Self cultivation

In this paper I argue that an important task of career-long teacher education is the encouragement of imagination and creativity in experienced teachers. The task implies a reversal of the managerialism that currently afflicts so many European education systems. I begin by giving an analysis of pedagogical relationships to expose some of the reasons that teaching is an extraordinarily complex activity, which it is difficult to do well. Indeed it is so complex that it is not something that can be learnt in advance of experience. Therefore early-career teachers need to develop their skills before they can become fully competent. However experience is not enough on its own. To become excellent – that is, more than proficient – requires a career-long commitment to self-cultivation as teachers. Part of the reason that the commitment needs to be career-long is that teaching contexts are in a continual state of change, and teachers need to adapt through a process of self-cultivation. I suggest that there are two broad approaches to career-long teacher education: (1) closed, standardised, benchmarked and (2) open, imaginative, creative. While the first can be encouraged in the usual managerial ways, the second cannot. Openness to change and adaptation requires teachers to carry out a daunting, exciting, risky re-evaluation of themselves and their pedagogical relationships. I draw on examples to illustrate what might be included in imaginative and creative self-cultivation. Many of these use creative and imaginative forms of practitioner research.

The method of quiet-sitting developed by Okada Torajirō (1872-1920), called the Okada Shiki seiza hō, was very influential from 1910 to 1920. Okada taught that inner spirituality grew from inside the individual through the practice of his method, and by his teaching he set out to create a new culture and education in Japan , rejecting not only the Japanese tradition but also the foreign ideas being imported into Japan from Western countries since the mid- nineteenth century.  The emphasis seemed to attract a range of people, such as intellectuals and students struggling with the contradictions they perceived in Japan's modernization and the fetters of their own tradition. A number of scholars have argued that the movement rapidly disappeared after Okada’s sudden death. But some disciples continued their practice of quiet-sitting. The Seiza-sha in Kyōto was one of them that carried on the quiet-sitting sessions and played the most important role among followers of the Okada method. It was established by Kobayashi Nobuko (1886-1973) after the death of her husband, Kobayashi Sanzaburō (1863-1926), a doctor who used the method of quiet sitting in his treatment of patients. Seiza-sha published a journal titled Seiza and functioned as the center of a network of quiet-sitting followers in many parts of the country.
    Seiza-sha has recently donated part of its documentary holdings to the International Research Center for Japanese Studies. This article introduces the catalogue of the materials that were donated and describes the activities and the human network of the Seiza-sha and the many ways in which it functioned as a salon where Buddhist intellectuals and literary people interacted. The network also spread among non-Japanese, some of whom subsequently introduce into their own countries Zen Buddhism and physical techniques, such as a method of breathing and sitting. While exchanging with people who sought a universal religion transcending established religions and nations, Kobayashi Nobuko tried to strictly keep the style of quiet sitting prescribed by Okada. There were also some people who attempted to connect the practice to nationalism in the course of Japan's Fifteen Year War between 1931 and 1945. The Seiza-sha documents include an interesting case of interchange between domestic history and international trends in the 1920s and after.

The article takes the enquiry to Japan, where Dō  – contemplative, active paths toward human excellence – integrate theory and practice and show an inspiring and refined way to cultivate human excellence.  These practices focus on the experience of the performer, unlike the West’s emphasis in both the arts and athletics on the audience and spectator. This means delving into the ideal of shugyo, the endeavor to excel in a lifelong commitment.  Nishida Kitaro and contemporary interpreters conceptualize this philosophically, while Zen Buddhism, bushido, and kenjutsu (swordsmanship) manuals offer insights and concretely exemplify the process.  In addition, the different ethos and philosophical underpinnings of sports and martial arts are contrasted, e.g., their divergent stance regarding results and process. Behind this Japanese pursuit of excellence lies a strong community-centered ethos that segues into the last chapter.

