China News Agency reporter Shi Yuanfeng and Luo Haibing
Since ancient times, the relationship between man and nature has been one of the three important relationships that human beings have to deal with. Liang Shuming has discussed three major relationships between human beings: the relationship between man and nature, the relationship between people, and the relationship between man and himself. However, before the outbreak of the modern ecological crisis, the relationship between man and nature did not attract enough attention.
From a historical point of view, the development of human civilization is the process of gradually understanding, transforming and constructing nature. In China, the concept of nature of "the unity of heaven and man" dominates, advocating the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and advocating reverence for nature and conforming to nature.
Wu Genyou, professor of the School of Philosophy of Wuhan University and dean of the Institute for Advanced Study of Dialogue among Civilizations of Wuhan University, previously gave an exclusive interview to the "East-West Question" of China News Agency, explaining why China's understanding of man and nature has shaped the root and background of today's Chinese civilization.
The following is a summary of the interview:
China News Agency: Why has the unity of heaven and man become one of the most important ideas in Chinese philosophy, and Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and other schools have their own expositions? Is there a new interpretation today?
Wu Genyou: The idea of "the unity of heaven and man" as we understand it today mainly means that people should follow the laws of nature and use natural resources. It actually contains two aspects, one is "combining people with heaven", that is, people passively adapt to and follow the laws of nature, which mainly refers to the "unity of heaven and man" in the era of nomadic and agricultural civilization. The second is to "take Tianhe people", that is, make full use of natural laws to serve people's better survival. In Marxist philosophy, the idea of "the unity of heaven and man" actually has two stages, the first stage is the humanization of nature, that is, to transform nature according to human will, and use natural resources to serve human needs. The second stage is humanized nature, that is, people fully follow the laws of nature to transform nature, like the green, ecological and recyclable use of natural resources advocated by the Chinese government today to benefit mankind, which is to develop in the direction of "humanized nature".
In October 2021, aerial photograph of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Suzhou Fengqiao Scenic Area. Photo by Mao Jianjun, reporter of China News Agency
Although the concept of "the unity of heaven and man" that we vigorously advocate today is related to the traditional Chinese idea of "the unity of heaven and man", it mainly talks about the relationship between man and nature in the sense of "heaven and man". It is to make full use of and continuously develop new green technologies, so that human beings can make full use of natural resources and continuously improve the quality of human life under the premise of meeting ecological requirements. Therefore, advocating the "unity of heaven and man" is not to completely let the blind force of nature drive, but to make full use of the laws of nature under the thinking of ecological science, and vigorously develop green technology to improve the quality of life and quality of life of all mankind.
In October 2021, farmers stocked white ducks on the surface of the "Fishery and Solar Complementary" photovoltaic power station in Baihu Town, Lujiang County, Hefei City, Anhui Province. In recent years, Baihu Town, Lujiang County, has adopted multiple three-dimensional methods such as "water photovoltaic power generation, surface stocking of eggs and ducks, underwater aquaculture of fish and shrimp" to achieve a bumper harvest of economic and ecological benefits. Photo by Wang Min
China News Agency: Is there any philosophical thought in the West that can be compared with China's "unity of heaven and man"?
Wu Genyou: As far as the long history of Western philosophy is concerned, of course, there are sporadic ideas of respect for nature in the West, but on the whole, there is no similar idea to China's "unity of heaven and man". In particular, there is a lack of a "natural heaven" as a whole, as a spiritual, virtuous and inclusive virtue. This is mainly determined by its philosophy, religion, modern capitalist production-way of life.
Although ancient Greek philosophy was rich, the natural nature did not become an object for human beings to emulate, but an object to be conquered. The medieval tradition of Christ's more than 1,500 years of thought was completely shrouded in a theological atmosphere, and nature and the natural kinship of human life were transformed into subordinate or secondary things by the relationship between man and God. In the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the state of nature became a barbaric and primitive state that most philosophers denied, although Rousseau limited affirmed the state of nature above the evil of private ownership in the process of civilization, and believed that man has freedom in the state of nature, he did not believe that the state of nature was the ideal state that human beings needed to maintain, and clearly pointed out that freedom in the state of nature would soon be lost due to violence. As part of the trend of postmodern thought, various ecological philosophies and green environmental protection organizations in the contemporary West have a more systematic and radical concept of respecting nature, and even put forward the concept of "animal rights", but in terms of the reality and truth of their ideas, they basically fail to go beyond the concept of "humanized nature" put forward by Marx and Engels.
If you insist on finding a concept in the West that corresponds to the "unity of heaven and man", I personally think it is the concept of "humanized nature" put forward by Marx and Engels.
China News Agency: If we look at the situation of human beings in the context of the entire universe, have the interconnections between heaven, earth and man transcended geographical boundaries, and can this inspire human beings, as active participants in the cosmic process, to shoulder the responsibility of caring for nature?
Wu Genyou: This question is more complicated. To put it simply, there may be two diametrically opposed views, one that human beings are too small in nature to simply abandon their understanding of the laws of nature. Another is the positive attitude that must be promoted, that is, through the accumulation of knowledge, human beings constantly explore the laws of nature, and then use the laws of nature, so as to undertake the protection of the natural environment for the permanent existence of human beings.
