MIKHAIL L.

TITARENKO

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND CHINESE CIVILIZATION*

The ever growing interest in Oriental civilizations and their role

in the mankinds spiritual development has become a distinctive

feature of the world humanitarian science. This interest is connected with

the contemporary political sciences general trend to study the civilization
factor in the evolution of nations and international relations. Animated
discussions center around such problems as vitality of civilizations,
correlation between the various types of local civilizations of the East and
West, and the possibility to harmonize their communication. As history
ever more convincingly has proven the tremendous importance of the
spiritual (i.e. non-material) factor in the contemporary evolution of mankind, the ever more close attention has been drawn to the theme of
Chinese civilization and its role in the world civilization process. The
reason is that exactly the spiritual factor has been the major, systemforming element in the structure of Chinese civilization for the whole
period of its development. Finally, according to Ren Jiyu? the interest
in Oriental and, in particular, Chinese civilization quite naturally focused
on the Chinese classical philosophy, being the mirror of the Chinese
civilization.
Chinese philosophy and Chinese civilization are tightly linked into
an organic whole. As a part of the spiritual culture of any nation, philosophy is a component of the whole spiritual activity undertaken by a
given human community. In most countries and regions philosophy serves
as an ideological, theoretical, or methodological basis of spiritual civilization. In China, from the very start of class division of the society and
appearance of civilization as a comprehensive spiritual experience of the
Journal of Chinese Philosophy 23 (19%) 21-30
Copyright @ 1996 b y Dialogue Publishing Company, Hondulu, Hawaii, U S A .

* Translated from Russian by Tamara Karganova.

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MIKHAIL L. T I T A R E N K O

society, philosophy has been the key norm-setting component of all

material and non-material activities of the human individual and his
relations with the state, various social structures, and family. Moreover,
philosophy in China has become a highest criteria of the whole system of
social, spiritual and moral values; also, it has determined the human individuals relationship with nature (Heaven and Earth), state and state
rulers, as well as the in-society relations o f people representing various
social strata and family clans. Hence the absolute priority of ethical and
political problems of the problems of ontology and gnoseology.2
Other special features of Chinese philosophy can be identified as the
antropologization o f the surrounding world and the ruralization of human
behavior. These result in the typically Chinese interpretation of the unity
between Heaven and humans and the triple unity of Heaven-Earth-Human.
The order of relations between the human individual and Heaven is solved
through ethical norms, the criteria o f consistency between the given individual and his place in the social structure, as well as the social role
assigned t o him by the social or natural division of labor and other
functions. It appears that exactly this context should be the key to understanding the famous sentence by Confucius on the strictlydefined social
determination of the people: T h e ruler must be a ruler; the dignitary,
a dignitary; and the son, a 5011.~ Adding various codes of behavior to
this sentence, various schools seek to provide exactly this type of unity
between individuals, society and Heaven. Here Heaven serves as the
supreme measure, supreme moral example, and the supreme judge that
determines the consistency between individuals and their positions in the
hierarchy of social relations.
Even the Shijing,b a most ancient monument of Chinese national
culture, contains an integral system of views about Heaven. That approach
predetermined the views of all Chinese schools of wisdom, beginning from
the idea of humanity ( r ed ) , which specifies the consistency between the
individual and the criteria of Heaven and justice. Suffice it t o recall how
Confuiius d jesponded to the questions about the essence of humanism,
mutuality. Dont d o to the others what you dont want t o be done to

