In Confucius: The Man and the Way of Gongfu (Ni 2016), NI Peimin presents a longexpected systematic exposition of the “gongfu 功夫philosophy” in the context of the life and work of Confucius. In light of this gongfu approach, Ni goes... more
In Confucius: The Man and the Way of Gongfu (Ni 2016), NI Peimin presents a longexpected systematic exposition of the “gongfu 功夫philosophy” in the context of the life and work of Confucius. In light of this gongfu approach, Ni goes beyond abstract generalization of Confucius’ philosophical theories as he elaborates carefully and concretely the way of gongfu that is personified by the words and deeds of the master. Ni’s interpretation is well informed and inspired by his own life experience and practice in light of Confucian teachings.
Responding to comments of my recent book, Understanding the Analects of Confucius, by Huang Yong, Fan Ruiping, and Wang Qingjie, this paper looks to highlight one of its major features—that it is a contemporary continuation of the Chinese... more
Responding to comments of my recent book, Understanding the Analects of Confucius, by Huang Yong, Fan Ruiping, and Wang Qingjie, this paper looks to highlight one of its major features—that it is a contemporary continuation of the Chinese tradition of doing commentary both as a way of allowing classic texts to unfold their rich meanings in the context of different times, and as a way for the commentator to express his or her own views. It strives to explain how a gongfu reconstruction of Confucianism can explain the apparent inconsistency between advocating rule-like instructions next to its encouragement of the art of flexibility, and to reveal what is more fundamental about Confucianism—rather than a system of rigid moral rules, it is an art of life. This gongfu interpretation would lead to the view that Confucianism does not depend on metaphysical truths as its justification, although it does need to hold metaphysical views as a way of affirming its values, which are justified through the excellence of life to which they lead. While the gongfu approach more accurately reflects Confucius' own philosophical orientation, and it is therefore used to determine technical details such as what interpretations to put into translation of a text and what interpretations to list in the annotations as alternatives, it is, in the author's humble view, also a unique contribution that the Chinese tradition can offer to world philosophy.
Different from the commonly used moralistic perspective, this article articulates and evaluates major ideas about human desire within the Confucian tradition through a gongfu perspective, and shows that, although there are historical... more
Different from the commonly used moralistic perspective, this article articulates and evaluates major ideas about human desire within the Confucian tradition through a gongfu perspective, and shows that, although there are historical reasons for blaming Confucianism for suppressing human desires and suffocating humanity, what classic Confucianism advocates is ultimately about how to cultivate humanity, transform human desires, and live artistically, and not imposing a rigid normative moral system externally to constrain human life, making it unsatisfying.