Since the late 1980's a current or denomination that is often referred to as Traditional Islam has crystallised within the broader landscape of Sunni Islam in the English-speaking world. This analysis sheds light on Traditional Islam's discourses of orthodoxy and orthopraxis, its historical narratives, rhetoric regarding contemporary Islam and how it construes the metastructure of Islam and the Islamic sciences. It is mainly based on essays by Nuh Ha Mim KELLER and Abdul Hakim MURAD and carves out an overview of contemporary Traditional Islam and its central fields of discourse and scholarly contention. Contemporary Traditional Islam's understanding of Islam is established by reference to the famous ḥadīṯ Jibrīl that speaks of a tripartite structure of the religion consisting of islām, īmān and iḥsān. Through the specification of each of these subfields of revealed knowledge Traditional Islamic discourse instructs its adherents regarding the nature of orthodoxy and its understanding of the Islamic past, present and future. Traditional Islam's discursive bid for orthodoxy challenges other strands and conceptualisations of normative Islam, not least those predominant within groups and currents associated within salafism, revivalism and reformism.

As this volume shows, Daoism changed in many different directions at the same time during the twentieth century. Many aspects of such change were directly ushered in by political processes of brutal secularization and modernization, which dramatically disrupted Daoists' connections with local temples, community life, and rituals. There is, however, one facet of Daoism that changed in less traumatic ways and actually thrived: its selfcultivation tradition, and the associational networks devoted to the practice of this tradition. By contrast to local temples that were being ruined and destroyed for most of the twentieth century, self-cultivation networks expanded and diversified. To analyze this process of expansion and diversification, I propose in this chapter to describe Daoist self-cultivation as a market, itself, as we will see, made up of different markets, all consisting of various competing suppliers aiming to meet demand in instructions in techniques allowing one to transcend one's physical limitations, based on Daoist visions of the body-this is, for the purpose of the present chapter, the narrow definition of self-cultivation.

Mountain worship has always been one of the central features of Korean cultural landscape. While specific traditions of mountain culture have been utilized by North Korea’s leadership for the purpose of promotion of the state ideology, in South Korea mountain culture has acquired different forms. We argue that contemporary South Korean ki suryŏn (氣 修練) practices for perfection of mind and body constitute such manifestation of mountain-related culture. The ancient tradition of mountain gods (山神, sanshin) is a source from which the legendary figures of New Goddesses on Mt. Paektu emerge. We study origination and development of Paektu-related myths of South and North Korea, focusing on two divinities. The first goddess is Ch’ŏnsŏnnyŏ (天仙女, the Woman of Heaven) from the contemporary legend of GiCheon (氣天, Kich’ŏn), one of the ki suryŏn training methods. Our second goddess is Kim Chŏng-suk, the first wife of Kim Il-sŏng, founder of North Korea. In order to study simultaneous processes of origination and development of Mt. Paektu-related myths of South and North Korea, we consider sources from different fields of knowledge, such as folklore, art, philosophy and religion, politics, literary criticism, political science and environmental science. We apply an interdisciplinary approach to two seemingly incompatible processes of myth-making of contemporary South and North Korea. The two countries, divided geographically, politically, economically, have for many centuries been one nation and one people, one language and one culture. This commonality has not disappeared into the depth of history, but comes to the cultural surface even in this most difficult contemporary time.

Zhuangzi's iconoclastic and irreverent philosophy takes center stage.This article begins  the point of contact with Asian philosophy in the monograph with a detailed exposition of the Chinese sage.  First comes an exposition of basic concepts in Daoism and Zhuangzi’s philosophy that are pertinent to the main themes of this inquiry.  Subsequently, we explore a truly holistic model of skill development where the bodymind flourishes and form and function entwine.  Analyzing the developmental growth from inferior to superior stages that mark achievement, the essay exhibits the ever refining levels of expertise from virtuoso performances by cooks to the intellectual and emotional achievement of  “sages.” Moreover, his ideas are also fruitful in rethinking disability and disability sport, here seen as a manifestation of power.