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND CHINESE CIYILIZATlON

yourself.4

23

Taoists expressed the Same idea, but their interpretations

were different: The Taoist principle of naturality, being broader and

more abstract, essentially seeks the same objective of providing
consistency between individuals and their positions in the macrocosmos.
Similar ideas about the determining and orienting role of Heaven as
the supreme model of justice, universal love and benefit for everybody
were developed by Mo Die His ten principles were assigned t o make
possible ones consistency with the Will of the Heaven (tian zhi f), ultimately prescribed in the principle of universal love and mutual benefit.
The Legalists expressed the Same demands and norms in the more
strict form of a law that was compulsory for everyone. When it was
followed, it was supposed t o provide for the strength and prosperity of the
state and strengthen the power of .the emperor.6 Such an approach proceeded from the same demand for consistency, but the Legalists identified
consistency as determined by evil human nature which had to be
repressed, contained, and eradicated by the society, the state and the ruler
who embodied the supreme will of the state. The variety of approaches
to the definition of human nature quite logically produced a variety of
philosophical and political ideas, therefore giving another evidence of the
omnipresent and universal role of philosophy in the development of
Chinese civilization.
Wise men of ancient Greece claimed that philosophy was the science
of sciences. In medieval Europe and the Middle East, philosophy served
theology. What makes Chinese philosophy so special is that for almost five
millennia of Chinese civilization, Chinese philosophy has been motivating
the entire Chinese society and nation to admire and follow philosophy as
the supreme wisdom - the wisdom that has been setting the norms of
justice, correctness and consistency between the system of values and the
individual (irrespective of the latters position in the social hierarchy).
The total and universal demands of such wisdom are compulsory and can
be judged orily by Heaven, while any inconsistency with these demands
must be somehow eliminated and consistency restored. This has been
manifest in the consistent rationalism and revolutionary resoluteness of

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MIKHAIL L. TITARENKO

Chinese philosophy: if the emperors actions are inconsistent with the

Will of Heaven, the emperor must be removed so that the destiny of the
country (mi&) can be changed

cgeh).

Hence, the Chinese analogue of

the European notion of revolution (ge mind).

So, the first and major difference between philosophies of other
civilizations and the Chinese philosophical culture is seen in the political,
social and moral engagement of the latter. Serving the ruling policy and
seeking t o provide ideological support for the edification of state power
and selfconsolidation of the state, Chinese philosophy has generally
been tightly interconnected with policy. In this manner, the Chinese
state has acquired its own idiocratic character which has been sustained for
millennia even up t o the present day.
This fact, in turn, has predetermined other special features of
Chinese philosophy, that is, its adherence t o canons and norm-setting
compositions that have been representing the contents of Chinese wisdom
up to the early 20th century. It the teaching on canons Ging xud) that
has constituted the cultural core of Chinese civilization.
This principal feature of Chinese philosophy has preconditioned
another of its special properties, i.e., the dichotomic structure, or its
vertical and horizontal construction. Vettically, Chinese philosophy represents the complex of the supreme norms of wisdom as well as political
and spiritual morality. This vertical dimension sets up the strict order and
hierarchy of values and virtues where Heaven is the supreme model, To
follow Heaven and to be in unity with Heaven is the real way of moral
existence in an individuals life. The horizontal structure of Chinese philosophy, embodied in all spheres of material and nonmaterial life of Chinese
society, is expressed in the remarkable notion of Diversity in Unity. However, this diversity is based on a methodological and rational unity, i.e.,

on the need for consistency with the Will of Heaven, appropriate rituals,
naturality, mind, and tradition.
The major elements of Chinese philosophy cited above are preconditioned mainly by the very character of Chinese civilization. As a while
it has been a mainland and agricultural type of civilization where philo-

