Chinese Philosophy

I want to start my readings on Chinese Philosophy.
The only reference I have for the moment is A History of Chinese Philosophy, by Fung Yu-lan.

It is a good book to start with?
I would very much appreciate more useful references.

Thanks!

What makes you want to start reading Chinese philosophy?

2
Because it's there?

I think the text you have is considered a classic, but I'd be interested in hearing any other suggestions.

A Sourcebook of Chinese Philosophy is a good anthology if you are interested in original (translated, of course) texts. Here's a link, because the touchstone wasn't working:

http://www.librarything.com/work/127966

#2
Well… I’m a Chinese Medicine practitioner to start with; however, the main reason is because I don’t want to see reality only through a western perspective.

#4
Thanks Makifat!
Your recommendation is excellent!

5
You're welcome! Given your practice, your desire to approach the subject with the appropriate mindset is laudable. I can't imagine how one could approach Chinese medicine with a western mindset!

There is also a text called The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine that you should look for if you haven't already.

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine is at the basis of the Chinese Medicine learning process and always present on our practice.
But thanks for remembering it.

And you are right about the appropriate mindset: the easterners think differently (not right or wrong, just differently!) from the westerners.

Hmmm! It's a shame that I wrote an excellence (by my professor's judgement) paper on Zhuangzhi two years ago but it's in Thai which I assume you can't speak.

Hmmm! It's a shame that I wrote an excellence (by my professor's judgement) paper on Zhuangzhi two years ago but it's in Thai which I assume you can't speak.

However, the point is, in my humble opinion, original texts are a lot easier to comprehend than commentation.

>9 Teerabhat.Ruensiri:, Do you mean the original text in the original language? If so, I've no hope of understanding much because I only speak English. I like commentaries on original texts because it adds to my understanding. I suppose, though, a person must choose specific commentaries with care to get a balanced view.

I mean original text in your language. I think chinese philosopher doesn't use complicate language. It's easy to understand as long as you don't attempt to use western concept to comprehend it.

Ignotu,

You definitely want to examine the Richard Wilhelm translation of The I Ching which includes a groundbreaking foreword by C.G. Jung in which he introduced the English reading public to his concept of “synchronicity”.
You also want a copy of The Tao Te Ching. My personal favorite is the Stephen Mitchell translation.
A good Tai Chi class will greatly advance your understanding.

Suggestions made by the philosophy editor of the ACRL's Resources for College Libraries :

Carr, Brian. Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. Routledge, 2000.
Leaman, Oliver. Eastern Philosophy: The Key Readings. Routledge, 2000.
Collinson, Diane. Fifty Key Eastern Thinkers. Routledge, 2000.
Clarke, J. J. Oriental Enlightenment: The Encounter Between Asian and Western Thought. Routledge, 1997.
Baird, Forrest E. Philosophic Classics: Asian Philosophy, Volume VI. Prentice Hall, 2005.
Creel, Herrlee G. Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-Tung. University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy. Routledge, 2002.
Dainian, Zhang. Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy. Yale University Press, 2002.
Hochsmann, Hyun. On Philosophy in China. Wadsworth, 2003.
Chan, Wing-Tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton University Press, 1969.
Feng Yu-Lan. Spirit of Chinese Philosophy. Greenwood, 1970.
Chuang Tzu. The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. Columbia University Press, 1968.
Kupperman, Joel J. Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential Texts. Oxford University Press, 2006.

