LESSON 10:CHINESE PSYCHE

AND LITERATURE
CHINESE LITERATURE
Bound by the past and traditions
In their literature, there’s a demand for a
piece to show a purpose.
PHILOSOPHY THE CHINESE WAY

God

Tripart-type: man Earth

Man
 4 WAYS OF CHINESE LIFE

1. Perception of Life
Angle you look
and take in
Personal Social 2. Life is a continual
- conditioned change

Beginning to end
C.f. Filipino: Life as transitory
 4 WAYS OF CHINESE LIFE
3. Life is a balance of
opposing forces

Does it mean
negative and
positive? No.
 4 WAYS OF CHINESE LIFE
4. Jen - human-heartedness
You make a choice in the end
Chinese abounds in words, expressing
bodies and shapes, but poor in verb
exressing change or transformation.

They don’t like change.

Chinese expressed things by
individualization or specification rather
than analysis.

For the Filipino: “Bumagsak ka, dahil di ka nag-aral.”

For the Chinese: “Bumagsak ka, kasi bumagsak ka.”
Confucius
Confucius was a Chinese teacher, editor,
politician, and philosopher of the Spring and
Autumn period of Chinese history.
Born: September 28, 551 BC, State of Lu
Died: 479 BC, State of Lu
Full name: Kong Qiu
Confucianism is a way of life taught by Confucius.
“Confucius,” the common name of Confucianism’s
founder, is a Latinized form of the Chinese K’ung-fu-
tzu, “Master K’ung.” The terms “Confucianism” and
“Confucian” are meaningful terms in Chinese. They are
Western terms, coined in Europe as recently as the 18th
century.
Facts of Confucianism
➤ Date founded: 6th-5th cent. BC
➤ Placed founded: China
➤ Founder: Confucius (551-479 BCE)
➤ Adherents: 5-6 million
IDEALS OF CONFUCIANISM

The main principle of Confucianism is

ren(“humaneness” or “benevolence”), signifying
excellent character in accord with li (ritual norms),
zhong (loyalty to one’s true nature),
shu(reciprocity), and xiao (filial piety). Together
these constitute de (virtue).
IDEALS OF CONFUCIANISM
Confucianism is characterized by a highly optimistic view of
human nature. The faith in the possibility of ordinary human
beings to become awe-inspiring sages and worthies is deeply
rooted in the Confucian heritage (Confucius himself lived a
rather ordinary life), and the insistence that human beings
are teachable, improvable, and perfectible through
personal and communal endeavor is typically Confucian.
5 CLASSICS OF CONFUCIANISM

1. Shu Ching (Classic of History) - collection of

documents and speeches dating from the Later Han
Dynasty (23-220 CE)
2. Shih Ching (Classic of Odes) - collection of 300
poems and songs from the early Chou Dynasty (1027-
402 BC)
5 CLASSICS OF CONFUCIANISM

3. I Ching (Classic of Changes) - collection of texts

on divination based on a set of 64 hexagrams that
reflect the relationship between Yin and Yang in
nature and society
4. Ch’un Ching (Spring and Autumn Annals) -
extracts from the history of the state of Lu 722-484,
said to be compiled by Confucius
5 CLASSICS OF CONFUCIANISM

5. Li Ching (Classic of Rites) - consists of three

books on the Li (Rites of Propriety)
4 BOOKS OF CONFUCIANISM

1. Lun Yu (Analects) of Confucius

2. Chung Yung (Doctrine of the Mean)
3. Ta Hsueh (Great Learning)
4. Meng Tzu (Mencius)
PRACTICES OF CONFUCIANISM

Aside from its important ethical principles,

Confucianism does not prescribe any specifical
rituals or practices. These are filled by the practices
of Chinese religion, Taoism, Buddhism, or other
religion which Confucians follow.
CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS FROM THE ANALECTS
“To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.”
“True wisdom is knowing what you don’t know”
“Everything has beauty but not everyone can see it”
“The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean
man has pride without a dignified ease.”
“What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to other.”
“Not to discuss with a man worth of conversation is to
waste the man. To discuss with a man not worthy of
conversation is to waste words. The wise waste
neither men nor words.”

Confucius – The Analects

BUDDHISM
This is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety
of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based
on teachings attributed to the Buddha.
It originated in India, from where it spread through
much of Asia, whereafter it declined in India and
flourished in China during the middle ages.
GAUTAMA BUDDHA
Born: Lumbini, Nepal
Died: Kushinagar, India
Full name: Siddhartha Gautama
Books: Dhammapada
Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree – now
known as the Bodhi tree – in Bodh Gaya, India, when he
vowed never to arise until he had found the truth
GAUTAMA BUDDHA
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (ESSENCE OF BUDDHA’S
TEACHINGS)
Suffering exists
Suffering arises from attachment to desires
Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the
Eightfold Path
Buddhism states that dukkha “suffering” is the innate
nature of existence.
3 CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTENCE

1. Transiency (annica)
2. Sorrow (dukkha)
3. Selflessness (anatta)
UNWHOLESOME MENTAL STATES THAT IMPEDES
PROGRESS TOWARDS ENLIGHTENMENT:
1. sensuous lust
2. aversion and ill will
3. sloth and stupor
4. restlessness and worry
5. skeptical doubt
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH

Three Qualities Eightfold Path

Wisdom (panna) Right View
Right Thought
Morality (sila) Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Meditation (samadhi) Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Contemplation
FACTORS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

1. Mindfulness
2. Investigation
3. Energy
4. Rapture
5. Tranquility
6. Concentration
7. Equanimity
1. Which of the following is not one of the Confucian
Thoughts from the Analects?
Answer: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with
one step.”
2. Heaven or _______ is a positive and personal force
in the universe for Confucius.
Answer: T’ien
3. Confucianism, like the Catholics, have specific
rituals or practices for their religion.
Answer: False
4. Which of the following is incorrect?
Answer: Sorrow is one of the unwholesome mental
states impeding progress towards enlightenment.
5. The name of the tree on which Gautama vowed
never to arise until he found the truth.
Answer: Pipal
6. The term _________ refers to loyalty to one's true
nature.
Answer: zhong
7. The main principle of Confucianism is______,
which means "humaneness" or "benevolence."
Answer: ren
8. Chinese Literature serves to portray only a fraction
of reality.
Answer: False
9. To Buddhists, ______ or suffering is the innate
nature of existence.
Answer: dukkha
10. One of the classics of Confucianism that is a
collection of 300 poems and songs from the early
Chou Dynasty.
Answer: Shih Ching
11. Chinese expressed things by _______ than
analysis.
Answer: Individualization
12. Which of the following is not a book of
Confucianism?
Answer: Li Ching
13. The Chinese do not like change.
Answer: True
14. Complete the quote: Not to discuss with a man
worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To discuss
with a man not worthy of conversation is to
________.”
Answer: Waste words
15. ________is a religion that encompasses a variety
of traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices largely
based on teachings attributed to Buddha.
Answer: Buddhism