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND CHINESE CIVILIZATION

25

sophy, as well as other spheres of nonmaterial activities, was put to serve

the landcultivating culture in a comparatively closed continental space.
Therefore, Chinese philosophy has spiritually reflected the agrarian policy
and the emperors power, which have left strong marks o n the structure as
well as the very contents of Chinese philosophy and predetermined many
of its most important features that reveal its direct connection with economic forms of life in China. An ample case in point is seen in the notions
of time and space, which were quite closed and related only to the agrarian
life style. Unlike philosophical efforts in ancient Greece and Rome, no
independent study of the categories of time and space has ever been developed in China. In Chinese philosophy, these categories are tied up with
the lunar calendar into the single whole including the four seasons and
four cardinal points, centered around the agrarian individual. Philosophically, this was represented in the teaching on the unity between Heaven
and the individual. Therefore, there are many reasons t o argue that
Chinese philosophy touches on the view of the world of the agrarian individual, and major problems of ontology and gnoseology are solved in
Chinese philosophy through the prism of the agrarian individuals interests
and behavior. In particular, this was manifested in the concept of the
interconnection and interaction of time and space with the five primary
elements (wu xingk), the light and dark elements, and the teaching on
ether (qi1) Another noteworthy point is that Han dynasty Confucianism
(2nd century BC to AD 2nd century) asserted the calendar approach as
the criteria to govern the country and determine policy, culture and
thinking.
The concrete character of time and space in human dimensions has
predetermined the specific pattern of natural sciences in ancient China,
and produced an original method of natural studies. The essence of these
studies can be drawn up in the following five attitudes:
1. Concentration of attention on the integral, universal and comprehensive, rather than on individual factors
2. Concentration of attention on the condition, process and
evolution of time and qi as well as movement of objects, rather than on

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MIKHAIL L. TITARENKO

static objects;
3 . Attention to the potentials (potential usefulness) and properties
rather than specific structure and composition of an object. Things were
viewed as being caught up in the continuous evolution from one condition
into the other, hardly suggesting the stability of things,
4 . Attention to the usefulness of a thing as a whole and its ability
t o reciprocate as a whole, rather than focusing on the individual properties

of a thing; hence, the emphasis on the importance of additional information and the possibility of using a thing in the conditions of equilibrium
and tranquility;
5 . Lack of attention on various models, forms and vectors of the
motion of things through numerical measurement, calculations, induction
of knowledge and information. Attention to the trends of movement and
the development of things, mainly by analogy.
Another typical feature of Chinese philosophy is its recognition of
the existence of the surrounding world, symbolically and comprehensively named as Heaven, Earth, and the whole mass of things (wan wum)
All of these exist by following a certain way (faon)and are consistent with
a certain order (deo; lip). So, such notions of European philosophy as
being and non-being have acquired in Chinese philosophy the different nuances of existence (youq) and lack of existence (wuf).
Therefore, it is not incidental that the question of whether the outside
world exists and whether it is the source of human knowledge usually has
not been a subject of discussion or philosophical speculations in Chinese
culture.

There the subject of speculation has been different. How are

we to interpret the ways of this worlds development? What are the

dialectics of the world s existence and nonexistence? Are those categories
eternal?
The initial norm-setting character of Chinese wisdom has preconditioned another special feature. In China the dialectics of the appearance
and development of a thing, its transitions into other things, and their
death have acquired a symbolically numerological expression. These are
presented in the form of the problem of correlating many numbers that

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND CHINESE CIVILIZATION

27

were formalized first in the form of trigrams, and then into the hexagrams
of the Book of Changes (Yijing)'."
The notion of circulation in the surroundin world, too, has acquired
a special character in China. In the perception of Chinese wise men everything in the world is interconnected, interdependent and co-subordinated.
The five primary elements and the two opposites of yin' and p n g U give
birth to one another and overcome one another, while selfdevelopment of
the material, substantial and spiritual element of qi is evident. As Heaven
represents the supreme comprehensive unity of the world, the Great
Limit (Tuiji') represents the supreme limit of development. Once that
limit is reached, a new cycle of development of the entire world of things
starts again.
The organic link between Chinese philosophy and the entire Chinese
civilization was amply manifested in the special ways and culture of
thinking that, in at least some sense, have been preconditioned by the
character script. Chinese characters introduce the component of additional sign information and identify the essential association of the given
notion or term. In European languages the word is a formal sign of some
essence that is identified only by a set tradition of the silent public agreement within some social, ethic or cultural community, whde in the
Chinese language, apart from such conditional traditionalism, every simple
or complex term/sign bears some certain image information that deciphers this sign. Characters, initially depicting and symbolizing some
objects or relations, as well as the modern word-notions including the
translated or aboriginal abstract categories, decipher to an equal extent the
meaning of any notion at the imagecharacter level."
The Chinese script and the 'Chinese mode of thinking ' are closely
connected with a certain methodology of a specifically Chinese analysis
of things and phenomena which is quite different form the European
analysis. Lu XunW and Mao Zedong' qualified this mode of thinking as
the "Chinese drugstore method." The specifics of this Chinese mentality
have predetermined as well the principle approach of Chinese culture to
foreign culture. The latter can be perceived by Chinese people and incor-

