ph.m radi­oncally changed the way the chapters were originally arranged. He explained this as follows: 
At the risk of being too bold, I have classified its chapters into cate­gories for convenient review. [Based on my classification] the work generally has four books, twenty-three categories, and 493 chapters. In each chapter, my “humble comments” are added below the original main text. Thus, I have named this work Humble Comments on the Analects. 
By reorganizing the Analects into four books called “Sage” (Sheng. ), “Learn­ing” (Xue. ), “Official” (Shi. ), and “Politics” (Zheng. ), the Humble Com­ments signalled its author’s intent to seek new interpretive insights from the classical text. The relationship between these four books has been construed by modern Vietnamese scholars as an attempt to emphasize the dictum of “Sageliness within, kingliness without” (neisheng waiwang.... ) (Đinh 2012, 459–60). The dictum stands as an expression of the Confucian principle of self-cultivation (Zhang 2008; Chu 2009, 47), and Confucian literati can only take office and as-
their social responsibilities based this foundation. Ph.m proceeded to break sume down each of the four topics into sub-on topics to further explore a wide array of issues presented through the chapters that record both the Master’s and his dis­ciples’ words. The chart below summarizes the resultingorganizational structure of the Humble Comments. 
Book  Category  Number of Chapters  
Knowledge (H.c v.n .. )  7  
Dignified Manner (Uy nghi .. )  7  
Sage / Thánh. (105 chapters total)  Residing, Dressing and Eating (Cu x., ph.c th.c .... )  9  
Coping with human affairs and being exemplary to people (.ng s. ph.m v.t .... )  30  
Dealing with Changes/Disasters (X. bi.n .. )  7  
Judging people (Th. nhân .. )  26  
Talking about Sages (Thuy.t thánh .. )  8  
Commenting on Sages (Ngh. thánh .. )  10  
Appendix: Disciples’ Records of the Transmission of the Way through Sages (Mon nhân ký qu.n thánh đ.o th.ng ....... )  1  
Extension of Knowledge 1 (Trí tri .. )  28  
Extension of Knowledge 2  27  
Appendix: Disciples’ sayings (Mon nhân ngon ... )  3  
Learning / Ho.c . (202 chapters total)  Practicing with vigour 1 (L.c hanh .. )  39  
Practicing with vigour 2  39  
Practicing with vigour 3  19  
Appendixes: Disciples’ sayings Disciples’ records (Môn nhân ký ... )  19 1  
Filial and fraternal (Hi.u đ. .. )  10  
Appendix: Disciples’ sayings  5  
Social intercourse (Giao t. .. )  6  
Appendixes: Disciples’ sayings Disciples’ writings for their students  5 1  
Ethically Respon­sible Scholar or  Upper ethically responsible scholar/Official (Thu.ng si .. )  11  
Official / Si. (45 chapters total)  Middle ethically responsible scholar/Official (Trung si .. )  18  
Appendix: Disciples’ sayings  6  
Lower ethically responsible scholar/Official (H. si .. )  8  
Appendix: Disciples’ records  2  

Politics / Chính. (141 chapters total)  Self-rectifying (Chính k. .. )  25  
Observing people 1 (Quan nhân .. )  28  
Observing people 2  28  
Ritual and music (L. nh.c .. )  28  
Appendixes: Disciples’ sayings Disciples’ records  1 1  
Governing people (Lâm dân .. )  27  
Appendixes: Disciples’ sayings Disciples’ records  1 2  

Table 2: The Structure of the Humble Comments on the Analects by Ph.m Nguy.n Du. 
At the end of each “book”, Ph.m Nguy.n Du summarized his thoughts on the focal topic in a section called “General Statements” (T.ng thuy.t.. ).4Because of the central importance of these statements to the overall goals of the Humble Comments, some discussion of each of them is in order. 
In his “General Statements on the Sage,” Ph.m recapitulated the line of argu­mentation in the Book of Sage in three main points. First, he emphasized that the image of the Sage reassembled and reconstructed from various chapters of the Analects was a model worthy of emulation. Second, although the Sage had lived thousands of years earlier, Ph.m believed that he remained accessible to con­temporary readers thanks to his recorded words. Last but not least, Ph.m main­tained that learning the Way of the Sage was indispensable, because it was both cosmologically immense and humanly pragmatic. For Ph.m, this dual quality of the Way—its simultaneous relevance to the entire universe and to the everyday reality of human beings—was precisely what made it so appealing as a model: 
This Book solemnly selects factual records of the auspiciously virtuous Sage from the Analects. There one hundred and five chapters, clas­sified into four volumes, by which are [the commentator] wants his readers to submissively respect and admire the Sage as if he majestically comes out before [them]. Admiring [the Sage] from a distance, one will have an object worthy of honour; getting closer to him, one will have an object to model after. One’s heart-and-mind relies on and turns towards [the Sage] as if a traveller has his home, an archer has his target; as if artisans look around and respectfully listen to their grand master, or as if the myriad 
For the original texts of the four “General Statements,” see Appendix B at the end of the paper. 
beings all together gaze at and simultaneously are supported by the sun and moon, heaven and earth. Neither distracting thoughts nor wishful thinking dare to germinate; nor does one dare to rush to wrong paths or heresies. Alas! Being born a few thousand years later, as for those who pursue the Sage’s remaining words, the superior direct their thought to the mysterious, seeking the help of Confucianism [as a medium] to en­ter Chan (Zen) Buddhism5; the inferior feel content with their official salary, flowing into the degradation without knowing it. Who knows the refined of the Way of the Sage can match with the movements of the limitless and the supreme ultimate, and its unrefined does not go beyond the tangibility of the daily common sense, ritual and music, criminal law and government decrees. The far expansion of the Way spreads over the endless space of the past and present universe, but its near range dwells within the scope of [human activities, such as] coming-in or going-out, actions, eating and drinking. 
By positioningthe Book of Learning after his discussion of the Sage, Ph.m con­
tinued his discourse on the model of the Sage, drawing readers’ attention to what 
he its defining feature. By modelling oneself on the Sage, Ph.m argued, 
one wasaw s aas ctingnot simply to improve and complete one’s own learning, but also 
to improve and complete the learning undertaken by others. Ph.m’s “General 
Statements on Learning” reads in part, 
(…) [One should remember] three points on which Zengzi examined himself,6and four things thatYan Yuan avoided when subduing his self;7 [these points are:] preserve what you have attained, and pursue what you have not yet been able to achieve; polish and cleanse your heart-and-mind; [and], socialize with humanity to approach what is called “Up­rightness.” Alas! At present in responding to humans and other beings, there is nothing other than the constancy of daily moral human relations. What we have on the pages is the heritage of the Master, and all are the instructions to practice the knowledge one has earned. From admiring 
5 This reminds us of the relationship between Chan (Zen) Buddhism and Song Neo-Confucianism. 
6 Zengzi .. said, “Every day I examine myself on three points: whether if I may have been unfaith­ful when transacting business for others; whether if I may have been insincere when interacting with friends; and whether if I may have not practiced what I have learned” (Analects, “Xue er”). 
7 When Yan Yuan .. asked about benevolence, the Master said, “To subdue one’s self and return to propriety” (keji fuli.... ). Yan ventured to ask about the steps of the process. The Master responded, “Do not look at what is inappropriate to propriety; do not listen to what is inappropriate to propriety; do not speak what is inappropriate to propriety; and do not take any action that is inappropriate to propriety” (Analects, “Yan Yuan”). 
the Worthy to admiring the Sage, from completing one’s self to complet­ing other human beings––Confucians’ learning is completely compre­hensive. (Emphasis mine.) 
For Ph.m, the concept of learning flowed naturally into the idea of ethical and responsible service to society, since serving official allowed to 
from self-improvement to facilitating other peopas le’an s efforts at self-improone vement. move In The Book of the Official, Ph.m analysed the ideographic content of the Chi­nese character for “official”, noting that its two integral components, “scholar” and “human,” constitute the two poles that serve to define the essential meaning of official service. In Ph.m’s words, “without being ‘scholar’ and ‘human’, it is truly impossible to be ‘official.’”8To be good official, moreover, one must 
constantly strive for self-can ultivation. Below is a an excerptfrom the “General State­ments on the Official”: 
If directing one’s aspiration to the upper rank, one may end up in the middle one; if directing one’s aspiration to the middle rank, one unavoid­ably attains the lower; moreover, if setting one’s aspiration to the lower, how can practice the obligations of the subject, acting according to 
the humane wone ay, and moving within heaven and earth? 
Having linked self-cultivation to the ideal of ethical service, Ph.m turned in his fourth and final book to the discussion of “politics”, or the actual practices of gov­ernance. For Ph.m, the idealof the self-cultivated official was linked to two other Confucian concepts: the notion of rectification, and the idea of governing accord­ing to “the Mean”. Here he offered his gloss on the well-known claim put 
forward in the Analectsthat “to govern is to rown ectify”(“Yan Yuan” .. , 12: 17).9 For Ph.m, the goal of “rectifying” the practices of a state or royal court to bring them into line with Confucian principles could only be realized if the officials in­volved were truly committed to their own rectification through self-improvement. As Ph.m put it in his “General Statement on Politics”: 
The Book of Politics collects the great teachings of the Sage as well as his disciples’ sayings and records regarding politics, one hundred and forty-one (141) chapters in total. Based on the meaning of each chapter, this book classifies them into four categories, “Self-rectifying”, “Observ­ing people”, “Ritual and Music”, and “Governing people”. On the basis of the idea “to govern is to rectify”, the immensity of politics is contained 
8 The original reads, .............,.....,........ 9 The original reads, ..,...
within these four categories,and is rooted in the rectification of the self. Hence, all sagely kings of the ancient past who were “discriminating, uniform in the pursuit of the rightness, and sincerely holding fast the Mean” took self-rectification as the foundation of justification. 
Regarding the present structure of the Analects simply as the result of randomly collected and diverse written records by and on the Sage into seemingly casually named books that, in general, did not mean much to readers, Ph.m Nguy.n Du took it upon himself to rearrange and classify the chapters into specific topics that would have maximum benefit for the learning purposes of the readers. In this way, Ph.m aimed to make his reorganization of the Analects serve and underscore his emphasis on the primacy of self-cultivation and “learning for the sake of one’s self”: 
Do contemporary readers of theAnalects essentially want to search for the Sage’s instructions, being absorbed in contemplation [of them], experienc­ing them for themselves, applying them in the universe in order to pursue the [ideal of] “learning for one’s self”? Or do they necessarily want to base themselves on the [current] order of books and chapters, trying to fig­ure out some meanings from this meaningless order, while getting bogged down in its tiny details? If people wish to explore the sage’s instructions by contemplating and quietly appreciating them, by experiencing them within their own bodies, and by applying them in practice in order to pursue the “Learning for the sake of one’s self”, then they should understand this work as an effort at self-teaching, undertaken by me, Th.ch Đ.ng. 
Ph.m’s rearrangement of the Analects’ chapters into specific topics proved influen­tial. By the early twentieth century, the use of the Romanized alphabetic script as a method of writing Vietnamese had largely displaced the Chinese writing system in Vietnam. To preserve “traditional” values against Western influence, Confucian classics were progressively translated into Vietnamese by the means of the Roman-ized script. In 1922, the Analects was translated for the first time into Vietnamese and printed in Romanized script by the translator Duong Bá Tr.c (1884–1944). An anti-colonialist Confucian educator and one of the co-founders of the Free School of Tonkin (Đông Kinh Nghia Th.c .... ), Duong Bá Tr.c followed in the foot­steps of Ph.m Nguy.n Du when classifying the chapters into categories. (Duong 1922). Five years later (1927), Luong Văn Can (1854–1927), also a co-founder of the Free School of Tonkin, produced his own translation of the classic, and classi­fied its chapters into sixteen categories (Ôn 1927). Thus, the creative and critical rearrangement/classification model set by Ph.m Nguy.n Du for the Analects in the eighteenth century lived on through the practice of a later generation of scholars in early twentieth-century Vietnam. To understand the enduring appeal of this model, a closer investigation of Ph.m’s text is in order—especially those parts of it which suggest the author’s transformative learning approach. 


The Humble Comments as an Example of Transformative Learning 
In lieu of a thorough analysis of the entire Humble Comments, this paper will focus on Ph.m’s preface. As we will see, this part of the text can be viewed as Ph.m’s attempt to mix autobiography with Vietnamese Confucian discourses. Understood in this light, the preface can tell us a great deal about Ph.m’s trans-formative learning process. 
Ph.m opened his preface by recalling the negative impacts of the pressure of pre­paring for the civil service examination as a teenager. The examination system was often considered a means for people to climb the ladder of success, bringing honour and wealth not only to the successful candidate, but also to his relatives. For Ph.m, this state of affairs placed enormous strain on exam candidates. In a later poem, he re­called encountering an entourage of seven boats carrying the relatives of a high-rank­ing official, and noted that “When a man is appointed as Minister Duke, a hundred of his people are honoured––All are begotten under our Confucian ink brush” (Ph.m 2001, 132–4). The pressure to succeed through the examination was thus put on men’s shoulders very early in their childhood, and Ph.m was no exception. 
Although he read the Analects during his early adolescence, Ph.m confessed that his initial reading of the classic was very superficial, as he concentrated mainly on “the sounds and meanings of its words” and thus failed to “apprehend its signifi­cance”. Merging in with the secular trends of his time, Ph.m directed his learning to the “syntactic and semantic analysis [of the ancient writings]” for about twen­ty-five years. During this long period, he occasionally referred to the Analects, but only as a way to show off his erudition. As he explained, “Although I used the book from time to time, it was only to glean and collect bit by bit for the sake of memorization, so in the event that anyone asked, I would have the resources to expound as needed”. However, Ph.m’s learning style would change dramatically after he passed the Metropolitan examination and took up responsibilities in the Hanlin Academy and Historiography Institute. Finding himself in the new and unfamiliar role of state official, Ph.m became anxious about his “ignorance” of the substance and meaning of good governance. In this time of difficulty, which might be labelled as the first and second of Mezirow’s ten phases of transformative learn­ing, Ph.m returned to the Master’s work as a source of intellectual consolation. As he wrote, “One night, thinking of the Analects, I took it out and read it”. 
Like the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng .. , who became enlightened upon hearing a line from the Diamond Sutra (Yampolsky 1967, 133, note 41), 10 Ph.m found him­self awakenedwhen reaching the sentence “Being at the age of forty or fifty, but not yet making oneself heard of” from the Analects. Originally written in the book “Zi Han” .. (9:23),11the sentence is part of the Master’s saying which Zhu Xi, in his Collected Comments, takes as a way “to alert people, to urge them to exert themselves in learning in a timely fashion.”12Taken out of its original context, the cited sentence seems to be concerned solely with a man’s career and reputation. However, when reread in context and in association with Zhu Xi’s comments, it conveys an encouragement for learning. For Ph.m, this sentence offered a way to make new connections among one’s career, reputation, and learning. 
To illustrate these connections in his preface, Ph.m mentioned the case of the Song Confucian Xu Heng .. (also known as Xu Luzhai ... , 1209–1281) an example of self-reflection and determination to change after recognizing mias stakes. He may well have read Xu’s biography (“Luzhai xue’an .... ”) in the Records of Song-Yuan Scholars (Song Yuan xue’an.... ), since he cited forty-year-old Xu’s regretful words for having “taught and learned impetu­ously” (shoushou menglang .... ).13In the first part of Xu’s biography, the boy Xu asked his teacher, “For what purpose do we learn?” (Dushu hewei.... ) The he got was simply: “To take the imperial civil examination” (Qu kedi er ...answer . ). Of course, what the teacher said did not satisfy his pupil. Later in life, Xu also became a teacher with a number of students. His intellectu­al outlook changed radicallyafter his visit to the Neo-Confucian Yao Shu .. (1201–1278), from whom he learned the Cheng brothers’ and Zhu Xi’s thoughts. Returning to his school, Xu told his students that what he had previously taught them not right and should be abandoned, and that they should have new beginningwas , starting with Zhu Xi’s Elementary Learning (Xiaoxue..), wa hich, in the eyes and words of modern scholars, shows the need “to take responsibility for, to define, and to shape one’s self in the context of foregoing environmental factors and relationships” (de Bary 2008, 404). Xu Heng’s story, as narrated in Ph.m’s preface is also case of transformative learning which encouraged the 
author to thoroughly revia ew his approach to, and understanding, of learning. 
10 The original reads, ......... 11 The entire chapterreads, “Theyoung generation is awesome. How can we know that the coming generation will not be equal to the present one? But if a person at the age of forty or fifty has still not been heard of, he should not be in awe of either.” (....,...........
........,....... .) 12 The original reads, ...,....... 13 In “Luzhai xue’an”, the phrase originally reads as .... ,.... . 
The story of Xu in the preface neatly frames the third and fourth phases of Ph.m’s own transformative learning process. His rereading of the Analects could be seen as the process of the third phase––defined as the “critical assessment of epistem­ic, sociocultural, psychic assumptions” undertaken by an individual who has 
achieved a long-cheor rished goal (in Ph.m’s case, passing the imperial examination and taking office), only to discover that the achievement does not bring fulfilment. Having examined Xu Heng’s radical change in his orientation towards learning, Ph.m considers his own circumstances: 
Comparing my case with that of Luzhai pursuing the Way, I am still one year younger than him. From now until my old age there remains quite a significant amount of time. Shouldn’t I endeavour to move forward, and follow in the footsteps of those who acquire knowledge from predica­ments in which they find themselves? 
With the comparison of his case to Xu Heng’s, Ph.m clearly arrived at the fourth phase, in which he recognized that “[his] discontent and the process of trans­formation [were] shared” with others who “[had] negotiated a similar change” with him. Noteworthy here is Ph.m’s use of the concept of kh.n tri/kunzhi.. (acquiring true knowledge from predicaments) in describing his circumstances. 

Out of Predicaments with True Knowledge 
To better understand how kh.n tri/kunzhi is comprehended in the Humble Comments, we turn to Ph.m’s comments on a particular chapter of the Analects. In Chapter 9 of the Book “Jishi .. ”, the Master reviewed four types of people endowed with differ­ent learning capabilities. The chapter in question has inspired various interpretations (and thus various translations) for this specific sentence, kun er xue zhi you qi ci ye........ . Below are some examples of how this has been rendered: 
J. Legge: “Those who are dull and stupid, and yet compass the learning, are another class next to these.”14 
D. C. Lau: “Next again come those turn to study after having been vexed by difficulties” (Confucius 1979, 140). 
14 The original reads, ...:......,..;.....,..;....,....;....,....... . James Legge translates this as follows, “Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men. Those who learn, and so, readily, get possession of knowledge, the next. Those who are dull and stupid, and yet compass the 
learning, are another class next to are these. As to those who are dull and stupid and yet do not learn–– they are the lowest of the people” (Chinese Text Project 2017), 
S. Leys: “Next again come those who learn through the trials of life” (Confucius 1997, 83). 
Ames and Rosemont: “Something learned in response to difficulties en­countered is again the next highest” (Confucius 1998, 199). 
D. K. Gardner: “Those who learn it but with difficulty are next” (Gardner 2003, 41). 
E. Slingerland: “Those who find it difficult to understand and yet persist in their studies come next” (Confucius 2003, 196). 
R. Eno: “Next those who study it only in circumstances of duress” 
.15are (Eno 2015, 92)
Although different from another, the above-cited translations can be sorted into three groups, depending one how each of them interpret the keyword kun. . The first group takes it innate characteristic of the learner, such as “dull and stupid” (Legge). Close as to an the first group, the second understands kun as the 
learner’s cognitive ability (Slingerland). But the most common rendering treats kun as difficult environmentsand/or conditions in which the learner acquires new knowledge. It is also worth mentioning that the same translator may have differ­ent interpretations of kun depending on the context. Below is Legge’s translation of a passage from the Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong.. ), in which he inter­preted kun differently, 
Knowledge, magnanimity, and energy, these three, are the virtues univer­sally binding. And the means by which they carry the duties into practice is singleness. Some are born with the knowledge of those duties; some know them by study; and some acquire the knowledge after a painful feeling of their ignorance. But the knowledge being possessed, it comes to the same thing.16 
Similarly, kh.n/kun as a key concept in the Humble Comments might convey various meanings depending the context. Unlike what have seen in the preface, in which kh.n/kun shoulon d represent difficult circumstanwe ces, Ph.m’s com­ments on Chapter 9 of “Jishi” provide us with a different interpretation: 
Human beings possess four ranks of material nature, but they are all peo­ple (dân/min. ) who hold fast to the law and love virtue. Thus, those 
15 All emphases mine. 
16 The original reads, .....,......,.............,.....,.....,....,... Emphasis mine. (Chinese Text Project 2017) 
who have difficulties but still learn can reach the status of those whose knowledge is inborn. Without learning, the transformation of material nature appears impossible. Falling into difficulties but not learning, one will forever be trapped in difficulties. Thus, although named “the peo­ple”, they are not part of “the people” in reality.17 
Readers familiar with Neo-Confucianism can easily recognize the terminology employed in Ph.m’s comments, such as his reference to the concept of “ma­terial nature” (qizhi.. ). Imperfect and incomplete (and thus needing refine­ment), “material nature” is also known as “human psyches and temperaments,” (Bell 2008, 80), and placed in opposition to the “original nature” (benxing.. ), the perfect and good naturepreserved in human sub-consciousness (Lee 2010, 129–53). As for the “original nature”, through Ph.m’s comments, it can be iden­tified as the nature of Heavenly pattern (tianli zhi xing.... ), another vital Neo-Confucian concept. Based on Confucius’ belief that “men are nearly alike by nature” and Mencius’ theory of “humans beings are good by nature,” Ph.m believed the following: 
At the beginning, both the noble person and the petty person have the nature of heavenly pattern. Protecting the pattern, one will ascend and become the noble person; losing the pattern, one will descend and turn to be the petty person. When the least bit of difference has occurred, heaven and earth automatically become apart.18 
Furthermore, the “material nature” in Ph.m’s comments is subsequently linked to the “people,” a move which has its origin in the Classics of Poetry (Shijing.. ). The poem titled “Zhengmin .. ” from this collection reads, 
Heaven, in giving birth to the multitudes of the people, .....  
To every faculty and relationship annexed its law. .....  
The people possess this normal nature, .....  
And they [consequently] love its normal virtue. .....  

