THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

              The spirit of Chinese Philosophy has one main thread of thought like any other philosophies. This is to achieve a particular kind of the highest ideals. Though unlike any other philosophy, Chinese Philosophy aims to live a life of ideal without separating this kind of living from the daily functions and common way of life. Chines Philosophy is both of this-world and other-world at the same time. Meaning, it aims to achieve the most transcendent way of living without cutting away the daily functions of human relationships.

            Chinese Philosophy being divided into the ‘this-world’ and ‘other-world’ may be attributed to its two types of Philosophy- Confucianism and Taoism. The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy could be summed up in the phrase “Sageliness within, Kingliness without.”

            Confucianism is the ‘this-world’ type of philosophy. Though it is practical and direct, it is not shallow. Confucianism is more the masculine type of philosophy. It directly states what needs to be said. It is concerned with the ideal functions of the people in this world. It is rooted on what Mencius calls the four basic buds which is the ‘jen’ or human-heartedness, ‘yi’or righteousness, ‘li’ or rituals, and ‘chih’ or wisdom. From these four virtues, Confucianism takes our performing of common tasks into a deeper level which they call as ‘principled morality’. Confucianism is deeply concern with government and ethics. In the phrase “Sageliness within, Kingliness without”, it could be said that Confucianism represents the “Kingliness without” part of this phrase. It is because it is in the manifestation of the common tasks that the spirit of Confucianism be seen.

            Taoism, on the other hand is the ‘other-world’ type of philosophy. Taoism is often represented by the female or child. Unlike Confucianism where the thought or idea is directly spoken, in Taoism, it is written in poetry. The thought is not spoken directly. One could even say that Taoism is speaking in riddles and one still has to read between the lines. Because it is in poetry which makes it the more difficult to understand, there lies its beauty when understood. Unlike Confucianism which deals with the daily tasks that we do in our everyday lives, Taoism concerns itself with the cultivation of our inner self. This kind of philosophy represents the part of the phrase ‘Sageliness within’ because Taoism as a whole is more on the culmination of our spiritual self.