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Asian Philosophy > Chinese Philosophy > Chinese Neo-Confucianism > Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism > Cheng Yi
Cheng Yi
About this topic
| Summary | Cheng Hao (Cheng Mingdao程顥, 1032-1085) and Cheng Yi (Cheng Yichuan程頤, 1033-1107), commonly known as the Two Chengs, in that their sayings, writings, anecdotes are compiled together as the Collected Works of the Two Chengs (Ercheng Ji 二程集). Some of the remarks in this collection are simply referred to as “Master Cheng says” without indicating which of the two brothers said it. As a result, their view(s) are often jointly presented as the Two Chengs’ view, such as in Graham 1992 and Huang 2003. Nevertheless, many contemporary Chinese scholars such as Chen 2005 have convincingly argued that Cheng Hao’s ideas paved the ground for the later Lu-Wang school that stresses the role of the heart/mind (xin 心), while Cheng Yi’s view, under Zhu Xi’s elaboration, established the school of Li (lixue 理學). What is usually called the Cheng-Zhu School typically refers to the followers of Cheng Yi’s and Zhu Xi’s teachings. The Cheng brothers’ major contributions to neo-Confucianism include Cheng Yi’s conception of Li (理), Cheng Hao’s singling out “humaneness” (ren 仁) as the primary virtue, and the two Chengs’ theories of human nature. These ideas were later further developed by Zhu Xi into a more systematic philosophy. |
| Key works | Other than the brief selections in Chan 1963, there is no English translation of their works. Of secondary materials, Graham 1958/1992 is an early work of this known sinologist, and it offers a comprehensive but accessible introduction to the two brothers’ views. Of late, Yong Huang has done extensive writings on the two brothers, such as Huang 2008 and Huang 2003. He has a book on the Cheng brothers forthcoming. Graham, A. C. Two Chinese Philosophers: The Metaphysics of the Brothers Ch’eng. La Salle, IL: Open Court. 1992. Graham’s work on the Cheng brothers opened the door of Neo-Confucianism to scholars on Chinese philosophy in English. Originally published in 1958, this small book analyzes key concepts in both Cheng Hao’s and Cheng Yi’s philosophy. Even though this book was written in the 1950s, it is still a valuable study on the Cheng brothers. Huang 2008 deals with the issue of moral motivation, and offers a sophisticated and contemporary analysis on Cheng brothers’ moral psychology. It is an important paper for anyone interested in the comparative analytic study on Neo-Confucianism. Huang’s works on the Cheng brothers’ virtue ethics are among the first to take the comparative approach to establish Neo-Confucian virtue ethics. Huang 2003 also examines the issue of fact and value to address Hume’s concern about deriving ought from is. This paper is not a textual interpretation of the philosophy in its historical context, but an innovative reconstruction of the Cheng brothers’ view to address a contemporary philosophical issue. |
| Introductions | Graham, A. C. Two Chinese Philosophers: The Metaphysics of the Brothers Ch’eng. La Salle, IL: Open Court. 1992. Graham’s work on the Cheng brothers opened the door of Neo-Confucianism to scholars on Chinese philosophy in English. Originally published in 1958, this small book analyzes key concepts in both Cheng Hao’s and Cheng Yi’s philosophy. Even though this book was written in the 1950s, it is still a valuable study on the Cheng brothers. |
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Related
Siblings
- Zhou Dunyi (8)
- Shao Yong (8)
- Zhang Zai (13)
- Cheng Hao (11)
- Lu Xiangshan (10)
- Zhu Xi (96)
- Wang Yangming (79)
- Wang Fuzhi (9)
- Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, Misc (100)
Contents
17 found
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- “Getting It Oneself" (Zide 自得) as an Alternative to Testimonial Knowledge and Deference to Tradition.Justin Tiwald - 2023 - Oxford Studies in Epistemology 7:306-335.To morally defer is to form a moral belief on the basis of some credible authority's recommendation rather than on one’s own moral judgment. Many philosophers have suggested that the sort of knowledge yielded by moral deference is deficient in various ways. To better appreciate its possible deficiencies, I propose that we look at a centuries-long philosophical discourse that made much of the shortcomings of this sort of knowledge, which is the discourse about “getting it oneself” (zide 自得) in the (...)
- The Postulate of Clarification in Cheng Yi's Commentary on the Book of Changes.Michael Harrington - 2020 - Signs and Images 1 (1):92-107.Erwin Panofsky developed the postulate of clarification to explain the mental habit common to Gothic architecture and Western medieval scholasticism, but the postulate is equally applicable to the commentary tradition of Song-dynasty China. The commentary on the Book of Changes authored by Cheng Yi (1033–1107) provides a good example of how the Confucians of the Song dynasty took their concern for clarity to a recognizably medieval extreme. By looking at how Cheng Yi understands and foregrounds the clarity of the Book (...)Remove from this listExport citation
Bookmark - Joy as a Moral Motive: A Response to Yong Huang's Why Be Moral?Justin Tiwald - 2019 - Philosophy East and West 69 (1):280-287.This essay is a response to Yong Huang's Why Be Moral? I raise three concerns about Huang's answer to the very question "Why Be Moral?" which is the subject of the first chapter of the book. First, I suggest that the justificatory interpretation of the question is as important as the motivational one, in general and for the Cheng brothers, and that it shouldn't be dismissed as quickly as Huang dismisses it. Second, I argue that joy cannot be the direct (...)