The experiences of the Society of Jesus in China might prove illuminating.
By the 17th Century, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) was successful in penetrating China and serving at the Imperial court. They impressed the Chinese with their knowledge of European astronomy and mechanics, and in fact ran the Imperial Observatory. Their accurate methods allowed the Emperor to successfully predict eclipses, one of his ritual duties. Other Jesuits functioned as court painters. The Jesuits in turn were impressed by the Chinese Confucian elite, and adapted to that lifestyle.
The primary goal of the Jesuits was to spread Catholicism, but here they had a problem. The Chinese elite were attached to Confucianism, while Buddhism and Taoism were mostly practiced by the common people and lower aristocracy of this period. Despite this, all three provided the framework of both state and home life. Part of Confucian and Taoist practices involved veneration of one's ancestors.
By the opening years of the eighteenth century, the battle for the soul of China had developed into a festering sore on the body politic of Catholicism, a cancer menacing the overall health of the Church and threatening to terminate all of her evangelical activities in the orient.Mandarins, Jews, and Missionaries Pollack, p.78
The Jesuits argued that there were important commonalities between Christianity (RCC) and Confucianism, and that accommodations could win converts. Their opponents saw things in a different light. This so called Chinese Rites Controversy ignited a political firestorm in Europe where not only the Masons, but important factions in the RCC had decided that the Jesuits had to be put down
The Kangxi emperor, one of China's greatest, was at first friendly to the Jesuit Missionaries working in China. By the end of the seventeenth century they had made many converts.
From Decree of K'ang¬hsi (1692)
“The Europeans are very quiet; they do not excite any disturbances in the provinces, they do no harm to anyone, they commit no crimes, and their doctrine has nothing in common with that of the false sects in the empire, nor has it any tendency to excite sedition . . . We decide therefore that all temples dedicated to the Lord of heaven, in whatever place they may be found, ought to be preserved, and that it may be permitted to all who wish to worship this God to enter these temples, offer him incense, and perform the ceremonies practised according to ancient custom by the Christians. Therefore let no one henceforth offer them any opposition.”
From S. Neill, A History of Christian Missions (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. 1964), pp. 189¬l90.
After a great deal of discussion, the Jesuits’ claim that Chinese terms could be used to designate the Christian God and that the Confucian ceremonies were merely civil rites that Christians could attend and that Chinese ancestor worship was compatible with Christianity was condemned by Pope Clement XI in 1715.
“Pope Clement XI wishes to make the following facts permanently known to all the people in the world....
I. The West calls Deus God the creator of Heaven, Earth, and everything in the universe. Since the word Deus does not sound right i n the Chinese language, the Westerners in China and Chinese converts to Catholicism have used the term "Heavenly Lord" for many years. From now on such terms as "Heaven" and "Shang¬ti" should not be used: Deus should be addressed as the Lord of Heaven, Earth, and everything in the universe. The tablet that bears the Chinese words "Reverence for Heaven" should not be allowed to hang inside a Catholic church and should be immediately taken down if already there.
II. The spring and autumn worship of Confucius, together with the worship of ancestors, is not allowed among Catholic converts. It is not allowed even though the converts appear in the ritual as bystanders, because to be a bystander in this ritual is as pagan as to participate in it actively.
III. Chinese officials and successful candidates in the metropolitan, provincial, or prefectural examinations, if they have been converted to Roman Catholicism, are not allowed to worship in Confucian temples on the first and fifteenth days of each month. The same prohibition is applicable to all the Chinese Catholics who, as officials, have recently arrived at their posts or who, as students, have recently passed the metropolitan, provincial, or prefectural examinations.
IV. No Chinese Catholics are allowed to worship ancestors in their familial temples.
V. Whether at home, in the cemetery, or during the time of a funeral, a Chinese Catholic is not allowed to perform the ritual of ancestor worship. He is not allowed to do so even if he is in company with non¬ -Christians. Such a ritual is heathen in nature regardless of the circumstances.
Despite the above decisions, I have made it clear that other Chinese customs and traditions that can in no way be interpreted as heathen in nature should be allowed to continue among Chinese converts. The way the Chinese manage their households or govern their country should by no means be interfered with. As to exactly what customs should or should not be allowed to continue, the papal legate in China will make the necessary decisions. In the absence of the papal legate, the responsibility of making such decisions should rest with the head of the China mission and the Bishop of China. In short, customs and traditions that are not contradictory to Roman Catholicism will be allowed, while those that are clearly contradictory to it will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
From China in Transition, 1517¬1911, Dan. J. Li, trans. (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1969), pp. 22¬24
Clement's decree did not make the Kangxi emperor a “happy heathen,” more like a “pissed off pagan,” and he soon banned Christian missions in China.
“Reading this proclamation, I have concluded that the Westerners are petty indeed. It is impossible to reason with them because they do not understand larger issues as we understand them in China. There is not a single Westerner versed in Chinese works, and their remarks are often incredible and ridiculous. To judge from this proclamation, their religion is no different from other small, bigoted sects of Buddhism or Taoism. I have never seen a document which contains so much nonsense. From now on, Westerners should not be allowed to preach in China, to avoid further trouble.” From Decree of Kangxi (1721)

From China in Transition, 1517¬1911, Dan J. Li, trans. (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1969), p. 22.

. Finally, in1742, Benedict XIV, in his papal bull EX quo singulari, formally and unequivocally rescinded all earlier concessions relating to the Rites. In addition, those Jesuits who had concerned themselves with explaining the Book of Changes were all later declared to be insane or heretic. Helmut Wilhelm and Richard Wilhelm, Understanding the I Ching. p.8.

It took Rome nearly two centuries to—until December 8, 1938—to reverse Benedict’s decision, but by then it was too late. Communism was succeeding against Confucianism where Catholicism had failed. We seem to be living in the beginnings of a Chinese Century, but only time will tell what its ultimate nature will be.

What I am interested in is the question of whether the differences at (1) the base-level of 'mind' and (2) the 'traditions in thought' between Oriental vs Occidental ...ever really permit the Eastern thinker to depart from any of the 'constraints' which the Western thinker has always viewed as impassable. Such as the boundaries of logic and rational. I suspect that there are grounds for the Eastern mind successfully divert from Western tradition, but do not know enough about it to say so firmly. Would like to discuss.