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The Chinese View of the Cosmos

The Chinese View of the Cosmos. San-pao Li, Ph.D . Department of Asian and Asian American Studies California State University, Long Beach California, U.S.A. February 12, 2004. Preface. A macrohistorical and holistic approach New inspirations from an age-old theorum.

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The Chinese View of the Cosmos

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  1. The Chinese View of the Cosmos San-pao Li, Ph.D. Department of Asian and Asian American Studies California State University, Long Beach California, U.S.A. February 12, 2004

  2. Preface • A macrohistorical and holistic approach • New inspirations from an age-old theorum

  3. The Anthropocosmic Unity:Heaven, Earth, and Man • Heaven-----Religion • Earth -------Cosmology • Man---------Ethics

  4. The Anthropocosmic Unity:Heaven, Earth, and Man Heaven (Religion) Earth (Cosmology) Man (Ethics)

  5. An Outline • Cosmos/Cosmology • Folk mythology • The Book of Changes • The yin-yang theory • The five dynamic forces

  6. An Outline • Cosmos/Cosmology • Folk mythology • The Book of Changes • The yin-yang theory • The five dynamic forces

  7. Cosmology • The branch of learning that treats the universe as an ordered system. • Kosmos (order/harmony) • + logos (word/discouse) • =cosmology

  8. Cosmology • Cosmos • The universe is considered as a harmonious and orderly system.

  9. Cosmology • Values(what the world ought to be) • Value system/pattern(a set of values organized into a distinctive pattern) • World view/Weltanschauung(people’s conception of what the world is)

  10. Cosmology • The value structure of a people which provides the basis for their existence.

  11. Cosmology • The resulting cosmology will accordingly reflect the sociological, philosophical or scientific predilections of the individual and his group.

  12. An Outline • Cosmos/Cosmology • Folk mythology • The Book of Changes • The yin-yang theory • The five dynamic forces

  13. Folk Mythology • Pan Gu (see picture) • The Story of the Stone • 36,501 - 36,500 = 1

  14. An Outline • Cosmos/Cosmology • Folk mythology • The Book of Changes • The yin-yang theory • The five dynamic forces

  15. The Book of Changes • Things are constantly in flux or in the process of change. • There is no isolated occurrence in this cosmos but only concurrence.

  16. The Book of Changes • A repository of abstract concepts • A spiritual medium, a moral manual, and a handbook of the religious Daoist • A cosmological treatise of awesome obscurity • A Confucian classic • Yijing -- the book of CHANGES • Yin-Yang • The Eight Diagrams

  17. The Book of Changes • Things are groups of relations • The multifarious phenomena are reduced to unity and harmony • Translation of all natural phenomena into a mathematical language

  18. An Outline • Cosmos/Cosmology • Folk mythology • The Book of Changes • The yin-yang theory • The five dynamic forces

  19. Dialectical Pattern of the Cosmic Forces

  20. Yin (-) and Yang (+) • Eternally interacting with each other • Form the very basis of Chinese cosmology • YIN = all the negative qualities • YANG = all the positive qualities

  21. Yin (-) and Yang (+) • In this “cosmic duet” neither the one nor the other ever permanently triumphs. • They are mutually dependant and supplementary.

  22. The Eight Diagrams • See graphic • coincidentia opppositorum (reconciliation of the opposites)

  23. An Outline • Cosmos/Cosmology • Folk mythology • The Book of Changes • The yin-yang theory • The five dynamic forces

  24. Dialectical Pattern of the Cosmic Forces • Harmonized opposites--Book of Changes • Mutually creative yet destructive • wood, fire, earth, metal, water • wood, earth, water, fire, metal • The Yin and the Yang • Confirmation by modern physics

  25. Dialectical Pattern of the Cosmic Forces Water Wood Metal Earth Fire

  26. Earth---Cosmology • Cosmology---Weltanschauung • Pan Gu--the only cosmogonic myth • Yin-Yang and the Five Cosmic Forces • Things of the same genus activate each other • microcosm-macrocosm

  27. The Anthropocosmic Unity:Heaven, Earth, and Man Heaven (Religion) Earth (Cosmology) Man (Ethics)

  28. Earth---Cosmology • Existential continuum (ontology) • Organismic whole (microcosm-macrocosm) • Dialectical pattern of cosmic forces (epistemology)

  29. Existential Continuum • Harmony of the opposites • The absence of cosmogonical myths • Absence of interest in the “First Cause” • Unity of the spiritual and the material, the subjective and the objective, the secular and the sacred • An existential continuum

  30. Organismic Whole • Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China • “Heaven and I are one” • The law of conservation • The fear of Nature

  31. Dialectical Pattern of the Cosmic Forces • Harmonized opposites--Book of Changes • Mutually creative yet destructive • wood, fire, earth, metal, water • wood, earth, water, fire, metal • The Yin and the Yang • Confirmation by modern physics

  32. Earth---Cosmology • There are always three dimensions involved in any given pattern of matter -- the cosmic triangle • There is no isolated occurrence, only concurrence. • Everything is a matter of coincidence.

  33. Thank you! • Your comments and questions • are welcome!

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