0:00

Hello

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and welcome to The History of Philosophy in

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China, by Peter Adamson and Karen Lai, brought

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to you with the support of the Philosophy Department

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at King's College London and the LMU in Munich,

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online at historyofphilosophy.net. Today's

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episode, The Only Constant,

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Change and the Yi Qing. Kang

0:33

Tzu, often known as Confucius in the

0:35

West, once said that when he engaged

0:37

in divination, he got it correct only

0:39

70 out of 100 times. What

0:42

is divination and can it be that

0:44

one of China's foremost sages is only

0:46

a 70% achiever? The

0:48

practice of divination, broadly speaking, is to

0:51

forecast what might happen in the future.

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It was widely practiced and documented in

0:56

Chinese texts from as early as the

0:58

9th century BCE. You might

1:00

already know something about the Book of Changes, or

1:02

the Yi Qing. Parts

1:04

of this text were compiled almost 3000 years ago. The Yi

1:06

Qing is

1:09

a multi-layered text in more ways than one.

1:12

Its different parts were put together in

1:14

different periods and these different layers served

1:16

quite different functions. Its earliest

1:18

sections were used for divination, while the latter

1:20

ones record reflections on the process of divination

1:22

and the place of divination in life. The

1:26

earlier layer is made up of sections

1:28

containing hexagram symbols made up of six

1:30

lines in a stack. These

1:32

symbols were accompanied by statements about each hexagram

1:35

as well as a line statement for each

1:37

of the six lines of every hexagram. The

1:40

lines that make up the hexagrams

1:42

are either broken or continuous, traditionally

1:44

associated with the familiar pairing Yin

1:47

and Yang respectively. Yin

1:49

has a range of connotations, including

1:51

shade, cold, and femininity, and Yang

1:53

is associated with light, warmth, and

1:55

masculinity. The six line figures that

1:58

may be a combination of broken or continuous with

2:00

lines allow for 64

2:02

permutations of hexagrams in total. The

2:04

hexagrams, its statements, and the line statements are

2:07

often referred to in a set as the

2:09

Tso-Yi. The compilation of

2:11

this layer is understood to be associated with

2:13

the Tso people who lived in the Tso plains.

2:16

The Tso dynasty is also named after the people

2:18

who lived here. In

2:20

divination practices involving the use of

2:22

the Tso-Yi layer, typically milfoil or

2:25

yarrow stocks would be used to

2:27

determine the appropriate hexagram relating to

2:29

an inquirer's question. Inquirers

2:31

could come with questions on any matter,

2:33

for example, on health, marriage, childbearing, or

2:36

travel. Rulers and courts

2:38

might seek to ascertain whether it is

2:40

auspicious or inauspicious to carry out military

2:42

advances at particular times about

2:45

harvests, natural disasters, or climatic

2:47

changes. The forecast

2:49

for the inquirer would be determined in

2:51

relation to a particular hexagram identified by

2:53

the use of the milfoil stocks, and

2:55

the hexagrams associated statements and line statements

2:58

would be interpreted accordingly. What

3:00

was the purpose of divination for the early

3:02

Chinese of their attempts to know what the

3:04

future holds? Edward Shaughnessy, an

3:07

expert on early China and in particular

3:09

on the Yiqing, suggests three

3:11

breed reasons, to resolve doubt, to

3:13

have one's intention confirmed, and to

3:15

engage in communion with spirits. The

3:19

layer of the Yiqing that was

3:21

added subsequently allows us glimpses into

3:23

the motivations, underlying assumptions and processes

3:25

of divination practices. These

3:28

10 commentaries, or appendices, which were

3:30

already referred to in the early

3:32

Han period, around 200 BCE,

3:34

are known as the Ten Wings,

3:37

Shi Yi. The

3:39

Ten Wings, together with the earlier layer

3:41

of hexagram figures, statements, and line statements,

3:43

that is the Zou Yi, comprise what

3:45

we call the Yi Jing. As

3:48

the Ten Wings reflect on the nature

3:50

of divination, its discussions revealed the motivations

3:52

for developing a system that aids in

3:54

foretelling the future. We are

3:56

told in the Zizi Sun, one of the

3:58

appendices, that anxiety is a anxiety prompted this.

