MIMESIS

INTERNATIONAL

ASIAN PHILOSOPHICAL TEXTS

No. 1

Book series edited by Roman Paʓca (Kyoto University, Japan) and Takeshi Morisato
(Sun Yat-Sen University, China)

Editorial Board

Pierre Bonneels (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium), Raquel Bouso (University of Pompeu Fabra,
Spain), Margaret Chu (The Royal Commonwealth Society in Hong Kong, Hong Kong), Maitreyee Datta
(Jadavpur University, India), Yasuo Deguchi (Kyoto University, Japan), Jonardon Ganeri (New York Uni-
versity, USA), Marcello Ghilardi (University of Padova, Italy), Leigh Jenco (London School of Economics
and Political Science), Kevin Lam (Dokkyo University, Japan), Ethan Mills (University of Tennessee
Chattanooga, USA), Eric Nelson (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong), Kenn
Nakata-Steffensen (University College Dublin, Ireland), Jin Y. Park (American University, USA), Jana
Rošker (University in Ljubljana, Slovenia), Shalini Sinha (University of Reading, UK), Andrew Whitehead
(Kennesaw State University, USA; KU Leuven, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
ASIAN PHILOSOPHICAL
TEXTS
Exploring Hidden Sources

Edited by
Takeshi Morisato and Roman Pașca

MIMESIS
INTERNATIONAL
This book is published with the support of the Research Centre for East Asian Studies (EASt)
at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the Research Institute for Japanese Studies (RIJS)
at Kanda University of International Studies, and the Graduate School of Letters at Kyoto
University.

© 2020 – Mimesis International – Milan

www.mimesisinternational.com
e-mail: info@mimesisinternational.com

Isbn: 9788869772245
Book series: Asian Philosophical Texts, n. 1

© MIM Edizioni Srl

P.I. C.F. 02419370305
 CONTENTS

Introduction 7
Takeshi Morisato and Roman Pașca

ESSAYS

“White Horse is Not [a] Horse”:

How the Translation Creates the Paradox 19
Yijing Zhang

Philosophy for Children: Globalization and

the Translation of a Neo-Confucian Text 47
Margaret Chu

The Holism of Guanxue in the Song dynasty 81

Na Song

Concerning Aesthetic Attitudes: Kant and

Confucius on Emulation and Evaluation 105
Cody Staton

Contradiction and Recursion in Buddhist Philosophy:

From Catuӷkoԁi to Kōan 127
Adrian Kreutz

Classical Indian Dialectics: Refuting the Reality

of Temporal Passage in Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and
Khandanakhandakhādya 157
Maitreyee Datta
 TRANSLATIONS

“Esoteric Tradition of Venerable

Master Buddha of Western Peace,”
by Đức Phật Thầy Tây An Đoàn Minh HuyÊn
ᐚ۵௎۫‫ࣔ੄ڜ‬ᄋ 173
translated by Thích Quảng Huyềnʳᤩᐖ‫خ‬ʳ

“Looking for One’s Self in the Opposite Sex,”

by Kurata Hyakuzō ପ‫ۍض‬Կ 259
translated by Richard Stone

“Requesting the Guidance of Professor Nishida”

by Tanabe Hajimeʳ‫ض‬劊ց 281
translated by Richard Stone with Takeshi Morisato

Notes on Contributors 309

 Tanabe Hajime
REQUESTING THE GUIDANCE OF
PROFESSOR NISHIDA1
Translated by Richard Stone and Takeshi Morisato

There is no need for me to once again state that Professor Nishi-

da’s masterpiece, The Self-Aware System of Universals (一般者の自覚
的体系, hereafter SASU) is a stupendous monument that shows the
heights and depths of the philosophical thinking of the Japanese
people. We can only look up in amazement when we are faced with
the endeavor to think of the formulation of this system of self-aware-
ness with superhuman energy and persistence, to deepen the base to
further depths, to seek further heights by improving upon his own
improvements, and to create an awe-inspiring system which can only
be compared to a Gothic Cathedral. The intellectual jewels, which
adorn the entirety of his system, come bursting forth from his pro-
found experiences. We can only give thanks to Professor Nishida and
allow ourselves to be raised by these teachings.
Yet, Professor Nishida’s profound thought is probably something
which can only be understood completely only through long efforts,
such as his own academic lifestyle. For an inexperienced junior like
myself, there are certainly more than a few areas that I have difficulty
understanding. I have already troubled him with the questions that
go beyond my own understanding whenever each of the articles
contained in The SASU were published in journals and have person-
ally received his instruction. Yet regardless of this, whenever I read
through this book, I still agonize over the difficult questions I have,
just as before. To ask Professor Nishida personally for guidance about
this, and to be able to familiarize myself with his teachings through
conversation has always been a part of my blessed happiness. Perhaps

1 [While the title has historically been translated as “Looking up to the Teachings of
Professor Nishida,” I feel the idiomatic phrase 教えを仰ぐ should be translated more
faithfully to its Japanese meaning.]
282 Asian Philosophical Texts

we may say that there is no one else as obstinate and unmovable as

myself. However, even if this is true, there might still be someone
who has questions similar to my own but is not fortunate enough
to be able to personally ask Professor Nishida about his teachings.
Now, rather than lament my own shallow foolishness, I have decided
to continue on for the sake of people like this as well, and publish my
questions so that I may receive the guidance of the professor. I will
also be able to organize my own understanding still more precisely by
submitting my questions in writing. I would like to ask for Professor
Nishida’s forgiveness in advance, for being so rude as to bother him
because of my own foolishness, and presenting these erroneous ques-
tions due to my own shallow mistakes. If he should kindly choose not
to withhold his esteemed teachings, perhaps I will not be the only
one who once again renews his gratitude to him.

The starting point of The SASU is the “expressive universal” (表現

的一般者). From his previous work, From the Actor to the Seer (働くも
のから見るものへ), to the first half of The SASU, the so called “judi-
cative universal” (判断的一般者) acted as the starting point of Pro-
fessor Nishida’s system. However, in the latter half of this book, the
expressive universal gradually proceeds to the forefront, and finally,
takes the position of the starting point of the whole system, while the
judicative universal recedes to a subordinate position as the noematic
determination of the expressive universal.2 We cannot be conscious of
expression as the self-determination of the self-aware universal, rather
it gives the noetic determination, or the noema, that transcends this
self-determination. It is the noematic content in the noetic determi-
nation of the self that sees itself as it becomes nothing. We can call its
noetic direction as “acting” in the broad sense. Acting or expression is
not a reflection of content which we are conscious of, it is the intui-

2 589–590. [The editors of the Tanabe Hajime Zenshū gives this reference. How-
ever, no version of the SASU corresponds to this pagination. We are aware that
these missing references would have to be reformulated and updated when the
translations are compiled into a critical edition in the future.]