The theme of self-cultivation closely relates to the theme of self-knowledge, a topic which has recently engaged many analytical philosophers. In these concluding remarks, we will discuss the connection of self-cultivation to self-knowledge, focusing especially on substantial self-knowledge: knowledge of such things as one's own values, character traits, and what makes one happy. Substantial self-knowledge is an important theme in ancient philosophy, and in the work of later figures such as Spinoza, Nietzsche, and Foucault. The main aim will be to clarify the relationship, if indeed there is one, between substantial self-knowledge and what the authors in this volume refer to as self-cultivation. In Self-Knowledge for Humans (2014), Cassam argues that although contemporary philosophers often focus on what could be called 'trivial' selfknowledge (such as access to my current mental states, or the question of how I know whether I'm wearing socks), it is also possible to construct an account of 'substantial' self-knowledge which is philosophically interesting. When various contributors to this volume claim that self-knowledge is an important requirement for self-cultivation, they interpret self-knowledge as substantial self-knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's own values, character traits, and what makes one happy, rather than the relatively mundane claims regarding my mental states. We believe these authors are right to regard substantial self-knowledge as meriting serious philosophical attention. The neglect of substantial self-knowledge in contemporary philosophy should therefore be deplored, and we should ask: how did this sad state of affairs come about? This question will be revisited at the end of this epilogue. Understanding the connection between self-cultivation and self-knowledge requires us to address three clusters of questions:

『東医宝鑑』医学体系における養生と修養の思想
− 朝鮮社会における中国道教及び儒教の受容様相に着目して −

東京大学大学院 博士課程 金兌垠

1. 『東医宝鑑』の成立背景と構成体系
『東医宝鑑』は、朝鮮の宣祖が宮中御医である許浚をはじめ、医官たちに医書編纂の勅命を下したことにより誕生した文献である。宣祖が許浚に医書編纂の任務を任せる際に求めた三つの精神は、①国産薬材つまり郷薬を中心にして処方を記載すること、②養生の医学理論を叙述すること、③整理されず散在していた明の医薬書を整えることである。
『東医宝鑑』の基本趣旨であるこの三つの精神は、人間と環境との密接な連関性を意味し、この書物の鍵概念である「養生」とは自然に順応して生を養い、自然生態との調和及び合一を図る人間の意志であると言えよう。
第一に、『東医宝鑑』の成立背景を考察する。ここでは、①中国と朝鮮との医学交流史の考察、②『東医宝鑑』成立以前における朝鮮の医療実情の考察、③『東医宝鑑』編纂の基盤になった医書の検討を行う。第二に、『東医宝鑑』の編纂過程及び参与人物の特性を考察し、『東医宝鑑』が養生の思想を基本とするようになった背景を分析する。ここでは、①宣祖の命と彼の養生観が形成された背景、②許浚の生涯及び儒医としての性格、③『東医宝鑑』編纂の助力者たち、という内容を扱う。第三に、『東医宝鑑』の編制構成が持つ道教的人体観について論ずる。先ず『東医宝鑑』の全体目次を紹介し、その上で各編制の意義について分析する。

2. 『東医宝鑑』養生論の成立における道教と儒教の受容様相
第一に、中国道教の養生と修養について論ずる。中国における養生説の展開過程について思想史的に検討し、「生」と「性」が同じ意味として使われ、養生が即ち養性として通じるようになった事実について原典から根拠を提示する。そして養生のために方案として示されたのは、欲望や過度を節制することであるが、肉体的過度を避けることはもちろん、精神的過度についても戒めることを強調するという論議を扱う。第二に、朝鮮時代の養生説について論ずる。ここでは朝鮮が中国思想の養生論の伝統を継承した側面に言及し、朝鮮に道教が流入した過程及びその様相について論ずる。特に、『東医宝鑑』の原文や出典を検討し、朝鮮の道教受容がどのように反映されているのかを確認する。第三に、宋明の新儒学によって形成された新医学思潮が、朝鮮半島の『東医宝鑑』にいかなる影響を与えたのかを検討する。宋明理学の流行によって「儒医」が出現し、『東医宝鑑』にも金元四大家等の儒医から影響を受けた跡が見える。そこで『東医宝鑑』における金元四大家の医学及び儒学的要素について論ずる。第四に、『東医宝鑑』の成立における朝鮮儒学者たちの影響についても論ずる。例えば、朝鮮性理学者たちの医学研究が『東医宝鑑』の内容に反映された論拠として李退渓『活人心方』などを挙げて論ずる。第五に、道教と医学との関係について研究した本人なりの意見を提示したい。

