HIST 141 - Midterm Primary Sources

Laozi

originator of Daoism

Laozi thought that

reality can’t be fully understood; trying to do so was futile

Laozi advocated for

changing the self instead of trying to change reality

Example of Laozi’s writing:

When everyone sees good in the good, Bad is already there.

Mencius

influential with Confucian philosophies

Mencius believed that

humans were inherently good, they just need cultivation to develop

Mencius advocated for

benevolent rule, instead of self-serving rule

Example of Mencius’ writing:

“If your Highness practices benevolent government, the common people will love their superiors and die for those in charge of them”

Xunzi

a Confucian philosopher

Xunzi argued that

men are inherently selfish; goodness is developed through ritual and learning

Xunzi considered rituals to be

necessary for upholding social hierarchies, but didn’t actually cause specific outcomes

Example of Xunzi’s writing

Since the nature of people is bad, to become corrected they must be taught by teachers and to be orderly they must acquire ritual and moral principles

Zhuangzi

a Daoist scholar

Zhuangzi believed that

man’s place is to understand their role in the cosmos by finding the path of least resistance

Zhuangzi’s writing style was

narrative and straightforward

Example of Zhuangzi’s writing:

How do I know that enjoying life is not a delusion?

Han Feizi

a Legalist philosopher

Han Feizi thought that

rulers were unable to trust anyone due to how many people could benefit from their death

Han Feizi’s writings were

cynical and paranoid

Example of Han Feizi’s writing:

Since one cannot trust even someone as close as a wife or child, there is no one who should be trusted

Jiayi

wrote “The Faults of Qin”

Jiayi’s writing showed how

the Han dynasty wanted to be distinct from the Qin

According to Jiayi, the main fault of Qin was that

loyal ministers couldn’t report faults or criticisms to the emperor

Example of Jiayi’s writing:

…a simple common rustic could nevertheless challenge this empire and cause its ancestral temples to topple and its ruler to die at the hand of others, a laughingstock in the eyes of all.

Dong Zhongsu

advisor to the 7th Han emperor

Dong Zhongsu advocated for rulers to be

humane & righteous; understand the extent of their power and its limitations

Dong Zhongsu helped to

integrate Confucian ideals into the court (merit-based bureaucracy)

Example of Dong Zhongsu’s writing:

Stand in awe of them but do not despise them; consider that Heaven desires to save us from error and from doing wrong

Debate on Salt and Iron

scholars and ministers disagreed over whether the government should continue to hold a monopoly on salt, iron, and other goods

Scholars argued that

a profit-driven emperor is a bad model of behavior for the people to follow

Ministers argued that

the monopolies were needed because Emperor Wu had restarted the Xiongnu War

Example of the scholar’s argument:

If a country possesses a wealth of fertile land and yet its people are underfed, the reason is that merchants and workers have prospered while agriculture has been neglected.

Example of the minister’s argument:

The salt and iron monopolies and the equable marketing system are intended to circulate accumulated wealth and to regulate consumption according to the urgency of need.

Huiyuan

a Buddhist monk

Huiyuan wrote

“A Monk Does Not Bow Before a King”

Huiyuan argued that

monks were not like ordinary people and were thus not beholden to the ordinary customs/traditions

Example of Huiyuan’s writing:

The monk, so the argument goes, is not a disrespectful, much less impious, person, but he stands completely outside of the framework of lay life

Emperor Taizong

wrote about effective governments

Emperor Taizong argued that

effective governments needed rulers that were righteous and were a good example for their people

Emperor Taizong emphasized the importance of

choosing people based on merit

Example of Taizong’s writing: 

Neither soldiers nor scholars can be dispensed

Bai Juyi

Tang poet

Bai Juyi wrote

A Song of Unending Sorrow

Bai Juyi’s poem was about

the romance between Yang Guifei and Emperor Xuanzong

Example of Bai Juyi’s writing:

Earth endures, heaven endures; sometime both will end, while this unending sorrow goes on and on for ever

Ilyeon 

a Korean monk that wrote the Samguk Yusa

Ilyeon’s Samguk Yusa was about

the origin myth of the Kingdom of Joseon (Gojoseon)

Samguk Yusa references

Chinese ideas of state-building (Mandate of Heaven)

Ilyeon describes how

a bear becomes a woman and gives birth to Tanggun, who would later go on to establish the kingdom of Joseon

King Hungdeok

Silla king

King Hungdeok’s edict was about

how society was becoming disordered due to people not following the traditions of social hierarchy

Example of King Hungdeok’s writing:

The customs of this society have degenerated day by day owing to the competition among the people for luxuries and alien commodities, because they detest local products

Nihongi/Kojiki

stories retelling the Japanese origin myth and describing some of the Shinto deities

Nihongi describes

how two deities formed the islands of Japan; how Susa-no-o bothered Amaterasu so much that she shut herself off in a cave, causing constant darkness until she came back out

Kojiki describes

how Susa-no-o defeats eight-headed serpent