Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Sun Yat-sen University, Adjunct Researcher for the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University; Major research field: Confucian Philosophy; Selected works: The Body and Interpretation: Collected Essays on Neo-Confucianism (2011) [Chinese], Wang Yangming’s Theory of “The Unity of All Things“ (2008) [Chinese].
Speech Abstract
“Way” and “Mind”: Why China’s Religious Tolerance is Possible
“Religion is not only always a mystery in the theoretical sense, but is also always a mystery in the ethical sense. It is filled with theoretical contradictions, and also filled with ethical contradictions. It encourages us to associate with Nature, with humans, and with supernatural powers and gods. However, the result is the contradictory: in its embodiment, it has become the deepest source of disputes and fierce conflict. Religion claims that it has an absolute truth; but its history is a kind of history with all kinds of mistaken views and heresies. It gives us a promise and hope that goes beyond our human’s experience, while being fully in the world and remaining entirely too human”
These words come from Ernst Cassirer’s discussion of religion in his An Essay on Man. Leaving aside this problem of “theoretical contradiction,” religion is certainly full of contrary perspectives on ethics, and this is a serious problem that still is troubling. Hans Küng for one said, “Without peace among religions, there is no peace among peoples.” The Religious Wars (1562-1598), the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and the Crusades (1096-1291) all confirm that religion and war have a close relationship in the European history. Nowadays, in many hot spot of conflicts and violence, religion is still playing a role.
Cassirer’s confusion can also be seen in the religious reflections of New Confucianism. Tang Junyi points out that religion has always been the highest expression of human spiritual life. The purpose of all religions is people’s improvement, and its doctrine contains humanity’s moral teachings. Although all religions differ in many ways, religious believers are all human, and so they should love and respect each other. However, history tells us that religious conflicts are the most cruel and ruthless ones. The doctrinal views of religions also function as fortresses dividing humanity.
Without a doubt, behind any religious conflict, political and secular interests are interwoven, for once religion is involved in political power and secular interest it becomes all too human.
Looking back on Chinese history, religion wars are rare. Tang Junyi explicitly classified “religious tolerance” as a Chinese religious characteristic in his Characteristics of Chinese Religions. Both Indian culture and East-Asian culture have rich traditions of religious tolerance, but how can these be explained in terms of philosophy? In the paper, I will first provide a retrospective analysis on the phenomenon of tolerance in the three representative traditions of Chinese culture. Second, I will analyze the phenomenon’s political and social background. Third, based on this material a philosophical explanation will be given. In the paper, four main points about traditional and especially Confucian culture are put forward: 1) ambiguity and inter-ness are characteristics of the creative concept the Way; 2) the experiential trinitarian thinking of the unbiased and ungraspable mind that is indivisible from the Way that has the characteristic of “Great Commonality” beneficial to all things and is the Way of loyalty and consideration—unity with diversity, the complementary yin and yang that emerged from the Way and the Mind 3) the concept of the Sage who encompasses all within the Four Seas; 4) the solid philosophical foundation of openness and tolerant spirit toward the three or five religions that is provided by the system of the sacred scriptures.