Abstract
This article analyses the parallels between the pre-Qin Daoist notion of heng 恒 as a constancy that is nevertheless ceaselessly in motion, and Karl Barth’s concept of Beständigkeit as God’s constancy throughout infinite transformation. Underlying both concepts is an understanding of the ultimate origin (whether dao 道or the Christian God) as irreducibly temporal in nature. Stemming from this conviction, both systems of thought ultimately identify the continuous change of the ultimate origin with the flow of time in the universe. The commonalities found between these two traditions provide fresh resources to advance the study of both. On the one hand, Barth’s deliberate juxtaposition of contrary statements to illustrate the union of permanence and transience in Beständigkeit challenges the frequent assumption that similar juxtapositions in the pre-Qin texts comprise careless inconsistency or outright incoherence. By extension, Barth’s metaphysical underpinning of this juxtaposition offers a compelling framework to explicate the Daoist notion of heng. On the other hand, the pre-Qin texts’ confluence of permanence and freedom in the principle of ziran 自然 offers a new lens through which to read and hence redeem Barth’s oft-critiqued attempt to combine the irrevocability and ongoing freedom of God’s decision of election.
Zusammenfassung
In diesem Artikel werden die Parallelen zwischen der daoistischen Vorstellung von heng 恒 als einer Beständigkeit, die dennoch unaufhörlich in Bewegung ist, und Karl Barths Konzept von Gottes Beständigkeit durch unendliche Verwandlung hindurch analysiert. Beiden Konzepten liegt ein Verständnis des letzten Ursprungs (sei es dao 道 oder der christliche Gott) als irreduzibel zeitlicher Natur zugrunde. Aus dieser Überzeugung heraus identifizieren beide Denksysteme letztlich den kontinuierlichen Wandel des letzten Ursprungs mit dem Fluss der Zeit im Universum. Die Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen diesen zwei Traditionen bieten neue Anhaltspunkte, um das Studium beider zu fördern. Einerseits stellt Barths bewusste Gegenüberstellung von gegensätzlichen Aussagen zur Veranschaulichung der Einheit von Dauerhaftigkeit und Vergänglichkeit in der Beständigkeit die häufige Annahme in Frage, dass ähnliche Gegenüberstellungen in den Texten aus der Vor-Qin-Zeit eine nachlässige Inkonsistenz oder völlige Inkohärenz darstellen. Darüber hinaus bietet Barths metaphysische Untermauerung dieses Nebeneinanders einen überzeugenden Rahmen für die Erklärung des daoistischen Begriffs des heng. Andererseits bietet das Zusammentreffen von Dauerhaftigkeit und Freiheit in den Texten aus der Vor-Qin-Zeit im Prinzip des ziran 自然 eine neue Sichtweise, durch die Barths oft kritisierter Versuch, die Unwiderruflichkeit und die fortdauernde Freiheit der göttlichen Wahlentscheidung miteinander zu verbinden, gelesen und damit rehabilitiert werden kann.