17 The Humble Comments, Book of “Learning”, vol. 7; the original read, ......,...................................,....,......... 
18 The original reads, .....................................,.....
Based on this poem, Ph.m talks about people under heaven who by their “original nature” should be able to “hold fast to the law and love virtue.” This also reminds us of Zhu Xi’s concept of “Heaven’s people” (tian min.. ) who are all the same in possessing the commiserating mind-and-heart (Hon 2012, 16). However, this potential equality turns out to be almost impossible in practice, due to differences among their “material natures.” In this case, Ph.m obviously follows Zhu Xi’s line of thought the uneven endowments of materialnature that result in the 
unequal learning con apabilities seen in human beings. Commenting on the same chapter of “Jishi,” Zhu Xi explains, 
Kun. means that there is something obstructed. The passage indicates that since people’s materialnatures not the same, there exist these 
four ranks in general. Yang [Shi, ..are ] said, “From being born with the possession of knowledge, learning and getting possession of knowl­edge to gettingpossession of knowledge with difficulties due to person­al imperfection, although their material natures are not the same, their [acquired] knowledge is identical. Hence, the noble man only treasures learning as precious. Thus, being entrapped in difficulties by imperfect material nature but not learning accordingly is regarded as inferior.19 (Chinese Text Project 2017) 
Thus, Ph.m’s willingness to put himself “after kunzhi people” can be construed as his self-identification with those who were born with limited “material nature” and acquired knowledge from the difficult circumstances in which they found themselves. This realization was undoubtedly a critical landmark in his life. Hav­ing achieved this insight, Ph.m decided to “abolish learning for the purpose of the civil service examination”, and instead began carrying the Analects with him day and night. This was the fifth phase of transformative learning (“Exploration of options for new roles, relationships, and actions”), and the beginning of Ph.m’s new journey of “learning for the sake of one’s self.” 

The Humble Comments and “Learning for the Sake of One’s Self” 
During Ph.m Nguy.n Du’s lifetime, a series of “abridged” (ti.t y.u.. ) Con­fucian texts, including the Four Books and Five Classics, emerged. The series’ compiler Bui Huy Bích ... (1744–1818), high-ranking official and contemporary was and acquaintance of Ph.m Nguy.n Du. a Bui abridged not only the 
19 The original reads, .,.............,..........:.........,.....,.....................,......
Four Books and Five Classics, but also Neo-Confucian works, such as the Great Compendia of Nature and Principle (Xingli daquan.... ). As the purpose of this series was to help Confucian students prepare for the civil service exami­nation, it was widely reprinted several times by various printing houses through­out the nineteenth century. A preface to the series found in the first book of the Abridged Four Books – The Great Learning (T. thu ti.t y.u – Đ.i ho.c.... —.. , reprinted in 1850) confirms that the series was designed to help candi­dates in their preparation for the exam (ti.n u quy.t khoa nhi di...... ). The preface also distinguishes “learning for the sake of argumentation” (nghia lý chi ho.c.... ) from “learning for the sake of the examination” (khoa c. chi ho.c.... ). According to the preface, 
Learning for the sake of the examination and learning for the sake of argumentation are not the same. Learning for the sake of argumentation moves from erudition to simplicity, whereas learning for the sake of the examination focuses only on simplicity. Therefore, the latter takes the entirety of the classics and their commentaries and abridges them.20 
Another preface printed in the first book of the Abridged Five Classics – The Classic of Documents (Ngu kinh ti.t y.u – Thu kinh.... —.. , reprinted in 1842) stated, 
Learning for the sake of the examination concentrates on the comprehen­sion of the script, often abridging and simplifying it to prioritize memo­rization and preparation for the examination.21 
Solemnly printed in large-size characters at the beginning of every subset in this popular series, the perception communicated in the prefaces of the differences between the two learning styles must have reflected common belief in elite 
Vietnamese circles at the time. Moreover, the popularita y of the abridged series was evidence of the tendency of “learning for the sake of the examination” in society. Led partly by Bui Huy Bích’s series, this tendency undoubtedly went against what Ph.m Nguy.n Du was aiming at, namely “learning for the sake of one’s self.” 
For Ph.m Nguy.n Du, the two contrasting forms of learning reflect the mind­sets of two differing personalities. Commenting on Chapter 6:13 of the Analects, 
20 The originalreads, ......................,................... 21 The original reads, ..........,...............
“You should be a ru. scholar after the style of the noble person, and not after that of the petty person,”22 Ph.m Nguy.n Du states that, 
After Confucius and Mencius, people who learn to become Confucian numerous; but since their mindsets are false and not genuine, con­
seqare uently their learning is only for the sake of reputation and fortune, and is not based on [the improvement of] the self to serve magnanimous affairs. In general, seeking knowledge turns people into the noble person, when being anxious [for reputation and fortune] changes people into the petty person. The tiny space existing in the contention between the prin­ciple and the temperament entails the difference between the two types of the noble person and the petty person.23 
In a poem titled “Presented to T.n Am” (Ký trinh T.n Am .... ), Ph.m addressed a statement on his purpose of learning directly to Bui,24
....... 
[Learning] for the sake of one’s self, one has modelledoneself on the examples of Confucius and Mencius;
....... 
Finding oneself at a right time, one should not be ashamed with Gao Yao and Kui.25 
Even though the context of this admiring poem remains unknown, it was certainly no accident that Ph.m chose to offer a critical commentary on the goal of learning when learning for the sake of the examination had already become a trend. For Zhu Xi, even though the sages and worthies had numerous discussions on the objective of learning, none of them were as essential as Confucius’ oft-cited dictum, “Learn­ers of the ancient time learned for the sake of [cultivating] themselves; nowadays learners learn for the sake of [pleasing] others.”26Based on the Master’s dictum, the 
22 “Yong ye .. ” (6:13) of the Analects: .....:......,....... 23 The original reads, ....,........,........,.........,........................,........,........... 
24 T.n Am is the literary name of Bui Huy Bích. The poem is in the collection called Anthology of Poetry from the Imperial Vi.t (Hoang Vi.t thi tuy.n.... ), also compiled by Bui. 25 Gao Yao was the legal officer of the legendary emperor Shun, who also appointed Kui as the music master. 26 The original reads, ..:.......,........ (“Xianwen .. ”, Analects, 14:24). Zhu Xi’s original line reads, ....,........... (Collected Commentaries). 
phrase “Learning for the sake of one’s self” became one of the most central themes for Neo-Confucians. Zhu Xi even employed it as an important criterion to identify who should be included in his circle of fellow scholars. An advocate of this spirit, Ph.m would base his learning agenda on Zhu Xi’s tradition. 
Having established the new goal for his learning, Ph.m Nguy.n Du undertook to devise a concrete agenda, which he tried to realize through a rereading of the An­alects. As described in the preface, having resolutely abandoned “learning for the examination” (c. t. ho.c... ), Ph.m read the Analects in three stages. First, he read the main text repeatedly until becoming intimatelyfamiliar with it (shoudu.. ). The term shoudu employed in this specific context is actually also a key term in the Conversations with Master Zhu, Arranged Topically (Zhuzi yulei.... ), especially in the sections on reading. According to Zhu Xi, becoming intimately familiar with text means the reader taking it into their heart-and-
mind, an embodiment proca ess that requires both physical experiences of and deep reflections on the focal subject. As stated in Conversations with Master Zhu: 
Generally speaking, in reading, we must first become intimately familiar with the text so that its words seem to come from our own mouths. We should then continue to reflect on it so that its ideas seem to come from our minds. Only then can there be real understanding. (Chu 1990, 135)27 
Using this specific term, Ph.m clearly shared the same thoughts with Zhu Xi, as the first stage of his readingmethod implied direct contact with and independent understanding of the text without assistance from any intermediary. 
In the second and third stages of his reading, Ph.m reread the Analects with the help of the Collected Commentaries, and later, in consultation with the annota­tions made by other Confucian scholars. This appears similar to the method de­scribed in Conversations with Master Zhu, which recommends reading commen­taries only after the attainment of intimate familiarity with the text. In Zhu Xi’s words, the order should go follows: “At the moment I’m not even speaking 
about the recitation of commenas taries; let’s simply recite the classical texts to the point of intimate familiarity (Chu 1990, 138).”28 
27 The original reads, ........,..........;....,..........,........ 
28 The original reads, .......,...... . As a breakthrough, the first and direct reading of a text requires great effort, and the consultation of commentaries should only come later. Zhu Xi reminds us that, “You must take the classical text and read it till you’ve become intimately familiar with it. Savor each and every word until you know its taste. If there are passages you don’t understand, ponder them deeply, and if you still don’t get them, then read the commentaries––only then will the commentaries have any significance” (ibid., 155). 
The way Ph.m studied the Analects was thus very much in line with Zhu Xi’s reading method. According to Zhu Xi, if people do not read a classical text in this manner, their understanding of it will remain superficial: “the words will be hollow and learning will not be for their own sake, as is now the case with those preparing for the examinations” (Chu 1990, 156). 
Besides the Humble Comments, Ph.m Nguy.n Du’s thoughts on “learning for the sake of one’s self” are also well presented in a poem entitled “Bequeathed to Ph.m L.p Trai, Who Passed the Imperial Examination in the Same Year as the Author”29 (Di đ.ng nien Ph.m L.p Trai ...... ). The poem reads: 
Memorizing well the remainder [of the teachings of the sages],..... 
Holding fast to them but losing their true subtleties,..... 
People are remote in time and space from the thoughts of Confucius and ..... 
Mencius,
And [the thoughts of the masters] increasingly become vague and un-..... 
clear to them. 
[Following such a learning method], people will ruin their intention,..... 
Run into the apertures of fame and gain, ..... 
And even until their death, remain unaware of its danger...... 
This is both regrettable and mournful...... 
I am glad that at your young age,..... 
Through learning, you already found the gist [of the teachings]...... 
Various schools of thinkers have discussed [the classics] in succession,..... 
As a mixed assembly of disciples in chaos...... 
As gem-like stones, they can be thousands though, ..... 
But can any small piece of preciousness be found among them?..... 
Why don’t we go back to the essence [of the teachings],..... 
Probing [into the texts], gradually analysing and understanding them? ..... 
When the latent has been revealed and honoured,..... 
It will expand, exposing its depth and vastness. ..... 
Confucians of the Song and Yuan dynasties had gone ahead,..... 
Closing the door and carefully studying [the classics]...... 
[Traveling on] the great road, one really looks up [to the high hill]. ..... 
29 L.p Trai .. is the literary name of Ph.m Quý Thích ... (1760–1825), who passed the civil 
service examination and earned the title “presented scholar,” jinshi.. , at the age of 19 in 1779. 
Like Ph.m Nguy.n Du, he was uncooperative with the Tây Son. 
All of the profound teachings can be examined  .....  
And traced back up to their sources. .....  
The effects [of this learning method] are not small, indeed.  .....  
If the cause of truth does not perish, .....  
With it, one can rise again from decline and failure. .....  

The last two lines in the poem are unmistakably based on Chapter 9.5 of the An­alects. In that chapter, the Master remained fearless when facing threats because he confidently considered himself the embodiment of this culture.30 Similarly, Ph.m placed himself in a comparable position of a follower of the Way, who had learned and experiencedthe Sage’s teaching, holding fast to and finally prac­ticing it in his life. The poem nicely summarizes the last five phases of Ph.m’s transformative learning process, whose starting point is “Learning for the sake of one’s self”. 

“Learning for the Sake of One’s Self” in Modern Contexts 
Determining the precise contexts of all Confucius’ sayings, made thousands of years ago, remains an impossible task. In his discussion of the difficulties of con­textualizing Confucian classics, Tu Wei-Ming mentions the dictum of “learning for the sake of one’s self” as an example of this arduous task, 
The challenge all members of the scholarly community who are actively involved in comparative studies must face is whether or not, in principle, we can really understand such a deceptively simple Confucian statement as “learning is for the sake of the self” out of context. The answer, unfor­tunately, must be in the negative. We cannot know what it means if we do not situate it in its proper context. (Tu 1985, 54) 
However, besides their efforts in reconstructing the contexts of the sayings, peo­ple often try to read the Master’s words into their contemporary contexts. It is not difficult to see that both Zhu Xi and Ph.m Nguy.n Du advocated “learning for the sake of one’s self” on similar grounds, working against the socio-educational 
30 The chapter reads, “The Master was put in fear in Kuang. He said, ‘After the death of King Wen, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me? If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of Kuang do to me?’” (Chinese Text Project 2017) 
evils of their times, which were learning exclusively for the sake of the civil service examination, for personal career-advancement and interest, and nothing else.31As pointed out by de Bary, Zhu Xi’s thoughts started and ended with the goal of “learning for the sake of one’s self” (de Bary 1991, 31), and the same is true of Ph.m Nguy.n Du. They both read, understood, and carried Confucius’ dictum into their contemporary contexts. 
Although still trying to reconstruct the socio-political and cultural contexts of the tradition of “learning for the sake of one’s self” (Kuang 2012, 27–37), modern scholars seem more interested in its potential impact on contemporary society (if it were to be widely taught and embraced). Bian Shiying believes that Confucian “learning for the sake of one’s self” has nothing to do with vulgar individualism that is now popularly understood as striving egoistically for the benefit of oneself. On the contrary, it is the need to morally cultivate and perfect the self which is the core of strong human relationships (Bian 2005, 124). 
Based on the same understanding, Li Can feels the urgency to recover and strengthen the tradition of “learning for the sake of one’s self” in order to fight against utilitarianism, as well as the need to revivify it to reinforce the interactive effects of the “college humanistic quality education model.” Li even goes further, and criticizes the abuse of multimedia in college teaching that can weaken the thinking abilities of the student, and suggests that the tradition of “learning for the sake of one’s self” could be a way to reduce the overdependence of college teach­ing and learning on multimedia sources—one that can enhance the proactivity of the learners (Li 2015, 49; 2011, 17–20; 2010, 122–25). 
Huang Jianhua and Wang Derong examine the principle in connection with Zhu Xi’s Learning Regulations of Bailudong Academy (Bailudong shuyuan xuegui....... ). As Zhu Xi’s Academy took the principle of “learning for the sake of one’s self” an integral part of its spirit, it emphasized three key issues: the cultivation of as morality, the pursuit of the self-improvement of vir­tues, and the realization of an ideal personality. Like Xiao Qunzhong and other Chinese scholars (Xiao 2002, 5–9; Li 2008, 77–80), Huang and Wang see this traditional moral education trend as advantageous in modern society, because it 
contribute to training healthy personality, constructing a harmonious so­cial can environment, improvina g the self-consciousness and initiative of the moral subject, and removing utilitarian and instrumentalist tendencies from modern 
31 Here is Zhu Xi’s description of what was happening in his time, “But in today’s world what fathers encourage in their sons, what older brothers exhort in their younger brothers, what teachers impart to their students, and what students all study for is nothing more than to prepare for the civil service examinations” (de Bary 1991, 32). 
education (Huang 2012, 18–21).32Other scholars, such as Zhou Zhixiang and Zhu Hanmin, also study Zhu Xi’s perception of the tradition of “learning for the sake of one’s self,” concluding that for Zhu, this tradition is both the goal and foundational principle of learning, and that the purpose of Zhu’s interpretation of the Great Learning (Daxue.. ) is to theorize and systematize the tradition, as well as to implement it in his annotated text (Zhou 2011, 34–39). The princi­ple is also studied in relation with Kant’s concepts of moral self-discipline and freedom (Wen 2006, 63–70). 
Since the tradition/principle of “learning for the sake of one’s self” has trav­elled far beyond national boundaries, it has been practiced and studied not only within China, but also in other countries in East Asia. In Korea, the eminent Neo-Confucian Yi Hwang .. (1501–1570, more widely known as Yi T’oegye... ), had his understanding of the tradition linked directly to the study of the heart-and-mind (simhak.. ), which was systematized in the Study of Principle (lihak.. ) and centred on Substance-Function (cheyong.. ) (Lee 2010, 165–90). Studying the influence of the Cheng brothers’ interpretation of the principle “learning for the sake of one’s self” on Korean educational phi­losophy, Jang Jing Ho focuses the case of Yi T’oegye, and concludes that 
the revivification of this tradition con ould be used to counter certain problems in contemporary education, such as egoism, commercialism, and the worship of money (Zhang 2002, 75–78). 
The case of Ph.m Nguy.n Du suggests that the notion of “learning for the sake of one’s self” is both similarto and different from these latter-day attempts to re­vive the term as a principle of learning. Among Ph.m’s many elucidations of the dictum, his comments on Chapter 9:30 (“Zi Han.. ”) of the Analects are worth considering. Here he stated: 
When understanding that learning is for the sake of one’s self, one will be able to put forth one’s strength conscientiously; hereafter can believe in right principles with firmer sincerity33; hereafter one can sone tand erect in the middle without inclining to either side34; hereafter one can 
32 There are a number of essays written in the same vein, such as Pang 2010, 8–9. 33 Chapter 19.2 (“Zizhang .. ”) from the Analects reads, “Zi Zhang said, “When a man holds fast to virtue, but without seeking to enlarge it, and believes in right principles, but without firm sincerity (.... ), what account can be made of his existence or non-existence?” (Chinese Text Project 2017; emphasis mine). 34 The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong) records a conversation between Confucius and Zilu .. on energy (qiang. ), in which the Master states, “The superior man cultivates a friendly harmony, without being weak. How firm is he in his energy! He stands erect in the middle, without inclining to either side (..... ). How firm is he in his energy!” (Chinese Text Project 2017; emphasis mine). 
suit one’s actions to changing conditions. The attainment of this level is 
already the sage’s affair.35 
For Ph.m, “learning for the sake of one’s self” is the foundation of the long pro­
of becoming sage. With the right motivation, he believed, a person will invecess st all efforts inta o the perfection of the self and knowledge. Self-cultivation and knowledge learning are thus processes that require the learner to use critical observation and analysis to verify the truthfulness of what he has learned. Only in such conditions can the learner accept and live up to the verified “right principles with firmer sincerity”. This critical mind helps to prevent any biases, helping the follower of the Way to “stand erect in the middle without inclining to either side”. Standing unbiased subsequently allows the sage-to-be to act flexibly ac­cording to any given circumstances when holding fast to his right principles. This depiction of this lifelong learning process can serve as advice that is universally applicable to anyone who sincerely wishes to become more morally cultivated, intellectually improved, and socially engaged. Thus, besides reading the dictum into contemporary contexts and employing it way to fight against egoism, commercialization, corruption, and other negative as pa ractices in modern education, Ph.m’s thoughts on the motto “Learning for the sake of one’s self” presented in his Humble Comments can inspire us with suggestions of how to live this motto to the fullest. 
Conclusion 
As a theory of adult learning, transformative learning theory allows us a deeper look into the intellectual life of Ph.m Nguy.n Du and his Humble Comments, helping us to identify Ph.m’s deep shift in perspective from “learning for the sake of others” to “learning for the sake of one’s self”. His transformative learning process was a long-running attempt to find true knowledge in the predicaments and circumstances in which he found himself. Although his chosen path to Confucian sagehood 
long and difficult, Ph.m was determined to take it. By intensively reading the Ana­waslects in the light of Neo-Confucian philosophy and in the context of civil-war-torn eighteenth-century Vietnam, Ph.m completed what would later be formalised as Mezirow’s ten phases of the transformative learning procedure. Powerful and en­couraging, Ph.m’s story is an example of how a pre-modern Vietnamese member of the literati could read a Confucian classic and adapt Neo-Confucianism to the socio-cultural and historical conditions in which he lived. 
35 The original reads, .....,......,.......,.......,..................
Viewed in this light, Ph.m’s career and work offer a valuable perspective on the question of whether and how Confucian tradition(s) of learning can contribute to the acquisitionof knowledge and self-cultivation in the information age. Ph.m’s agenda of “learning for the sake of one’s self” does not mean egoism; instead, it reflects the quest for self-improvement means to promote positive social change. Ph.m urged the learner not to blindas la y believe in and dogmatically re­peat what she has learned, but to experiment and draw out meaningful lessons from her own experience. Moreover, the unconventional organization of Humble Comments reflects Ph.m’s commitment to the ideal of independent and creative thinking. Ph.m’s work thus offers opportunity to Confucianism a vibrant literaryand philosophical traditus ionan —a tradition that msee any in Vietnam and as elsewhere have used to reflect critically on some of the most pressing issues of 
our contemporary era. 

