Heritage Guide

Heritage II

Issues in Cultural Interactions: Asia

Botanical Gardens: Chicago, IL

Visit to Japanese Gardens, Chicago Botanic Garden. Fall 2001

Photo by Christine Renaud

HERITAGE II TEXTS

  • Heritage Guide: An Odyssey in Learning, 2007-2008 (Online)
  • Heritage Reader, 2007-2008
  • A. Kerr, Lost Japan (autobiography)
  • The Confucian Reader
  • T.C. Chung, Zhuangzi Speaks (sayings)
  • Lotus Sutra (Chapters 3 and 24)
  • I. Chang, Rape of Nanking (history)
  • D. Hacker, A Writer's Reference. Fifth Edition.

Culture hides more than it reveals, and strangely enough what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants. Years of study have convinced me that the real job is not to understand foreign culture but to understand your own. I am also convinced that all one ever gets from studying a foreign culture is token understanding. The ultimate reason for such study is to learn how one's system works.

(Edward Hill)

In Heritage I, you examined what a community is and how an individual accommodates the strictures of living within a community. Now in Heritage II, you will focus on the complexity of cross-cultural interactions. Heritage II focuses on encounters between individuals and communities from different cultures, in particular Asian and Latin American cultures. Examining what it means to have a cultural legacy--a heritage--within a complex global community, students are challenged to make intellectual and personal sense of one or more cultures beyond the Western world. Students in Heritage II will explore the following questions: How do you fit into the world? What is culture? What are the "stumbling blocks" to understanding people from other cultures? What does it mean to be a global citizen? In particular, the course fosters global thinking, problem solving, understanding, and communication by engaging questions of individuality and community, tradition and innovation, status quo and change, rationality and spirituality, and conflict and cooperation. Your sustained encounter with Japanese and Chinese societies this term will further your awareness of your own cultural identity, values, and assumptions. As always, the process of inquiry demands that you once again question who you are, your role in a community, and what happens when you encounter others whose views are different. To that end, you will be reading Alex Kerr's, Lost Japan, selections of Confucius and his followers (Mengzi and Xunzi), Zhuangzi Speaks (Taosim), Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking and two of the Lotus Sutras

"The questions which one asks oneself begin, at last, to illuminate the world,
and become one's key to the experience of others."
(James Baldwin)

Lost Japan

Today, many Japanese would hardly know what the word "yobai" means,
and it was little short of miraculous that the custom still existed when I arrived in Iya.

(Lost Japan, p. 37)

Alex Kerr wrote Lost Japan after living in Japan for about three decades. Originally written in Japanese, the book was translated into English after it had become a big seller and won a prize for new Japanese non-fiction writing in 1994. In addition to living in Japan, Kerr also studied Chinese, won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, lived in several different parts of Japan, and worked in fields ranging from art to real estate.

Kerr's experiences living abroad shaped his later relationship with Asia. One of the key, though unstated, themes of the book comes from Kerr's experimentation with other cultures and subcultures. Lost Japan implicitly suggests a culture does not have an unchanging essence. A person can change cultures, just as he or she can change languages. Another major theme is Kerr's own understanding of culture, which is focused on "high culture" and past achievements. What does it mean that while some Japanese people maintain traditional arts like calligraphy or Kabuki, others create all sorts of new culture in the form of anime, manga, electronic games, etc? Does Kerr's understanding of culture fit with the readings that you have done for this class that state that culture is dynamic and pluralistic?

Kerr organizes Lost Japan not chronologically but as a series of thematic essays, each building on the previous entry. He also uses Japanese words liberally in the English translation of his book. The Japanese terms are easy to pronounce and Kerr made a conscious choice to retain them. Use the glossary and do not be afraid to say the words out loud.

Consider the following questions as you read Lost Japan:

  • What exactly is being "lost" in Japan, and how can we distinguish between cultural loss and cultural change? What are some examples of loss and change in U.S. culture?
  • Can culture become impoverished, as Kerr suggests?
  • Does Kerr's focus on the past make him too conservative? What evidence is there in the book that culture can suffer not just from apathy but also from excessive rigidity?
  • Have you, or someone you know, ever experienced living in another culture for a prolonged period of time? What is such a change like, and to what culture do you feel most attached? Does Alex Kerr belong to American, Japanese, or some third culture?
  • Are the problems of maintaining culture limited to Japan, or are they universal? If people think that traditional arts are boring, what is wrong with letting them go? What will replace them, if anything?
  • Do you think that Kerr's status as an "outsider" might have helped him win the prize for his book? Would a similar critique of U.S. culture win a prize?

After you have finished reading Lost Japan, you will study the many traditions that still inform modern Chinese and Japanese society: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

Confucianism: Confucius and his Followers

Having noted some of the differences between East and West, it is now necessary to gain a bit more in-depth knowledge of Chinese and Japanese culture. The best place to start is with the writings of Confucius (551-479 BCE).