Bibliography
Allen, Sarah. The Way of Water and Sprouts of Virtue. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.Search in Google Scholar
Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Contra Gentiles – Book One: God, trans. Anton C. Pegis. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1955.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. Die Kirchliche Dogmatik I/1. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. Die Kirchliche Dogmatik I/2. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. Die Kirchliche Dogmatik II/1. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. Die Kirchliche Dogmatik II/2. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. Die Kirchliche Dogmatik III/2. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. Die Kirchliche Dogmatik IV/1. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. Die Kirchliche Dogmatik IV/2. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. The Church Dogmatics I/1. Edinburgh: T&T Clark 1975.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. The Church Dogmatics I/2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. The Church Dogmatics II/1. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1957.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. The Church Dogmatics II/2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1957.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. The Church Dogmatics III/2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1960.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. The Church Dogmatics IV/1. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1957.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Karl. The Church Dogmatics IV/2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1958.Search in Google Scholar
Castelli, Alberto. “On Western and Chinese conception of time: A comparative study.” Philosophical Papers and Reviews 6, no. 4 (2015): 23–30.10.5897/PPR2015.0119Search in Google Scholar
Chai, David. “Zhuangzi’s Meontological Notion of Time.” Dao 13 (2014): 361–377.10.1007/s11712-014-9384-zSearch in Google Scholar
Chen Guying 陳鼓應. Laozi zhuyi ji pingjie 老子注譯及評介 [Annotated Translation and Commentary on the Laozi]. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2015.Search in Google Scholar
Chen Guying 陳鼓應. Zhuangzi jinzhu jinyi 莊子今注今譯 [Modern Commentary and Translation of the Zhuangzi]. Beijing: Shangwu yinshu guan, 2021.Search in Google Scholar
Cheng Yi 程頤, Zhouyi chengshi zhuan 周易程氏傳 [Mr. Cheng’s Commentary on the Book of Changes], ed. Wang Xiaoyu 王孝魚. (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2011).Search in Google Scholar
Edwards, Mark James. The Divine Moment: Eternity, Time, and Triune Temporality in Karl Barth’s “Church Dogmatics.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2013.Search in Google Scholar
Fech, Andrej. “Temporality in Laozi and Plotinus.” In Coming to Terms with Timelessness: Daoist Time in Comparative Perspective, edited by Livia Kohn, 71–89. St. Petersburg, Fla: Three Pines Press, 2021.Search in Google Scholar
Forke, Alfred. “The Chinese Sophists.” Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 34 (1901/2): 1–100.Search in Google Scholar
Fu, Charles Wei-hsun. “Lao Tzu’s Conception of Tao.” Inquiry 16, no. 1–4 (1973): 367–394.10.1080/00201747308601690Search in Google Scholar
Gao Heng 高亨. Laozi zhu yi 老子注譯 [Commentary and Interpretation of the Laozi]. Beijing: Qinghua daxue chubanshe, 2010.Search in Google Scholar
Girardot, Norman J. Myth and Meaning in Early Daoism: The Theme of Chaos (Hundun). Magdalena, NM.: Three Pines Press, 2008.Search in Google Scholar
Graham, Angus C. Disputers of the Tao. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, 1995.Search in Google Scholar
Granet, Marcel. La pensée chinoise. Paris: La Renaissance du Livre, 1934.Search in Google Scholar
Guo Pu 郭璞. Erya zhushu 爾雅注疏 [Commentary and Annotations on the Erya], eds. Xing Bing 邢昺 & Wang Shiwei 王世偉. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2010.Search in Google Scholar
Guo Qingfan 郭慶藩. Zhuangzi jishi shang莊子集釋上 [Collected Exegesis of the Zhuangzi, Part I], ed. WANG Xiaoyu 王孝魚. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2012.Search in Google Scholar
Guo Qingfan 郭慶藩. Zhuangzi jishi xia 莊子集釋下 [Collected Exegesis of the Zhuangzi, Part III], ed. WANG Xiaoyu 王孝魚. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2012.Search in Google Scholar
Guo Qingfan 郭慶藩. Zhuangzi jishi zhong 莊子集釋中 [Collected Exegesis of the Zhuangzi, Part II], ed. WANG Xiaoyu 王孝魚. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2012.Search in Google Scholar
