The Unity of Body and Mind in Xu Fuguan’s Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2014.2.1.83-95Keywords:
bodily recognition, qi, Xu Fuguan, Chinese philosophy, Chinese epistemologyAbstract
The present article deals with the philosophical theory and epistemological methodology of the Modern Confucian Xu Fuguan (1903–1982), a significant Taiwanese philosopher of the 20th century whose theoretical contributions are in the center of academic interests in China and Taiwan, though almost completely unexplored in the West. The article’s main focus is on Xu’s interpretation of the concepts of bodily recognition and the creative potential qi that are forming the basis of the unification of body and mind as a fundamental method of traditional Chinese perception of reality. For Xu Fuguan, this unification represented the proper way to achieve the awareness of the Moral Self and to thoroughly act in accordance with humanness (ren).
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Dong, Zhongshu 董仲舒. Chun qiu fanlu 春秋繁露 (The Rich Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annales). In Chinese Text Project. Accessed November 20, 2013, http://ctext.org/chun-qiu-fan-lu.
Douglas, Mary. 1978 (1966). Purity and Danger. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Graham, A.C. 1989. Disputers of the Tao – Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. Chicago: Open Court Publishing.
–––. 1992. Unreason within Reason – Essays on the Outskirt of Rationality. Lasalle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing.
Huang, Chun-chieh, 2010. Humanism in east Asia Confucian Context. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.
Laozi 老子. 2013. Daode jing 道德經 (The Book of the Way and the Virtue). In Chinese Text Project. Accessed November 20, 2013, http://ctext.org/dao-de-jing.
Li ji 禮記 (The Book of Rites). 2013. In Chinese Text Project. Accessed November 20, 2013, http://ctext.org/liji/da-xue?searchu=%E8%BA%AB.
Liu, Chengji. 2008. “The Body and its Image in Classical Chinese Aesthetics.” Frontiers of Philosophy in China 3(4), December: 577–94.
Mengzi 孟子. 2013. Mengzi 孟子 (Master Meng). In Chinese Text Project. Accessed November 20, 2013, http://ctext.org/mengzi/li-lou-i?searchu=%E8%BA%AB.
Ni, Peimin. 2002. “Practical Humanism of Xu Fuguan.” In Contemporary Chinese Philosophy, edited by Chung-Ying Cheng and Nicholas Bunnin, 281–304. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Rošker, Jana S. 2012. “Structure and Creativeness: A Reinterpretation of the Neo-Confucian Binary Category Li and Qi.” In Origin(s) of Design in Nature: A Fresh, Interdisciplinary Look at How Design Emerges in Complex Systems, Especially Life, Vol. 23 of Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, edited by Liz Stillwaggon Swan, Richard Gordon, and Joseph Dordrecht Seckbach, 273–85. London, New York: Springer.
–––. 2013. Subjektova nova oblačila – teorije modernizacije v delih druge generacije modernega konfucijanstva. Ljubljana: ZIFF
Sernelj, Tea. 2013a . “Contemporary Modern Confucianism and Xu Fuguan’s Concepts of Anxiety and Bodily Recognition. In Philosophy as Inquiry and Way of Life, p. 650. Athens: University of Athens, School of Philosophy.
–––. 2013b. “Xu Fuguan’s Concept of Anxiety and Its Connection to Religious Studies.” In Asian Studies 1(2): 71–87.
Wen shi zhen jing 文 始 真 經 (The Genuine Classics of the beginning of Culture). 2013. In Chinese Text Project. Accessed November 20, 2013, http://ctext.org/pre-qin-and-han?searchu=%E5%BF%83%E4%B9%8B%E6%89%80%E4%B9%8B .
Xu, Fuguan 徐復觀. 2001. Zhongguo yishu jingshen 中國藝術精神 (The Spirit of Chinese Art). Beijing: Huadong shifan daxue chuban she.
Zhang, Xuezhi. 2007. “Several Modalities of the Body-mind Relationship in Traditional Chinese Philosophy.” Frontiers of Philosophy in China 2(3): 379–401.
Zhang, Zai 張載. 1989. Zheng meng 正蒙 (Correction of Ignorance), Vol. 4 of Xingli da quan, Kongzi wenhua da quan, edited by Hu Guang. Jinan: Shandong youyi shu she.
Zhuangzi 莊子2013. Zhuangzi 莊子 (Master Zhuang). In Chinese Text Project. Accessed November 20, 2013, http://ctext.org/zhuangzi?searchu=%E6%82%A3&page=2.
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Published
30.05.2014
How to Cite
SERNELJ, T. (2014). The Unity of Body and Mind in Xu Fuguan’s Theory. Asian Studies, 2(1), 83–95. https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2014.2.1.83-95
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Philosophical Approaches
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