The paper examines Qiu Zhijie’s multi-layered project A Suicidology of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge (since 2008) and asks what is at stake when art literally and metaphorically is assigned with life-saving functions. Based on the artist’s assumption that today’s social and political reality as well as its subjects are historically constructed the article conceives of the Nanjing Bridge as an embodiment of a historically constituted contemporary Chinese reality. Through close readings of the works as well as analyses of theoretical writings by Qiu Zhijie the article scrutinises the relationship Total Art assumes between the social and the aesthetic realm and examines the premises and strategies the artist adopts in order to produce socially and aesthetically e ective art that keeps ‘alive’.

Islamic education and existential learning is directed at purifying the self (nafs) and the cultivation of certitude (yaqîn). A central aspiration in the learning process is to become an intimate friend of Allah (a walî), who embodies the prophetic presence (istihdâr al-nûr almuhammadiyya) and who by that presence directs other people to Islam. This article uncovers life and learning in a leading Islamic institution of learning and analyzes the processes of selftransformation and education that constitute the foundation for the rise of a walî. It is based on my work on the Bâ´Alawî tradition, one of the most influential Islamic traditions of learning and self-cultivation in the present age, since 2006 and in particular on my visit to the Islamic university Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen during the summer and the fall of 2011. The paradoxical tension between Sufism’s ideal of ascetic seclusion on one hand, and the extremely hectic and much courted social lifestyle of leading Sufis on the ot...

Islamic education and existential learning is directed at purifying the self (nafs) and the cultivation of certitude (yaqîn). A central aspiration in the learning process is to become an intimate friend of Allah (a walî), who embodies the prophetic presence (istihdâr al-nûr al-muhammadiyya) and who by that presence directs other people to Islam. This article uncovers life and learning in a leading Islamic institution of learning and analyzes the processes of self-transformation and education that constitute the foundation for the rise of a walî. It is based on my work on the Bâ´Alawî tradition, one of the most influential Islamic traditions of learning and self-cultivation in the present age, since 2006 and in particular on my visit to the Islamic university Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen during the summer and the fall of 2011. The paradoxical tension between Sufism’s ideal of ascetic seclusion on one hand, and the extremely hectic and much courted social lifestyle of leading Sufis on the other, is discussed. It is suggested that the cultivation of a prophetic will to direct others to Islam is the key to understanding this tension.

Ancient Chinese history holds a quality which has syncretized traditional thought with its cultural wealth unified of mystical and mythological figures in the background. Such that classical documents, which had begun to be written before Common Era, has directly influenced the political regime, education system and status of society in China. One of the most prominent features of these works is to propound collective knowledge about perception of cosmology, attitudes to earthiness, community standards, policy and morality. Among Five Classics works of these masterpieces of Chinese philosophy, Book of Changes which stands closest to metaphysical narrative, mainly consists of the texts about prophecy. While this piece of work had been referred as a divination guide in Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC), it turned into a cosmological text that included a range of philosophical commentary during Warring States Period (475-221 BC). The mainstay of this remarkable change is the direct correlation of all the concepts and terms that characterize the worldly beyond along with the relevant text, especially yin-yang dualism, which symbolizes an extraordinary harmony in early Chinese thought. Traditional idea suggests reciprocity in which heaven, earth and man are interconnected to maintain natural order. However, the superiority attributed to human beings also brings compulsive responsibilities to idealize a compatible society. This paper aims to discuss influences of cosmological and anthropological items on human behaviors explained in prescriptive perspective.

Confucius and Aristotle both put a primacy on the task of ethical self-cultivation. Unlike Aristotle, who emphasizes the instrumental value of legal punishment for cultivation’s sake, Confucius raises worries about the practice of punishment. Punishment, and the threat of punishment, Confucius suggests, actually threatens to warp human motivation and impede our ethical development. In this paper, I examine Confucius’ worries about legal punishment, and consider how a dialogue on punishment between Confucius and Aristotle might proceed. I explore how far apart these thinkers actually stand, and examine the possibilities for a rapprochement between them. Doing so brings to light the self-cultivation perspective’s range of resources for thinking about punishment’s justification. (Early Release article.)

