Confucian and Taoist Epistemology of Knowing and Being: Cultivation of Qi and Virtues for Personal and Social Transformation

• In Event: Cross-Cultural Dialogues on Public Scholarship: Rethinking Self-Other, Community, and Social Change

Abstract

Objectives and Significance

Confucianism and Taoism provide effective pathways to integrate the personal with social, the outer with the inner, the personal learning of knowledge with socially transformative actions. However, a lot of methods have been lost and the spiritual energy cultivation based on virtue-learning remains to be rediscovered. Hence our topic has great significance and relevance for education today.

Perspectives

Major Confucian and Taoist classics, for example the Confucian classic The Great Learning and the Taoist classic Tao Te Ching, point to the pathway for one to acquire wisdom and ability, and to be part of the social force transforming our world for peace and justice. The pathway is an embodied one. Confucianism and Taoism focus on the cultivation of qi through virtues, which are essential for one to resonate with the will and energy of the cosmos, and which are mechanisms to harmonize, accumulate and transform qi in an individual and a society. This paper argues that there is much to be discovered in Confucianism and Taoist that aim to help learners achieve tranquility of the mind, and to cultivate the “Great Expansive Qi” (hao ran zhi qi), and arrive at the Tao through virtues. The paper cites a Confucian classic, The Great Learning, to illustrate the Confucian process of cultivation.

Modes of Inquiry and Materials

This is a philosophical reflection. As Confucianism and Taoism are embodied wisdom, the author relies on meditation, reflective writing, and pondering deeply on various Confucian and Taoist classics to gain insights. The paper also distills and synthesizes ideas and perspectives from various materials by scholars. Throughout the process, the researcher is aware of the inherent themes in the Chinese philosophy, such as the idea of qi, the primary importance of virtues in cultivation, and the idea of an educated person being one who is solidly grounded in virtues and who serves the world in the construction of social harmony and peace.

Results
In the Great Learning, the process of Confucian inner cultivation contains this process: studying the world; striving to arrive at deep understanding; knowing when and how to stop; finding one’s grounding and not being deterred by desires; being able to achieve tranquility; being able to attain peace; being able to worry for the world; being able to accomplish what one sets out to do. The Confucian ideal person is said to be a sage inside and a leader in the world (内圣外王). This state can be acquired through the above rigorous cultivation process. This cultivation leads to the change of one’s character and to the acquisition of transformative abilities: with embodied learning one gains real understanding which makes one to want to learn sincerely and set one’s heart right; with this one acts morally and brings harmony and peace to the family, the community and the world.

Author

• Jing Lin, University of Maryland - College Park