San Lwin - Great Chinese Philosophers

Message

I presented the great Western thinkers in the book "Great Thinkers of the World". I was very encouraged to see that many Burmese readers were willing to read and support the ideas of those who pioneered science and thought ahead for the benefit of the world.

In fact, the thought process called philosophy did not only arise in the West. It also emerged prominently in our East. This book, "Great Chinese Thinkers," has been compiled and published so that readers can learn.

I believe that if we compare the ideas of our Easterners with those of the Westerners, it will create a great picture for readers to think about and sympathize with.

People's lives inspire and shape people's thoughts. Thoughts, in turn, guide human life. Thus, human life progresses step by step. It becomes civilized. It moves forward towards betterment.

It is well known that among the Eastern peoples, the Chinese are the most ancient in terms of culture.

They were also at the forefront of thought, so readers of this book will learn about how they viewed the world and how they planned to improve human life.

I hope you will find many interesting, thought-provoking, and thought-provoking things to consider.

I would like to express my special gratitude to my friends and students who have supported me in every way in the production of this book.

As someone who started bringing ideas to the Burmese literary world, there will be some flaws and imperfections. Since we do not consider it complete, it is our responsibility to gradually improve it to ensure its longevity.

(May the thoughts of the Burmese people be mature)

San Lwin

Introduction

The nature of Chinese thought

By studying the nature of Chinese thought, one can easily see how it differs from Western thought.

Western thought (philosophy) is closely related to natural sciences and religion, but Chinese thought is closely related to social sciences such as ethics, politics, and literature. This connection with social sciences is not for any other reason than that Easterners aim to use any skill or knowledge for the benefit of humanity and do not believe that knowledge is only for the sake of knowledge.

Plato and Aristotle said that science begins with wonder, which is the idea that knowledge and understanding are the key to it.

Chinese thinkers, however, do not have this attitude. They believe that the work of thinkers is to understand natural phenomena and to know the needs of people's lives.

This is a tendency towards practicality rather than mere theory and knowledge. Furthermore, because morality was given more importance than human ability and creative power, Chinese thought lacked a scientific foundation. The Chinese people developed civilization in ancient times. They also made remarkable industrial inventions. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that they should have developed greatly in science. However, because morality was always put at the forefront, it did not develop as much as it was thought. Here, it is worth mentioning that the "Taoists" made a slight progress in science.

The Taoists, also known as Taoists, experimented with mercury and mercury to find an elixir of life and death, and chemistry began. The Chinese did not attach as much importance to religion as Westerners, and they did not accept the idea of ​​an eternal God. Only one thinker, Mozu, who emerged in the Qing Dynasty, believed in heaven and God. Westerners generally worship Buddhism. The Chinese, rather than religion, focus on morality, being a good citizen, and being a good person.

Chinese philosophy and Western philosophy also have different ways of looking at and studying the world. Professor F.C. Northrop has described the differences in the ways of looking at the world between Eastern and Western people as follows. He says that the Eastern way is a way of looking at things in a single moment, and the Western way is a way of looking at things in a single moment.

Chinese thought and philosophy are the first to try to understand the world through meditation and yoga. Westerners, on the other hand, study the world through observation and logic. In this way, we can see that Chinese thought is weak in logic. Especially in the field of practical experiment and invention, it has completely failed. .

There is another difference between Eastern and Western philosophy. This is the difference in subject matter. Westerners focus on five main subjects in philosophy. They are logic, aesthetics, ethics, politics, and tactics. In Chinese philosophy, we find that ethics and practical application are intertwined in everything.

This does not mean that the Chinese do not have logic, aesthetics, or philosophy. It just means that they are not separate and distinct, but are all related to morality. There is another difference. This is that in Western thought, there are conflicting (opposite) concepts. For example, God and man, form and soul, individual and collective, etc. But the Chinese do not. Man is a part of the universe, and the universe is a part of man. In particular, the Chinese understand more about the harmonious formation of the world.

In the Tao, the essence of Chinese philosophy, there are two seemingly contradictory concepts. For example, the concepts of “yin” and “yang.” “Yin” is the negative element, and “yang” is the positive element. However, the Chinese believe that these positive and negative elements are not opposites, but are elements that are in constant harmony and harmony, which is necessary for the Tao.

Similarly, the concepts of "Yu" and "Wu" are probably considered to be the Greeks' notions of existence (Atta) and non-existence (Anata). However, they are not opposed but rather converge in Tao.

The beginning of Chinese thought and philosophy

Chinese thought originated from two streams of thought: the thoughts of Confucius and the thoughts of Lao Tzu, known as “Taoism.” Both of these streams of thought emerged around the sixth century BC. However, it is not certain that Chinese thought and philosophy originated with Confucius and Lao Tzu. Both of these thinkers drew on and used the classical Chinese thought.

According to ancient heritage, the Chinese philosophy of "...

It can be said that it starts from the following picture, which shows various types of straight lines called "Pakaung" in relation to each other.