Fo Guang Shan (佛光山; Buddha’s Light Mountain), an international Buddhist movement headquartered in Taiwan, regularly runs what it calls a short-term monastic cultivation retreat, a week-long residential program designed to provide lay members with an opportunity for intensive cultivation (修養; xiuyang or 修行; xiuxing). Contributions to the anthropology of ethics have recently drawn sharp distinctions between ordered, systematic ethics associated especially with religious traditions, and the compromise and accommodation that result from the exigencies of everyday life. This retreat, we argue, shows that the experience of ethical shortcomings can be a positive instrument and aspect of religious striving. While much debate in the anthropology of ethics assumes an a priori conceptual framework that opposes ordinary or everyday exigency to ordered transcendence, exigency and order in the Fo Guang Shan retreat are instead mutually constitutive and dynamically related. Here, failing and being...

Industrial growth and the development of the new middle class in South Korea of the 1980s went together with increased consumption and leisure culture, causing growing concerns with health and personal self-cultivation. Accordingly, sŏngin undong (成人運動 sports for adults), mountain hiking and ki suryŏn were on the rise.
People of older generations have lived through Korea’s dramatic transformation from a mostly rural society to an industrial one. Their yearning for the past, in which the “past” is idealized and imagined anew, is directly connected to old Korean mountain culture of immortality, a touchstone of cultural authenticity.
Together with an image of rural “old Korea” in the minds of contemporary people, it becomes a source of inspiration in re-inventing tradition in the spirit of nationalism. This tendency is expressed in new religious and spiritual movements that matured toward the 1980s. Ki suryŏn is an important part of these spiritual-social phenomena. The author Victoria Ten (Jeon Yeon Hwa) is a teacher of GiCheon, one ki suryŏn disciplines, which she researches at academia, combining this with a profession of a lawyer.

The article may be accessed for free via the cambridge.org link above!

Thus far, scholarship on early China has mainly focused on conceptual debates and re-interpretations of terminology. I showcase in this article a methodology called metaphorology that enables us to analyze how discourses developed through the reworking of images. In particular, I reconstruct a discourse on governance and self-cultivational practices as enshrined in Mengzi 3A.4, the Zhuangzi’s “Mati” chapter and Huainanzi 9.13. While Mengzi 3A.4 purports that the cultivation of agricultural fields and human bodies are necessary steps in the civilizational process, the Zhuangzi’s “Mati” chapter demands a decultivation of the human population and a return to the wilderness. In my reading, Huainanzi 9.13, from the “Arts of Rulership” chapter, amalgamates these two image-based debates with the help of the metaphors of the ruler as an overgrown courtyard and the officials as tilled fields. Hence, I propose that Huainanzi 9.13 creates its integrative vision of governance that promotes both education and decultivation by synthesizing the “Mati” chapter's focus on wilderness and Mengzi 3A.4's concerns with tilling. As a result, I encourage us to engage fully in imagery's role as a central and foundational aspect of early Chinese debate culture rather than a rhetorical side effect of its various discourses.

迄今為止的早期中國研究大多著力於對術語、概念的爭論和詮釋。在這篇論文中，我希望展示一種新的研究方法，即通過研究意象的轉化來分析各種話語的變化發展。尤以《孟子・滕文公上》、《莊子・馬蹄》和《淮南子・主術訓》為例，我試圖重構這三個文本所體現的統治與修身話語。雖然〈滕文公上〉主張耕作與修身是禮樂文明賴以發展的必經階段，〈馬蹄〉的一些章節卻要求人們去除禮樂教化，回歸「廣莫之野」。而〈主術訓〉一章藉由兩個比喻──以「朝廷蕪」比喻君主「無為而治」，以「田野辟」比喻官吏「務功修業」──將《莊子・馬蹄》的荒野和《孟子・滕文公上》的耕作這兩種不同意象融為一體。由此，《淮南子・主術訓》創造性地提出了一種整合禮樂教化與無為復樸的統治術。