In your Confucian reader, you will be reading selections from Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi and others. In a broad sense, the school of thinking that began with Confucius continues to some degree up to the present. It is helpful to think of Confucianism as you might think about the term "Christian" or "Christianity," as the term and ideas involved in "Confucianism" are as broad and varied as you might find within various Christian ideologies. Over the centuries, Confucianism has evolved, and yet the basic tenets as articulated by Confucius, Mencius, and others remain. One of the key points that you will notice in your readings is that they agree that all societies must invest in learning.

To get to know Confucius, you will read selections from The Analects. Yet, there is much more to "Confucianism" than just the sayings of Confucius. You will also read selections of two of Confucius' most important early followers, Mencius and Xunzi. You will read what they have to say about the nature of man. Note the different approaches they take compared to Confucius. Also note that they can and often do contradict each other. We see here how broad a category Confucianism is, as mentioned above it is as broad a category as Christianity and contains as many conflicting interpretations. One of ties between these three thinkers, in this particular case, is their belief in the necessity of teaching and learning. There are, of course other significant ties, perhaps the most important being their concern with the "Way" (a term used by all early Chinese thinkers, including the Daoists), and their reference to earlier models, particularly the Duke of Zhou.

In your Confucian reader you will find the following texts:

  • S. Leys, "Introduction," The Analects of Confucius, pages xv-xxxii
  • Wm. de Bary, ed., "Selections for the Analects," Sources of Chinese Tradition, pages 20-33.
  • P. Ebrey, "Selections from the Mencius," Chinese Civilization, pages 22-24
  • _____, "Selections from Xunzi," Chinese Civilization, pages 24-26
  • Liu Xiang, "The Mother of Mencius in Biographies of Heroic Women
  • Ban Zhao, Admonitions for Women
  • D. Lu, "Tokugawa Justice under Confucian Precepts," Japan, A Documentary History, 254-258

Confucius

The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance.

The Analects are a series of sayings attributed to Confucius or "Master Kung" (551-479 BCE), who lived in the kingdom of Lu. The text you will be reading achieved its final form in 150 BCE during the Han Dynasty. In them, occasionally, a disciple asks the master a question, but the Analects are not dialogues in the Platonic sense. At the time Master Kung lived, chaos ruled in China. This era is known as the time of the Spring and Autumn (722-481 BCE), a prelude to an even more chaotic period known as the Warring States period (480-422 BCE). During this period Confucius left Lu and went from state to state to find an enlightened leader who would trust him to establish a model government. He promoted a moral philosophy of harmonious conduct that adhered to a strict hierarchical system. Plato, the preeminent Greek philosopher, had tried to accomplish the same thing when he sought to transform the tyrant of Syracuse into a philosopher king in the fourth century BCE. Neither man succeeded; both, however, had many adherents.

In spite of his political failures, Confucius is remembered for many things, including his emphasis on "ritual," "filial piety," "propriety," "benevolence," as well as the importance he placed on education-a value that has survived all political changes in East Asia. To have a prosperous society, he taught, you must have an educated ruling class. Thus, society should invest in learning. It is interesting to note that during Mao Zedong's (Mao Tse-Tung) regime, especially the Cultural Revolution (1966- 1976), the works of Master Kung were banned.

"Custom is king of all."
(Protagoras)

Like Socrates, Confucius did not write down his teachings. His followers and later Confucian scholars transmitted and developed his core ideas. One such scholar is Mencius (Mengzi).

Mencius

Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.

Mencius (Mengzi in pinyin) lived from 372-279 BCE. He is often called the "Second Sage." Mencius further developed the ideas of Confucius. He continued Confucius' emphasis on the concepts of ren(translated in many ways including "benevolence" or"co-humanity"), and yi, "propriety," "duty" or "righteousness". In the manner of Confucius he focused on governance and political theory. From your reader, you will be studying Mencius' thoughts on government and human nature.

Xunzi

Xunzi (Hsun-tzu, born ca. 312 BCE), as one author notes, set forth the most complete and well-ordered system of thought of his day (Watson, 1963, p. 4). Because Xunzi came at the end of a period of incredible intellectual development and flourishing, he was able to draw on many different ideas in his own solutions to the problems besetting the China of his time. As a result, while Confucianism lies at the core of his system, he is a very eclectic thinker. In the section that you will read, his concerns are Heaven, ritual, and human nature, which is bad according to him. Although both Mencius and Xunxi disagreed with Master Kung at times, they nonetheless follow and promote the main tenets of Conufucianism--the single most important way of thinking in Chinese society.