Jia Jinhua. “Primordium of Constancy: Time, Space and Dao in Warring States Cosmology.” In Dao and Time: Classical Philosophy, edited by Livia Kohn, 47–67. St Petersburg, Fla: Three Pines Press, 2021.Search in Google Scholar
Lai, Karyn. An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.Search in Google Scholar
Leftow, Brian. “The Roots of Eternity.” Religious Studies 24, no. 2 (1988): 189–212.10.1017/S0034412500019260Search in Google Scholar
Li Ling 李零. “Gen xian” 亙先 [Hengxian]. In Shanghai bowuguan cang: Zhanguo chuzhushu (san) 上海博物館藏：戰國楚竹書（三） [Shanghai Museum Collection: Warring States Chu Bamboo Slips (Vol. 3)], edited by Ma Chengyuan 馬承源, 285–299. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2003.Search in Google Scholar
Liou Kia-Hway. “The configuration of Chinese reasonings.” Diogenese 13, no. 49 (1965): 66–96.10.1177/039219216501304904Search in Google Scholar
Liu Jing. “Permanence and Transience: Time in the Daode jing.” In Dao and Time: Classical Philosophy, edited by Livia Kohn, 68–86. St Petersburg, Fla: Three Pines Press, 2021.Search in Google Scholar
Liu Jing. “What is nature? – ziran in early Daoist thinking.” Asian Philosophy 26, no. 3 (2016): 265–279.10.1080/09552367.2016.1215060Search in Google Scholar
Liu Xiaogan 劉笑敢. Laozi gu jin: Wu zhong duikan yu xiping yinlun老子古今：五種對勘與析評引論 [Laozi Then and Today: Five Comparative Analyses and Critical Reviews]. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2006.Search in Google Scholar
Liu Xiaogan 劉笑敢. “On the Concept of Naturalness (Tzu-Jan) in Lao Tzu’s Philosophy.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 25, no. 4 (1998): 423–446.10.1163/15406253-02504002Search in Google Scholar
Liu Zhao 劉釗. Guodian chujian jiaoshi 郭店楚簡校釋 [Annotated Collation of the Guodian Chu Slips]. Fuzhou: Fujian renmin chubanshe, 2005.Search in Google Scholar
Michael, Thomas. The Pristine Dao: Metaphysics in Early Daoist Discourse. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2005.10.1353/book4952Search in Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg & Cheng Kai-Yuan. “Levels of Time in the Zhuangzi: A Leibnizian Perspective.” Philosophy East & West 69, no. 4 (2019): 1014–1033.10.1353/pew.2019.0083Search in Google Scholar
Plotinus. Ennead III, trans. Arthur H. Armstrong. Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1993.Search in Google Scholar
Rao Zongyi 饒宗頤. “Boshu xici zhuan ‘da heng’ shuo” 帛書《繫辭傳》“大恆” 說 [About “da heng” in the Silk Text Xici Zhuan]. In Daojia wenhua yanjiu 3: Mawangdui boshu zhuanhao 道家文化研究，第三輯：馬王堆帛書專號, edited by Chen Guying 陳鼓應, 6–19. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1993.Search in Google Scholar
Small, Sharon Y. “Time and Timelessness: Early Daoist Theories of Cosmic Generation.” In Dao and Time: Classical Philosophy, edited by Livia Kohn, 28–46. St Petersburg, Fla: Three Pines Press 2021.Search in Google Scholar
Sterckx, Roel. Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Cook Ding. London: Pelican, 2019.Search in Google Scholar
Wang Bi 王弼. Laozi daodejing zhu 老子道德經注 [Commentary of Laozi’s Daodejing], ed. Lou Yulie 楼宇烈. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2011.Search in Google Scholar
Wang Zhongjiang. “The Concept and Genealogy of the Ultimate Origin: An Exploration of Constancy in the Hengxian (恒先) Text of the Shanghai Museum Collection.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 46, no. 1–2 (2019): 3–32.10.1163/15406253-0460102003Search in Google Scholar
Wang Zhongjiang. Daoism Excavated: Cosmos and Humanity in Early Manuscripts. St. Petersburg, Florida: Three Pines Press, 2015.Search in Google Scholar
Yu Jiyuan. “Logos and dao: conceptions of reality in Heraclitus and Laozi.” In Chinese Metaphysics and its Problems, edited by Li Chenyang & Franklin Perkins, 105–119. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.10.1017/CBO9781316145180.007Search in Google Scholar
Zhang Dainian 張岱年. Zhongguo zhexue dagang 中國哲學大綱 [Outline of Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2017.Search in Google Scholar
Zhang Jing 張景 & Zhang Songhui 張松輝. Quanti quanzhu quanyi congshu: Huangdi sijing; guanyinzi; shizi 全體全注全譯從書：黃帝四經；關尹子；尸子 [Book Series of Complete Commentaries and Translations of the Huangdi Sijing, Guanyinzi and Shizi]. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2020.Search in Google Scholar
Zhao Dunhua. “Metaphysics in China and West: Common Origin and Later Divergence.” Frontiers of Philosophy in China 1, no. 1 (2006): 22–32.10.1007/s11466-005-0014-zSearch in Google Scholar
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