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Appendix A 
Ph.m Nguy.n Du’s “Preface” to the Humble Comments on the Analects (from Lu.^n Ngu~ Ngu A´n.... , preserved in the library of the Institute of 
Han-Nom Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam, VHV.349/1-2) 


Appendix B: 
“General Statements on the Sage” 

“General Statements on Learning” 

“General Statements on Official” 

“General Statements on Politics” 






Asian Studies in Slovenia 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.203-225 

Zbirke starih japonskih razglednic v Republiki Sloveniji1 
Chikako SHIGEMORI BUČAR* 
Izvleček 
V okviru raziskave “Vzhodnoazijske zbirke v Sloveniji” smo identificirali stare japon­ske razglednice v več ustanovah po Republiki Sloveniji. Za večino zbirk vemo imena posameznih zbiralcev in ozadje zbiranja. Ta prispevek predstavlja 160 razglednic, ki so bile med letoma 1899 in 1920 natisnjene na Japonskem, nekatere med njimi pa so v istem obdobju tudi uporabili. Fotografije na teh razglednicah lahko delimo na štiri kategorije: 1) pokrajina, pristanišča, mesta in turistične znamenitosti; 2) hiše, vrtovi, oblačila, pričeske in navade Japoncev; 3) posebni predmeti npr. lutke, ladje; 4) naravne nesreče. 
Obdobje od konca 19. stoletja do leta 1920 lahko imenujemo “Doba razglednic”, saj so razglednice v tem času imele pomembno vlogo posredovanja informacij in novic iz daljnih krajev npr. z Japonske in iz Vzhodne Azije. 
Ključne besede: razglednica, Japonska, Meiji, Taisho, Avstro-Ogrska 
The Collections of Old Japanese Postcards in Republic of Slovenia 

Abstract 
During our research “East Asian collections in Slovenia”, old Japanese postcards were found in various institutions in today’s Republic of Slovenia. For most of these postcards we know the names of individual collectors and their backgrounds. 
This paper presents 160 picture postcards, produced in Japan and some of them used for correspondence between 1899 and 1920. The photos on these postcards may be catego­rized into the following four: 1) ports, cities and tourist sights; 2) houses, gardens, clothes,hairstyles and customs; 3) particular objects, e.g. dolls, ships; 4) natural disasters. The period from the end of 19th century to the 1920s may be called “the period of picture postcards”, since postcards had the important role to convey information and news from far places such as Japan and East Asia. 
Keywords: picture postcard, Japan, Meiji, Taisho, Austria-Hungary 
Predhodna verzija tega članka je bila objavljena v monografiji v japonščini oktobra 2016 (glej Shi­gemori 2016). Po dodatnem raziskovanju in preverjanju podatkov v letu 2016/2017 objavljam re-zultate dosedanje raziskave starih japonskih razglednic v Sloveniji. 
* Chikako SHIGEMORI BUČAR, Izredna profesorica,Oddelek za azijske študije, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenia.chikako.bucar[at]guest.arnes.si 

Uvod 
Leta 2013 smo na Oddelku za azijske študije na Filozofski fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani s skupno pobudo sinologov, japonologov in koreanistov začeli z razi­skavo “Vzhodnoazijske zbirke v Sloveniji – Identifikacija, kategorizacija in digi­talizacija vzhodnoazijskih umetnostno-zgodovinskih zbirk in ostalega gradiva”.Med raziskovanjem v letih 2014–16 sem bila pozorna na več zanimivih razgle­dnic z Japonske, ki so ohranjene v različnih ustanovah po Sloveniji. Ta prispevek je poročilo o lokacijah in zgodovinskih okoliščinah posameznih zbirk japonskih razglednic v Sloveniji. V prispevku predstavljam vrste in značilnosti razglednic ter s slovenske (oz. srednjeevropske) perspektive analiziram “dobo razglednic” in funkcijo japonskih (in vzhodnoazijskih) razglednic v času med 1890 in 1920. 
V drugem poglavju na kratko predstavljam zgodovinske in družbene okoliščine slo­venskega in japonskega naroda v obravnavanem obdobju. V tretjem poglavju po­drobno opisujem ustanove, v katerih sem našla japonske razglednice, in ozadje po­sameznih zbirk. Nato razpravljam o »dobi razglednic«, obdobju konca devetnajstegastoletja in prve polovice dvajsetega stoletja, in razčlenjujem funkcijo razglednic vtistem času. Na koncu predstavljam še načrt za nadaljne raziskave in naloge, zlasti vpovezavi z razglednicami v zgodovinskem in sociološkem kontekstu. 

Zgodovinsko ozadje 
Tokrat sem analizirala 160 razglednic, ki so arhivirane v štirih različnih ustano­vah po Republiki Sloveniji. Čas, ko so te razglednice nastale, ko so jih natisnili in uporabili, sega od devetdesetih let devetnajstega stoletja do dvajsetih let dvajse­tega stoletja: to je čas, ko je slovenski narod živel v Avstro-Ogrske (do leta 1918) in nato postal del Kraljevine Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev, kasneje pa Kraljevine Jugoslavije. 
V času Avstro-Ogrske je bil skupen javni jezik, na primer v poštnem sistemu,nemški. Po letu 1918 se je zaradi sobivanja z drugimi južnoslovanskimi narodi uporabljalo več sosednjih jezikov. Raba jezikov se vidi tudi na razglednicah, ki so jih dejansko uporabljali kot sredstvo komunikacije. 
Na Japonskem pa sta bili to obdobji Meiji (do leta 1913) in Taisho (1913–1925).To je bil čas hitre industrializacije, večalo se je tudi število tujih obiskovalcev. V tem času sta bila del Japonske tudi Tajvan in Koreja. Po mirovni pogodbi v Shi­monosekiju po prvi kitajsko-japonski vojni so bili Japonski prepuščeni polotok Laodong, Tajvan, in otočje Penghu, leta 1910 pa je bila aneksirana še Koreja. Vsa ta območja so bila pod nadzorom Japonske do konca druge svetovne vojne. V okviru te raziskave sem našla tudi veliko razglednic, ki sicer predstavljajo pokra­jino, navade in znamenite kraje na Tajvanu in v Koreji, ki pa so jih oblikovali in natisnili japonski založniki, zato so napisi oz. razlage slik v japonščini. 
V dosedanji raziskavi sem v Piranu našla dvajset in v Celju šestnajst razglednic na osnovi fotografij, posnetih v današnji Koreji, na današnjem Kitajskem in na Tajva-nu. V primeru današnje Kitajske so to pristanišče Lushun (Ryojun / Port Arthur) in bojišče rusko-japonske vojne v Mandžurji. Ohranjene so tudi razglednice, ki prikazujejo navade in kraje iz Tajvana iz istega časa. Večina teh razglednic v ta prispevek še ni vključena in čaka na obdelavo, vemo pa, da so bile izdelane v tem obdobju v istem okviru kot druge japonske razglednice. 

Ustanove in zbirke 
V Tabeli 1 so imena ustanov, v katerih sem našla stare razglednice, ki predstavljajo japonske turistične kraje, pokrajino, ljudi in navade. Zraven vsake ustanove nava-jam še ime zbiralca, če je znano, število razglednic in čas nastanka oz. uporabe teh razglednic. Nekateri od zbiralcev, ki so bili sami na Japonskem, so prinesli s seboj ne samo razglednice, temveč tudi fotografije, knjige, umetnostne slike in pohištvo,oblačila ter drobne spominke, ki jih ravno tako hranijo te ustanove. V tem prispev­ku predstavljam samo razglednice. 
Ustanova  Zbirka( Ime zbiralca)  Število  Čas uporabe  
NUK, Ljubljana  ?  13  1899  
Biblioteka SAZU, Ljubljana  Ivan Jager  3  1902  
Ivan Koršič  28  1904–1914  
Pomorski muzej Sergeja Mašere, Piran  Viktor Kristan  61  1908–1909  
Anton Blaznik  16  1905–1913  
Matevž Štibil  3  1912  
Regionalni muzej v Celju  Alma Karlin  36  1922–1923  
skupaj  160  

Tabela 1: Ustanove, zbirke in čas uporabe japonskih razglednic 
Število in vrste razglednic, ki so navedene v tabeli, razkrivajo precejšnje zanima­nje Slovencev za Japonsko v obdobju od konca devetnajstega stoletja naprej. Kot sem omenila, je slovenski narod v tem času doživljal velike politične in družbene spremembe. S stališča vsakodnevnega življenja takratnih Slovencev je bil geograf­sko zelo oddaljeni “Daljni vzhod” ( Japonska in Vzhodna Azija) zunaj dosega in obiskali so ga lahko samo določeni privilegirani ljudje. Razglednice, ki jih obrav­navam na tem mestu, so bile verjetno dragocen vir informacije za manj privilegi­rane Slovence. Del radovednosti in občutkov Slovencev lahko razberemo tudi v rokopisnem besedilu na razglednicah, ki so bile dejansko poslane. 
V nadaljevanju sledi opis ustanov, predstavitev posameznih zbiralcev in ozadje posameznih zbirk, kolikor je znano. Analiziram tudi značilnosti razglednic. 
NUK, Ljubljana 
Najstarejše japonske razglednice, za katere vemo, da so ohranjene v današnji Re-publiki Sloveniji, so arhivirane v Narodni in univerzitetni knjižnici v Ljubljani.Enota za kartografsko in slikovno zbirko NUK-a hrani stare razglednice in fo­tografije z vsega sveta, ki predstavljajo zanimive pokrajine, ljudi in navade različ­nih krajev, razvrščene po današnjih imenih držav. V kategoriji “Japonska” je danes shranjenih štirinajst razglednic, med katerimi je tudi ena razglednica z zemljevi­dom Japonske in Japonskega morja (napisi v nemščini razlagajo pomorsko bitko med rusko-japonsko vojno). Ker je očitno, da je bila ta razglednica natisnjena v Evropi, je ne upoštevam kot japonsko, zato kot število ohranjenih japonskih razglednic v NUK-u navajam trinajst. Med trinajstimi razglednicami so bile štiri leta 1899 dejansko poslane. Vse štiri so bile s podpisom “Pepon” poslane z Japon­ske, natančno iz Nagasakija, Jokohame in Kobeja, trem različnim naslovnikom v današnjem Knežaku in Rakeku v Sloveniji. Besedilo je v nemščini in razberemo lahko tudi sorodsvene vezi nekaterih ljudi, ki so si dopisovali. V Tabeli 2 za vse štiri razglednice, poslane z Japonske, navajam, datum korespondence, vsebino fo­tografije, naslovnika idr. Na drugih devetih razglednicah ne vidimo sledi uporabe,glede na slog in način tiskanja pa se vidi, da so nastale v istem času. Najbrž je vse kupil “Pepon”, ko je bil na Japonskem, in je uporabil prej omenjene štiri razgle­dnice, druge pa prinesel nazaj v Slovenijo ali pa jih podaril enemu od naslovnikov. 
V Enoti za kartografsko in slikovno zbirko v NUK-u so mi povedali, da ni nobene informacije o tem, po kateri poti so te razglednice prišle v arhiv. 2 
Naziv Univerzitetna knjižnica v Ljubljani si je knjižnica pridobila šele leta 1938. Pred tem je bila najprej jezuitska in licejska knjižnica, sredi devetnasjtega stoletja pa Deželna študijska knjižnica znotraj Avstro-Ogrske. Po koncu prve svetovne vojne je leta 1919 s preimenovanjem v Držav-no študijsko knjižnico postala osrednja knjižnica za vso Slovenijo. Ob ustanovitvi prve slovenske univerze v Ljubljani leta 1919 je knjižnica prevzela še funkcije in naloge centralne univerzitetne knjižnice. Vse do izgradnje Plečnikove stavbe leta 1941 so bile knjige in gradiva ohranjeni v 18 različnih čitalnicah. (Zgodovina NUK) 
Pošta na Japonskem  Datum  Vsebina fotografije  Naslovnik  Opombe  
Nagasaki  15. 6. 1899  Mati s pahljačo v roki gleda na spečega otroka (fotografija je približno 1/5 cele površine)  Oberförster Scholl-mayer, Mašun(?) Post Grafenbrunn b. St. Peter Krain  danes Kne­žak,tikanje  
Nagasaki  15. 6. 1899  Reka in most (Brez pripisa. Fotografija je približno 1/2 cele površne.)  Wilhelmina Gräfin Li-chtenberg in HallersteinPost Altenmarkt Rakek Krain  danes Ra-kek,vikanje  
Jokohama  6. 7. 1899  Hakone Yumoto, slap Tamadare no taki (fotografija je 1/2 površine)  Wilhelmina Gräfin Li-chtenberg in HallersteinPost Altenmarkt Rakek Krain  danes Ra-kek,vikanje  
Kobe  25. 7. 1899  Kobe Oriental Hotel,Irisov vrt v Horikiriju (Tokio), gora Fuji s snegom (tri različne scene krasi približno 2/3 površne)  frau Marie SchollmayerMašun pri Grafenbrunn bei St. Peter Krain  piše (njen) brat Pepon  

Tabela 2: Podatki o štirih uporabljenih razglednicah v NUK-u 

Slika 1: Čajna hiša v Hikoneju [levo] in Kobe Oriental Hotel, irisov vrt v Horikiriju in gora Fuji s snegom [desno] (NUK) 
Glede na datume na štirih razglednicah domnevamo, da je pisec z vzdevkom Pe­pon potoval na križarki SMS Kaiserin Elizabeth.3 Naslovniki so bili višji gozdar4 in njegova žena ter grofica5 na Notranjskem, v Knežaku oz. na Rakeku. Po besediluvidimo, da sta pisec in gozdarjeva žena brat in sestra, grofico v Rakeku je pisec vikal. 
Vse japonske razglednice v NUK-u predstavljajo takratne japonske pokrajine in lju­di. V primerjavi z novejšimi razglednicami, ki so bile narejene v dvajsetem stoletju,je razlika v tem, da je na sprednji strani s fotografijo vedno nekaj prostora pod foto­grafijo ali pa na njeni levi oz. desni strani, kamor so uporabniki lahko pisali besedilo.Razlaga fotografije je navadno v angleščini natisnjena takoj pod fotografijo ali nafotografiji. To kaže, da so bile te razglednice narejene za tuje obiskovalce, v večiniprimerov iz zahodnih držav. Fotografije na teh razglednicah prikazujejo veliko šin­toistično svetišče Kasuga v Nari (Kasuga taisha), vrata Yomei (Yomeimon) in zgradbo za Mahavairocano (Dainichido) v Nikkoju, Ogiya v Ojiju,Tokio, čajno hišo v Hiko­neju, prikaz japonskega čajnega obreda idr. Vse to so rjavkaste črno-bele fotografije,druge fotografije pa so črno-bele fotografije z barvami, ki so bile nanešene ročno.Motivi na barvnih razglednicah so pogled na goro Fudži iz vasi Omiya, gora Fudžiin slapovi Shiraito, sprevod nosilnic čez Hakone in štirje zgoraj opisani (v Tabeli 2). 

Biblioteka SAZU, Ljubljana: Jagrova zbirka 
Nekoliko novejše razglednice iz Japonske najdemo v Biblioteki SAZU v Ljubljani,med razglednicami v zapuščini Ivana Jagra. Ivan oz. John Jager se je rodil v bližiniBistre pri Vrhniki leta 1871 in po končanem visokošolskem študiju na Visoki tehni­ški šoli na Dunaju ga je avstrijska vlada poslala na Kitajsko da bi obnovil v boksarskivstaji leta 1901 porušeno avstrijsko poslaništvo v Pekingu.6 Med bivanjem na Kitaj­skem je Jager spoznal vzhodno azijsko kulturo in se začel zanimati ter zbirati obla-čila in manjše kose kitajske svile, japonske lesoreze, orožje in branike mečev tsubaitd. Leta 1902 se je preselil v ZDA in je živel v Minneapolisu, kjer je bil aktiven kotarhitekt in strokovnjak za urbanizem itd. V njegovi zbirki je tudi veliko knjig o filo­zofiji, zgodovini, arhitekturi, antropologiji in jezikoslovju. Jagrova zbirka, ki je zdajohranjena v Biblioteki SAZU, je bila donacija Jagrove vdove (Pajsar 2007) in mednjimi so tri razglednice z Japonske. Dve sta bili uporabljeni in popisani v slovenščinikot korespondenca med Ivanom Jagrom in takratno zaročenko Selmo, ki je živela na 
3 Zahvaljujem se za pomoč ge. Nani Miyata, Österr. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, Institut 
für Neuzeit- u. Zeitgeschichts-forschung. 4 Oberförster 5 Gräfin 6 O Ivanu (Johnu) Jagru glej Rothaus 2013 in Čeplak Mencin 2012, 140–1. 
Dunaju. Datuma v besedilu sta 29. december 1901 in 10. januar 1902, po poštnemžigu pa vidimo, da sta obe prispeli na Dunaj januarja 1902. 

Slika 2: Trganje čajnih listov (Biblioteka SAZU) 
Sestava oz. oblika teh razglednic je podobna tistim v NUK-u, ki sem jih predsta­vila v prejšnjem poglavju. Del fotografije na sprednji strani je manjši od celotne površine razglednice, pokriva od polovice do dveh tretjin razglednice, pod foto­grafijo ali zraven nje je še prostor za besedilo. Fotografije so črno-bele s kasnejšim ročnim barvanjem. Motivi so svetišče Nanko pri Kobeju, trganje čajnih listov z ozadjem gore Fudži, kamnit most, vsi brez razlag.Tisk na hrbtni strani (za naslove idr.) je v istem formatu kot razglednice v NUK-u, npr. napis “razglednica Univer­zalne poštne unije”........ (Bankoku yubin rengo hagaki) je napisan po japonsko z desne proti levi. 

Slika 3: Hrbtna stran razglednice Trganje čajnih listov (Biblioteka SAZU) 

Pomorski muzej Sergeja Mašere v Piranu 
Pomorski muzej Serjega Mašere v Piranu je zanimiv, ker se specializira za zgodo-vino pomorskih dejavnosti v tem kraju in njegovi okolici, najprej v avstrijskem in nato avstro-ogrskem času, kasneje pa v Sloveniji v okviru Jugoslavije. Hrani tudi gradivo o pomorstvu v povojni Jugoslaviji (Marinac 2005). Ima več zbirk in število razglednic v posameznih zbirkah je tudi večje. Veliko je tudi razglednic in fotogra­fij, ki prikazujejo življenje pomorščakov v času, ko se je politična ureditev spremi­njala. Kot drugo značilnost zbirk v tem muzeju lahko omenim, da so razglednice in/ali fotografije zbrane v albumih. 
Osrednje pristanišče avstro-ogrske mornarice je bilo na začetku v Benetkah, nato v Trstu, po letu 1856 pa v Pulju. Na začetku dvajsetega stoletja je bila avstro-ogr-ska mornarica ena najmočnejših na svetu, leta 1914 je bilo v njej na primer skoraj dvajset tisoč vojakov. Narodnostno je bila zelo pisana: v njej so sodelovali Hrvati,Madžari, Avstrijci, Italjani, Slovenci, Poljaki, Čehi, Slovaki idr. (povzeto po letaku Muzeja Sergeja Mašere). Zbirke, ki sem jih našla med tokratno raziskavo, so na-stale v času Avstro-Ogrske, zato so poštni naslovi ter besedila na razglednicah v različnih jezikih, npr. slovenskem, hrvaškem, nemškem, italjanskem. 
Koršičeva zbirka 
Najstarejša zbirka japonskih razglednic, ki se hrani v Pomorskem muzeju v Pi-ranu, je album Ivana Koršiča. Ivan Koršič se je rodil 1870 v Solkanu, postal je katoliški duhovnik in je služboval pri avstro-ogrski mornarici kot mornariški su­perior (vojaški škof ). Koršič sam pa ni nikoli potoval v Vzhodno Azijo, vendar so mu številni mornarji pošiljali razglednice z vsega sveta. Skupaj naj bi imel osem albumov, v katerih je ohranjenih 1871 fotografij in razglednic (Čeplak 2012, 98).Med njimi sem našla osemindvajset razglednic, ki prikazujejo japonske pokrajine in navade. Tri razglednice so črno-bele fotografije, druge pa, kakor sem ugotovila tudi pri drugih zbirkah, črno-bele fotografije z dodatnim obarvanjem. 
Motivi na teh razglednicah so: pristanišča (Nagasaki, Kobe, Jokohama), prizori iz mesta Tokio, stara svetišča in templji. Na 16 razglednicah vidimo pripis pod fo­tografijo (naslov fotografije) v japonščini in angleščini (japonščina je napisana po takratnem pravopisnem pravilu z desne proti levi). Med razglednicami brez pripi­sa so takšne, ki prikazujejo japonske navade in običaje: rikše; dekle, ki je oblečeno v kimono in igra na piščal; dekleti, ki plešeta v sobi; dekleta na japonskem vrtu;ženske na vrtu pod glicinijo idr. Na razglednici, ki prikazuje japonsko mizarsko delo s tremi mizarji oz. tesarji, je napis »CARPENTERS« v angleščini. 

Slika 4: Yokohama (Koršičeva zbirka, Pomorski muzej v Piranu) 

Slika 5: Ikuta tempelj, Kobe (Koršičeva zbirka, Pomorski muzej v Piranu) 
Na treh od osemindvajset razglednic je na sprednji strani približno petina površi­ne prostora za korespondenco. Na vseh drugih je fotografija po celi površini: ker so vse razglednice v tem albumu nalepljene, ne moremo pogledati na hrbtno stran.Po raziskavi Urakawe (2008 East Asia Image Collection Blog: 133) vemo, da so se japonske razglednice preoblikovale marca 1907 in od takrat je del hrbtne strani namenjen besedilu korespondence. To se pravi, da so bile tiste razglednice v Kor-šičevi zbirki, na katerih je fotografija po celotni površini sprednje strani, verjetno natisnjene po aprilu 1907. Vemo tudi, da je Koršič zbiral razglednice in fotografije med letoma 1904 in 1914. 

