NTU Philosophical Review

Under the stimulus of Western hermeneutics, Chinese scholars have begun to reflect upon the basis of their own tradition of hermeneutical interpretation. This paper discusses the hermeneutic basis of interpreting the Chinese classics with reference to the Chunqiu, in four sections: (1) Introduction, (2) Forms of interpretation, (3) Changes of direction in interpretation, (4) Aims of interpretation, (5) Methods of interpretation, (6) Conclusion. Hermeneutical studies of the Chunqiu raise the following questions: why and how Confucius composed the Chunqiu, was this a composition or revision of history, did he use events to reveal ethical meaning or did he record events faithfully, did he aim to revitalize the Zhou or simply followed the Zhou? These questions involve aims and methods of hermeneutical interpretation. Traditional works on the Chunqiumanifestly concern interpretation, forms of writing, criticism and evidence. These involve, respectively, meaning, literary form, origins of text and meaning, and accuracy of historical events. Thus, traditional interpretations are inseparable from aims and methods. Aims could be based on motive of use or application and methods could be based on analogical comparisons. However, these lead to subjective interpretations and misunderstandings. This gives rise to the thought that there is a need to go back to understanding original meanings. Thus, in terms of aims, we invariably find these two extremes of motive of use or application on the one hand, and understanding original meaning on the other. Similarly, in terms of method, there is the idea of preserving the truth of events on the one hand, and the motive of use or application on the other. This is the underlying basis of the problem of hermeneutic interpretation of the Chinese classics.

In a certain sense, this article is a continuation of the main themes of our two previous essays, namely, “Above, he Seeks Delight in the Creator — a Dialogue with Chuang-Tzu on Mysticism” in Philosophical Review xxii, 1999： 137~172, and “Solely Communicating with the Spirit of the Universe — a Dialogue with Chuang-Tzu on Epistemology of Mystical Experience” in Philosophical Perspective for the Third Millennium： the Dialogue between Christian Philosophy and Chinese Culture (Taipei: Fu Jen Catholic University, 2002) 105~156. We start with the following sentences from Chuang-Tzu’s “Tien xia”, “(He) did not try to rise above the myriads of things. He did not condemn the agreements and differences of others so that he might live in peace with the prevalent views.” (James Legge’s Translation) We compare the meaningsembedded within these sentences with Chuang-Tzu’s “Ch’u Wu Lun”. We get to the affirmation that a person who attains Mystical Enlightenment may be able to make appropriate adjustment concerning any possible contradiction among things and any possible contention of arguments.

The Four Texts of the Yellow Emperor , unearthed 1973 in Mawangdui, leads the way of the study of Huang-lao thought since. And with it, the Huang of historian’s Huang-lao came to the eyes of scholars nowadays.Contents of The Four Texts of the Yellow Emperor are exactly the description of Taoists by Tai Shi Gong (Historian of the Emperor) that “bending to the alternation of Yin and Yang, adopting the positive aspects of Confucianism and Mohism, summing up the essentials of the school of Min (Names) and Fa (Legalist).” Therefore the philosophy of Lao Tzu integrated thoughts of all school of Chung Qiu Era, and lading the foundation of the study of Huang-lao thought in the following Warring States period.Zichan casted the Penal code, Jin Dynasty had the Penal Tripod, and Li Kui wrote Bible of Legalists, all spelled out the transformation of the society of patriarchal feudalism to that of legalist monarchy. In The Four Texts of the Yellow Emperor we see the thought of that era, that is thoughts of every school of that period integrated with Lao Tzu Philosophy, which had its effect on Shen Dao, Sheng Bu Hai and Han Fei, legalists of the Warring States Period.