4:01

As for the rise of the changes, was

4:03

it not in middle antiquity? Was the maker

4:06

of the changes not one with worries and

4:08

anxieties? We

4:10

can of course understand that life brings

4:12

many worries, especially during a time prior

4:14

to effective storage of food, machines to

4:16

assist with work, a scientific understanding of

4:19

human health, medicines to treat illnesses, and

4:21

when the majority could not independently access

4:23

information. Anxiety about

4:25

the lack of stability in life drove many,

4:27

it seems, to try to predict how future

4:30

events might turn out. Hence

4:32

the text, the tool for divination, is

4:34

named the changes, expressing anticipation of change,

4:36

apprehension about it, and a desire to

4:39

accurately predict what is to come. From

4:42

this perspective, divination can be considered

4:44

an epistemological tool, that

4:46

is, a technique for achieving knowledge and

4:48

control over events. This

4:50

is also something we saw when we looked at

4:52

divination in the context of traditional African practices. Change

4:56

is also associated with the ideas of

4:58

alternation and transformation in

5:01

the sì zì zuán. In

5:04

the words of Edward Shaughnessy, a diviner

5:06

needs to grasp the alternation or oscillation

5:08

between two opposed poles, or the ebb

5:10

and flow of events, so as to

5:12

intuit how and when these changes will

5:14

take place. Divination

5:17

practices were widespread during the Tso Dynasty,

5:19

prior to it and after it, and

5:21

we should not assume that what we call

5:24

texts, such as the changes written on bamboo

5:26

slips or silk, were the only tools. Another

5:29

method was to create lines on ox

5:31

scapula and turtle plastrons with a heated

5:33

instrument, and then read the cracks that

5:35

formed. So in a way these

5:37

could be considered texts, too. So

5:40

popular was the yī qīn, that there

5:42

were many versions of appendices that accompanied

5:44

the tso yī, the earlier hexagram wire.

5:47

In some of the versions, there were even

5:49

differences in the tso yī itself, in the

5:51

order of hexagrams, which reflected different rationales for

5:53

placing the hexagrams in relation to each other.

5:57

For example, one version of the yī

5:59

qīn, exge- excavated from a tomb in

6:01

Ma Guangdui in 1937, has a different

6:03

hexagram order than in the extant Yi

6:06

Qing. The Ma Wong

6:08

Zhi Yi Qing also includes other appendices not

6:10

found in the ten wings of the Yi

6:12

Qing. Gungso's comment that

6:14

he did not do so well in divination

6:16

appears in one of the Ma Wong Zhi

6:19

appendices. More versions of

6:21

the Yi Qing have been excavated, prompting questions about

6:23

the nature of these texts and the level of

6:25

interest in it. But

6:27

there are this many versions of the text

6:30

to date, both extant and excavated, suggest the

6:32

high likelihood that there were many more circulating

6:34

over the course of the 4th and 3rd

6:36

centuries BCE. These

6:39

texts captured both the popular and philosophical

6:41

imagination of the Chinese. The

6:43

key debate on the significance of the

6:45

Yi Qing concerns whether we see it

6:47

as an oracle text or as one

6:49

that is more reflective about one's priorities,

6:52

typically in connection with Confucian virtues. These

6:55

decisions were in part tied up with how the

6:57

layers of the Yi Qing were accentuated and how

6:59

they were organized. For example,

7:01

Wang Bi, a prominent 3rd century

7:03

CE thinker who annotated many classical

7:05

texts, rearranged the layers of the

7:07

Yi Qing, incorporating sections from

7:09

the ten wings with the hexagrams in

7:11

the Zou Yi portions. His

7:14

intention, allegedly, was to remove the speculation

7:16

associated with the study of the Yi

7:18

Qing that dominated debates during the Han

7:21

Dynasty. Yet much

7:23

later, the influential neo-Confucian thinker Zou Xi

7:25

sought to revive the Yi Qing as

7:27

an oracle text and did so by

7:29

organizing the ten wings separately from the

7:32

Zou Yi. Let

7:34

us now turn to some of the more

7:36

reflective views expressed in the ten wings on

7:39

the nature of change and humanity's possible responses

7:41

to it. In the Zizi

7:43

Quan, one of the ten wings' appendices, Kong

7:45

Zi is depicted as advising that we should

7:47

not expect things around us to continue in

7:49

the way they've been going. That's

7:52

good advice. To Take a not

7:54

so random example, dangerous pandemics can erupt with

7:56

great suddenness, and the more we have assumed

7:58

that things would go on. The in the

8:00

same the last Friday we will be to deal

8:02

with such temperatures. Concert.