Slika 6: Dekle igra na piščal (Koršičeva zbirka, Pomorski muzej v Piranu) 

Slika 7: CARPENTERS (Koršičeva zbirka, Pomorski muzej v Piranu) 
Izmed osemindvajset japonskih razglednic v Koršičevi zbirki jih je deset, na katerihje tudi besedilo oz. korespondenca. Na nekaterih vidimo tudi poštne žige in sledipoštnih znamk, ki so bile odstranjene. Tako vemo, da je bila vsaj polovica teh ja­ponskih razglednic dejansko uporabljena oz. odposlana iz pristanišč na Japonskemali nekje v Vzhodni Aziji. V tej zbirki večkrat vidimo podpis iste osebe, ZvonimirjaOžegovića. Po arhiviranih podatkih v Pomorskem muzeju je bil Ožegović rojenleta 1885 in delal kot vodja stroja 1. reda (podčastnik). Pogosto je pisal Koršiču: leta1904 iz Kobeja, 1905 iz Kobeja in Jokohame, 1907 zopet iz Jokohame in 1908 izKobeja in Nagasakija. Vsakič je dopisal nekaj besedila in se podpisal zraven foto­grafije (če je bilo prostora za besedilo) ali tudi čez fotografijo. Njegovo besedilo jevedno v nemščini. Obstaja tudi podpis Alojza Tepine, za katerega vemo, da je bil nakrižarki Kaiserin Elizabeth: leta 1910 je poslal razglednico iz Jokohame.7 

Kristanova zbirka 
Pomorski muzej Sergeja Mašere je junija leta 2014 pridobil nove albume ViktorjaKristana. V dveh med njimi lahko vidimo razglednice in fotografije iz Japonske insosednih držav. Kristan se je rodil v Šentvidu pri Stični in je bil intendantski častnikna križarki Leopold. Na poti je zbral tri albume fotografij. Na platnici vidimo datu-ma odhoda in vrnitve križarke: S. M. S. Leopard, 15. IV. 1907–18. IV. 1909. 
Med vsemi zbirkami, ki sem jih obravnavala v tej raziskavi, ima Kristanova zbirka največ razglednic z Japonske, kar enainšestdeset. Po vsebini jih lahko razdelimo na tri skupine. 
Največja skupina razglednic prikazuje japonska mesta, svetišča in templje.Te foto­grafije so črno-bele, a so dodatno obarvane, natisnjene po celi površini razglednice in imajo kratko razlago (ponavadi krajevno ime ali naziv svetišča) v japonščini in angleščini. Poleg že zgoraj omenjenih znanih pristanišč so na njih še mesta Shi­monoseki, Moji, Kagoshima in svetišča v teh mestih, park in gostišče v Itsukushi-mi, grad v Nagoyi, Hotel Monju pri znamenitem kraju Ama no hashidate, pogled na goro Fudži z različnih strani, cesarjeva palača v Tokiu idr. 
Druga skupina razglednic v Kristanovi zbirki prikazuje življenje, navade in poklice takratnih Japoncev. Tudi te razglednice so prvotno črno-bele s kasnejšim bar-vanjem, nimajo pa pripisa oz. razlage. Ženski v kimonu, ki se priklanjata pred hišnimi vrati, skupina ljudi na čolnih v ribniku na japonskem vrtu, moški na vrtu perunik, okras pred hišo za praznik dečkov idr. 
Za podatke o zbiralcih in pomorščakih v zvezi z razglednicami v Pomorskem muzeju Sergeja Mašere v Piranu se zahvaljujem kustosinji g. Marinac. 

Slika 8: Kristanov album (Pomorski muzej v Piranu) 
V zbirki pa so tudi razglednice, ki predstavljajo japonsko življenje znotraj hiše,npr. tri dekleta, ki skupaj prebirajo časopis. Med njimi so tudi trije nepobarvani črno-beli posnetki lutk, ki so oblečene v japonske zgodovinske noše: po napisih vidimo, da so to dvorne dame, fevdalni gospod in žena fevdalnega gospoda v ob-dobju Tokugawa. Ti napisi so samo v japonščini, napisani z desne proti levi po takratnem pravopisu. 
V tretji skupini so razglednice, na katerih vidimo vojne ladje in pristanišča ter bojišča na takratnem japonskem ozemlju na korejskem polotoku in v Mandžu­rji. Zanimive so razglednice z napisom »Russian Cruiser Variag off Chemulpo«,»Exprosion of the Corietz«8 in »The Corietz and a Transporter«. Najverjetneje so to fotografije, ki jih je posnel novinar na japonskih vojnih ladjah. So črno-bele in pripis na vsaki od teh razglednic je v angleščini in japonščini. 
Kot sem že omenila, je bil Kristan od druge polovice leta 1907 do prve polovice 1909 na križarki Leopard, kar pomeni, da je nekaj let po končanem rusko-japon-ski vojni potoval po vzhodnoazijskih pristaniščih. Vidimo, da je bilo možno dobiti take posnetke v obliki razglednic v tem času. 
V Kristanovi zbirki, pa tudi v Blaznikovi, je kar nekaj razglednic, ki prikazujejo ljudi in navade v Koreji in na Tajvanu, a jih v tokratno raziskavo nisem vključila.Upam, da bodo kmalu pravilno identificirane in uvrščene v ustrezni obliki. 
S tipično japonsko napako v črkovanju (explosion/exprosion). 

Slika 9: Oblačila iz obdobja Tokugawa (Kristanova zbirka, Pomorski muzej v Piranu) 



Blaznikova zbirka 
V Pomorskem muzeju Sergeja Mašere v Piranu je tudi album Avgusta Bla­znika. Blaznik je bil rojen v Fari pri Kostelu na Kočevskem in je končal po­doficirsko artilerijsko šolo v Šibeniku. Do leta 1918 je delal na različnih lad-jah. Njegova zbirka je ohranjena tudi v albumu, na njegovi sprednji platnicividimo naslov »BLASNIK A. 1905–1913«. Tematika njegovega zbiranja jebila nedvomno vojna ladja, vendar med razglednicami in fotografijami ladijnajdemo tudi pokrajine, znamenitosti raznih krajev, pristanišča ipd. Japonskihrazglednic je v tem albumu šestnajst in vidimo lahko podobnosti s Kristanovozbirko: čeprav so razglednice z Japonske maloštevilne, so vseh treh vrst: pokra­jina in mestni prizori, navade in poklici ter vojne ladje. Najbolj zanimivo pritem albumu je, da vidimo razglednice vojnih ladij iz časa Japonskega imperija.Ohranjene so razglednice križark Mogami, Izumo in Takachiho. 
V Blaznikovem albumu je kar nekaj fotografij in razglednic, ki prikazujejopokrajino takratnega japonskega ozemlja na celini (npr. mesto Dalian/Dairen,koncesija pri Inchonu, bojišča pri pristanišču Ryojun – Port Arthur, bojiščeShojusan). Vse te razglednice (in fotografije) so črno-bele. 

Štibilova zbirka 
Pomorski muzej Sergeja Mašere hrani tudi predmete, ki so bili v lasti Ma-tevža Štibila, rojenega leta 1890 v Struženem pri Kranju. Postal je inštruktortopništva v avstro-ogrski mornarici in služboval na ladjah Tegetthoff, MariaTheresia in Prinz Eugen. V njegovi zbirki so tri japonske razglednice, ki so mujih verjetno njegovi učenci poslali iz kitajskih pristanišč. Na eni od teh razgle­dnic je razvidno, da je bila oddana v Tjanjinu 9. februarja 1912. Na naslovu sevidi, da je bil naslovnik Štibil z ladjo Maria Theresia enkrat v pristanišču Trst,drugič pa v Pulju. Tretja razglednica je poslana na ladjo Tegetthoff v pristani-šču Pulj. Naslovi so napisani v nemščini in italjanščini, besedilo dopisovanjapa je slovensko. 

Motivi teh razglednic so mlada Japonka v prazničnem kimonu z japonsko pri-česko (črno-bela fotografija brez napisa); dekleti v takratnih kopalkah z rokaviin do kolen, ki ležita na pesku (črno-bela fotografija z dodanimi barvami) innarisana obmorska pokrajina s kočo, borom in pticami. Polovica hrbtne (na­slovne) strani prvih dveh razglednic je namenjena za besedilo. Tretja razgle­dnica ima tudi del za korespondenco in v sredini naslovne strani vidimo napisMADE IN JAPAN. 
218 Chikako Shigemori Bučar: Zbirke starih japonskih razglednic v Republiki Sloveniji Asian Studies V (XXI), 1 (2017), pp. 203–225 219 





Pokrajinski muzej v Celju 
Pokrajinski muzej Celje hrani obsežno zbirko predmetov, ki jih je zbrala Alma Maksimilijana Karlin na potovanju okoli sveta med letoma 1919 in 1928. Med njenimi razglednicami so tudi japonske, ki prikazujejo Japonsko v obdobju Taisho.To so nekoliko novejše razglednice v primerjavi s tistimi, ki jih hranijo v NUK-u,Biblioteki SAZU in v Pomorskem muzeju Sergeja Mašere v Piranu. 
Alma Karlin se je rodila leta 1889 v Celju (Cilli). Starši so bili Slovenci, a so za vzgojo Alme uporabljali izključno nemški jezik. Kasneje je kot novinarka in pisa­teljica pisala v nemškem jeziku. Kot mlado dekle se je v Londonu, Oslu in Stoc­kholmu naučila številnih jezikov, ki jih je poučevala v domačem Celju. Leta 1919 je šla na potovanje okoli sveta in preko Peruja ter Havajijev junija 1922 prispela na Japonsko. Malo več kot eno leto je ostala na Japonskem, v glavnem v Tokiu, in nato nadaljevala pot na Korejo, Kitajsko, Polinezijo itd. V Slovenijo se je vrnila leta 1927. Z Japonske je poleg razglednic prinesla fotografije, ki jih je vsaj del posnela sama, drobne vsakdanje predmete in turistične spominke ter oblačila (yukata idr.).O svojem potovanju je pisala članke in jih pošiljala v nemške in angleške časopisne hiše. Na osnovi njenega pisanja in predmetov v zbirki lahko rekonstruiramo pre­cejšnji del njenega potovanja okrog sveta (Stanonik 1983; Trnovec 2011). 
Večina razglednic, ki jih je Alma Karlin poslala svoji materi in prijateljicam v Celju, prinesla domov ali pa s potovanja poslala domov z drugimi predmeti, je danes ohranjena v Pokrajinskem muzeju v Celju. Med njimi jih je 36 z Japonske.Številčno jih ni veliko, vendar je ta zbirka v primerjavi s prejšnjimi zbirkami bolj raznolika. Alma Karlin je živela na Japonskem leto dni in nekaj časa delala za nemško veleposlaništvo.To pomeni, da je bila v stiku z Japonci in tujci, ki so takrat živeli na Japonskem, in ti so jo morda peljali na različne japonske kraje, ali pa je sama obiskala kraje, za katere je slišala, da so zanimivi. Tudi časovno je ta zbirka več kot osem let mlajša od drugih, kar pomeni, da so razglednice tudi novejše in z več novimi idejami pri oblikovanju. Med tem časom je cesar Meiji umrl in Japon-ska je začela novo obdobje, Taisho. 
Največ razglednic v zbirki Alme Karlin prikazuje svetišče Meiji v Tokiu. Med nji-mi so: narisana skica celotnega svetišča, črno-bele fotografije posameznih zgradb ali vrat, ki so opremljene z razlago v japonščini. Posebno zanimiva je razglednica,ki nam kaže, da je bilo obdobja Meiji že konec, črno-bela fotografija treh lutk, ki so jih takrat postavili v nekdanji hiši generala Nogi iz rusko-japonske vojne. 
V tej zbirki vidimo tudi pokrajinske in turistične razglednice, ki predstavljajo Tokio(park v Asakusi; svetišče v Kandi; rdeča vrata Tokijske cesarske univerze; zadnji dvesta narisani in imata japonski napis), Beppu, Ashikaga, Kjoto, Nara (templja Daian--ji in Horyuji), Itsukushima, Kamakura, lokalni praznik v Akiti, gore Sagami Oya­ma,Tochigi Taihei-san idr.Ravno v času,ko je Alma Karlin prispela na Japonsko,sov predelu Ueno v Tokiu prirejali Razstavo miru (The Tokyo Peace Exhibition ......... ). Najbolj verjetno je šla na razstavo, ker je od tam tudi razglednicalutke “ples” kiparja Nakatanija Gankoja (.... 1868–1937). 
V tej zbirki sem našla tudi šest razglednic novega tipa.To so posnetki naravne kata­strofe na Japonskem. Dve prikazujeta prizora v starem predelu Tokia (Minami senjuin Mukojima) takoj po veliki poplavi avgusta 1910, ostale štiri pa kažejo škodo, kijo je v starem predelu Tokia (Aioi-bashi, Fukagawa, Etchujima, Suzugamori) julija1911 povzročil cunami. Vidimo, da so prebivalci v času poplave v čolnih veslali pomestu. Po cunamiju pa so naredili posnetke lesene barke in torpedovke, ki ju jenaplavilo na kopno. Vsi posnetki so črno-beli in pod vsakim posnetkom je kratkarazlaga v japonščini, natisnjena z desne proti levi. Originalni napisi so v Tabeli 3. 
Besedilo pod posamezno fotografijo  

1 ................ .........  
(velika poplava avgusta 1910, Mukojima Ushi no gozen)  
2 .............(......) (velika poplava avgusta 1910, Minami senju tenno-mae)  
3 ....................................... (Po cunamiju ob dveh zjutraj 26. julija 1911, Aioibashi Nakashima)  

Besedilo pod posamezno fotografijo  
4 ................................. 
...   
(Po cunamiju ob dveh zjutraj 26. julija 1911, lesena barka na cesti Kurofunebashi dori, Fukagawa)  
5 ................(...)............. (Cunami zgodaj zjutraj 26. julija 1911, torpedovka na Etchujimi)  
6 ................(...)........ (Cunami zgodaj zjutraj 26. julija 1911, Suzugamori in okolica)  

Tabela 3: Napisi na fotografijah naravnih katastrof v zbirki Alme Karlin 

Slika 16: Lutka “Ples” kiparja Naktanija Gankoja (Zbirka Alme Karlin, Pokrajinski muzej v Celju) 

Slika 17: Po cunamiju ob 2:00. 26. julija 1911: lesena barka na cesti Kurofunebashi dori, Fukagawa (Zbirka Alme Karlin, Pokrajinski muzej v Celju) 

Tretja razglednica v tabeli, most Aioibashi, je bila tudi uporabljena: naslovljenaje na Almo Karlin na njenem celjskem naslovu, nalepljena je angleška poštnaznamka za en peni9. Na tretjini hrbtne strani, namenjeni korespondenci, piše:“Tu je šest kartic, ki prikazujejo škodo zaradi (japonskega) cunamija v pred­mestju Tokia, 26. julija lani. N. G.”.10 Na koncu naslova pa piše Avstrija, karpomeni, da te razglednice ni dobila med svojim potovanjem okoli sveta, ampakpred odhodom, ko je bila še v Celju, od znanca v Angliji. Ne glede na to, kako jerazglednica prišla v Almino last, vidimo, da so imele japonske razglednice protikoncu obdobja Meiji funkcijo posredovanja novic. 
Med razglednicami v zbirki Alme Karlin so tudi take, ki predstavljajo pokra­jino in navade takratne Koreje in Tajvana. 11 korejskih razglednic skupaj z39 fotografijami iz Koreje v Alminini zbirki sem podrobno obravnavala leta2012 v članku v angleščini.11 Razglednice s Tajvana v zbirki pa še čakajo na obdelavo. 
9 Rdeča znamka z obrazom kralja Jurija V., ki so jo uporabljali okoli 1911–1912. 10 These six cards are the photos of the damage caused by the tsunami (Japanese) in skirt of Tokyo,
on the 26th July last. N.G. 11 “Koreans and citizens of the Habsburg monarchy or its successor-states: early individual encoun­
ters (until 1950)” na Koreanistiki Dunajske univerze, 30.–31. januarja 2012
Chikako Shigemori Bučar: “A Slovenian woman in Korea: Alma Karlin’s observations”, Koreans 
and Danubians – Early informal contacts, Praesens, Vienna. 


Doba razglednic in funkcija razglednic 
Večina starih razglednic, ki sem jih analizirala v tem prispevku, je bila oblikovana za tuje, zlasti zahodne obiskovalce Japonske. Najbolj pogosti motivi so bili mesta in zgodovinske znamenitosti, prizori iz vsakdanjega življenja takratnih Japoncev (hiše, vrtovi, stanovanja, pričeske, oblačila), vrste poklicev in prazniki. Podobne razglednice najdemo tudi danes, čeprav so se tudi druga komunikacijska sredstva precej razvila. Morda je danes manj razglednic, ki prikazujejo oblačila in poklice,ker je zaradi globalizacije vedno manj razlik med navadami in življenjem ljudi različnih kultur. 
V zbirki Viktorja Kristana v Pomorskem muzeju sta bili razglednici, na katerih smo videli eksplozijo ruske vojne ladje in potop ruske križarke Varjag. V Celju sem v zbirki Alme Karlin našla razglednice, na katerih so bili posnetki takoj po naravnih nesrečah, po poplavi avgusta 1910 in neurju 26. julija 1911. Te razgle­dnice so igrale vlogo današnjega časopisa oz. radia in televizije, ki posredujejo trenutne dogodke in poročajo o nesrečah. Namesto da bi objavljali fotografije o dogodkih v časopisju, so jih oblikovali v razglednice, podobne tistim iz znamenitih krajev, in jih skušali na isti način prodajati tujim obiskovalcem. Na začetku dvajse­tega stoletja so v Evropi še vedno samo nekateri posamezniki dobivali tuje revije in časopise, verjetno z zamudo. V tem času pa se je poštni sistem po vsem svetu hitro razvijal in tudi Slovenija, ki je bila del takratne Avstro-Ogrske, se je pove­zovala z Japonsko, ki v obdobju Meiji hitro urejala poštni sistem po zahodnem vzorcu. V prvi polovici dvajsetega stoletja, ko še ni bilo televizije, so te razglednice s fotografijami, ki so posredovale novice o dogodkih, najbrž precej vplivale na pre­bivalce manjših evropskih krajev. Lahko rečemo, da so bile razglednice, skupaj s poštnim sistemom, pomemben medij, s pomočjo katerega so ljudje lahko izvedeli za dogodke v oddaljenih krajih. 
V kontekstu tokratne raziskave lahko rečem, da je bilo obdobje od konca devet­najstega stoletja do prve polovice dvajsetega stoletja za Slovence »doba razglednic«. 

Sklep 
Predvidevam, da je v Sloveniji še več ustanov, ki hranijo stare japonske razgle­dnice. To so pokrajinski muzeji in knjižnice, ki jih sodelavci Oddelka za azijskeštudije še nismo obiskali. Morda obstajajo tudi zasebne zbirke. V tem člankusem obravnavala zbirke samo do leta 1923, vendar je velika možnost, da obstaja­jo tudi zbirke razglednic iz kasnejših let, tridesetih in štiridesetih let dvajsetegastoletja. Funkcija novejših razglednic je verjetno drugačna. V primeru Slovenije, ki je bila po drugi svetovni vojni del Socialistične federativne republike Jugosla­vije, je bilo razmerje med razglednicami in komunikacijo po radiu in televizijimorda drugačno kot v zahodnih državah. Tudi po številu turistov in poznej­šem razvoju poštnega in telefonskega sistema v novejšem času bi verjetno našliposebnosti. 
Zanimiva je tudi povezava med razvojem fotografske tehnike in razglednicami na Japonskem od obdobja Edo dalje v Meiji. Saito (2004) na primer piše, da so najprej tuji fotografi iz zahoda fotografirali japonske pokrajine in ljudi, nato so se posamezni Japonci naučili fotografiranja in počasi v pristaniščih in večjih mestih odprli svoje fotografske studie. 
V zbirkah v Pomorskem muzeju vidimo več primerov, pri katerih so razglednice in fotografije mešano spravljene v albumih. Za fotografije pa večkrat ne vemo, ali so jih posneli posamezni zbiralci oz. potniki ali pa so jih na potovanju kupili. V nadaljnem raziskovanju se bom posvetila tudi razliki med komercialnimi razgle­dnicami in fotografijami ter zasebnimi fotografskimi posnetki. 

Viri in literatura 
Čeplak Mencin, Ralf. 2012. V deželi nebesnega zmaja: 350 let stikov s Kitajsko. Lju­bljana: Založba *cf.
Barclay, Paul. 2014. “How to Ascertain the Date (or Time Period) of Pre­war Japanese Picture Postcards.” East Asia Image Collection Blog, La­fayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. Dostop 15.3.2017. http://sites.lafayette.edu/eastasia/2014/09/04/how-to-ascertain-the-date-or-time­period-of-a-japanese-postcard/.
Marinac, Bogdana. 2005. “The Memories of the Journey of the His Majesty Ship Saida: The Austro-Hungarian Military Navy Ship Journeys as Seen through the Eyes of Slovenian Seamen.” Museo del Mare ‘Sergej Mašera’ Piran (muzejski letak).
Pajsar, Breda. 2008. “Knjižnica Ivana Jagra v fondu Bibilioteke SAZU.” V Sedem­deset let Biblioteke Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti. Ljubljana: SAZU. Park, Mijeong. 2014 Teikoku shihai to chosen hyosho, Nichibunken sosho 52. Kyoto: Nichibunken. 
Podberšič, Renato. 2010.“Ivan Koršič.”V Tvorci slovenske pomorske identitete. Živ-ljenje in dela VI, Biografske in bibliografske študije 4, uredil Andrej Rahten,137–47. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC.
Pomorski muzej v Piranu (b.n.l.) Slovene Seamen in The Austro-Hungarian Navy (letak). 
Rothaus, Richard. 2013. “John Jager: Unknowm Prairie Architect in Minne­sota. Part1.” SAH Blog. Dostop 25.8.2016. http://www.sah.org/publica-tions-and-research/sah-blog/sah-blog/2013/05/15/john-jager-unknown­prairie-architect-in-minnesota.-part-1.
Saito, Takio ..... . 2004. Bakumatsu Meiji Yokohama shashinkan monogatari Rekishi bunka raiburarii 175 ......................— 175. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan..... . 
Shigemori, Chikako. 2016. “Surovenia kyowakoku hokan no ehagaki korekushon ....................... .” V Nihon teikoku no hyosho: seisei, kioku, keisho ........ ..·..·... (Izrazi Japonskega imperija: nastanki, spomini in dediščina), uredila Park Mi-jeoung ... in Rei Hasegawa .... , 219–44. Tokyo: Enishi shobo.
Stanonik, Janez. 1983. “Alma Maximiliana Karlin.” Australian Papers, 41–48. 
Trnovec, Barbara. 2011. Kolumbova hči: življenje in delo Alme M. Karlin (Colum­bus’s Daughter: Life and Work of Alma M. Karlin). Celje: Pokrajinski muzej.
Zgodovina NUK. 2016. Dostop 25.8.2016. http://www.nuk.uni-lj.si/nuk/ zgodovina-nuk. 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.227-249 



Analiza in kritično ovrednotenje Xu Fuguanoveinterpretacije koncepta qiyun shengdong .... 
Téa SERNELJ* 12 
Izvleček 
Članek obravnava Xu Fuguanovo analizo in interpretacijo koncepta qiyun shengdong .... , ki velja za enega od najpomembnejših, najbolj temeljnih in hkrati najtežje dojem­ljivih konceptov v kitajski estetiki in umetnosti. Nastal je v obdobju Wei Jin (220–420 n.št.), ki je eno od najbolj ustvarjalnih in prelomnih obdobij na področju kitajske estetike in umetnosti. Njegova kompleksnost se izraža tako v literarnih delih, slikarstvu, kaligrafiji in glasbi, kot tudi v literarni teoriji ter teoriji slikarstva, pri čemer se qi nanaša na zu­nanje značilnosti umetniškega dela, medtem ko izraža yun notranje značilnosti, ki so del človeške notranjosti oziroma človeškega duha, medtem ko shengdong pomeni manifestac­ijo, delovanje in zlitje obeh konceptov v umetniškem delu. 
Avtorica najprej predstavi Xu Fuguanovo interpretacijo in jo prikaže v kontekstu sodobnih debat o kitajski estetiki. V nadaljevanju se osredotoči na njegovo filološko in historično analizo semantičnega ter filozofskega razvoja obravnavanega koncepta in na koncu poda kritično evalvacijo njegove študije v kontekstu ponovnega ovrednotenja osnov klasične kitajske estetike. 
Ključne besede: Xu Fuguan, kitajska estetika, qiyun shengdong, chuanshen 
Analysis and Critical Evaluation of Xu Fuguan’s Interpretation of the Concept 
qiyun shengdong .... 