The purpose of this paper is to present Nondual Middle Way as guidance in ways of navigating to unfold Thorough Reality of the Life World, and to explain the intent and rationale of Nondual Middle Way in Buddhist doctrine.With expediency and prevalence of comparison and contrast, dichotomous ways of thinking and viewpoints have not only taken root in philosophical thinking and religious discourses, but have also been absorbed into the basic structure of everyday life, and are easily taken for granted and thus hard to detect or throw away. With its uniqueness of basic concepts and basic issues, Nondual Middle Way, originating from the inclination to spot and drop dichotomous ways of thinking, offers a creative point of view for bothphilosophy and religion. This unusual way of thinking is able to provide an extraordinary viewpoint to inspect the basic structures of philosophy and religion, and thus point out a way that might lead to further and deeper discussion in both fields.The undertaking of this paper is to answer the following questions： “Why should we view the life world as Nondual Middle Way?”, “How can we view it as Nondual Middle Way?”, and “As what kind of Nondual Middle Way should we view it?” In order to answer the series of questions, the major methods employed in this paper focus on differentiating concepts, analyzing issues, elucidating connotation, and constructing argument.Concerning the configuration of discourses, this paper firstly define and make clear major concepts by emphasizing that Nondual Middle Way and Thorough Reality are very innovative basic concepts for philosophy of religion and philosophy of life. In order to emphasize the idea of non-substantiality and to drop dichotomous ways of thinking from the very beginning, Nondual Middle Way is distinguished from dualism, monism, and pluralism. Then this paper seeks to exclude easy borrowings and rough copies of ideas. In addition, experience of practicing Buddhist teachings as a profession in accordance with related scriptures is also taken seriously as a reference for interpretation.Moreover, for the sake of making a more pertinent interpretation and to reveal Thorough Reality layer by layer, great emphasis is put on the explanation ofmethods of unlocking multi-faceted ways of thinking.The main subject matter of this paper is composed in sequence of concepts such as not-self, impermanence, birth and death, dependent arising (dependent origination), emptiness, and middle way. These distinctive concepts in Buddhist philosophy collectively form an axis that is set to remove shades, limits, and seals, such as problems of objectification, reification, individualization, demarcation, discrimination, and conceptualization, which derive from the daily language that are commonly used. From the point of view of conditioned arising and ceasing, the Thorough Reality of the life world is revealed layer by layer. And it is precisely Nondual Middle Way that pushesthese basic concepts rolling, settles problems of comparison and contrast, breaks free from the tension and limitation of discrimination, makes a breakthrough in a series of conditioned arising and ceasing, and leads to Enlightenment and Nirvā a in the end. Various examples in the Āgama Sūtras show that the idea of non-substantiality helps to free Nondual Middle Way from seals of individualization, and by non-dichotomous ways of thinking, borders around Nondual Middle Way are removed. Nondual Middle Way is thus able to approach the variations of causal conditions, and the Thorough Reality of the life world is thus unfolded.

Based on Taoism, Lu shi chun qiu and Huai-nan tzu are two classics of the Qin and Han dynasties. This study is centered on the thinking regarding “Resonance” (Kan-Ying) and the philosophical views it involves. The study also analyzes and discusses the statements of resonant thinking in these two literary texts to offer an insight into this issue.Starting with explaining the concept of “Resonance”, the study then points out the philosophical issues that resonant thinking focuses on. In this context, the study analyses the resonant statement of “Essence-Energy” (Jing-Qi), which is a fundamental principle of “similarity and sameness” in Lu shi chun qiu. Then, it discusses the resonant thought of the “joint movement of Energy” and “Communication between humans and the universe” in Huai-nan tzu. In addition, it illustrates that the inherited concepts of “single-hearted devotion” and “complete sincerity” can achieve the maximum effect of resonance in Lu shi chun qiu, and the idea that the “complete sincerity” emphasizes the ability to exercise “non-action” and to maintain “emptiness-tranquility” in detail.Finally, the study explores the concepts of “Diachrony” and “Synchronicity” related to resonant thinking so as to develop some other possible issues of philosophical research in the field of resonant thinking.