8:04

Is effectively telling us to anticipate

8:07

change. In the same passage

8:09

from the seats, a son, he says that

8:11

a person might find themselves in danger if

8:13

they believe their position as secure. They.

8:15

Might suffer severe losses if they expect always

8:17

to maintain what they have and chaos might

8:20

result from their belief that order well indoor.

8:23

These. Statements are intended to shake readers out

8:25

of their complacency. The.

8:27

Thrust of this advice is that it is

8:29

naive to expected things will continue along the

8:31

same way. I'm Food brings his

8:33

wise counsel to a close by suggesting that

8:36

we should take steps to ensure that what

8:38

we value is properly established and anchored. Coin.

8:41

Is based on a section of that's A

8:43

He Comes It says. The. Changes

8:45

say this might be lost. This

8:47

might be lost so tired to

8:49

a healthy flourishing Mulberry. As

8:52

metaphorical statements expresses concern response to

8:54

change which is to ensure that what

8:56

we value most will be able to

8:59

withstand whatever comes ahead. His

9:01

passes leans on the figure of cancer to

9:03

express his particular view on how a person

9:06

can set themselves up to cope with change.

9:09

Their other images of concerts and the

9:11

appendices of the each including his comment

9:13

about getting divination right only seventy percent

9:15

of the time. We. Might can

9:17

have this modest remark to what he then says

9:20

as the passage continuous. Concert. Informs

9:22

his father a gun that in his

9:24

use of that so he he distinguishes

9:26

himself from scribes and shamans. Council.

9:29

Says that he uses the text in some

9:32

ways as the others do, but unlike them

9:34

he does not seek fortune are only to

9:36

be an auspicious circumstances. His

9:39

is a different destination Concert claims

9:41

he sees the virtue of the

9:43

each. Country

9:45

was not in south the author of these

9:47

appendices, but rather he was portrayed as master

9:50

in many versions of the eg. The.

9:52

historian richard russia has reminded us that

9:55

such attempts to install com soon as

9:57

the master in the gym or found

9:59

only after Han Dynasty. Ruch

10:01

writes that there is no evidence that

10:03

prior to the Han, the Yijing was

10:06

ever considered Confucian. Moreover,

10:08

ongoing debates among scholars about whether

10:10

the Ma Wangdui appendices are more

10:12

closely aligned with Taoist or Confucian

10:14

views should alert us to the

10:16

fact that our understanding of the

10:18

Yijing should extend beyond its association

10:20

with Confucianism. We know that

10:22

the Zou Yi was used widely across Chinese

10:24

society for a long period of time, and

10:27

it is highly likely that its views on

10:29

predicting and responding to change would have been

10:31

shared more widely among thinkers of different persuasions.