DIE ÜBUNG DER KRAFT
PARADOXIEN TRANSFORMATIVER SUBJEKTIVITÄT
「力量的習練：氣化主體及其弔詭
Workshop
工作坊
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt/M., 7.Juli 2017
法蘭克福哥德大學（2017年7月7日）
in Kooperation mit dem Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica│與中央研究院中國文哲所共同主辦
Gebäude "Normative Ordnungen" (ExNO)
Max-Horkheimer-Straße 2
60323 Frankfurt am Main
Raum 5.01
10:00-10:30 Einführung
Christoph MENKE (Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt/M.), Fabian HEUBEL (Academia Sinica, Taipei/Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt/M.)
10:30-13:00 Vortrag und Diskussion 演講及討論
Christoph MENKE Der Weg, der bloßes Können überschreitet. Nachbemerkungen zu einer Diskussion│「道也進乎技矣」？關於一場討論的回應
13:00-15:00 Mittagspause 午餐
15:00-18:00
Kurzvorträge und freies Gespräch 報告及自由討論

Capacity for character: fiction, ethics and the anthropology of conduct Method acting is one of the most popular theatrical rehearsal systems, according to which actors seek intense identification with characters. In this article, I draw on fieldwork with a professional contemporary German theatre to suggest an alternative view. Rather than training to merge with characters, actors understand characters as a 'repertoire of fiction' they freely draw upon to compose themselves. Training for characters thus facilitates the capacity to detach and appropriate traits of different, imagined and real, persons. It is thus an active and reflected stance that minds the gap between actor and character, rather than a passive and predominantly embodied taking on by actors of fictional characters and their traits. Informed by discussions on the notion of conduct in the anthropology of ethics, this article investigates how training the 'capacity for character' can inform anthropological understandings of detachment, reflexivity and personhood.

The book discusses the cultivation of excellence in the context of performative
endeavors, those that denote activity and where movement plays a key role to how
they accomplish their ends. It centers on and argues for the primacy of the experience
of the performer rather than the observer. This leads to a consideration of ‘thick holism’,
which advances a functional, flexible, and ecological model that emphasizes the continuities, fluidities, and connections that permeate our bodymind. It holds that we are
richly complex, dynamic, animate organisms whose bodily, psychic, emotional, affective,
sensory, kinetic, energetic, socio-historical, and environmental facets form a unity that is
consummated to various degrees of competence and integration. Perfecting our skills
achieves this integration, which is requisite for the kind of excellence proper of these
endeavors. Our skills, which are practice-specific, are capacities to do proficiently certain
actions in consonance with our endowments. Moreover, said skills are imbued with normative value (aesthetic and ethical). These ideas are argued for and developed more
fully as applicable throughout Skillful Striving.

This is an edited version of a special issue in Sport, Ethics and Philosophy (See pertinent section)

In this essay, I briefly outline Nietzsche's doctrine of the eternal recurrence that has implications for education, and life in general; and, lastly, I argue that from an educational point of view, Nietzsche's doctrine of the eternal recurrence is best viewed as the great cultivating thought that has radical ramifications for any project of character education. Indeed, Nietzsche's concern with self-cultivation (Bildung) to a large degree brings together the central tenets of his thinking to emphasise an ethics of character that is meant to serve as an alternative approach to cultivating character or the self in such a way that it reveals 'what one is' now (being), and who they could become (becoming). In order to bring this about, Nietzsche does not conceive the eternal recurrence as a theoretical doctrine, but as an exercise that we incorporate into our lives as a habitual practice, vis-à-vis, through repeated and prolonged meditation, reflection, thought and dialogue on the significance of the idea in such a way that it transforms the individual for the better. Subsequently, the idea of the eternal recurrence only becomes cultivating and truly educational if it transforms our lives in such a way that we come to revalue the self as a work of art to a point where we are able to educate ourselves against our age.