Abstract 
The present article deals with Xu Fuguan’s analysis and interpretation of qiyun sheng-dong, which is regarded as one of the most significant and fundamental, as well as com­plex, concepts in Chinese aesthetics. It was developed in the Wei Jin period (220–420 AD), which is considered the turning point in Chinese aesthetics and art. Its complexity is expressed in literary works, painting, calligraphy and music, as well as in literary and painting theory. In Xu’s interpretation, the concept of qi refers to the outward character­istics of the art work.The concept yun reflects the inner characteristics that are an integral part of the human spirit, while shengdong is merely a spontaneous and natural effect of the interaction between qi and yun. 
* Téa SERNELJ, Lektorica za sinologijo in doktorska študentka na Oddelku za azijske študije, Filozofske fakultete, Univerze v Ljubljanitea.sernelj[at]ff.uni-lj.si 

First, the author presents Xu Fuguan’s interpretation and places it in the context of con­temporary debates on Chinese aesthetics. The author then concentrates on Xu Fuguan’s philological and historical analysis of the semantic and philosophical development of the concept, and at the end gives a critical evaluation of his study in the context of the re-eval­uation of the basics of classical Chinese aesthetics. 
Ključne besede: Xu Fuguan, Chinese aesthetics, qiyun shengdong, chuanshen 

Uvod 
Xu Fuguan ... (1903–1982) je predstavnik druge generacije filozofske struje Modernih konfucijancev (Xinrujia ... ), ki si je prizadevala za revitalizacijo konfucijanstva ter z njim celotne kitajske antične idejne tradicije in ju želela pri­lagoditi procesom kitajske modernizacije (Rošker 2014, 68). 
Xu Fuguanov širok opus sega od političnih teorij do literarne kritike, pregleda in evalvacije kitajske antične filozofije, sociologije kulture, ter kitajske tradicionalne estetike. Ta članek obravnava Xu Fuguanovo analizo in interpretacijo koncepta qiyun shengdong, ki ga Xu razume kot najbolj temeljnega in esenčnega v tradi­cionalni kitajski estetiki. Bil je mnenja, da je za resnično dojetje esence kitajske umetnosti nujno razumevanje pomena koncepta qiyun shengdong. (Xu 2002, 84) 
Članek je strukturiran tako, da sledi Xujevi shemi analize omenjenega koncepta,v kateri najprej obravnava posamezne koncepte znotraj qiyun shengdonga, torej qi in yun, qiyun in nazadnje shengdong. Zadnje poglavje je namenjeno evalvaciji Xu­jeve interpretacije qiyun shengdonga, v kateri se članek dotakne problema Xujeve teze o absolutni samoniklosti in ekskluzivnosti nekaterih značilnosti tradicionalne kitajske estetike. 
Xu Fuguan je koncept qiyun shengdong podrobno obravnaval v svojem osrednjem delu Esenca duha kitajske umetnosti (Zhongguo yishu jingshen ...... ), ki ga je napisalleta 1966 v Tajbeju. V njem podrobno obravnava zgodovinski in idejno – filozofskirazvoj kitajske tradicionalne umetnosti in estetike. V omenjenem delu Xu konceptqiyun shengdong podrobno analizira in interpretira. To delo, ki mimogrede še ni biloprevedeno v nobenega od indoevropskih jezikov, je tudi temeljni vir tega članka. 
Qiyun shengdong .... se v zahodnih sinoloških in umetnostno teoretskih virih večinoma prevaja kot ritmična resonanca (rythmic resonance), resonanca duha (spirit resonance), ustvarjanje ritmične vitalnosti (create rythmic vitality), resonanca duha in gibanje življenja (spiritual resonance and life motion), pa tudi kot sklad­nost duha, ki ustvarja občutek življenja (spirit consonance engendering a sense of life) in podobno1. Xu Fuguan pa je kritičen do prevajanja yuna v smislu ritma ali resonance, ker meni, da ima yun dosti širši pojmovni spekter in je odvisen tudi od samega konteksta, v katerem se pojavlja. 
Qiyun shengdong kot estetski koncept prvič zapiše Xie He2 sredi petega stoletja v delu Zapisi o antičnem slikarstvu (Gu huapin lu .... )3 in sicer ga, kot bomo videli v nadaljevanju,postavi kot prvo in s tem tudi najpomembnejšo zakonitost slikarstva4. Sam koncept qiyun .. pa se pojavi že dosti prej in sicer najprej v poeziji. Ta princip ostane v veljavi vse do začetka dvajsetega stoletja, ko so ga japonski in kitajski teoretiki začeli povezovati z idejo subjektivizma in subjek­tivnega izražanja, kot nekaj, kar je bilo nasprotno od forme ter s tem objektivnosti zahodnega realizma (Vampelj Suhadolnik 2013, 97–98). 
Za razumevanje tega kompleksnega koncepta pa je osrednjega pomena tudi poznavanje družbenega ozadja in specifike obdobja, v katerem je nastal. 
1 Qiyun shengdong je, kot bomo videli v nadaljevanju, zaradi njegovega širokega spektra pomenov zelo težko ustrezno prevesti v indoevropske jezike. Avtorica članka predlaga, da se koncept qiyunohrani v izvirniku in se ga ne prevaja. Nekaj takih neprevedljivih konceptov se je že uveljavilo in se v zahodnih študijah uporablja v izvirniku, kot na primer koncepta dao. ali qi. . 
2 Xie He .. (aktiven okoli leta 479–502 n. št., t.j. v obdobju Wei Jin .. ) je bil slikar in umet­nostni kritik. Najbolj znan je po svoji definiciji šestih zakonitostih kitajskega slikarstva (huihua liufa .... ), ki jih je potrebno upoštevati v kritičnem presojanju slikarskega dela. Teh šest za­konitosti je zapisal v predgovoru h knjigi Zapisi o antičnem slikarstvu (Gu huapin lu .... ), v kateri razvrsti umetniška dela sedemindvajsetih slikarjev v tri razrede glede na umetniško vrednost njihovih del.Vsak razred ima še tri podrazrede.Teh šest zakonov se je skozi čas spreminjalo in do-bivalo drugačne in vselej nove pomene, vendar kljub temu v okviru kitajske estetike še danes veljajo za osnovni kriterij slikarske izobrazbe in presoje kritikov. Xie Hejevih šest zakonitosti je zapisanih v obliki paralelizmov, ki velja za tipično obliko zapisovanja v klasični kitajščini. Po Xu Fuguanu sta prvi dve pismenki jedro paralelizma, drugi dve pa se referirata na njegovo konkretno aplikacijo, ki se kaže v praksi. Samo prevajanje teh zakonitosti je še vedno predmet akademskih razprav. Razen prve zakonitosti, ki jo Xu Fuguan podrobno analizira in je jedro te raziskave, je prevod ostalih prevzet po interpretaciji Victorja H. Maira. 
3 Xie He navede posamezne zakonitosti v obliki numeričnega naštevanja, kar naj bi bilo po mnenju Victorja H. Maira (2004, 100) prevzeto po indijski teoriji slikarstva Sadangi. (Z vprašanjem vero­dostojnosti te hipoteze se članek ukvarja v zadnjem poglavju):.. , ...... : qiyun sheng-dong (qiyun je to, kar naredi delo živo),.. , ...... : gufa yongbi (gu se pravzaprav referira na qi, fa je metoda in yongbi pomeni uporaba čopiča, torej tehnika skozi katero se reprezentira qi); .. , ...... : yingwu xiangxing shi ye (ujemanje objektov se doseže skozi reprezentacijo oblik);.. , ...... : suilei fucai (glede na vrsto (objektov, oblik) se nanaša barve);.. , ...... : jingying weizhi (postavitev in pozicioniranje (objektov) skozi razporeditev in samo zgradbo);.. , ...... : chuanyi moxie shi ye (prenos poustvarjanje in kopiranje (starih moj­strov) skozi prenos modela (ibid.). 
4 Xie Hejevih šest zakonitosti je kljub temu, da je bila njegova teorija slikarstva takrat še na nek način v embrionalni fazi, kasneje postala koncizen, jasen in celovit sistem, ki je po Xujevem mnenju narejen mojstrsko (ibid.). 

Obdobje Wei Jin in rojstvo klasične kitajske estetike 
Obdobje Wei Jin (220–420 n.št.) velja za enega najbolj plodnih in ustvarjalnih obdobij na področju filozofije, umetnosti in psihologije v kitajski zgodovini. Kul­turno idejnemu preboju so botrovale velike družbeno politične spremembe, ki so nastale zaradi razpršenosti oblasti in vpadov nomadskih ljudstev iz severa (zlasti Hunov in kasneje ljudstva Xianbei), ki so začeli zavojevati sever Kitajske, kar je privedlo do množične migracije Han kitajskega prebivalstva iz visoko razvitega severa na sorazmerno nerazviti jug. Ekonomsko in družbeno politično oblast so prevzeli bogati aristokratski klani (zlasti klana Cao in Sima), ki so se (poleg iz­vajanja nenehnih političnih intrig in boja za prevlado) navduševali nad poezijo,kaligrafijo, pitjem vina in daoistično filozofijo, torej nad vsem, k čimer so se v tistih turbulentnih časih zatekali filozofi in umetniki5. 
To je privedlo do zatona študija konfucijanskih klasikov, ki so prevladovali v dinastijiHan, pri čemer moramo upoštevati dejstvo, da konfucianizem v dinastiji Han nimakaj dosti opraviti z izvornim konfucijanskim naukom, saj se je konfucijanstvo v di­nastiji Han zlilo z legalizmom, kar poznamo kot prvo reformo konfucijanstva, ki jeprivedla do konfucianizma kot državne doktrine. Po drugi strani pa so zatonu kon­fucijanstva botrovala tudi ljudstva na severu, ki niso nadaljevala s sistemom državnihizpitov, čigar zametke je postavil Han Wudi ... v Zahodnem Hanu. Posledično so uradniki izgubljali možnost pridobivanja visokih nazivov, hkrati pa so se vednobolj začeli usmerjati v umetnost, slikarstvo in literaturo. 
Kot odgovor na rigidnost hanskega konfucianizma in zavrnitev njegovih togih moralnih principov in standardov nastane neodaoizem, ki ga poznamo pod im­enom Šola misterijev (Xuanxue .. ), katere glavna predstavnika sta bila filozof Wang Bi .. in He Yan .. . Vsebina šole Xuanxue je v glavnem temeljila na filozofiji Laozija in Zhuangzija, vključevala pa je tudi nekatere konfucijanske elemente. Filozofske debate, v katere je bila vključena intelektualna elita in aris­tokratska smetana, so znane pod imenom Čisti pogovori (qingtan.. ). Ukvarjali so se z iskanjem nove morale, metafiziko in logiko. Čistim pogovorom so prisost­vovali tudi modreci iz bambusovega gozdička. (Rošker 2005, 86) 
Iz tega obdobja poznamo znamenitih Sedem modrecev iz bambusovega gaja (Zhulin qi xian .... ) med katerimi sta najbolj znana Ji Kang .. in Ruan Ji .. . Kljub temu, da je imela večina od njih možnost in priložnost delovanja na političnem nivoju, so se zaradi negotove politične situa­cije in izprijenosti ter koruptivnosti aristokratskih klanov, odločili za odmik v samoto, kjer so uživali v ustvarjanju poezije, glasbe, kaligrafije in filozofije. Političnim temam so se zavestno popolnoma odpovedali, predvsem zato, da si s kritiziranjem politične situacije ne bi ogrozili svobodnega živl­jenja in tvegali morebitnega obglavljenja ( Ji Kang na primer se temu na žalost ni mogel izogniti).To, k čemur so težili, je bilo uživanje življenja na najbolj spontan možen način, kar je znano kot Zhuangzijev xiaoyao you (svobodno in lahkotno lebdenje). 
Po Li Zehouju lahko o obdobju Wei Jin govorimo kot o prebujenju človekaoziroma ljudi (ren de juexing.... ). (Li 2003, 80) Za razliko od togegapoudarjanja starih tradicij, običajev, časti in moralne integritete, ki je bilo značil-no za dinastijo Han, pride v Wei Jinu v ospredje človek in njegova osebnost. Vumetnosti in literaturi obdobja Wei Jin so v središču zanimanja vrednost človeš­kega življenja in izražanje človeških čustev ter občutij; njegov značaj in njegovduh v smislu neomejenih potencialnih možnosti postane središče političnih,družbenih in kulturnih razprav. (ibid.) Kakšen je bil odnos do življenja, se na­jbolj jasno in neposredno kaže skozi poezijo tistega obdobja. Osrednje temev poeziji so bile zavedanje smrtnosti, minljivosti in kratkosti življenja, žalostin obžalovanje, strah pred prezgodnjo smrtjo, obenem pa čaščenje in uživanježivljenja dokler le-to traja. Estetski lepotni ideal vladajoče elite je bil v izrazučlovekove modrosti in vzvišenega značaja skozi impresivni zunanji izgled. 
Novonastali slog Wei Jina je bil torej zgrajen na zavedanju minljivosti življenja,predajanju užitkom in poglabljanju v filozofske razprave. Te se v prvi vrsti niso več toliko ukvarjale s človekovim opazovanjem narave kot raziskovanja zunanje­ga sveta (waizaishijiede tansuo....... ), temveč je bil poudarek na on-tologiji v smislu iskanja notranje substance (neizai shitide chuiqiu....... ), pri čemer je bilo bogastvo in raznolikost stvarnosti moč doseči samo takrat,ko so bile za to izpolnjene vse potencialne možnosti. To je pomenilo pridobiti vzvišeni duh, ki je primerljiv z duhom modrecev oziroma plemenitnikov, a vendar hkrati ohraniti človeške žalosti in radosti. Osredotočanje na človeško notranjost,ki ima neomejene možnosti namesto na zunanji svet, je bil hkrati kriterij lepote v umetnosti in srčika filozofije. Ta je v tem obdobju temeljila na Wang Bijevi on-tologiji binarne kategorije benmo .. (korenina in veje), pri kateri je prvo izvor in hkrati vir (dao) vseh stvari (wanwu.. ), slednje pa njihov konkretni (fizični) izraz. Wangova ontologija je bila osnovana na konceptu odsotnosti (yi wu wei ben.... ) (ibid. 84–86), ki pomeni: 
najizvornejši dao, ki je enak naravi, brezskrajnosti, novorojenemu, pre­prostosti in resnici. Ampak zakaj se imenuje “odsotnost”? Zato, ker je vse to – namreč dao, narava, preprostost, resnica – nepoimenljivo. Kakor hitro se pojavi ime, se dao izgubi. (Rošker 2005, 207) 
Wang Bijeva ontologija je močno vplivala na umetnost in estetiko obdobja Wei Jin. Po Xu Fuguanu in Li Zehouju se temeljni koncepti kitajske estetike, kot tudi literarna teorija in slikarstvo izgradijo ravno v obdobju Wei Jin in ne prej. 

Osrednji koncepti v estetiki obdobja Wei Jin 
Osredotočenost na natančne upodobitve zunanjega okolja, vedenja ter naravna­nosti ljudi in pomembnih dogodkov je bila značilnost slikarstva in literature v di­nastiji Han. V obdobju Wei Jin pa začneta cveteti tudi lirična poezija in figuralika.Osrednji koncepti v estetiki in umetnosti obdobja Wei Jin so 
-izraz duha skozi obliko (yi xing xie shen.... ), -qiyun shengdong.... (qiyun naredi umetniško delo živo) in -besede ne morejo v celoti posredovati pomena (yan bu jin yi.... ). 
Koncept izraz duha skozi obliko v tradicionalno kitajsko estetiko in umetnost vpelje Gu Kaizhi, o katerem bomo spregovorili v nadaljevanju, koncept besede ne morejo v celoti posredovati pomena pa izvira iz Wang Bijeve ontologije. 
V nadaljevanju članka se bomo podrobno ukvarjali s Xu Fuguanovo interpretacijo teh osrednjih konceptov, s poudarkom na konceptu qiyun shengdonga, za uvod pa si pa si poglejmo, kako te osrednje koncepte definira Li Zehou6:
.......................... , .... , ....... , .. , .. , ......... . 
Zahteva tako imenovanega qiyun shengdonga je v tem, da slika živo izrazi človeški notranji značaj in stanje duha, umetniški stil kot tudi moralne lastnosti in držo ustvarjalca, ki pa se ne ne kaže skozi razkošno opisovanje oziroma upodobitve zunanjega okolja, okoliščin, dogodkov, obliki in drži (Li 2003, 86). 
Izražanje duha skozi obliko (yi xing xie shen.... ) ima podoben pomen. Gre za izražanje človeške notranjosti, značaja, stanja duha, ki se kaže skozi telesno (zunanjo) obliko. Kot pravi Gu Kaizhi ... (približno 345–406), eden najbolj cenjenih in najbolj slavnih slikarjev v dinastiji Vzhodni Jin:
.......... , ......... . 
Ali so štiri okončine (deli telesa) lepi ali ne, to ni merilo. Pomembna je upodobitev duha, ki se kaže skoznje. 
Kot pravi Li Zehou, so oči ogledalo duše in ravno to je tisto, kar so si umetniki prizadevali upodobiti. To pomeni, da so sama oblika telesa ali človekova dejanja pravzaprav sekundarna in podrejena izrazu notranjega duha. (ibid., 87) 
Li Zehou je eden od glavnih in osrednjih teoretikov kitajske estetike. Njegova dela so prevedena v angleški in nemški jezik, zato je dobro poznan tudi zahodni publiki (gl. Rošker 2017a, 1). Xu Fuguanova dela zaenkrat še niso prevedena v indoevropske jezike. 
Pri estetskem kriteriju in konceptu besede ne morejo v celoti posredovati pomena (yan bu jin yi.... ) v literarni umetnosti gre po mnenju Li Zehouja za iz­ražanje pomena, ki ga konceptualne besede in fraze ne morejo v celoti posredovati.Ta koncept v osnovi izraža načela filozofske šole Xuanxue. Iz Wang Bijevih ko­mentarjev h Knjigi premen, vidimo, da so tako besede kot podobe orodja prenosa duha, ki so sama po sebi omejena. Kar je kljub tem omejitvam pomembno, je to,da si prizadevamo izraziti neomejenost esence (benti.. ) stvari:
..... , ..... , ...... , .... , ....... , 
.... . 
Nič ne more bolj v celoti izraziti pomena kot podoba. Nič ne more bolj v celoti izraziti podobe kot besede. Besede so tiste, ki razjasnijo podobo. Ko se ta zgodi, se pozabijo besede. Podoba je tisto, kjer obstaja pomen. Ko je dosežen pomen, se podoba pozabi (Wang Bi v Li 2003, 87). 
Po Liju gre pri vseh treh konceptih bodisi za izraz notranjega značaja, ki je last-na samo modrim (plemenitnikom), ki je neomejena, neizčrpna in onkraj dosega navadnih ljudi, bodisi za izražanje transcendentnega doživetja vsakdana preko ra­zličnih čustev, ki so skupna vsem ljudem. (ibid.) 