10:35

In the remainder of this episode, we

10:37

will consider how some assumptions concerning change

10:39

have permeated early Chinese philosophy. We

10:41

look at this issue through a particular angle,

10:44

thinking about how it is possible to prepare

10:46

for change. We seek some

10:48

answers through an unusual but illuminating approach,

10:50

which is to explore models, models of

10:53

exemplary people and sages, in a number

10:55

of different traditions. It

10:57

stands to reason that early Chinese thinkers would have

10:59

thought about how we can best harness and develop

11:01

human capacities in order to be resourceful and resilient

11:03

in the face of change. It

11:06

also makes sense that these desirable qualities would

11:08

be embodied by exemplary people. We've

11:11

seen in the last episode that

11:13

the Confucian Dao provides guidance for

11:15

people to develop appropriate dispositions and

11:17

capacities. We could say that in

11:19

this tradition, the most important method for growing in

11:21

this way is to learn from models. This

11:24

is how we learn, says Kung Tzu in

11:26

the Analects, a text that supposedly records

11:28

his conversations. Kung

11:30

Tzu commented that among three people, he

11:33

will always find teachers. He

11:35

selects what is desirable in them so

11:37

that he may himself pursue those ways,

11:39

and with what is undesirable, he corrects

11:41

himself. Which reminds me of something

11:43

my grandfather, who was himself something of a

11:45

sage, used to say, everyone is useful

11:48

if only to serve as a bad example. Belief

11:51

in the power of example undergirds

11:53

Confucian political philosophy. Ideally,

11:55

the king who embodies benevolence, or

11:58

ends, in all his undertaking. And

12:00

interactions will transform his people morally.

12:03

In. The months it a major warring States

12:05

confusion Text a benevolent king is at

12:08

the center of benevolent doesn't. This.

12:10

Idealistic Pictures felt that with details of

12:12

how a benevolent Kingwood treatise people well

12:15

and would watch over there material well

12:17

being. In. The

12:19

condition tradition the highest accolade for

12:21

a king is sage. For sage

12:23

can. The. Idea says minas

12:25

cannot be confined to a theoretical

12:27

definition. They are most often

12:30

portrayed as embodying virtue. For.

12:32

Example: Sage can now go canals

12:34

to divert funds and and saw

12:36

the succession plan amongst other achievements.

12:38

Said can son was exemplary and

12:40

filial devotion as we saw last

12:42

episode and cancer is known as

12:45

the Sage of Timeliness even though

12:47

concert never regarded himself as a

12:49

sage. The. Idea of

12:51

timeliness of us better understand how a

12:53

person responds to changing circumstances. For.

12:56

Example consists: decisions are time. It's because

12:58

he knows when he should take on

13:00

an official position, when he should withdraw,

13:02

and when he should continue. The.

13:04

Shouldn't have another confusion. Texts discusses

13:06

the adaptive know of the sage

13:09

to different circumstances. One.

13:11

Passenger specifically address the question of how

13:13

to engage in. The.

13:16

Same says what is appropriate in

13:18

circumstances and his responsiveness to change

13:20

presumably the turns an argument taken

13:23

by his opponents is inexhaustible. A

13:26

common in the Monster sums up well

13:28

the idea that acting virtuously as a

13:31

sage does and vary depending on circumstances.

13:33

It. says. The. Sages have differed in

13:36

their actions. The point of convergence has

13:38

been in keeping their persons sure. That

13:40

is all. The. Monster in

13:42

particular shows rather than tells us what

13:44

sadly this is there by using literary

13:47

methods that align closely with it's own

13:49

commitment to learning from models. What?

13:52

We have so far as a picture

13:54

of confusion. sage kings who act responsibly

13:56

to change. The. sit uncomfortably with

13:58

a widespread view of Confucian philosophy

14:00

as traditionalist and focused on

14:02

compliance. Could it be

14:05

that early Confucianism offers a two-tiered morality,

14:07

one for the sages and another for

14:09

everyone else? According

14:11

to this view, discretion is an option

14:13

only for those deemed exemplary or who

14:15

are sages. Unless jarring

14:17

account of Confucian philosophy might instead explain

14:20

the use of discretion and the emphasis

14:22

on compliance differently. The

14:24

guiding hand is more prominent in a

14:26

person's earlier stages of moral development, with

14:28

compliance being an aspect of these stages.

14:32

Discretion comes later, as one gains maturity

14:34

in reflection. The

14:36

level of discretion as this is sages is

14:38

only for the few, at least in Mengzi

14:41

and Xunzi's time. We'll

14:43

revisit these questions in later episodes on

14:45

Confucian philosophy. The

14:48

trust Confucians place on sages is absent

14:50

among a set of thinkers commonly known

14:52

as legalists. This phrase is

14:54

misleading, as not only did the text collected

14:57

under this grouping have diverse themes, but the

14:59

views on law barely correspond to what we

15:01

designate by the terms legal and law. The

15:04

term Chinese legalism is a simple translation of

15:06

the term 我见, referring

15:09

to those who emphasized penal law as

15:11

a method for the state to control

15:13

unruly behavior. However, the

15:16

term 我见 itself is a facile oversimplification

15:18

of a set of texts that move

15:20

well beyond the use of penal law.

