Zhou Dunyi

Zhou Dunyi

Bronze statue of Zhou Dunyi in the Academy of the White Deer Grotto in Lu Shan

Zhou Dunyi ( Chinese  周敦頤  /  周敦颐 , Pinyin Zhōu Dūnyí , W.-G. Chou Tun-yi ; * 1017 , † 1073 ) was a Chinese philosopher from the school of Neo-Confucianism .

Life

Zhou is from Daozhou in what is now Hunan Province . He held a number of subordinate public posts. However, his career suffered from Zhou's refusal to take the official official exams. He briefly served the brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi , who were to become leaders of the two most important schools of Neoconfucianism. Apart from this, Zhou remained unknown for a long time before Zhu Xi (1130-1200) raised him posthumously to one of the founding fathers of Neoconfucianism. He spent his last years on Mount Lu Shan .

Philosophical work

Zhou Dunyi's central importance for neoconfucianism is based in particular on his contributions to the cosmology and metaphysics of this school of thought.

The Taiji

His main works include the diagram “Taiji Tu” ( 太極 圖  /  太极 图 , Tàijí Tú  - “Illustration of the Taiji”) and its interpretation “Taiji Tu Shuo” ( 太極 圖 說  /  太极 图 说 , Tàijí Tú Shuō  - “Explanation of the illustration of the Taiji "). They were to form the basis of Zhu Xi's cosmology later : Zhou's concept of Taiji appears there as the heavenly principle tianli ( 天理 , tiānlǐ ).

The Taiji diagram (translated as: The Primordial Finite, the Supreme Being), which is at the center of Zhou's philosophy, is for him the source of all things in the universe, which lies both in and beyond things. In its calm expression it forms the yin , the symbol for the mysterious and feminine in Chinese thought. In its active form, however, it produces the Yang , which stands for the rational and masculine. It is the source of the basic structures and phases of change, as they are expressed in the five-element theory , and bears witness to the two basic principles of the I Ching , the Book of Changes: the heavenly principle Qian and the earth principle Kun , which in turn are masculine and embody female.

The Wuji

In Zhou's work, the counter-term to Taiji is the term Wuji (translated as: The infinite, the highest non-being). In the first sentence of his main work he already equates these two terms, which at first glance are diametrically opposed to one another. It is precisely through this that Zhou affirms the all-encompassing nature of Taiji as the source of all things: It is also expressed by the fact that it even includes its own opposite.

Role of humanity

Humanity finally absorbs the five elements in their highest and purest form in Zhou's system, which enables them to play a critical role in life and in the universe. This is where Zhou Dunyi's philosophy takes on its specifically Confucian form, as mankind is the key to understanding the entire universe. Especially in his ideal form as a scholar, man is considered to be the central figure in the universe. In this way, a metaphysical framework is created that emphasizes the Confucian emphasis on the unique relationship between man and heaven that gives the universe its moral structure.

Daoist influences

Zhou Dunyi may have already adopted the idea of Taiji from Daoist monks. Clearly the influences of this teaching, however, show in a second term of Zhou's doctrine, which already Daodejing emerging Wuji , and particularly in the idea that the Taiji mitbeinhalten because of its Comprehensiveness and his own opposite needs.

This approach ultimately also leads to the integration of Buddhist and Daoist teachings and symbols in Zhou's own neo-Confucian teaching structure: for example, the concept of emptiness, which is familiar to both religions, is incorporated into Zhou's primal finite. This must by no means be understood as a form of syncretism , but rather as an affirmation of the Confucian claim to the ontological priority of the primordial finite.

In addition, other Daoist influences can be proven in Zhou's thinking: At the center of his teaching are the ideas of calm (jing) and dispassionate (wuyu); the sage defines Zhou as a person who is able to achieve both ideals. Zhu Xi was well aware that such approaches, if they are consistently thought through to the end, lead dangerously close to the orbit of Buddhism and Daoism - which is why he always emphasized the metaphysical structure of Zhou's thinking and less the necessity of one postulated by Zhou Cultivation of calm and dispassion.

Zhou Dunyi at the lotus pond carved
lacquer plate , 14th century.

Literary work

To a lesser extent, Zhou Dunyi has also worked as a poet and essayist. He expressed his admiration for the lotus in his well-known text “Justification of my predilection for lotus flowers”: It grows in radiant purity from a muddy ground and does not get dirty; nevertheless she knows neither conceit nor vanity. Also, don't ramify or get entangled. While the chrysanthemum is the hermit among flowers, the peony stands for the honorable favorite. The lotus alone embodies the true nobleman.

literature

• Fung, Yu-lan : A Short History of Chinese Philosophy . The Free Press, New York et al. 1948, ISBN 0-684-83634-3 .
• Zhou Dunyi: Explanation of the Taiji Diagram - Understanding the Book of Changes . Translated by Dr. Martin Boedicker. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2015, ISBN 978-1508587309

Web links

• Literature by and about Zhou Dunyi in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by Zhou Dunyi at Zeno.org .

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zhou is the family name here, Dunyi is the first name.