28

MlKHAIL L. TITARENKO

porated into their mass consciousness only after the given phenomenon of
foreign culture has passed through a stage of transformation in the
entrails of the Chinese wisdom, i.e., when it shall have been sinified.
Due consideration of these specifics in the Chinese mode of thinking
and its expression through character script is absolutely necessary
addressing the so-called modernization of Chinese culture in general
and of Chinese philosophy in particular. This problem is currently the
focus of active discussion within and outside China,

and many various

and sometimes diametrically opposite views are heard in the disputes.

The question is most often posed in the following way: can Chinese
philosophy be self-modernized, or does it need some principal
injections on the part of Western philosophical culture?
It appears that the problem should be solved through preservation of
the whole treasury of traditional Chinese philosophy, as well as through
the enrichment of the latter by the achievements of contemporary philosophical reflection in the West. No mechanical combinations of Western
and Oriental cultures would produce any positive results. In order to
understand all complexities and diversities of mutual rapprochement and
communication between the Chinese and Western cultures, it will suffice
to recall the specific categories within Chinese philosophy - the set of
categories that sometimes does not have direct analogues within European
and American cultures.
Finally, let me express the hope that the joint efforts of Chinese
philosophers and sinologists of other countries will provide a new impulse
for Chinese philosophy t o develop as an inalienable part of the single and

diversified world philosophy - no doubt for the benefit of both Chinese

and Western cultures.

INSTITUTE OF FAR EASTERN STUDIES

RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND CHINESE CIVILIZATION

29

NOTES
1. Zhang Dianiany. Zhongguo wenhua yu Zhongguo zhexu8 (Chinese
Culture and Chinese Philosophy ) Beijing, 1986, pp. 1-11.
2. Titarenko, M.L. Afterword to the Istoriya kitaiskoifilosofii.
[Hisroly of Chinese Philosophy]. Moscow, 1989, pp. 526-530,
Titarenko M.L., Bourov. V.G. Filosofiya drevnego Kitaya. Vstoupleniye k antologii Drevnyaya kitaiskaya fdosofiya. [Philosophy
of Ancient China, Preface to Ancient Chinese Philosophy].
MOSCOW,1972, Vol. 1, pp. 5-77.
3. Lun Yun. Zhuzi quan jiab. Beijing, 1956, Vol. 1, Chapter 12,
Tan ~ u a n ; ~1I .
4. Op.cit ., Wei Lingongpd 23.
5 . Titarenko, M.L. Dreunekitaiskiifilosof Mo Di, yego shkoh i ucheniye. [Ancient Chinese Philosopher Mo Di, His School and Teaching].
Moscow, 1985.
6 . Perelomov, L.S Confutsiansrvo i legism v politicheskoi istorii
Kitaya. [Conficianism and Legalism in Chinas Political Hisro~y].
Moscow, 1981.
7. Feoktistov, V.F. Filosofskiye i obshchesrvennopoliticheskiye
vzglyady Sun-zi. [Philosophical and Socio-Political vies of Sun zi] ,
Moscow, 1976.
a. Metodologicheskiye problemy izucheniya istorii filosofii zarubezh nogo Vostoka [Methodology Problems in the Study of the History
of the Forem Oriental Philosophy]. Moscow, 1987, pp. 68-70:
9. Loukyanov, V E . Duo Knigi peremen. [Tao o f the Book of
Changes]. Moscow, 1993.
10. For reference, see Endnote 8.
11. Loukyanov, A.E ,Op. cit.
12. Malyavin,V.V.Zhuangci. Moscow, 1988, p. 823.
13. Cheng Zhungyingae, How the Chinese Philosophy Is To Reconstructed. in Chinese Culture and Chinese Philosophy. Beijing,
1986, pp. 549-550.

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MIKHAIL L. TITARENKO

CHINESE GLOSSARY