In April 2017, the "Earth Day Meteor Shower Together" activity was held in the Jinshanling Great Wall Tourism Area. Photo by Wang Junfeng
Traditional Chinese Confucianism regards man as the "heart of heaven and earth" and advocates that human beings should "climb heaven and earth and cultivate education" in the universe, and integrate into the torrent of the universe with a positive attitude. Song Ru Lu Jiuyuan and Ming Ru Wang Yangming both regard the affairs between the universes as the internal affairs of each of us, and indeed have a sense of responsibility to nature. The concept of "the unity of all things" shared by Song Mingru and the "oneness of benevolence" of people's beings and things can be regarded as cosmic ethics in the "unity of heaven and man" ideological system. If this kind of ethics is transformed and transformed in modern times, it may become an ethical sentiment shared by human beings in the era of globalization. In fact, man's responsibility to all things in the universe is his own responsibility to himself.
On the night of September 2021, people watched the starry sky in the Liuzhai rice terraces in Tianzhu Shidong Town, Guizhou. Photo by China News Agency reporter Qu Honglun
China News Agency: Are there commonalities between the basic values represented by Western enlightenment and the core values of Confucianism? Can the world's different spiritual civilizations come together to form a civilization of dialogue?
Wu Genyou: Among the basic values developed since the Western Enlightenment, in addition to the abstract concept of human rights and the concept of individual freedom based on atomism, other values such as equality, fraternity, fairness, and justice not only have basic commonalities with the core values of Confucianism, but also complement each other, thereby enriching the spiritual world of modern mankind. To put it simply, there are three aspects of the values developed by the Enlightenment that can coexist with Confucian values.
First, the humanism or humanism developed by the Enlightenment in response to Christian theology and the church's contempt for the real human condition has a high degree of commonality with Confucian classical humanism or folk thought.
In July 2021, Henan Anyang Yinxu Scenic Area after the rain. Photo by Zhang Chang, reporter of China News Agency
Second, the Enlightenment advocated the significance of intellectual rationality and science and technology for human happiness and the improvement of life, believing that nature has its own internal order. This point has a high degree of commonality with the core ideas of Confucianism such as following natural seasons and rules, respecting ghosts and gods, and advocating ethical rationality.
Third, the Enlightenment advocated the idea of respecting individuality and equality for everyone, and in Confucianism, there was also the spirit of equality that respected the will of the individual and the people, such as "the will of the individual and the people and the material harmony". The Enlightenment respected the idea of individual property rights, and in the legal texts of the Han and Tang dynasties and the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was clearly stipulated that personal property could not be inappropriated.
As far as the "golden rule" acceptable to all major human civilizations is concerned, the basic requirements of "do unto others what you do not want" and "stand up for others if you want, and reach others as you wish" are the basis for mutual exchanges and dialogues among the major civilizations of mankind.
China News Agency: Has China's understanding of man and nature shaped the root and background of today's Chinese civilization?
Wu Genyou: Indeed, traditional China's understanding of the relationship between man and nature, especially man and nature, has shaped the root and background of Chinese civilization. Broadly speaking, it can be explained in three broad ways.
First, classical China developed the idea of "people-based" since the Western Zhou Dynasty. The backward "Xiaobang Zhou" defeated the Shang Dynasty, a civilized power at that time, relying on the advanced political concept of "valuing the people's life". The core content of the idea of "matching heaven with virtue" developed by the early political civilization of the Western Zhou Dynasty was to require the core figures of the ruling group to shelter the people like heaven. "Respecting virtue and protecting the people" is an advanced political and ideological weapon for "small states to defeat big countries Yin."
Second, the understanding of the nature and laws of the "five elements" of water, fire, wood, gold and soil in the "Shangshu Hongfan", the understanding of the relationship between natural phenomena such as rain, sunshine, cold wind, and agriculture and animal husbandry, and the repeated mention of ancient mountain and forest officials in the "Book of Rites" to hunt and cut down trees in the appropriate season, all reflect that the ancient Chinese philosophers formed a rational idea of following the laws of nature earlier in the era of nomadic and agricultural civilization.
Third, as far as the relationship between man and nature is concerned, the success of Dayu's water control made the ancient Chinese sages not only adopt an attitude of reasonable struggle with nature when dealing with the relationship between man and nature, but also strive to find natural laws and control nature according to them. This successful experience in dealing with the Great Flood is applied to the political governance of human society, that is, the systematic etiquette system is used to restrain the emotions and desires in human nature, and at the same time the art form of poetry and music is used to cultivate human temperament, which is actually a method of combining restraint (water blocking) and channeling.
Dayu statue in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Photo by Zhang Liangzong, China News Agency
In short, in dealing with the natural world and the secular rational attitude gradually formed in the experience and life of human beings themselves, strive to reconcile the relationship between man and nature, and between man and man, and guide the people to be worthy of their ancestors and ancestors with historical rationality in the end, and leave space for future generations to survive and develop. On the ideological base of "the unity of heaven and man", Chinese civilization has a distinct sense of responsibility and responsibility, and is full of ethical feelings of the unity of all things and the harmony of people.
Respondent Profile:
Wu Genyou, Professor and former Dean of the School of Philosophy of Wuhan University, is currently the Dean of the Institute for Advanced Study of Dialogue among Civilizations of Wuhan University, the Director of the Academic Committee of the Faculty of Humanities, the part-time researcher of the Research Center for Chinese Traditional Culture, a key humanities base of the Ministry of Education, a director of the International Confucian Federation, a vice president of the Chinese Society for the History of Philosophy, and a visiting scholar at Harvard University. Editor-in-chief of "Comparative Philosophy and Comparative Culture Series", etc.