is not very well known among the early Chinese masters. Wikipedia offers a rather representative ... more is not very well known among the early Chinese masters. Wikipedia offers a rather representative description. It dates him from 440 till 360 B.C.E., calls him "a Chinese philosopher during the Warring States period," and describes his philosophy as "an early ethical egoist alternative to Mohist and Confucian thought." He "has recently faded into relative obscurity" in "comparison with other Chinese philosophical giants." "Recently" is perhaps a bit vague for a gap of almost twenty-five centuries, since the author states that "his influence in his own time was so widespread that Mencius (孟子) described his philosophies along with the antithetical ideas of Mozi (墨 子) as 'floods and wild animals that ravage the land.'" 1 The situation is somewhat more complex. In the twentieth century, Yang Zhu has actually not faded away but rather emerged from obscurity and begun an increasingly successful career:
At the end of the nineteenth century, Chinese intellectuals had to respond to the dire situation ... more At the end of the nineteenth century, Chinese intellectuals had to respond to the dire situation of their country. Against this background, the leading intellectual Kang Youwei aimed to re-establish some traditional values. Although Yang Zhu had long been employed rhetorically in pre-modern China, Kang reconstructed Yang Zhu as an ancient master who had a coherent theory centered around two expressions: wei wo (serving one's own interest) and zong yu (indulging in desires). However, there is a tension in Kang's attitudes towards Yang Zhu: on the one hand, he criticizes Yang Zhu for when he reflects upon the despotic nature of Chinese governance; on the other hand, Kang sees the positive sides of wei wo and zong yu in the achievement of the Great Unity. Despite the ambiguity, Kang's choice of vocabulary still made an impact to the portrayals of Yang Zhu after his: his portrayal turned this master into someone highly relevant to modern China; he also showed the possibility of reading Yang Zhu in a positive light.
The Many Lives of Yang Zhu: A Historical Overview, 2023
The twentieth century was when China was contracted from being the “world” to merely a “nation.” ... more The twentieth century was when China was contracted from being the “world” to merely a “nation.” The drastic change of the geographical and political perception of China led to a revision of traditional ideas that were believed to hold universal value. Against this background, the reevaluation of a supposedly pre-Qin figure became particularly interesting in revealing how the paradigm shift subverted the conventional criteria of value. In this paper, I examine how Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873–1929), a leading intellectual in the early twentieth century, made his contribution to the revision of Yang Zhu 楊朱 (approximately 400 BCE), the long-standing “heretic” in Chinese intellectual history. By retracing Liang’s early portrayal of Yang Zhu, I present how Yang Zhu gained his modern image as a valuable ancient Chinese philosopher after thousands of years of being considered mostly negative or irrelevant. I also show how, by introducing Yang Zhu in this way, modern intellectuals negotiated the meanings of imported modern concepts.
is not very well known among the early Chinese masters. Wikipedia offers a rather representative ... more is not very well known among the early Chinese masters. Wikipedia offers a rather representative description. It dates him from 440 till 360 B.C.E., calls him "a Chinese philosopher during the Warring States period," and describes his philosophy as "an early ethical egoist alternative to Mohist and Confucian thought." He "has recently faded into relative obscurity" in "comparison with other Chinese philosophical giants." "Recently" is perhaps a bit vague for a gap of almost twenty-five centuries, since the author states that "his influence in his own time was so widespread that Mencius (孟子) described his philosophies along with the antithetical ideas of Mozi (墨 子) as 'floods and wild animals that ravage the land.'" 1 The situation is somewhat more complex. In the twentieth century, Yang Zhu has actually not faded away but rather emerged from obscurity and begun an increasingly successful career:
At the end of the nineteenth century, Chinese intellectuals had to respond to the dire situation ... more At the end of the nineteenth century, Chinese intellectuals had to respond to the dire situation of their country. Against this background, the leading intellectual Kang Youwei aimed to re-establish some traditional values. Although Yang Zhu had long been employed rhetorically in pre-modern China, Kang reconstructed Yang Zhu as an ancient master who had a coherent theory centered around two expressions: wei wo (serving one's own interest) and zong yu (indulging in desires). However, there is a tension in Kang's attitudes towards Yang Zhu: on the one hand, he criticizes Yang Zhu for when he reflects upon the despotic nature of Chinese governance; on the other hand, Kang sees the positive sides of wei wo and zong yu in the achievement of the Great Unity. Despite the ambiguity, Kang's choice of vocabulary still made an impact to the portrayals of Yang Zhu after his: his portrayal turned this master into someone highly relevant to modern China; he also showed the possibility of reading Yang Zhu in a positive light.
The Many Lives of Yang Zhu: A Historical Overview, 2023
The twentieth century was when China was contracted from being the “world” to merely a “nation.” ... more The twentieth century was when China was contracted from being the “world” to merely a “nation.” The drastic change of the geographical and political perception of China led to a revision of traditional ideas that were believed to hold universal value. Against this background, the reevaluation of a supposedly pre-Qin figure became particularly interesting in revealing how the paradigm shift subverted the conventional criteria of value. In this paper, I examine how Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873–1929), a leading intellectual in the early twentieth century, made his contribution to the revision of Yang Zhu 楊朱 (approximately 400 BCE), the long-standing “heretic” in Chinese intellectual history. By retracing Liang’s early portrayal of Yang Zhu, I present how Yang Zhu gained his modern image as a valuable ancient Chinese philosopher after thousands of years of being considered mostly negative or irrelevant. I also show how, by introducing Yang Zhu in this way, modern intellectuals negotiated the meanings of imported modern concepts.
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