The Animal and the Daemon in Early China

Sterckx, Roel; Goldin, Paul R.

doi:10.1111/j.0301-8121.2004.155_4.x

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…It is indicated by the rulers' capacity to either kill or subdue the animals of the wild, and their duty to civilize those that may be civilized, while destroying and clearing those that cannot -or who oppose their inclusion in 'civilization' -a discourse that notably includes morally framed distinctions between docile and willing domesticates, and harmful wild animals. As noted by a number of scholars (Fiskesjö 2011, Pines 2004, Sterckx 2002, this ideology, especially in its enduring imperial formulation, included the conception of humans and animals as a graded range of beings that mirrors the 'chain of being' of Christian Europe. But this ideology comes with the important Chinese characteristics of the selfidentification by the ruling elites as themselves necessary to uphold and maintain a proper cosmic order, including its gradual extension throughout humanity and among other living things as well.…”

Section: Animality Animals and China's Human Othersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Incidents of encounters with animal neighbours, both domesticates and wild animals, have been used to exemplify the tenets of moral philosophy and social order, and the appearances of such unusual animals have been interpreted as portents with implications for human affairs, wherein the animals are uninteresting in themselves, and only matter as a messenger of reflector of cosmic shifts of interest to reigning emperors. Sterckx (2002) notes how in early China, the animal naming apparatus itself is primarily a device of interpretation and classification for the purposes of human government, and it almost never involves the study of animals in their own right, even in lexica and encyclopaedia compiled specifically to identify animals. Roughly speaking, the detailed observation and study of animals appears only with the introduction of Western science and its use in enumerating, identifying and then more effectively appropriating animals, plants, and other non-human entities and resources.…”

Section: Animality Animals and China's Human Othersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Art of Neighbouring. Making Relations Across China's Borders

Saxer

Zhang²

2017

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Section: Animality Animals and China's Human Othersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Animality Animals and China's Human Othersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Art of Neighbouring. Making Relations Across China's Borders

Saxer

Zhang²

2017

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“…(Sterckx 2002;Puett and Sterckx 2005;Sterckx 2011;Sterckx et al 2018).5Bold face is used for the text of the Zhuangzi and non-bold for Guo's and Cheng's commentaries.…”

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confidence: 99%

Birds and Beasts in the Zhuangzi, Fables Interpreted by Guo Xiang and Cheng Xuanying

Lynn

2019

Religions

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Birds and beasts often appear in the Zhuangzi, in fables and parables meant to be read analogically as instructions for human thought and behavior. Whereas the analogical significance of some fables is obvious, in others it is obscure and in need of explication, and even the readily accessible can be made to yield more clarity thanks to commentaries. This paper explores contributions made by the commentaries of Guo Xiang (252–312) and Cheng Xuanying (ca. 620–670) to the understanding of such fables. Guo Xiang and Wang Bi 王弼 (226–249) are the two most important figures in the xuanxue 玄學 “arcane learning” or “Neo-Daoism” movement of early medieval China (third to sixth century C.E.), which combined elements of Confucianism with the thought of Daoist foundational texts, especially the Daode jing (Classic of the Dao and Virtue) and the Zhuangzi (Sayings of Master Zhuang). Focus of the movement was the promotion of the concept and practice of the sage-ruler as a catalyst for the regeneration of self and society, leading to the foundation of a worldly utopia. Guo’s is the earliest intact philosophical commentary to the Zhuangzi and one of the most widely read during premodern times. Cheng Xuanying composed the only subcommentary to Guo’s commentary. Its more explicit style is most helpful in deciphering Guo’s too often cryptic and elliptical statements. However, it also tends to shunt Guo’s statecraft reading of the Zhuangzi more in the direction of explicating philosophical and religious dimensions of the text. Whereas Guo’s observations about sagehood, self-fulfillment, and the good life largely focus on the sage-ruler and his relation to his people, Cheng’s approach tends more to explore issues of personal self-realization and individual enlightenment, and, as such, is far more “religious” than Guo’s. However, when it comes to accounts of birds and beasts, parodies and satires, which address the limitations, failures, delusions and faulty assumptions, narrow-mindedness, and other human foibles, both Guo and Cheng see them all rooted in self-conscious thought and knowledge, and thus deadly impediments to enlightenment. Other passages about beasts and birds use animal fables as exemplars of truth concerning endowed personal nature and the natural propensity to stay within the bounds of individual natural capacity. Since the commentaries of Guo and Cheng add important dimensions to these accounts, this study explores these as well.

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“…28On Bo Le, seeBuell, May and Ramey 2010. See also the relevant sections inSterckx 2000. al-farāsah wa-ashā'ir al-khayl wa amā'irhā (The Book on the Art of Horsemanship and the Knowledge of First-rate Horses and Their Characteristics and Features). Although the text lists the fourth Caliph, 'Alī ibn Abī Tālib (d. 661) as the author, this seems unlikely.…”

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confidence: 99%