Xu Fuguanova analiza in interpretacija koncepta qiyun shengdong 
Xie Hejev koncept qiyun shengdong je najpomembnejši in najtežje razumljiv kon­cept v njegovi teoriji slikarstva, ki jo je natančno definiral v predgovoru h knjigi Zapisi o antičnem slikarstvu (Gu huapin lu .... ). V njej poda šest zakonitosti slikarstva, katerim je potrebno slediti in jih dosledno upoštevati, v kolikor želi slikar ali slikarka (slednjih takrat zaradi neenakega položaja žensk v družbi seveda ni bilo ravno v izobilju) doseči vrhunsko dovršeno umetniško delo. Xie He tako velja za enega prvih umetnostnih kritikov na področju slikarstva. 
Xu Fuguan pa v svoji obravnavi izpostavi, da je pred Xie Hejem qiyun shengdongomenjal že znameniti slikar Gu Kaizhi (344 n.št. do 406 n. št.), čeravno je pri tem uporabil drugo izrazoslovje. Gu je za temeljno zakonitost oziroma glavni kriterij slikarstva postavil prenos duha (chuanshen .. ). Tako pravi, da je v umet­nosti slikarstva ključnega pomena avtorjevo portretiranje prenosa duha (chuanshen xiezhao .... ) in njegova upodobitev skozi zunanjo obliko (yixing xieshen ... 7. ). Tovrstna upodobitev (xiezhao .. ) je torej to, kar lahko vidimo, duh 
V tradicionalnem kitajskem slikarstvu se je pogosto namesto glagola slikati (huihua .. ) upora­bljal glagol pisati, opisati (xie .. ) zato, ker se je slikarstvo kot umetniška zvrst pravzaprav razvilo iz kaligrafije (Xu 2002, 85). 
pa je tisto, česar ne moremo videti, vendar ga lahko občutimo8. Duh (shen . ) je esenca človeka in posebna značilnost vsakega posameznika. Duh oziroma esenca ljudi in medčloveških odnosov se tako izraža skozi slikarstvo (Xu 2002, 92). Po Xu Fuguanu gre pri tem za konceptualni premik v estetiki, ki se je zgodil ravno v obdobju Wei Jin. 
V tem obdobju se je slikarstvo namreč osredotočalo na upodabljanje ljudi, pri čemer se je zlasti razvila figuralika, v kateri so ljudje objekt slikarstva. V obdobju Wei Jin se skozi reprezentacijo ljudi zrcali prepoznanje lepote človeškega značaja in medčloveških odnosov. Pri tem ne gre za upodabljanje človeških fizičnih last-nosti, temveč bolj za upodobitev človeškega duha (shen9). Tovrstna tendenca se ne kaže zgolj v slikarstvu, temveč v vseh umetniških zvrsteh. 
Pri teh elementih je šlo za popolnoma nove usmeritve, kajti če opazujemo kiparstvoin slikarstvo dinastije Han (206 pr. n. št. do 220) vidimo, da je takrat slikarjem vglavnem šlo za upodabljanje zgodb iz kitajskih antičnih del in slavnih osebnosti.To se je seveda delno preneslo tudi v obdobje Wei Jin, ampak s to razliko, da sose pri osebah, ki so jih upodabljali, slikarji v glavnem osredotočali na prikazovanjenjihovega duha, skozi katerega sta se izražala njihova notranja vrednost in pomen.Reprezentacija duha je torej glavno vodilo in kriterij umetnosti obdobja Wei Jin.Ta predstavlja izjemen napredek v tradicionalni kitajski umetnosti, ki je še posebejviden na področju slikarstva10.Tisto, kar tovrstno transformacijo (t.j. prenos človeš­kega duha v sliko) omogoča, pa je po Xuju ravno qiyun shengdong (Xu 2002, 91). 
Prenos duha (chuanshen .. ) je torej temelj figuralnega slikarstva na Kitajskem,ki se je od dinastije Wei Jin dalje prenašal naprej. Xu meni, da je pomen Gu Kaizhijevega prenosa duha še bolj jasno in natančneje prikazan v Xie Hejevem opisu koncepta qiyun shengdong. Vse to, kar je Gu imenoval chuanshen pa tudi vse druge izraze, povezane z duhom, kot so npr... shenqi (vitalnost duha),.. shenming (jasnost duha),.. shenling (božanskost duha) itd., je Xie He združil v enega in ga poimenoval qiyun shengdong. 
8 To, s pomočjo česar lahko občutimo ta notranji duh, ki se v podobi latentno manifestira, je qiyun 
shengdong, četudi ga Gu kot takega še ni eksplicitno imenoval. 9 Izraz shen se v angleščino prevaja kot spirit (duh). Problem tovrstnega prevoda je njegova religiozna 
konotacija, ki pa v kitajski idejni tradiciji (zlasti v filozofiji in estetiki) ne obstaja. Če definiramo 
duha (in duhovnost) kot je to posrečeno storil Ewert Cousins, potem lahko po mojem mnenju brez 
težav sprejmemo duh kot ustrezen prevod besede oziroma pojma shen. Takole pravi: “Spirituality 
can be described as the inner dimension of the person called by certain traditions ‘the spirit’. This 
spiritual core is the deepest center of the person. It is here that a person is open to the transcendent 
dimension; it is here that the person experiences ultimate reality.” (Wu 2002, 441). 10 Zato ni slučaj, da Xu poudarja (2002, 91), da se slikarstvo kot samostojna in dovršena umetniška 
zvrst ne začne prej kot v obdobju Wei Jin. 
Qiyun shengdong je dejansko konkretiziranje in preciziranje ideje duha in zato,pravi Xu, je vreden natančne analize. Xu Fuguan se te natančne analize loti tako,da ločeno obravnava posamezne koncepte, ki tvorijo frazo qiyun shengdong. Pri tem gre v prvi vrsti za dva koncepta, tj. za koncept qi in koncept yun, ki imata vsak svoj pomen, vendar sta, kot bomo videli v nadaljevanju neločljivo povezana znotraj umetniškega dela. V naslednjih podpoglavjih bomo na temelju metode, ki jo je uporabil Xu Fuguan kritično ovrednotili njegovo analizo posameznih konceptov znotraj besedne zveze qiyun shengdong. 
Qi kot filozofski in etični koncept 
Qi. je eden od najbolj kompleksnih konceptov v kitajski idejni tradiciji in filozofiji. V indoevropskih jezikih obstaja cela paleta različnih prevodov tega poj-ma; najpogostejši med njimi so zrak, dih, vitalnost, izvir življenja, energija, pa tudi materija, snovnost ipd. 
Že od najzgodnejših filozofskih diskurzov na Kitajskem, sodi qi k najbolj temel­jnim kategorijam razumevanja stvarnosti (Rošker 2017b). Izvorno so antični kita­jski filozofi qi razumevali kot utelešenje naravnih pojavov. 
Šest vrst qija neba so: yin, yang, veter, dež, tema in svetloba, ti pa so v povezavi s petimi elementi zemlje: kovina, les, voda, ogenj in zemlja. Izmed šestih qijev neba, dež in veter prinašata rojstvo vseh stvari oz. bitij. Qi svetlobe in teme prikazuje spremembo dneva in noči kot ene od zakonitosti narave; binarni kategoriji yin in yang, pa sta pravzaprav značaj vseh zemeljskih oziroma vremenskih pojavov. Poleg ustvarjanja vseh naravnih pojavov, qi neba in zemlje ustvari tudi človeka. (Wong 1989, 46). To definicijo najdemo na primer tudi v poglavju Neiye.. pomemb­nega političnega besedila Guanzi .. , ki je bilo napisano v obdobju Pomladi in jeseni, tj. okoli 770–476 pr. n. št.:
.....,....,....,..... 
Vsi ljudje nastanejo tako, da jim prispeva nebo svojo esenco, zemlja pa 
fizično obliko. Ko se oboje združi, nastane človek (Guanzi s.d. Neiye: 7). 
Ta esenca (jing . ) je kasneje definirana kot esenca qija (jingzhe, qizhi jing ye .. , .... ). Koncept qi kot jing, torej kot esenca oz. izvor življenja, je tako postal neke vrste ontološka osnova obstoja:
....,.... 
Stvari so žive, dokler imajo qi in čim ga izgubijo, so mrtve (ibid. Shu yan: 1). 
Kozmični qi torej ustvarja vse bivajoče. Ker človeku (in drugim živim bitjem)omogoča preživetje na zemlji, na katerega se mora človek odzvati tako, da se obnašakrepostno. V nasprotnem primeru človek poruši ravnovesje, kar pripelje do kaosa:
..... , .... , .... , .... . 
Če človek ne deluje v skladu s qijem neba in zemlje, je med ljudmi kaos 
(Guoyu v Wong 1989, 47). 
Qi kot kozmološko ontološka entiteta je torej dobil moralni značaj, ki je imel v konfucijanstvu osrednji pomen. Zaradi teorije yinyanga in petih faz (yinyang wuxing .... ), ki je bila v ospredju v času dinastije Han, mnogo ljudi dojema qi kot metafizični koncept. Vemo pa, da se koncept qi v smislu »nege qija (yangqi .. )« začne z Mencijem (379 pr. n. št.–289 pr. n. št.) in kaže na povezanost s fizičnim, s telesnim, in ga zato lahko imenujemo tudi fizična življenjska sila (shen-glide shengmingli ...... ). (Xu 2002, 94)11 
A Mencij je hkrati izpostavil, da so za nego qija v človeškem telesu nujne tudi moralne kreposti, predvsem pravičnost in iskrenost, ki potem recipročno delujejo na delovanje neba, ki se kaže v umirjenih in stabilnih družbenih razmerah (Wong 1989, 48). 
Ozaveščenost in nega qija je bila seveda osrednjega pomena tudi v daoističnih tele­snih in meditativnih praksah, kot so qigong .. , taiji quan ... in zuowang .. 12. Kot esenca življenja je qi torej tesno povezan s telesnimi čuti in percepcijo.V tem smislu pa že seže tudi na področje kitajske estetike:
.... , .... , .... , .... . 
Nebo ima šest qijev, ti ustvarijo pet okusov, se izrazijo v petih barvah in 
potrdijo v petih tonih (Zuo zhuan s.d. v Wong 1989, 48). 
Kot smo videli zgoraj, se qi kot moralni koncept pojavi v filozofiji Mencija. Kot temeljni estetski koncept pa se pojavi v obdobju Wei Jin. Okusi, barve in zvoki in drugi elementi so transmutacije qija. Posredovanje qija in še posebej njegove esence, ki se kaže skozi delovanje yina in yanga, je postalo osrednji in najbolj te­meljni namen v kitajski umetnosti (Wong 1989, 45). 
11 Kot protipol dinamični strukturi li . se pojavlja v vlogi snovnosti tudi v okviru neokonfucijanstva 
dinastije Song. 12 Razlika med daoističnimi in Mencijevimi oz. konfucijanskimi tehnikami izpopolnjevanja osebnosti 
je v tem, da je bil cilj in namen prve doseči harmonično zlitje človeka z daotom oz. naravo, namen 
druge pa je bil predvsem kultivacija moralnega značaja. 

Qi kot estetski koncept 
Qi se kot estetski koncept najprej pojavi v povezavi z literaturo. Kot prvi ga v tem kontekstu omeni Cao Pi .. (187–226) v svojem delu Razprave o literaturi (Di­anlun lunwen .... ):
..... , ...... , ...... . 
V literaturi je qi glavni. Lahko je jasen in čist ali medel in kalen in se ga 
ne da doseči na silo (Cao Pi s.d. 4). 
Po Xuju je qi v literarni umetnosti povezan z delovanjem fizičnega v smislu ustvarjal­nega potenciala, ki se transformira v umetniški produkt. Vse metafizične konotacijekoncepta qi so v tem kontekstu zanj odveč, kajti človeške ideje, čustva, in domišljija se rodijo v qiju in se šele potem začnejo izražati v umetniških delih. (Xu 2002, 95) 
Qi, ki se v literarni umetnosti izraža skozi ideje, čustva in domišljijo, so pravzaprav na­kopičen qi. Zato se individualni značaj, ki oblikuje posameznikovo umetnost določa skozi qi. Prenos duha (chuanshen), o katerem smo govorili v prejšnjem poglavju, se dejansko kaže skozi qi. Qi, ki se sublimira in zliva z duhom (shen), postane umetniški qi.Tako se skozi delovanje qija jasno kaže ustvarjalčevo notranje življenje navzven into je ena najzanimivejših posebnosti kitajske literarno umetnostne teorije ter kitajskeumetnosti nasploh. Povezanost qija z duhom postane tako entiteta oziroma enotnost.Zato so v tistem času zelo pogosto uporabljali izraz shenqi .. (duh qija). 
Po drugi strani pa qi reprezentira tudi ustvarjalčev moralni značaj (pinge .. ) kot vzvišeno kvaliteto (qigai .. ), ki ustvarja ozadje umetniškega dela. V obdobju Wei Jin so qi v kontekstu umetnosti pogosto imenovali tudi moč qija (qili .. ) ali njegov momentum (qishi.. ). Pogosto pa so namesto qija v tem pomenu upora­bljali tudi besedo gu . (skelet, okvir), ki ga je pravzaprav simbolizirala. (ibid., 95) 
Iz zgoraj navedenega vidimo, da se qi kot estetski koncept nanaša na človeški ustvarjalni potencial, ki je osnova umetniškega ustvarjanja. Ta potencial je tesno povezan s človeškimi čustvi, občutji in domišljijo, ki nastajajo skozi percepcijo in dojemanje sveta preko čutnih organov, in ki v estetiki obdobja Wei Jin odsevajo lepoto človeške notranjosti. Reprezentacija le-tega je bila, kot smo videli v uvodu,temeljni cilj in estetski kriterij v umetnosti tega obdobja. 

Osnovne pomenske konotacije pojma yun 
Beseda yun. se je prvič pojavila v dinastiji Han. Najdemo jo v najstarejšem kitajskem etimološkem slovarju Shuowen jiezi iz prvega stoletja našega štetja, kjer je definirana kot harmonija oziroma harmoničnost:. , .. 13. Enako definicijo najdemo tudi v enciklopediji Guangya .. iz obdobja Wei v tretjem stoletju.Po mnenju Xu Fuguana je torej v tistem obdobju pismenko za harmonijo (he . ) nadomestila pismenka yun . (Xu 2002, 94). 
Tako kot qi ima tudi yun v različnih kontekstih in različnih umetniških zvrsteh različen pomen. V fonetiki (yinyunxue ... ) pomeni ton. V poeziji pomeni rimo. V slikarstvu je yun najpogosteje prevajan kot ritem ali ritmična resonanca. Kot smoomenili zgoraj, ta prevod po mnenju Xuja ni ustrezen, ker ne pokriva vseh njegovihpomenov. Tudi Wong (1989, 57) meni, da v glasbeni teoriji prevod besede yun kot ritmična resonanca ni neoporečen. V estetiki in filozofiji ima yun še precej globlji inbolj kompleksen pomen, zato je nujno potrebno podrobneje raziskati tako njegovizvorni pomen, kot tudi njegove različne konotacije v različnih kontekstih. (ibid.) 
Kot navede Wong (ibid.) se je yun v kitajski tradiciji tesno povezoval predvsem z glasbo. Najzgodnejši pojav te besede zasledimo v Cao Zhijevem .. (192–232) Eseju belega žerjava (Baihe fu ... ):
...... . 
Poslušam jasen in čisti yun prefinjenega qina14 (Cao Zhi v Wong 1989, 57). 
Prav tako ga zasledimo v Ji Kangovem (224–263 n.št.) Poetičnem eseju o qinu (Qin­fu .. ), kjer pravi (Wong 1989, 57) 
.... ,.... . 
Iz spremembe yuna in melodije v glasbi, se pojavi čudovito občutje. 
Četudi se je yun sprva uporabljal v pomenu ritma v glasbi, je kaj kmalu besedo za ritem nadomestila pismenka lü . . Od takrat dalje se je pismenka yun zelo redko uporabljala v povezavi z glasbo. (Xu 2002, 98) 
V glasbi pomeni yun glasbeni izraz oziroma melodično gibanje. Kasneje so yun prevzeli v literarnih in fonetičnih kontekstih. Iz fonetičnega gledišča je yun bolj ali manj definiran kot ton. V poeziji oziroma v poetičnih esejih, postane pomen yuna bolj jasen, in če pogledamo Liu Xiejevo .. definicijo yuna, zapisanega v njegovem delu Srčna zavest literature in rezbarjenje zmaja (Wenxin diaolong .... ), ki velja za največje delo o literarni estetiki, napisano v 6. st., kjer pravi: 
13 Wong (1989) v svoji dizertaciji z naslovom The manifestation of Chinese Philosophy and Aesthetics in 
the Performance of the pipa Music napačno navede, da besede yun ni bilo zapisane v slovarju Shuowen 
jiezi (Wong 1989, 57). 
14 Kitajsko brenkalo podobno citram. 
.......,....... . 
Zaporedje različnih tonov imenujemo harmonija, zaporedje enakih zvok­
ov pa yun (Liu Xie s.d.: VII, Shenglü: 2). 
Wong (1989, 58) opozarja, da se yun tukaj nanaša na rimo in ne na ritem. Xu meni, da ne glede na to, ali uporabljamo yun v glasbi ali literaturi, ima v obeh primerih prizvok pomena tiaohe .. , ki pomeni biti v harmonični proporciji. Eden izmed pomenov yuna je po Xuju harmonični zvok oziroma duh zvoka, v nobenem prim-eru pa se pomen yuna ne more razumeti kot ritmičnost. (Xu 2002, 99) 
Wong (1989, 62) pa konkretneje opredeli tudi pomen yuna v glasbi, ki tam pravzaprav pomeni umetnost obvladanja modulacije tona, kateri ustvari nek presežek občutek (yunwei .. ). 
V slikarstvu pa nastopa yun v glavnem v povezavi s qijem, zato ga je v kontekstu slikarstva težko obravnavati ločeno od njega. Koncept qiyun si bomo podrobneje ogledali v naslednjem podpoglavju. 

Yun kot estetski koncept 
Kot estetski koncept se yun v prvi vrsti nanaša na izraz človeškega značaja in duha, kakršen se razkriva v umetniškem delu. Xu Fuguan ga definira tudi kot prepoznanje medčloveških odnosov (renlun jianshi .... ), ki je bil v filozofiji Xuanxue razumljen kot odraz samo-kultivacije. V tem kontekstu namreč izraža enotnost duha in oblike (shenxing heyi .... ), ki se reprezentira navzven, tj.skozi podobe v umetniških delih. Le-to so v tistem času imenovali atmosfera oz.splošno občutje (fengqi .. ). 
Ta izraz yuna je viden tudi v naravi:
..... 
Eleganco in vzvišenost yuna je najti v naravi (Xu 2002, 100). 
Xujeva interpretacija yuna kot koncepta, ki izraža prepoznanje človeških odnosov (oziroma njihove etike) se nanaša na preslikavo harmoničnosti in vzajemnosti zvokov na medčloveške odnose (ibid., 101).Tako pravi, da je yun v glasbi in litera­turi dejansko ustvarjen skozi harmonično enotnost različnih zvokov. Ta različnost zvokov pa je v glasbi vrhunske kakovosti presežena in tako nastane takim. enotni zvok. To vrsto enotnosti lahko izkusimo, po drugi strani pa to ni stvar, na katero bi lahko konkretno pokazali. Zato lahko rečemo, da je yun duh zvoka (ibid.) To si lahko predstavljamo s pomočjo analogije človeka: tudi ljudje po eni strani ne morejo zapustiti svoje oblike ali svojega značaja, po drugi pa lahko vendarle tran­scendirajo svojega duha v harmonično enotnost s soljudmi. 
Xu Fuguan je torej prepričan, da nosi yun v sebi pomen lepote posameznikovega značaja in njegovih občutij, vendar seveda samo pod pogojem, da so ta harmonič­na in temeljijo na ponotranjenju konfucijanske etike. V tem smislu Xu koncepta yun ne povezuje z zvokom. Ta vrsta lepote se kaže navzven, tj. skozi človeški izraz.Tovrstni yun, v katerem sta zlita duh in zunanjost, se izrazi na slikah in prav v tem je osrednji pomen yuna znotraj koncepta qiyun. (Xu 2002, 102) 
Kot estetski koncept se na prvi pogled zdi, da je yun odvisen od qija. Qi je živ­ljenjska oziroma kreativna sila, ki se manifestira skozi celotno umetniško delo,medtem ko se yun kaže v fragmentih posameznih podob ali izrazov. Zato je bil koncept qi osrednji kriterij v vrednotenju umetniškega dela, yun pa bolj izraz njegove popolnosti. 
Podobno definicijo obeh konceptov znotraj tradicionalne kitajske estetike poda Wang Qingwei (2004), ko pravi, da je qi je izvor vseh stvari in življenja univer­zuma in osnovna ideja samega univerzuma, življenja in umetnosti v tradicionalni kitajski kulturi. Prezentacija in izraz qija pa je dosežena skozi yun. Značilnost yuna je, da ni opis ali upodobitev zunanje oblike, temveč izraža notranjo naravo človeka oziroma stanje duha, ki prikaže stvari onkraj njihove podobe in je kot tak odvisen je od stanja duha subjekta. (Wang 2004) 
Kasneje so umetniki iz dinastije Song yun razvili v globlji koncept in ga pojmov­ali kot najvišjo lepoto, ki jo umetnik (ali umetnica) lahko doseže (Wong 1989,63). Od takrat dalje je bil yun v estetiki, če ne že bolj pomemben, pa vsaj enako pomemben kot qi. Predstavljal je razkritje dovršene umetniške uprizoritve, ki jo spremlja zrela in dovršena osebnost skozi določen umetniški stil. (ibid.) 
V glavnem pa se je smatralo, da qi vključuje yun. Pa vendar so elementi, kot so notranjost, občutek in izraz dejavniki, ki so povezani bolj z yunom kot s qijem. Čeravno obstajajo med qijem in yunom razlike, sta oba koncepta v bistvu neločljiva in recipročna. 
Če qi velja za substanco dela, potem yun določa način, na katerega je sub-
stanca izražena. Qi je vitalna ustvarjalna sila in yun čudovito in prefinjeno 
izražen qi. (Wen Fong v Wong 1989, 65) 
V naslednjem podpoglavju se bomo osredotočili na vzajemen odnos qija in yuna in si bolj podrobno ogledali notranjo strukturo besedne zveze qiyun. 