15:23

We'll have more to say about these 我 thinkers

15:25

in a later episode. Of

15:27

the Fa group texts, the most prominent is

15:30

the Han Fei Zi, bearing the name

15:32

of the thinker Han Fei. This

15:34

is a multifaceted text with different views, including

15:36

reflections on the capacities of the ruler. Compared

15:40

with the Confucian trust in sage kings

15:42

to exercise discretion in handling matters, the

15:44

Han Fei Zi is less confident about

15:46

the capacities of rulers. Therefore,

15:49

it presents a range of strategies to enable

15:51

rulers to hold on to power. One

15:54

of these tells a ruler how he should

15:56

keep his advisors in check for in handling

15:58

state matters they could deceive him. or

16:00

worse still, they could be traitorous. In

16:03

Chapter 5, entitled The Ruler's Doubt, the

16:05

ruler is told he needs to be

16:07

inscrutable. He hides the fact

16:09

that he is keenly watching over his

16:11

advisors, appearing as if he takes no

16:14

action, ooh, way, in ruling the state.

16:17

However, he holds his advisors to account,

16:19

ensuring that their proposals are carried out.

16:22

He maintains a tally system, and advisors who

16:24

fail to carry out their assignments and duties

16:26

will be punished. Another

16:29

chapter of the Han Fei Tzu responds to

16:31

advocates of a virtuous ruler. In

16:34

the Objection to Positional Power chapter,

16:36

an extended argument is made against

16:38

rule by the morally worthy. The

16:41

Han Fei Tzu argues against a view that

16:43

was held by many, that the worthy should

16:45

rule. Instead, it states

16:47

that what is needed to maintain the

16:49

state is the ruler's positional power, shu.

16:52

In a compelling argument, it says that because

16:54

both sages and tyrants are rare, they must

16:56

be a system to ensure that average rulers

16:58

are able to maintain control of the state.

17:01

It sets up analogies in its argument against the

17:04

widely held belief that rulers must be persons of

17:06

moral worth. If a

17:08

famished person does not eat for a hundred days

17:10

while waiting for fine millet and meat, he will

17:13

not survive. If you

17:15

wait for a great sea swimmer from Yue in

17:17

order to save someone who is drowning in the

17:19

central states, though the people from Yue are good

17:21

enough at swimming, the person who is drowning will

17:23

not be helped. Waiting

17:25

for a sage king to turn up,

17:27

such as Yao or Shun, is analogous

17:30

to these scenarios, the Han Fei Tzu

17:32

argues, which renders that model of leadership

17:34

unviable. This is

17:36

a vision of political leadership that stands in stark

17:38

contrast to that offered by the Confucians. In

17:41

confidence in the people who might actually

17:43

take up positions of power, the Han

17:45

Fei Tzu does not expect a ruler

17:48

to exercise discretion in response to changing

17:50

circumstances. Perhaps it even prefers

17:52

that the ruler not exercise discretion. Henry

17:55

Pines, a scholar of the philosophy of the

17:57

Fa Finkers, suggests that this is one way

17:59

to the Hanfei Zhe safeguards rulers from

18:01

their own weaknesses. Reliance

18:04

on the ruler's status as well as his use

18:06

of other instruments to wield control over the people

18:08

and his advisors reduces the ruler's

18:10

discretion to a minimum. According

18:13

to this view, the Hanfei Zhe's image of

18:15

the ruler is set within a system that

18:17

is built to withstand change rather than respond

18:19

to it. A

18:21

sage in Taoist philosophy could not be more

18:23

different from a ruler in the Hanfei Zhe.

18:26

A Taoist sage acts in a manner

18:28

characterized as wu wei, translated literally

18:31

as non-action. We've

18:33

seen in relation to the Hanfei Zhe that

18:35

the ruler, in being wu wei, hides his

18:37

intentions from his advisors as if he were

18:39

not acting. The Taoists too speak

18:42

of wu wei but mean something quite different

18:44

by it. Far from

18:46

suggesting that a sage takes no action, it

18:48

refers to action that is not constrained by

18:50

specific methods or outcomes. This

18:53

will make more sense if we look more closely at the

18:55

meaning of the term wu wei. The

18:57

word wei does mean to act but also

18:59

to regard things as being a certain way.

