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CONFUCIANISM: ECOLOGICAL COGNIZANCE
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Author(s):
DR. VIKRAM SINGH
Vol - 4, Issue- 3 ,
Page(s) : 630 - 635
(2013 )
DOI : https://doi.org/10.32804/IRJMST
Abstract
The present article ‘Confucianism: Ecological Cognizance’ is propounded on the ideology ofChinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.) is also known as Master Kong (K'ungor Kongzi) who was the founder of Confucianism and lived in the state of Lu (now Shandong or Shantung). His ecological philosophy has great impact on Chinese culture and environment of his time to the present day. He was the first preacher of Confucianism and his preachings are found in phrases for interpretations. He has achieved glorious heights in the history of China, due to his ecological philosophy which was based on humanity, love and ethics, i.e. moral code.The most reliable texts of Confucius philosophyare considered to be the Analects, Mencius, theGreat Learning and Meanwhich has made Confucianism official state Chinese religionfrom the second century BC to till the Marxism was established as the official ideology in China in 1949. Confucianism, like Daoism and Buddhism turned the Chinese attitudes toward nature and its environment. It had apermeative impact on the Chinese approach and behaviour as well as reinforces the Chinese approach to life, forcing the relational aspects of human existence. It also reflects reverence for customs, self-cultivation through knowledge, action over principle and harmony with nature and its environment.
- Chinese philosopher Mencius who is also known as Mengzi (c. 372—289 B.C.E.) whose importance in the Confucian tradition is second only to that of Confucius himself. He is most famous for his theory of human nature, according to which all human beings share an innate goodness that either can be cultivated through education and self-discipline or squandered through neglect and negative influences, but never lost altogether.
- Xunzi also known as Hsun Tzu, (310—c. 220 B.C.E.) was great early architects of Confucian philosophy.
- Mencius IA: 3.
- Ibid
- XunziZhishi
- Ibid.
- Tang 2008, pg.9
- Historian, philosopher and educator Tu Wei-Ming analyzed one of the world's oldest works of social thought, the Analects of Confucius, in the Bradley Lecture series.
- Tucker and Berthrong, 1998.
- The Doctrine of the Mean is traditionally attributed to Confucius’ grandson, Zisi (492-431 BC), though some scholars have dated it to 200 BC and others say it is likely to be a composite work over time in the 5th or 4th century BC. See Wing-tsit Chan (trans. and comp.), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1963, p.97; and Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom (comp.), Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1, 2nd edn, Columbia University Press, New York, 1999, p.334).
- Doctrine of the Mean, ch. 30.
- Mencius VIIA: 13.
- Lu Jia (died 170) was a minister and political writer during the early years of the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220)
- ‘Lu Jia: The Natural Order and the Human Order’, in Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom (comp.), Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1, 2nd edn, Columbia University Press, New York, 1999,p.285.
- Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom (comp.), Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1, 2nd edn, Columbia University Press, New York,1999, p.170.
- Ibid.
- The Rites.
- Doctrine of the Mean, ch. 1.
- Dong Zhonghu (also known as Tung Chung-shu, (c. 195–c. 115 bce) is one of the most important thinkers of Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) Confucianism. His concept of the relationship between Heaven and humans has been influential for the development of Confucianism.
- The first legendary emperor of the Xia Dynasty in ancient China.
- Yizhoushu, Wenjiezhuan.
- Xunzi, ch. 17, in Chan, Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp.116-117.
- Analects I: 5.
- Confucius himself spoke of the importance of investigating the old in order to find from it what is new. Analects II: 11.
- Mary Evelyn Tucker and John A. Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1993, p. 65.
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