Pomen vzajemnega delovanja qija in yuna – koncept qiyun 
Qi in yun torej oba sodita h konceptom, skozi katera se izraža človeški duh. Zato so qi pogosto imenovali tudi shenqi .. , medtem ko so yun poimenovali shenyun.. . Xu Fuguan meni (Xu 2002, 101), da je qiyun druga narava ljudi (ren de di er ziran ...... ). Lepota umetnosti se lahko dogodi samo znotraj in na osnovi te druge narave, kakršno opisuje že Zhuangzi. Xu izpostavi, da opozarja Zhuangzi na možnost, da ljudje v svoji prvi naravi opazijo oz. prepoznajo drugo.Pri tem gre v glavnem za doseganje enotnosti narave (kozmosa, daota) in človeka.To je stanje preboja, najvišja sfera Zhuangzijeve filozofije. Ta preboj je neke vrste inspirativen preskok, dejanje transformirane človeške zavesti, ki ga spremlja stanje absolutne svobode. Po njem človek vstopi v nek drugi svet oziroma vidi svet iz drugega zornega kota. 
Za Xuja je qiyun globlji izraz pojavljanja te druge človeške narave, tj. zlitja oz.enotnosti človeka in narave (dao), ki se kaže v umetniških delih. Hkrati pa meni, da sta oba, tako qi kot yun koncepta, ki neposredno izhajata iz prepoznanja in občudovanja medčloveških odnosov. To prepoznavanje se v prvi vrsti nanaša na obče človeška občutja in čustva, ki so ljudem skupna. Qi in yun poleg tega jasno iz­ražata lepoto enotnosti duha in zunanje oblike. V tem ne vidi nikakršne povezave z zvoki, zato ponovno poudarja, da prevajati pojem yun z besedo ritem ni ustrezno oziroma pravilno. (Xu 2002, 102) 
Zlitje qija in yuna v en sam koncept (oziroma v binarno kategorijo) se je zgodilo v obdobju Wei Jin, torej v času, v katerem je nastala klasična kitajska estetika kot izjemno kompleksna teorija. Zato nas dejstvo, da je Xie He kot prvi estetski kriterij določil prav koncept qiyun shengdong pravzaprav ne preseneča. Kot bomo videli v nadaljevanju, je Xie He konceptu qi, ki je že sam po sebi izjemno večplas-ten, namreč dodal še koncept yun, ki ga lahko razumemo tudi kot njegov binarni protipol. V kontekstu Wang Bijeve ontologije benmo .. (korenine in vejice), bi lahko razumeli qi kot ben in yun kot mo. V tem smislu bi pomenil qi esenco, yun pa njen izraz. V nadaljevanju bomo videli, ali lahko qiyun dejansko razumemo kot binarno kategorijo. 
Ko je Xie He govoril o qiyunu, ga je vedno obravnaval v povezavi z umetniškim delom, ki kot tako nikoli ni določeno objektivno, temveč ga vzpostavi ustvarjalče­va osebnost. To razmerje je bilo obravnavano že v delu Wenxin diaolong .... . (Xu 2002, 102) Ustvarjalčeva osebnost oz. njegova notranjost vsebuje yin. (osojnost) in yang. (prisojnost) ter gang. (močno in trdo) in rou. 15 (mehkost 
15 Omenjeni koncepti oziroma principi izvirajo iz Knjige premen, katerim je dodan še nebeški in zemeljski qi. 
in nežnost). Vsi štirje principi se prenesejo v umetniško delo in se zlijejo v njem.Yinyang ter gangrou so izraz različnih stanj oz. dinamičnost qija. Qi, o katerem govori Xie He, kaže na upodobitev lepote yanga in ganga v umetniškem delu (yanggang zhi mei .... ), medtem ko je yun prikaz lepote yina in rouja (yin rou zhi mei .... ), pri čemer je osnova lepote yuna čistost (qing . ). (Xu 2002,
102) Po Xuju se čistost nanaša na ustvarjalčevo osebnost, ki je prosta sebičnih želja in utilitarističih intencij. 
Kljub razliki med konceptoma qi in yun moramo vedeti, da med njima obstaja tudi dinamični odnos. Zato ju nikakor ne moremo absolutno ločiti. Četudi so nekateri v elementu qi videli vodilni princip, pa v bistvu nobeden od obeh polov ne more dominirati ali biti primaren. (Wong 1989, 64) Yin, yang, gang, rou mora­jo soobstajati znotraj umetniškega dela, pri čemer se ne sme nobenega od njih preveč poudarjati ali zapostavljati. Delo, ki vsebuje preveč qija, lahko rezultira v pomanjkanju rahločutnosti, če pa je prevelik poudarek na yunu, lahko to pripelje do pomanjkanja notranje napetosti in moči. Zato je ohranjanje harmoničnega ravnovesja med qijem in yunom ključno v ustvarjanju umetniškega dela (ibid.) kot tudi v vrednotenju njegove kakovosti in njegovega dometa. 
Po drugi strani pa lahko iz zgoraj navedene analize konceptov qi in yun ter iz značaja njunega vzajemnega odnosa sklepamo, da ju je možno razumeti tudi kot binarno kategorijo, v smislu Wang Bijeve ontologije benmo in njegove estetike yixiang16. Kot že omenjeno, nastopa v tej binarni kategoriji qi kot korenina, osnova oziroma esenca (ben), medtem ko je yun prefinjeno dovršen izraz te esence (mo). V tem pogledu yun ne more obstajati brez qija, sama kvaliteta izraza qija pa je tako možna samo in zgolj skozi yun. 
Strukturo njunega odnosa vidi tudi Xu Fuguan na podoben način. Vendar opo­zarja na to, da lahko qi obstaja tudi brez yuna, medtem ko slednji v umetnosti ne more obstajati brez prvega. Po drugi strani pa verjame, da izvira sama ideja qiyuna že iz Zhuangzije filozofije, saj vsebuje mnoge Zhuangzijeve koncepte, kot na primer qing. (čistost), xu. (praznino), xuan. (globino) in yuan . (od­maknjenost). (Xu 2002, 102) 
Kot smo omenili že na začetku, je za Xie Heja prva lastnost, ki določa dovršenost umetniške slike qiyun shengdong. Četudi se ta fraza zelo pogosto zapisuje v ce­loti, in jo glede na različne kontekste tudi sama opisujem z izrazom »qiyun je to, kar naredi delo živo«, pa v klasičnih delih ne najdemo podrobnejše oziroma 
16 Pri tem gre za xiang. (podoba, simol) in yi. (pomen, ideja), ki sodita k osrednjim konceptom Wang Bijeve kozmološko – epistemološke teorije, katero smo na kratko opisali v prejšnjem poglav­ju. Oba omenjena koncepta sta bila namreč prenesena tudi na področje umetnosti oziroma estetike.Njuna fuzija je znana kot yixiang, ki ga je kot prvi zapisal Liu Xie in pomeni estetski ideal. 
nedvoumne razlage glede tega, ali ima shengdong samostojni pomen ali je zgolj učinek qiyuna oziroma izraz njune komplementarnosti. 
V tem kontekstu Xu poudarja, da so teoretiki obdobja Wei Jin, še preden so začeli uporabljati besedo shengdong, v podobnih pomenih pogosto omenjali izraz sheng­qi .. , kar lahko interpretiramo kot premikanje (yuedong .. ), rojevanje, st-varstvo in proizvajanje qija. Kot kaže, se je ta pojem kasneje transformiral v izraz shengdong17. (Xu 2002, 108) Celotna struktura izraza qiyun shengdong je enaka, kot struktura sestavljenke qiyun. Medtem ko namreč njen prvi element lahko obstaja brez drugega, obratno ni mogoče18 (ibid.). 
Po Xu Fuguanu je pomen Xie Hejevega shengdonga v konceptu qiyun shengdongter vzajemno razmerje med obema terminoma, ki tvorita to sestavljenko, opredel­jeno kot:
... , ..... . 
Če je qiyun, potem je tudi shengdong (ibid.). 
Ker lahko pojem shengdong razumemo tudi kot dinamiko življenja ali življen­jsko silo, in ker je koncept qiyun potemtakem pogoj za vzpostavitev le-te, ima Xu Fuguan verjetno prav, ko meni, da je qiyun sublimacija življenjske sile, ali – v daoističnem smislu – esenca življenja. 
Ker gre pri tem seveda za esenco življenja umetniškega dela, ki je produktčloveške ustvarjalnosti, se pri tem seveda pojavi vprašanje o tem, ali je qiyun st-var kultivacije in izobrazbe ali pa je stvar intuicije, talenta in dovršenega značajaustvarjalca. Če je qiyun kot estetski kriterij oziroma koncept možno razmeromajasno definirati, pa obstaja v njem vendarle dimenzija, ki jo je težko zaobjeti zuporabo analitične metode. To, kar je Xu izrazil s frazo druga narava človeka in to, kar je za Zhuangzija stanje popolne osvoboditve duha, je področje, ki se iz­mika definicijam. Občutja qiyuna v umetniškem delu ne moremo razumeti samo kot lepoto ravnotežja med posameznimi elementi in deli, ki umetniško delosestavljajo, ampak gre pri njem v prvi vrsti za izraz človeškega občutja. Seveda 
17 Shengqi je pravzaprav osnova pojma duha (shen) pri Gu Kaizhiju in prav tako pri Xie Hejevem qiy­
unu. Shengdong je zunanji izraz občutja, ki se kaže na sliki, shengqi pa je notranje življenje, ki se kaže 
skozi zunanjost, tj. na umetniškem delu. Iz tega lahko rečemo, da shengdong po svojem notranjem 
pomenu ne dosega globine pomena shengqi. Shengdong nastane skozi qiyun in je njegov naravni, 
spontani učinek, kateremu je dodana naracija.Torej se shengdong nanaša izključno na qiyun in nima 
samostojnega pomena. (Xu 2002, 108) 18 Seveda pa se beseda shengdong lahko pojavlja tudi v drugih kontekstih, v katerih nima nobene pove­
zave s konceptom qiyun, podobno kot se tudi koncept yun v drugih kontekstih (t.j. izven slikarstva) 
lahko pojavlja tudi samostojno in neodvisno od koncepta qi. 
lahko pri tem govorimo o univerzalnih občutjih, ki jih pravzaprav poznamo vsiljudje. A vendar je qiyun v glavnem izraz individualne notranjosti posameznikater njegovega unikatnega, enkratnega in neponovljivega duha, ki na svoj lastennačin doživlja notranji in zunanji svet, katerega je sposoben izraziti tudi skoziumetniška dela. V tem kontekstu Xu meni, da qiyun ni nekaj, čemur se človeklahko priuči skozi izobrazbo in prakso, ampak je prirojen talent, ki se ga ne dain ne more naučiti. 
Tako pravi, da je ena največjih zmožnosti umetnika točno v tem, da lahko v prvi naravi vidi drugo naravo človeka (Xu 2002, 119). V kolikšni meri je ta sposobnost prisotna, pa se kaže v tem, ali (in v kolikšni meri) lahko umetnik oz. umetnica znotraj svojega življenja to drugo življenje kreativno sublimira. Qiyun na sliki ali drugem umetniškem delu je izraz njegovega duha. Duh tega dela, torej umet­niškega objekta, pa izhaja iz duha ustvarjalca. Transformacija duha umetnikove notranjosti in njegov prenos v ta objekt je nekaj, kar presega vprašanje ustvar-jalčeve veščine oziroma tehnike. Qiyun je pravzaprav »od neba dani« talent oziro-ma neke vrste prirojena dispozicija (tianfu de qizhi ..... ) (ibid.). 
Prenesti duha pokrajine pomeni izraziti qiyun pokrajine. Da to ustvarjalec lahko izrazi, mora v prvi vrsti najprej (biti zmožen) transformirati sebe in svoje življenje ter se stopiti v enoto s tem duhom. To pomeni, da mora odstraniti sebične želje,se dvigniti nad njih in izraziti tišino in mirnost, ki sta subjekt in esenca duha umetnosti. Na ta način lahko v osvetlitvi subjekta svojega umetniškega duha, ki je dejansko v opazovanju lepega, transformira pokrajino v objekt lepote in to je osvetlitev in prikaz duha pokrajine. Ta duh pokrajine gre skozi osvetlitev umet­nikove lepote duha. Zato duh pokrajine spontano prodre v lepoto duha kot sub-jekta umetnosti. V tem se zlijeta skupaj in temu se v kitajski estetiki pravi »iskanje notranje oddaljene pokrajine« (Xu 2002, 120) 
Pri tem prenosu, ki je torej qiyun, pa nikakor ne gre za imitacijo (mimesis) pokra­jine oziroma narave na sliki, temveč bolj za prenos duha pokrajine skozi lastnega duha, ki se razkrije skozi veščino (suishou xiechu, jiewei shanshui chuanshen .... , ...... , ibid.). Izvor tega prenosa torej ni v veščini, ampak izvira iz es-ence duha umetnosti, ki se pojavi skozi transcendenco in transformiranje življenja ustvarjalca oz. ustvarjalke. Iz tega razloga je tudi umetnost sama po sebi zmožnost transformiranja in transcendiranja človeka. 
Predpogoj za prenos duha življenja (lastne notranjosti ali zunanje narave) vfizično podobo umetniškega dela, t.j. predpogoj za realizacijo qiyuna je torej doseganje izpraznjene in umirjene srčne zavesti (xin. ) in stanja absolutnesvobode, o kateri govori Zhuangzi v svoji filozofiji »Svobodnega in lahkotnega lebdenja« (xiaoyao you ... )19. Zato ustvarjalni vnos qiyuna v umetniško delo tudi pri njem izvira iz očiščenja oziroma postenja srčne zavesti (xinzhai .. ). 
Če želi umetnik v svojem delu doseči qiyun, mora seveda slediti določeni struktu­ri, ki se lahko pokaže skozi njegovo obvladanje tehnike. Ampak qiyun, ki se kaže skozi objekt, dejansko izvira iz lastnega truda samokultivacije, ki iz srčne zavesti očisti »blato in kaos«. V zlitju duha (umetnika in umetniškega objekta) pride do osvoboditve. Prav tovrstna samo – kultivacija, tj. kultivacija lastnega značaja in posledična zmožnost osvoboditve duha je predstavljala tisto osnovo vseh umet­niških veščin, ki je bila potrebna za to, da si lahko na Kitajskem veljal za velikega umetnika, in da si lahko to tudi dejansko postal. Imeti ali ne imeti tovrstno osnovo je pravzaprav ločnica, ki ločuje mojstre od tistih, ki zgolj obvladajo veščino. 


Kritična evalvacija Xu Fuguanove interpretacije koncepta qiyun shengdong 
V zadnjem delu članka bomo podali kritično oceno Xujeve interpretacije tega pomembnega koncepta klasične kitajske estetike. Pri tem bom podrobneje osvetli­li predvsem dve stališči, ki se kot rdeča nit vlečeta skozi vse Xujeve razprave o omenjenem konceptu. Pri prvem gre za Xu Fuguanovo stališče o avtohtonosti tega koncepta oziroma za njegovo negacijo teorij, po katerih naj bi bil ta koncept (skupaj z vrsto drugih) prevzet iz staroindijske umetnostne teorije Sadanga (Šest vej). Drugo stališče je stališče o tem, da konceptov yun in qiyun v zahodne jezike nikakor ne moremo prevajati s pojmi ritem, ritmičen ali ritmičnost. Kritična eval­vacija obeh zgoraj navedenih stališč v sodobnem kontekstu je pomembna v okviru ponovnega ovrednotenja klasičnih konfucijanskih in daoističnih elementov v ses­tavi klasične kitajske umetnostne teorije oziroma estetike in tudi za vključevanje medkulturnih razsežnosti v diskurze tega področja. 
Kritična evalvacija teze o prevzemu koncepta qiyun shengdong iz indijske teorije slikarstva 
Victor H. Mair v članku Xie He’s »Six Laws« of Painting and their Indian Parallels(2004, 81) skozi lingvistično in historično analizo dokazuje vpliv indijske teorije slikarstva, zapisane v delu Sadanga (Šest vej) na Xie Hejevih Šest zakonitosti. Obe 
19 To ni samo Xu Fuguanovo mnenje, temveč gre pri tem za stališče, ki so ga zastopali tudi mnogi tradicionalni teoretiki. Tako je na primer že Guo Ruoxu ... , znan umetnostni kritik iz 11. stoletja, zapisal: »V vseh umetniških slikah je esenca qiyuna v lebdenju srčne zavesti.« (.. , ...... ) (Zhongguo hualun 2017, s.p.). 
deli sta nastali približno v istem času20 in sta imeli v enaki meri izjemen vpliv na slikarstvo v obeh kulturah. Obe kulturi sta bili takrat v zelo tesnih stikih zaradi budizma, ki je globoko vplival na kitajsko kulturo prav v obdobju Wei Jin. Mair meni, da obstaja velika možnost, da je Xie He v svojih teorijah pravzaprav prevzel model in vsebino indijske Sadange. To dokazuje na podlagi dejstva, da antični kitajski teksti, torej besedila, ki so nastala pred prihodom budizma, ne vsebujejo numeričnih naštevanj (prvo, drugo, tretje itd.), ki jih najdemo pri Xie Hejevih šes­tih zakonitostih. Mair omeni, da večina kitajskih akademikov zastopa nasprotno mnenje z argumentom, da sta prvi dve Xie Hejevi zakonitosti vidni že v prejšnjih produktih avtentične kitajske tradicionalne estetike slikarstva21. (ibid., 116) 
Xu Fuguan je podobno idejo o podobnosti in prevzemu Sadange pri Xie Hejevih Šestih zakonitostih zasledil v delu Indian Painting avtorja Percyja Browna iz leta1920, ki pa jo absolutno zanika (2002, 121). Xu namreč meni, da je podobnost zgoljplod naključja, in da izvora Xie Hejevih Šestih zakonitosti nikakor ne gre pripisovati indijski Sadangi, kjub temu, da naj bi bil sam izvor slednjega dela kar nekaj stoletijstarejši. Xu to dokazuje tudi na podlagi dejstva, da v Sadangi najdemo samo tri odšestih zakonitosti, ki jih poda Xie He, in ki naj bi korespondirali s Sadanginim kon­ceptom. Eden od teh treh konceptov naj bi bil tudi qiyun shengdong, za katerega Xu pravi, da ima dosti globlji pomen kot njegov formalni ekvivalent iz Sadange. 
Kljub izjemni analizi in novim dokazom, ki jih poda Victor H. Mair, je glede numeričnega oštevilčevanja, ki naj bi bil prenesen iz Indije in katerega naj bi Xie He prenesel na svojih šest zakonitosti slikarstva, pomisliti še na možnost, da je Xie He pri oštevilčevanju zakonitosti prevzel obliko heksagrama iz Knjige premen. Slednja je bila namreč v obdobju Wei Jin znotraj neodaoistične šole Xuanxue zelo v ospredju. Glede na to, da je v konceptu qiyun shengdong zajeta manifestacija dinamičnega odnosa yinyang in gangrou, ter nebeškega in zemeljskega qija, ki jo poznamo prav iz Knjige premen, je morda potrebno upoštevati tudi možnost, da se je Xie He ravno na tej osnovi odločil za tovrstno šestdelno klasifikacijo. Po drugi strani pa šestdelno klasifikacijo najdemo tudi v Knjigi pesmi (11. do 7. st. pr.št.), kjer so posamezne oblike in vsebine pesmi razdeljene kronološko. Iz obojega lahko sklepamo, da je število šest simboliziralo neke vrste kozmično in strukturno urejenost. Seveda je to predmet nadaljnjih premislekov in raziskav22. 
20 Pri tem pa je treba omeniti, da naj bi imela sama Sadanga svoj izvor v Vedah, ki pa je besedilo iz 
osmega stoletja pr. n. št. 21 Vsekakor ne moremo mimo dejstva, da sta si obe deli po vsebini zelo podobni. Na tem mestu ne 
bomo navajali posameznih delov Sadange, za podrobno razlago glej Mair (2004). 
22 Poleg tega pa moramo vzeti v obzir tudi dejstvo, da so kitajski teoretiki v idejnih konceptih, ki so 
prihajali iz drugih kultur, vedno poskusili najti ekvivalentni ali vsaj podobni idejni koncept znotraj 
svoje lastne kulture. 
Xu Fuguan je, kot smo videli zgoraj, nazorno pokazal, da je qiyun tradicionalni estetski koncept, ki je precej starejši od njegove prezentacije v delu Xie Heja. Sicer je teoretično možno, da se je Xie He dejansko srečal z indijsko teorijo slikarstva, in da je Sadango ter njeno strukturo prenesel v kitajski okvir, kot trdi Victor H. Mair;vendar moramo biti pri tovrstnih trditvah previdni, saj so konec koncev nedoka­zljive in zato dvomljive. Kot smo videli v gornjih poglavjih, nam prav Xu Fuguan v svojem delu Esenca duha kitajske umetnosti nudi tudi obilo težko ovrgljivih doka­zov za tezo, po kateri so osnove estetike, ki je nastala pod Xie Hejevim čopičem,daoistične narave in vsebujejo veliko elementov najstarejših kitajskih klasikov iz obdobja avtohtone, t.j. predbudistične tradicije. 

