Bulletin Summer 1979

theories of human nature were put forward. Mencius discussed human nature with Kao Tzu. Kao Tzu conceived human nature as the sum total of man's desires, while Mencius objected to divorcing man's desire from the moral aspect of his nature and propounded a new theory of human nature. He did not contradict Kao Tzu's contention that 'Appetite for food and sex is “nature”’ but held that human nature did not solely consist of 'appetite for food and sex' and that man and heaven were not diametrically opposed. The decree of heaven can be fulfilled by man as it is rooted in human nature. Q. H o w does western moral philosophy differ from Chinese moral teachings? A. Western moral philosophy is predominently analytical. In China, equal emphasis is put on knowledge and practice of the moral virtues. Western moral philosophy is grounded on epistemology, taking the attributes of things as the basis of morality. In China, morality is expressed through li and yi. Q. Can Taoism offer an effective remedy for today's utilitarian society? A. The central tenet of Lao Tzu's philosophy is preserving the natural and genuine and discarding the artificial and hypocritical. However, for present-day society, his advocacy of 'having little thought of self and as few desires as possible' and 'knowing contentment' is mor e relevant. Man's desires kno w no limits and to satisfy these desires, he sets his heart on an incessant pursuit of material gains. Such desires account for the preoccupation of our society with material gain. We often hear people talk of basic necessities of life, but what in fact are basic necessities? It is obvious that the necessities of life are forever increasing. For instance, not too long ago, people in possession of a black and white television set were already quite contented; then they wanted colour televisions, and now they have gone a step further and want also video tape recorders. This is what we mean by 'avarice knowing no bounds' and the only remedy is to 'have as few desires as possible' and 'know contentment'. Q. Both Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu belong to the Taoist school, but aren't there significant differences between them? A. Lao Tzu was preoccupied with the practical question of ho w to lead one's life and avoided the question of death. But the main concern of Chuang Tzu was how to overcome the fear of death common to men who must all die. He thought that for anyone to succeed in overcomin this fear was 'tantamount to being released from hanging upside down by the heels'. In this respect, Chuang Tzu is rather close to Buddhi but Buddhism has to contend further with the fact of transmigration. In Chuang Tzu, one does find this saying ‘forms like the human are too numerous to be counted in the process of endless metamorphosis', but it is hard to tell from this whether he is a believer of transmigratio or not. It is just possible that he had heard some rumours concerning Buddhism as the Buddha lived some two hundred years before his time. Chuang Tzu had also great insight into many philosophical problems, such as the relation between language and ideas. It is a pity that the extant text of the Chuang Tzu is so corrupt as to make a thorough study of his philosophy an almost impossible task. Recently two copies of the Lao Tzu dating from the Western Han were discovered. H o w much more helpful would it have been if it was the Chuang Tzu that was discovered! Q. Could you tell us something about your research on the philosophy of the Pre-Ch'in period? A. Many of the ancient Chinese philosophical works are fraught with problems, with the possible exception of the Analects and the Mencius. It is doubtful if the Lao Tzu represents one school of thought; and the text of the Chuang Tzu is, as I have just said, far too corrupt. Theref m y study of Pre-Ch'in philosophy is not restricted to any one school but is focused on the development of Chinese thought in the third century B.C. I am working mainly on the L ü Shih Ch'un Ch'iu (呂氏春秋） (with a Postscrip dated 239 B.C.) and the Huai Nan Tzu (淮南子) (c. 140 B.C.) because a more comprehensi knowledge of the subject may be obtained from these two works, which are eclectic in nature. By identifying and understand the basic concepts of this period, we can further try to understand the world view and outlook on life of the time. 10