19:02

For example, we could say that a

19:04

Confucian regards wu wei benevolence as a

19:06

unique and basic aspect of all human

19:09

beings. And we could

19:11

also say that the Confucian engages in projects

19:13

wu wei in order to grow their benevolence.

19:16

Taoists wu wei by contrast resists thinking

19:18

that is hemmed in by certain expectations

19:21

or action that is goal-driven. So

19:23

the negation wu in wu wei

19:26

expresses its refusal to go along

19:28

with conventional goal-directed projects. The

19:30

Tao de qin, a late warring

19:33

state's text containing 81 passages by

19:35

different authors, rejects conventional ways of

19:37

valuing and thinking about things. It

19:40

exposes the way preoccupation is

19:42

about beauty, goodness, benevolence, greatness,

19:44

wisdom, learning, fame, possessions, skill,

19:47

or cunning, and gain dictate

19:49

our lives. It

19:51

would seem odd that a text would seek only

19:53

to negate all pursuits. In fact,

19:55

though, the Tao de qin does not reject

19:57

all forms of goodness or indeed of sageliness.

20:01

Where it speaks against learning, for example,

20:03

it criticizes those approaches to learning that

20:05

seek to increase a person's conventional wisdom.

20:08

By contrast, the Tao De Ching aims

20:10

to engage in matters without embracing expectations

20:12

that most people hold to. According

20:15

to Tao De Ching, Chapter 2, the Taoist

20:18

sage carries out tasks without being constrained in

20:20

this way. The chapter opens

20:22

by scrutinizing how our pursuits are shaped by our

20:24

views of what is beautiful and of what is

20:27

good. It then asserts

20:29

that the sage's pursuits are not shaped in

20:31

this way. Indeed, they are oo-wei. Because

20:34

the Taoist sage does not encourage a specific

20:36

set of values, he, like the Han Fei

20:38

Tzu's ruler, does not promote worthiness as a

20:41

criterion of leadership. Yet

20:43

it is for different reasons that the two

20:45

texts reject worthiness. The Han Fei

20:47

Tzu thinks insistence on worthiness is unrealistic

20:50

as rulers in its day were merely

20:52

average. In comparison, the Tao

20:54

De Ching is concerned about the imposition

20:56

of norms on human behavior. Moreover,

20:59

unlike the Han Fei Tzu's ruler,

21:01

for whom oo-wei has an element

21:03

of passivity, the Taoist sage who

21:05

embodies oo-wei actively engages with the

21:07

world. It

21:10

is difficult to form a more complete picture

21:12

of sagely oo-wei from the Tao De Ching,

21:14

given its cryptic nature. However,

21:17

it is possible to illustrate what a Taoist

21:19

sagely life might be like by referring to

21:21

a story from the Xian Tzu. In

21:24

the last episode, we saw that the

21:26

Xian Tzu's Tao incorporates open-endedness as a

21:28

person journeys through life. This

21:31

idea is related to sagely oo-wei. In

21:34

fact, Taoist Tao is oo-wei in that

21:36

it is not molded into a particular

21:38

form, like a fixed itinerary for everyone.

21:41

In both Taoist conceptions of Tao and

21:43

oo-wei, a primary focus is on living

21:46

a life that encounters the changing world

21:48

responsibly. A story

21:50

in the Xian Tzu about a wheel maker helps

21:52

us appreciate how it is possible to act in

21:54

such a way. The Wheel

21:56

Maker, whose name means flat, has the

21:59

audacity to. Market an official took

22:01

one is reading the words of men

22:03

who were long dead. His.

22:05

Remarks would have been particularly sensitive as the Duke

22:07

had just told the will make her that he

22:09

was reading the words of the sages. The

22:12

story sets up how the Duke and the Will

22:14

make her are worlds apart and status. In

22:17

the story overturns the conventional set. The.

22:19

Manual Workers challenges the appropriately focused

22:22

official who aims to learn from

22:24

former sages. This. Is a

22:26

story of contrasts while the Duke reads so

22:28

that he may be reliably guided by the

22:30

wisdom of the sages the will make her.