Martial arts, as with other practices such as qigong and meditation, are sometimes considered as ways towards self-cultivation and the development of character and personality. Theories such as that of Yasuo Yuasa (1987, 1993) demonstrate the integration of mind and body and the eventual development of one’s character through such disciplines. However, in martial arts pedagogies and associations, this human development is rarely a solitary activity, but in fact an interpersonal and almost entirely relational one. In this presentation, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork and various other studies of Chinese, European and Mexican martial arts systems to demonstrate how cultivation is shared between teacher and students, fellow classmates, seniors and juniors, martial arts lineages and from ancestors to future exponents of an art. I pay attention to the established cases of Chinese Kung Fu and Taijiquan, along with the recently invented Mexican Xilam and the revivalist movement of historical European martial arts (HEMA) to demonstrate the variety of cultures pedagogies and philosophies that can all be understood through the expanded theory of shared cultivation (Jennings, 2010). By taking a relational sociological perspective advocated by Nick Crossley (2012), I stress the key element of human relationships and the contact relation of oneself and the formation of oneself through other people in the past, present and future.

Keywords: Self-cultivation; human development; relational sociology; ethnography; theory.

Recorded presentation available at: Martial arts, as with other practices such as qigong and meditation, are sometimes considered as ways towards self-cultivation and the development of character and personality. Theories such as that of Yasuo Yuasa (1987, 1993) demonstrate the integration of mind and body and the eventual development of one’s character through such disciplines. However, in martial arts pedagogies and associations, this human development is rarely a solitary activity, but in fact an interpersonal and almost entirely relational one. In this presentation, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork and various other studies of Chinese, European and Mexican martial arts systems to demonstrate how cultivation is shared between teacher and students, fellow classmates, seniors and juniors, martial arts lineages and from ancestors to future exponents of an art. I pay attention to the established cases of Chinese Kung Fu and Taijiquan, along with the recently invented Mexican Xilam and the revivalist movement of historical European martial arts (HEMA) to demonstrate the variety of cultures pedagogies and philosophies that can all be understood through the expanded theory of shared cultivation (Jennings, 2010). By taking a relational sociological perspective advocated by Nick Crossley (2012), I stress the key element of human relationships and the contact relation of oneself and the formation of oneself through other people in the past, present and future.

Keywords: Self-cultivation; human development; relational sociology; ethnography; theory.

Recorded video available at:
https://vimeo.com/365466454

This article dwells upon the spiritual problems in modern Chinese society. The term ‘spirituality’ covers not only the value of ethical categories on the traditional China, but also the humanism as the tandem of both religious and ethical components towards human beings. The basic categories of Confucian ethics, ‘reinterpreted’ through the tradition of analytical philosophy, have acquired a new character – Tu Wei-ming gave them the new understanding through the concept of Self-Cultivation. The process of cultivating occurs for the sake of the human involved into that and is not caused by any external factors. Keywords—contemporary Confucianism; Russian religious philosophy; spiritual crisis in China; Eastern humanism; problems of human nature; concept of Self-cultivation; ritual propriety (li); rectification of names (zheng ming) I. THE SPIRITUAL CRISIS IN CHINA At present, China is experiencing the same spiritual problems that the whole world is. However, the problems of spirituali...

Li 禮, often translated as “ritual” or “ritual propriety,” is among the most controversial notions of the Confucian philosophy. Its strong association with the Zhou tradition has caused it to be regarded with suspicion by both Western and Chinese representatives of modernity, mainly on the basis of the Enlightenment insistence of progressive rationality and liberation from the yoke of tradition.
This work endeavors to offer a more balanced discussion of li by approaching it from the point of view of the Confucian view of learning or education. It offers a general philosophical discussion of the limitations of the critique of tradition and of rationality’s claim to authority, leaning on several Western sources, notably Hans-Georg Gadamer, John Dewey and Pierre Bourdieu.
Through an exposition of the ancient Chinese worldview of time and continuous change, it further points to the inevitability of li’s adaptable and flexible nature. This underscores the argument, running through the work, that Confucius and his immediate followers did not endorse a program of returning to the Zhou tradition, but rather of reviving the “spirit” of the Zhou culture, involving active and personalized participation in tradition’s sustention and evolution.
An emphasis on li, therefore, is far from suggesting irrationality ¬— such a view rather indicates the narrow definition of rationality as handed over from the Enlightenment “tradition.” The difficulties with such a definition reveal themselves when trying to distinguish between education and indoctrination on a rational vs. irrational basis. The ancient Confucian philosophy of education and personal cultivation steers clear of these problems while at the same time insisting on teaching methods that maximize the student’s own initiative and personal realization. In this regard, li reveals itself as an indispensable pedagogical tool, both deepening students’ understanding of the significance of their tradition, enabling them to realize their own contribution to its continuous unfolding and thereby providing them with a profound sense of meaning in their daily activities.
The concluding chapter, intended as a philosophically reflective summary, offers a more general discussion of Confucianism as a viable philosophy of life by considering some of its apparent weaknesses. Following Confucius himself, it will be admitted that not many will be able to live up to the lofty Confucian ideals, not least due to the strong emphasis on li. However, it will also be argued that the communitarian discipline required by Confucianism may precisely be a means to liberate the individual. Someone who has advanced well enough on the Confucian path is unlikely to feel constrained in any sense of the word. As with any flexible ideology, Confucianism is susceptible to political and commercial manipulation, and has indeed been manipulated in such manner throughout the ages, but this can hardly be counted as a serious argument against its profound and humane philosophy.