- The Yi River Commentary on the Book of Changes.Cheng Yi, Robin R. Wang & L. Michael Harrington - 2019 - Yale University Press.This book is a translation of a key commentary on the Book of Changes, or Yijing, perhaps the most broadly influential text of classical China. The Yijing first appeared as a divination text in Zhou-dynasty China and later became a work of cosmology, philosophy, and political theory as commentators supplied it with new meanings. While many English translations of the Yijing itself exist, none are paired with a historical commentary as thorough and methodical as that written by the Confucian scholar (...)
- Why Be Moral? Learning From the Neo-Confucian Cheng Brothers. [REVIEW]Michael Harrington - 2016 - Frontiers of Philosophy in China 11:158-162.Remove from this listExport citation Bookmark
- Morally bad in the philosophy of the Cheng Brothers.Wai-Ying Wong - 2009 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 36 (1):141-156.
- "WHY BE MORAL?" The Cheng Brothers' neo-confucian answer.Yong Huang - 2008 - Journal of Religious Ethics 36 (2):321-353.In this article, I present a neo-Confucian answer, by Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, to the question, "Why should I be moral?" I argue that this answer is better than some representative answers in the Western philosophical tradition. According to the Chengs, one should be moral because it is a joy to perform moral actions. Sometimes one finds it a pain, instead of a joy, to perform moral actions only because one lacks the necessary genuine moral knowledge—knowledge that is accessible (...)
- The Cheng Brothers' onto-theological articulation of confucian values.Yong Huang - 2007 - Asian Philosophy 17 (3):187 – 211.In this article, I attempt to provide a new interpretation of li in the neo-Confucian brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi. I argue that the two brothers' views on li are not as radically different as many scholars have made us to believe; li in both brothers is a de-reified conception, referring not to some entity, including the entity with activity, but to activity, the life-giving activity of the ten thousand things; and this life-giving activity, in terms of its mysterious (...)
- Confucian love and global ethics: How the Cheng Brothers would help respond to Christian criticisms.Yong Huang - 2005 - Asian Philosophy 15 (1):35 – 60.There is an increasing awareness that we are living in a global village, which demands a global ethics. In this article, I shall explore what contributions Confucianism, particularly its conception of love, can make. It has often been claimed that Confucian love is love with distinction, as a natural feeling, and as merely human love and so it is inferior to the Christian love, which is universal, commanded, and based on divine love. Drawing on the resources of the Cheng brothers' (...)
- Cheng Brothers’ Neo-Confucian Virtue Ethics: The Identity of Virtue and Nature.Yong Huang - 2003 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 30 (3-4):451-467.This article attempts to see whether value can be independent of fact. I argue that, in this regard, the two traditional models of ethics, Kant's deontology and Bentham/Mill's utilitarianism are both faulty. In comparison, while contemporary Aristotelian virtue ethics does seem more promising, I argue that such a version of virtue ethics is still deficient. The main purpose of this article is to develop an alternative version of virtue ethics, what I call neo-Confucian ontological virtue ethics, drawing on Cheng Hao (...)
- Review of Cheng-Zhu Confucianism in the Early Qing: Li Guangdi and Qing Learning by On-cho Ng. [REVIEW]John H. Berthrong - 2002 - Philosophy East and West 52 (2):256-257.
- Cheng Yi’s Neo-Confucian Ontological Hermeneutics of Dao.Yong Huang - 2000 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 27 (1):69-92.
- Confucian Moral Self Cultivation, 2nd ed.Philip J. Ivanhoe - 2000 - Hackett.A concise and accessible introduction to the moral philosophy of Kongzi (Confucius), Mengzi (Mencius), Xunzi, Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, Yan Yuan and Dai Zhen.
- Dai Zhens Konzeption des> Li Li<-Theorie der Cheng-Zhu-Schule.Wolfgang Ommerborn - 2000 - Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte 42:9-54.Remove from this listExport citation Bookmark
- Sung Dynasty Uses of the I Ching.Kidder Smith Jr, Peter K. Bol, Joseph A. Adler & Don J. Wyatt - 1990 - Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press.The I Ching, or Book of Changes, has been one of the two or three most influential books in the Chinese canon. It has been used by people on all levels of society, both as a method of divination and as a source of essential ideas about the nature of heaven, earth, and humankind. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Sung dynasty literati turned to it for guidance in their fundamental reworking of the classical traditions. This book explores how four (...)
- Patterns for Neo-Confucianism : Why Chu Hsi differed from Ch’engi.Wing-Tsit Chan - 1978 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 5 (2):101-126.
- Two Chinese Philosophers: Chʻêng Ming-Tao and Chʻêng Yi-Chʼuan.A. C. Graham - 1958 - London: Lund, Humphries.
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