22:32

I like the free hand nature of his

22:34

work. He. Says of his work

22:36

that with his hammer and chisel I feel

22:38

it in my hand and respond to it

22:40

with my her mind. Most.

22:43

Workmen in his day would have

22:45

been guided by measuring instruments collectively

22:47

called contests and square We do.

22:50

However, This will make her undertakes his

22:52

craft. I feel responding to the would he

22:54

has carving with his hammer chisel. Does.

22:57

Important mention that the generic term

22:59

for measuring instruments campus and square

23:02

was also used metaphorically by the

23:04

Confucians to refer to guidance for

23:06

our moral lives. Toward

23:08

the end of the story, the Will Make or

23:11

tells the Duke's that he cannot put his first

23:13

hand experience of know making into words and that

23:15

he has been unable to transmit it to his

23:17

son. This. Is intended to be

23:19

instructive for those who seek to preserve the wisdom

23:21

of sages for the present. How

23:23

can words transmit to us what it

23:25

means to act responsibly. The.

23:28

Signs Point is not that reading as

23:30

a points exercise, Rather, it's question concerns

23:32

how we can learn to be responsive

23:34

to changing circumstances. Can. It be

23:36

that sages, birds which codify values

23:38

and practices enable us to be

23:40

responses. So

23:43

response a decision making is a characteristic

23:45

above confusion and our sages, whereas in

23:47

the hunt it's discretion is not encourage

23:49

nor is it nurtured as it is

23:51

difficult to ensure that rulers will be

23:54

able to reliably to exercise it. de

23:57

haan fits his focus is therefore

24:00

on certain strategies and power infrastructure

24:02

that will persist in spite of

24:04

change. We've also

24:06

considered differences in the ways the Confucians and

24:08

Taoists seek to respond to change. While

24:11

Confucians look to tried and tested ways

24:13

for guidance so that they might act

24:15

as a Sage might have, in their

24:17

circumstances, the Taoist Wu Wei Sage seeks

24:19

to encounter the world and respond to

24:22

it attentively. An idea

24:24

that sums up the difference between the two

24:26

views of Sazley responsiveness is in their thinking

24:28

about the tracks that Sages lead for us

24:31

to follow. The Sun

24:33

Tzu, a Confucian text, discusses how we

24:35

can discern and follow the tracks of

24:37

Sage Kings. By contrast, the

24:39

two Taoist texts we have looked at speak

24:42

of not leaving tracks. The

24:44

Shong Tzu specifically addresses this issue, highlighting

24:46

the difference between what it sees as

24:48

a Confucian approach in contrast to its

24:50

own. In a

24:52

conversation between Lao Dan, the revered author

24:54

of the Doui Qing, and Kong

24:56

Tzu, Lao Dan rejects Kong

24:58

Tzu's reliance on the Six Classics,

25:00

the Confucian canon of texts. Characterizing

25:04

the Six Classics as the tracks or

25:06

footprints of former Kings, Lao Dan says,

25:09

those Six Classics are indeed just the stale

25:11

footprints of the former Kings. How could they

25:13

be that which leaves the footprints? Now

25:16

your present words are just further footprints. Footprints

25:19

are produced by the gate, but they are not the

25:21

gate itself. These

25:24

comments crystallize the complexities surrounding the question

25:26

of how we can effectively draw on

25:28

the insights of Sages, models, and exemplary

25:30

people so that their own views can

25:32

be better informed. How can

25:34

we learn from the past in such a way

25:37

that it enhances rather than inhibits or encounters with

25:39

the world? In

25:42

these opening two episodes, we've pursued a couple

25:44

of major themes in classical Chinese philosophy, the

25:46

Tao and Mao change, to give you an

25:48

introduction to the main currents of thought and

25:50

flavor of what is to come. We'll

25:53

hear more about this in the next episode, as

25:55

I chat with the co-author of this series, Karen

25:57

Lai, about the chronological and thematic scope of the

25:59

series. of the whole series we're planning. To

26:02

be honest, we're going to have to exercise

26:04

some discretion as we go along in response

26:06

to changing circumstances, but it would still be

26:08

sage advice for you to join me and

26:11

Karen here next time on the History of

26:13

Philosophy in June.