CULTIVATION MARTIAL ARTS AS SUSTAINABLE, HEALTHY PRACTICES

Dr. George Jennings
Cardiff School of Sport, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Email: [email protected]


Aim
To provide a theoretical overview of the ideas of shared and social cultivation as explored through the entwined themes of health and sustainability.


Objectives
1) To explain and critique the notion of “self-cultivation.”
2) To consider the new concepts of “shared cultivation” and “social cultivation” and also “circles of cultivation.”
3) To apply this social philosophy in terms of health and sustainability in the Chinese and Mexican martial arts.

Key terms
- Cultivation: The lifelong pursuit of excellence and human development through continued practice.
- Self-cultivation: An individualist perspective on personal excellence via mind-body unification.
- Shared cultivation: The cooperative, pedagogical and cultural striving for shared development within certain schools, associations and subcultures.
- Social cultivation: The cultivation of humanity over successive generations in order to make a safer, more disciplined and harmonious society.


Take home message
The “martial arts” are a broad and inclusive camp that include some systems and styles that can be sustained over the life course as self-, shared and social cultivation practices that are aimed to live healthy, disciplined and moral lives: for better people, communities and even societies.


Questions for the participants
a) How could the notion of cultivation be applied to other physical cultural activities?
b) Is social cultivation a model that can be used beyond the martial arts?
c) How might we use the movements and principles of certain martial arts for health and wellbeing?
d) What is the future course of such activities in our society?



Self-critical points
- Is the idea of social cultivation a form of neo-Confucianism?
- Why can’t other types of martial arts be classified as cultivation systems?
- Can the models of self-cultivation, shared cultivation and social cultivation fit within models of sustainability?
- Aren’t these ideas just utopian, and therefore impossible to achieve?


Forthcoming publication

Brown, D., Cynarski, W. & Jennings, G. (Forthcoming). Social cultivation through the martial arts.


Forthcoming talk

Jennings, G. (2017). Japanese philosophy and global sociology: For an international, interdisciplinary martial arts studies. Martial Arts Studies One-Day Event: New Research in the Japanese Martial Arts, Arts and Science Centre, Bath, 3rd May 2017.


My background

I am a qualitative researcher and sociologist of sport with a particular interest in martial arts studies and alternative physical culture. As a practitioner and an instructor, I have been involved in various martial arts for seventeen years. My early academic studies were based on an ethnography of a Wing Chun Kung Fu association, and this extended to my PhD research on traditionalist Chinese martial arts as transformative practices. After working in British academia for two years, I moved to Mexico as an independent researcher and later worked as an editor, researcher at the Universidad YMCA, Mexico City. There, I researched the emerging martial arts of Mexico, including Xilam. My current project draws upon some of the ideas of sustainability, longevity and lifelong practice by examining the dynamic relationships between martial arts and health in contemporary society.

Related projects

• Martial arts, health and society
• The invention of the Mexican martial arts
• Chinese martial arts as transformative practices
• Digital media and embodied practice of Wing Chun Kung Fu
• Martial arts and mixed-sex training


Further details
Staff page: http://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/schoolofsport/staff/Pages/George-Jennings.aspx

Academia: http://cardiffmet.academia.edu/GeorgeJennings