The spirit of Confucian philosophy in the 'Dazhaun'.

摘要

According to Confucius, "Bu zhi ming, wu yi wei junzi, One who does not understand destiny has no way of becoming a principled person." (Lunyu 20:3) Knowing destiny, the decree of Heaven, is necessary to become an actualized person, Junzi. Confucius also said "Ren neng hong dao, fei dao hong ren. People's ability enhances dao, dao does not enhance people." (Lunyu 15:29) A person's ability is manifest in one's ren humanity/relationship with others and with one's environment.; This dissertation studies the correlation between two classical Chinese texts which exemplify Chinese tradition and philosophy: the Lunyu , Analects of Confucius and the Dazhuan, the Great Commentary to the Yijing. The study explores the spirit of Confucian philosophy as manifest in the Dazhuan.; The key question asked is, how is the Dazhuan a Confucian philosophical text? To answer this question a complete translation of the Dazhuan was made using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Also, a commentary to the Dazhuan was written to assist in answering the question.; This study examines various philosophical terms in the Lunyu , in particular, ren humanity/relationship. How various philosophical terms are used in the Dazhuan is examined. The concept of ren as relationship offers a new perspective to the Dazhuan.; Beginning with a classical Confucian philosophical understanding of ren and the path of the Junzi, this dissertation, through the study of the Dazhuan, expands the meaning of ren and Junzi by taking into consideration the metaphysical philosophical nature of the text. This study concludes with a new interpretation of ren and an application of the path of the Junzi for the 21st century.