Problem prevajanja koncepta qiyun shengdong v indoevropske jezike 
Kot smo videli v uvodu članka, se Xu ne strinja s prevodom qiyuna v smislu rit-mičnosti. Na tovrsten prevod Xu naleti v delih Chinese Art avtorja Stephena Woot­tona Bushella iz leta 1904, Painting in the Far East avtorja Laurenca Binyona iz leta 1908 in The meaning of Art Herberta Reada iz leta 1931. Pri tem Xu problem-atizira sam prevod yuna kot ritmičnost, kot tudi to, da so ti tuji teoretiki ta prevod prenesli na celotni koncept qiyun. Pri tem opozori, da se v delu Shishuo xinyu .... (Nov opis zgodb sveta), zbirki dialogov in zgodb iz pozne dinastije Han (25–220) do Severnih in Južnih dinastij (420–589) izpod peresa Liu Yiqinga ... (403–444), qi in yun nista uporabljala skupaj, temveč ločeno. Xu iz omenjenega dela navede frazo, v kateri se qi in yun navajata ločeno v frazi fengqi yundu .... , pri čemer naj bi bil izraz fengqi .. ena beseda, ki je pomenila atmosfero oz. vzdušje, yundu .. pa druga, ki je pomenila stopnjo oziroma intenzivnost yuna. Do Xie Heja so po Xuju slikarji in teoretiki qi in yun torej jasno ločevali med seboj. (Xu 2002, 94) 
Xu precej strogo zavrača Readovo postavko, po kateri lahko skozi harmonično ure­jenost potez na sliki občutimo ritem. Pravi, da je to izključno stvar človeške domišl­jije, subjektivnega občutka in metaforičnosti ter da qiyun ni ritmičen v tem smislu. Seveda gre pri qiyunu tudi za enotno harmonijo potez, ampak ta ne more ustvariti qiyun shengdonga. Poleg tega izpostavi Xu, da naj bi bila razlika med zahodnim inkitajskim slikarstvom v tem, da iščejo zahodni slikarji to, kar je v potezah samih,medtem zasledujejo kitajski slikarji tisto, kar je onkraj potez. V zahodnem slikarstvuje ritem tista presežnost, ki se izrazi skozi harmoničnost potez. Seveda se kitajskislikarji prav tako osredotočajo na poteze, vendar je končni cilj njihovega ustvarjalne­ga procesa v tem, da slikar poteze pozabi, se osvobodi iz omejenosti njihovih sponin ter izrazi kreativnost in svobodo svojega duha. Iz tega razloga se za Xuja qiyuna (ali yuna) nikakor ne sme prevajati kot ritem ali ritmičnost. (Xu 2002, 98) Gledena to, da pa je po drugi strani ritem izpostavil kot nekaj, kar je vezano izključno nazaporedja zvokov (ibid., 99), se ob tem lahko vprašamo tudi po tem, ali je Xu dejan­sko pravilno razumel angleški pojem rhythm, saj gre pri tem za izraz, ki zdaleč pre­sega konotacijo razmeroma hitrih in ponavljajočih se zaporedij zvokov v glasbi. Včlanku smo poleg tega navedli tudi Xujev citat, v katerem trdi, da naj bi bil prefinjen yun najti v naravi (ziran you yayun). Iz tega navedka lahko yun (in tudi qiyun) dejan­sko razumemo kot ritem, ki se kaže skozi ponavljajoče se procese v naravi. Narava(ali nebeški dao) imata namreč nek svoj ritem, ki mu sledi in ga hkrati ustvarja. Čeprenesemo tak pomen yuna (ki pa seveda ni njegov edini pomen) na področje umet­nosti in na konkretne umetniške stvaritve, ga lahko pravzaprav dejansko razumemotudi na tak način. Če je estetski ideal kitajskega slikarstva v obdobju Wei Jin in kas­neje, v krajinskem slikarstvu dinastije Song, prenos duha narave na kar najbolj ne­posreden način (pri čemer je potrebno imeti v mislih, da pri kitajskem slikarstvu ne gre za mimesis), gre pri tem nujno tudi za upodobitev ritmov, ki se v naravi dejanskodogajajo. Ta ritem se ustvarja skozi poteze ali v primeru poezije skozi rimo, ritem inzven (ton) posameznih besed. 
Vsekakor se lahko strinjam s Xujem, da ritem ali ritmičnost ni ustrezen prevod koncepta yun oz. qiyun, ker ne pokriva vseh njegovih pomenskih dimenzij, vendar pa hkrati menim, da je ritem tudi ena izmed njegovih pomembnih in osrednjih pomenskih konotacij. 
Kljub temu pa Xujeva analiza in interpretacija koncepta qiyun shengdong jasno pokaže, da je omenjeni koncept pravzaprav zelo težko, če že ne kar nemogoče pre­vesti v katerikoli indoevropski jezik, ki bi lahko ustrezno izrazil njegov komplek-sen pomen. Seveda pa bodo šele nadaljnje raziskave lahko pokazale, ali bo najbolj smotrno, ta izraz prevzeti in ga uporabljati v izvirniku kot terminus technicus, ali pa se bo disciplina sinološke estetike vendarle odločila za nek splošni in kolikor toliko verodostojen prevod tega pomembnega pojma. 


Viri in literatura 
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nese Aesthetics. The Ordering of Literature, the Arts, and the Universe in the Six 
Dynasties, uredil Zong-qi Cai, 1–28. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. Cao, Pi .. . s.d. Dian lun lunwen .... (Razprave o literaturi). Dostop 
10.3.2017. http://chincenter.fg.tp.edu.tw/~learning/classical-01.php?id=142. 
Guanzi .. . s.d. V Chinese Text Project. Pre-Qin and Han. Dostop 10.3.2017. http://ctext.org/guanzi/nei-ye.
Li, Zehou. 2003. Meixue san shu .... (Tri knjige o estetiki). Tianjin shehui kexue yuan chubanshe. Tianjin.
Liu, Xie .. . s.d. Wenxin diaolong .... (Srčna zavest literature in rezbarjenje zmaja). V Chinese Text Project. Post Han. Dostop 10.3.2017. http://ctext.org/ wenxin-diaolong.
Mair, H. Victor. 2004. “Xie He’s ‘Six Laws’ of painting and their Indian Parallels.” V Chinese Aesthetics. The Ordering of Literature, the Arts, and the Universe in the Six Dynasties, uredil Zong-qi Cai, 81–122. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. 
Read, Herbert. 1931. The Meaning of Art. Hardmontsworth. Middlesex. 
Rošker, Jana S. 2005. Iskanje poti: Spoznavna teorija v kitajski tradiciji. 1 del. Od protoznanstvenih klasikov do neokonfucijanstva dinastije Song. Ljubljana: Raz­prave FF. Znanstveni inštitut FF.
–––. 2014. “The Philosophical Sinification of Modernity and the Modern Confu­cian Paradigm of Immanent Transcendence.” Asian Studies 2 (1): 67–81.
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–––. 2017b. “The Concept of Qi in Chinese Philosophy – a Vital Force of Cosmic and Human Breath.” V Atmospheres of Breathing: The Respiratory Questions of Philosophy, uredila Lenart Škof in Petri Berndtson. New York: Suny. (v tisku)
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Xu, Fuguan ... . 2002. Zhongguo yishu jingshen ...... (Esenca duha kitajske umetnosti). Xu Fuguan wenji. Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe. 
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Reports and Announcements 
DOI: 10.4312/as.2017.5.2.253-260 

A Report on the “Global Integration of Ancient Chinese Books” Project 
Project leader: Prof. Zheng Jiewen ... , Shandong University Peter Wai Ming CHENG* 23 
Part 1 
Zheng Jiewen is one of the few prestigious third generation scholars studying the traditional Chinese classics in China, coming after Feng Youlan, Ji Xianlin and Tang Yijie. 
Professor Zheng has been studying the Pre-Qin scholars and has made remark­able achievements with regard to Mohism, the School of Diplomacy, and the School of the Minor-talks. 
He is one the leading lights of Zi (a category for philosophical works, establishedin the first encyclopedia during the Han Dynasty) studies, and especially the studyof Mohism, in China. His book The History of Mohism (...... ) has beenplaced in the National Social Sciences Foundation Library, and won first prize inthe highest awards given for liberal arts disciplines by the Chinese government,the National College Humanities and Social Science Outstanding AchievementsAwards. Articles were published in Guangming Daily, China Reading Weekly, Ori­ental Philosophy Research (Korean) and ten other academic journals, all noting itscreativity. Ping-ti Ho of the University of Chicago, member of the Academia Sinicaand American Academy of Arts and Sciences at that time, cited and spoke highly ofthis book. It is seen as a work that addresses previous gaps in the academic literature,because it is the first that elaborates on the general history of Mohism. 
Professor Zheng is also a leader in the study of the School of Diplomacy and the School of the Minor-talks. His books, New Theory of the Warring State Strategies (...... ), Theory of Chinese Ancient Political Strategists (........ ), Study of Gui Guzi (..... ), and Explanation of the Biography of Mu Tianzi (<....>.. ), are all of tremendous academic influence. Due to his extraordinary achievements in Zi studies, in 2010 Professor Zheng was invited 
* Peter Wai Ming CHENG, Deputy Director (Research),Senior Researcher, Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole, The University of Hong Kong.pwmcheng[at]hku.hk 

to work as the chief expert of the biggest liberal arts research project at the nation­al level in China, Zihai Compilation and Research. 
Part 2 
Zihai Compilation and Research is a major project of the National Social Science Fund, established by the National Planning Office of Philosophical and Social Sciences at Shandong University. The final result of this project will be the Zihai Essential Editions, which will include hundreds of important Zi books, Zihai Rare Editions that will have hundreds of Zi rare editions, and Zihai Research Editions that will collect many research work on Zi studies. 
The collections Zihai Special Volumes (.... ), Zihai Rare Editions (..... ), Zihai Rare Edition Images Catalogue (....... ), Zihai Essential Edi­tions (..... ), and Zihai Research Editions (..... ) will be published individually over a period of years. In 2011, three Zihai Special Volumes (.... )were published by Phoenix Publishing House, and this included 20 unpublished papers written by Gao Heng, Luan Diaofu, Ding Shan, and Wang Xiantang. In 2013, the first volume of Zihai Rare Editions (..... ), including 120 books in the Mainland Chinese volume and 50 books in the Taiwanese volume, were published by Phoenix Publishing House and Taiwan Commercial Press, respec­tively. Five kinds of Zi books have been digitized, including 47 block-printed editions and 47 autographs from the Song Ming period, 148 manuscripts from the Yuan Ming period, and 224 carved editions from the Ming period. There are thus a total of 503 of these works in the digital archive, representing 92.6% of the content, providing a resource of great academic value. 
The first volume of Zihai Rare Editions (..... ) was very well-received.Shandong University established a project called the Global Compilation of An­cient Chinese Books (hereinafter referred to as the Integration), enlarging the scope of target books from Zi to all four categories of ancient Chinese books.This project includes partnership not only with individuals and organizations in Taiwan, but also in Europe and America. In this way, the Integration will collect ancient books from all over the globe and publish them. 
It is no accident that Shandong University has been entrusted with such an im­portant project. Shandong University has always been very strong in its work in the liberal arts. In particular, it is known for its ability to organize projects that compile ancient documents and undertake thorough explorations of the ideas within them. Such efforts are supported by various academic teams that contain with numerous and highly specialized experts. With regard to the project consid­ered here, an editorial board was set up drawing on staff from Shandong Univer­sity along with 170 experts from other institutions, such as Nanjing University,Tokyo University, Howard University, the University of Munich, the University of Macau, National Taiwan University, Hong Kong Chinese University, and other universities from Hong Kong,Taiwan Macau, mainland China and the West.The resulting team was divided into three units working on the digitization of rare editions, compilation of essential editions and academic research. 
Digitization is led by Professor Liu Xinming, who was hired by the Ministry of Culture in China as an expert on the inscriptions that appear on ancient bronzes and stone tablets. He is well-known in the field of cataloguing, literary criticism,and the identification of editions. Professor Liu is one of the main leading experts of the Integration and International Chinese Study Research Collaboration, and in this capacity presides over the cataloguing and digitization of the related books that are held overseas. Professor Liu has edited Zihai Rare Editions (..... ) and Collection of Bibliographies in the Twenty-Five Histories (............. ) among other significant academic achievements, and he also works on philological theory and ancient stone inscriptions. 
The compilation of essential editions is led by Professor Wang Chenglüe. Profes­sor Wang helped Professor Wang Shaozeng in the compilation of the Shandong Literature Catalogue (...... ), and an edition of the Records of Art and Literature in the Qing Dynasty (........ ), and compiled the Collection of Various Editions of the Twenty-Four Histories (.......... ). Pro­fessor Wang also helped Professor Dong Zhian in compiling The Collected Works of the Han Dynasty (.... ), Integration of Important Books for the Biographies of the Characters Outside the Twenty-Five Histories (............. ), and The Four Categories of Books in Tang Dynasty (...... ). His own books include Picture on the Things of Mao’s Song (...... ), Notes About Pictures of Lisao (...... ), Zheng Xuan and Classics (........ ), Research on Li Tao’s Life and Works (........ ), New Notes on the His­tory of the East Han Dynasty (..... ), and Collection of Bibliographies in the Twenty-Five Histories (............. ). 
The research unit of the project is led by Professor Zheng Jiewen. 
The three units outlined above have achieved significant results after five years of diligent work. 
Following the publication of the first volumes of the Zihai Rare Editions (from both Mainland China and Taiwan), the Zihai Rare Editions Overseas Volume ( Japan) (..... •...(..) ) and Mainland Volume (Shanghai Library) (..... •...(.....) ), and will be published. The Zihai Rare Edition Overseas Volume ( Japan) will include 150 books in 34 digitized Zi volumes from Ja­pan’s National Cabinet Document Library, National Diet Library, Housabunko Li­brary, and Library of the Imperial Household Agency, Seikado Library, the Univer­sity of Tokyo Library, and Waseda University Library. Mainland Volume (Shanghai Library) (..... •...(.....) ) will be published in three batches, and contain 1,000 ancient books in total, and the Three Editions of Conspectus of Penal Cases (...... ) will also be published, with these edited by Shen Jiateng. 
In 2016, the first volume of the Zihai Essential Editions (..... ) came out,containing three million characters from a collection of nine different books. The Zihai Essential Edition (..... ) team has collected a total of 97 books, with the remaining 88 scheduled to be published soon. 
The academic research unit is responsible for the Zihai Research Edition (..... ). They are now working with overseas academics, as seen in the publication of Chinese version of Confucian Role Ethics by Professor Roger Thomas Ames, Probing into Zi Books (.... ) by Wiebke Deneck, from Columbia University, A Study on Gui Guzi and Political Strategists (<...>...... ) and Yi­lin and Ancient Culture Study (<..>....... ) by Professor Hans van Ess, from the University of Munich. 
Part 3 
The Integration is in progress, and includes the following four parts. 
1. Co-compilation of the Catalogue of Global Ancient Chinese Books (hereinafter referred to as the Catalogue). The Catalogue is the academic foundation of the Integration. Through the collaboration of members of the Global Con­sortium for Chinese Studies, the expert team will be able to obtain detailed information about the major book collections held by overseas institutions,gather and compile a catalogue of ancient Chinese books, publish it and then issue a digitized version. 
2. The outcomes of the Integration. Based on the Catalogue the expert team will select books with the most ideological value and academic representa­tiveness, digitize and selectively publish them. The final result will be serval times larger than the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature that was produced in the Qing Dynasty. 
3. Database for the Integration. This database aims to collect ancient books from both inside and outside China, and especially rare editions.The database 
will be equipped with rigorous academic system and a refined collection of collated and noted ancient books, and will provide a powerful search function for users. The database will be divided into the following sub-databases: 1.Database of the Catalogue of Global Ancient Chinese Books, 2. Database of the book images of Global Ancient Chinese Books, 3. Database of links to images on other servers (this will replace the first database after its comple­tion).Together these sub-databases will offer the results of this project on the same platform. 

4. Translation and other promotional work. Once the books have been select­ed and entered into the database, it is hoped that this project will influence the direction of scholars studying Chinese culture worldwide. One thousand books will thus be selected and then translated into modern Chinese and published outside of China. Two hundred books will be translated into for­eign languages and published outside China, and this is also likely to influ­ence the cultural choices of elite groups in other countries. 

Part 4 
Many ancient Chinese books are stored in collection agencies in Mainland Chi­na, but a large number remain in other areas due to historical reasons, among which there are books of great academic value. For example, among some 3,000 Song-Yuan Period ancient books, around 500 rare editions are stored in Taiwan.In addition to their academic value, these books have great value as antiques and artifacts. 
Such items include the printed version of the Li He Poetry Anthology (..... ) on official document paper dates back to the end of the Northern Song / beginning of Southern Song, the Brief History of the East Capital (.... )home-printed by Cheng Sheren at Mount Mei during Southern Song Shaoxi Period, the 10-line-per-page version of Picture and Classification on Xuncius (......... ) printed in Jianyang, New Compilation of Geography and Scenic Spots (...... ) printed in Jian’an in the third year of Xianchun, Xiaozhuan Notes on the Book of Loyalty (.... ) printed at the end of Southern Song, the 11-line-per-page version of Picture and Mutual Notes on Book of Changes (...... ) printed in Jianyang during the Southern Song period, and Collection of Ouyang Xingzhou (...... ) printed in Sichuan during the Song Dynasty.These books are of great significance for academic research. Moreover, when orig­inally in circulation certain ancient books were segmented into several parts, and these parts stored in difference places. Fortunately, although the books are thus fragmentary in nature, by putting them together we can get most of their con­tent, and in some case even the whole content. The first volume of the Zihai Rare Editions is a good example of such piecing together of ancient works. Academia Sinica in Taiwan was able to preserve 122 volumes of the Japanese manuscripts of the Second Edition of Chinese Medicine Encyclopedia in Dade («........») , while the Japanese Imperial Household Agency Library kept another 35 volumes from the Song period, and a further 37 volumes are stored in libraries in Mainland China. The project team thus gathered all these volumes during their digitization efforts, and so were able to provide very comprehensive data. As such,Professor Zheng believes that instead of keeping the books to themselves, book collection institutes, libraries and so on should contribute these resources to aca­demic research efforts. This is why Professor Zheng advocates a complementary and integrated approach to the collection and study of ancient Chinese books,both in and outside China. 
Part 5 
As part of the Integration project the team of experts is devoted to the investiga­tion, cataloguing and digitization of these ancient books, as well as the construc­tion of a database, in order to meet current research trends. Since the 1990’s, the construction of this ancient books database has been gaining speed, helped along by a number of such databases with high academic value that have been developed over the years.The basic Chinese ancient books database, developed by the Beijing Airusheng Digital Technology Research Center and published by Huangshan Publishing House, includes 10,000 works in 170,000 volumes of ancient books from the Qin to the Republican periods. It provides a public version that contains the full content and images from one or two important versions of each work.Overall, this database contains 1.7 billion Chinese characters, 12,700 editions,and 10 million pages of images. 
The National Ancient Books’ Preservation Center, relying on the large ancient collections of the National Library, co-operates with a microcopy center and transfers the ancient text to high-definition images, which are then used in the Chinese Ancient Book Resources Database.This now has images of rare and good editions of 10,975 volumes, 91,467 books, and 6,124,464 images, which account for around one third of the total number of good editions collected by China’National Library. Zhonghua Book Company also has a collection of recently-col­s lated editions of ancient books in its Database of Ancient Books of Chinese Clas­sics. The first volume collects 260 kinds of books texts from all four categories, as collated by Zhonghua Book Company, among which are The Twenty-Five Histo­ries (.... ), Consultancy (.. ), Newly Organized Integration of Ancient Chi­nese Scholars (...... ), Notation of the Thirteen Confucian Classics by Qing Scholars (....... ), Notes of Historical Materials (...... ), Clas­sical Chinese Literature Basic Books (.......... ), and Ancient Bud­dhist Books and Records (...... ). The Ancient Books Preservation Center of China’s National Library recently published a Database of Ancient Chinese Books as part of the national general survey. This is part of the Ancient Books Pro­tection Plan, and it carried out for the first time a unified search for ancient books at the national level. 
Although a valuable database for ancient Chinese books has been built up, based on those works in China, as yet there is now database featuring ancient books from outside the country. In the Global Integration for Ancient Chinese Books project the expert team will develop such a database based on the Catalogue and the final results of this project. 
The database thus aims to collect ancient books from China and overseas, and especially rare editions. As noted earlier, this database will be based on a rigorous academic system and will include a collection of noted ancient books, and will provide a powerful search function. The database will be divided into the fol­lowing sub-databases: 1. Database of the Catalogue of Global Chinese Ancient Books, 2. Database of the book images, 3. Database of links to images on other servers (which will replace the first database after its completion). There will be a physical database and virtual database, and together they will offer the results of the Integration project on the same platform. 
The database of book images of Global Ancient Chinese Books is the cataloguecontaining information about books collected by the Integration. In the firststage the database collects around 190,000 different books. The informationincluded in the database includes the serial number, title, number of volumes,author, version, form of arrangement, existing and lost volumes, collection insti­tutes, and so on. As the project develops there will eventually be information onaround 250,000 books, and the database will be connected to related databasesboth in and outside of China. 
The database of book images of Global Ancient Chinese Books is also built as part of the Integration project. It contains images and information on selected books,mostly the good and rare editions. Shandong University has signed an agreement with The British Library, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, the China National Library, the Taipei Palace Museum, Housabunko Library, Seikado Library, the University of Tokyo Library, and the Russian State Library, and they will issue license agreements enabling the project to upload the original images of ancient books. In 2015 the International Sinology Research Center (hereinafter referred to as the Center) appointed Professor Wang Peiyuan as its chief, and twice sent a team to Russia to carry out cataloguing, selection, identification and digitization.The first batch of images included 600 rare editions stored at the Center, and 1,800 good editions stored in Shandong University Library. More will be includ­ed later. The search system of the database of the Catalogue of Global Ancient Chinese Books will be connected with the related book image database. 
From a technical perspective, the aforementioned database constitutes two sys­tem: a catalogue database and a literature system. According to the current plan,90,000 kinds of ancient Chinese books in 1.2 million volumes and 16.22 mil­lion pages will be included in the database, with a total of 8.61 million Chinese characters, and a data size of 1.813TB. The search system meets the Unicode international standard, and includes a very large set of Chinese characters, both traditional and simplified, as the search language. Moreover, it will also provide a major non-Chinese language environment, vague and specific search system, and online and offline versions for different users. 
The Catalogue database will include comprehensive information on the books,such as name, sub-content, period, author, category, edition, and so on. By adopt­ing text formatting, users can conveniently search for general information about the books using category name, period, and Pinyin. The database of book images will adopt the PDF graphic format. The original images will be shown to the us­ers, which ensures both accuracy and practical value. At the same time, users can make notes with system, just like on paper books. These notes can then be saved separately, or along with the resources downloaded from the database. 
The process of digitizing and integrating the collections of ancient Chinese books held outside of China outlined in this paper will provide systematic research data for sinologists worldwide, and provide a relatively comprehensive overview of this aspect of Chinese culture.