Other Confucian Writers

After reading selections from Mencius and Xunzi, you will move on to address how the ideas of these philosophers were actually put into practice. You will read three cases where Confucianism is applied to everyday life in early China and Japan. One is a story about the mother of Mencius by Lin Xiang (79-8 BCE); the other is a 1st Century CE writing by a woman named Ban Zhao (45-116 CE). Ban Zhao was writing to guide Chinese women in the cultivation of certain virtues. As you read these two pieces consider the following question:

What kinds of virtues do you think were seen as ideal for women?

The third reading is a legal case in Japan in the year 1711 (Tokugawa shogunate) in which we see Confucianism as the legal standard.(8) You will notice that this legal case and its resolution are not understandable using western values, but they are perfectly logical using a very strict Confucian code of ethics as a base. This case should help you understand how the Chinese, in particular, have a very different interpretation of the phrase "human rights" than we do in the West.

During these readings, you should think back to Kerr and his experiences in Japan.

Just as Confucianism is not merely about Confucius, Chinese and Japanese culture is not merely about Confucianism. Taoism (sometimes transliterated as "Daoism") and Buddhism are also important elements, which contribute towards these cultures. To help you understand these fundamental elements of Chinese and Japanese cultures you will study next an adaptation of the work of the Taoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi Speaks

The sage embraces things. Ordinary men discriminate among them and parade their discriminations before others. So I say, those who discriminate fail to see.

Confucianism is but one strand in Chinese intellectual history. At the same time Confucius lived, you see the rise of another philosophy known as Taosim (Daoism). Lao Tzu is the oldest of the Taoist writers but the author you will be reading, Zhuangzi, is one of the most influential and engaging sages of Taoism.

Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu -- c.369-c.286 BCE) lived during a time when the seven main kingdoms of China vied for power (the Warring States period). In his response to the times, he articulated what we know as Taoism (The Way), which was an alternative to Confucian philosophy. In following the Tao, one finds enlightenment. As a philosophy, Taoism is marked by purposeful paradoxes and ambiguities, qualities that make Taoism mystifying to westerners at times. However, no one could be a pure Taoist, and so you will see how East Asia has embraced both the Confucian and Taoist way of life.

"We are fearful of 'creative conflict' because it may change us -
the final fear is fear of change - because we have to reconfigure who we are."
(Parker Palmer)

Tsai Chih Chung's rendition of Zhuangzi makes Taoism more comprehensible. Tsai Chih Chung discovered that Chinese speakers found the original text difficult to understand. The result is the engaging work Zhuangzi Speaks.

The Lotus Sutra

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most important Mahayana ("Great Vehicle") texts. A Buddhist reform movement, the Mahayana took this name to distinguish itself from groups it polemically called the Hinayana ("lesser vehicle"), that is, the Theravada and related schools. The Mahayana emerges around the beginning of the Common Era, with the appearance of a class of literature called the Mahayana sutras; these are usually written as a dialogue in which the Buddha teaches in response to questions. The Buddha's narrative presence is clearly a strategy to enhance the texts' religious authority, since their teachings clash with those of the historical Buddha. As Buddhism spread through Asia, different schools were formed based on their loyalty to a particular text as the supreme teaching; China's T'ien-tai school and Japan's Tendai, Nichiren-Shu, and Soka Gakkai are all based on the Lotus Sutra.

The most significant difference between the Mahayana and the earlier Buddhists was their religious ideal. The historical Buddha encouraged his disciples to seek and attain nirvana for themselves, since this was the only way to transcend the world's troubles, but the Mahayana characterized this quest as self-centered and ignoring others' suffering. The Mahayana religious ideal was the bodhisattva, who voluntarily postponed his/her nirvana until all beings could be enlightened and saved, based on compassion for their suffering, and the desire to work for their welfare. The bodhisattva was a religious ideal for lay and monastic Buddhists, but was also the name for a class of celestial beings worshiped along with the Buddha. They are described as possessing and exercising not only wisdom (which lets them know what to do) but also the ability to teach in ways their hearers will understand (which makes them effective teachers).

Another fundamental difference was the conception of the Buddha. For early Buddhists the Buddha was merely a human teacher, albeit extraordinary, but was never an object of worship. The Mahayana developed the doctrine of the Buddha's "three bodies," in which the Buddha's earthly appearance was a temporary manifestation of the eternal and absolute "Buddha-nature" pervading the universe. This new doctrine paved the way not only for a pantheon of celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (who have never appeared on earth), but also for worshipping these beings as higher powers.

Editor's Note: These texts have been edited to reduce the repetition often found in Buddhist texts, and to update the language for contemporary readers. All elisions are indicated by consecutive periods (two periods for one or two words, and three periods for three or more words); square brackets indicate words inserted by the editor (among these are the Buddha's various titles, which have been replaced by the word "Buddha"). Paragraph numbers have been added, to facilitate use in class. The original translation can be found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/lotus/ (chapters 3 and 24).

Burning House Parable

The Burning House Parable contains several important Mahayana ideas. The first is the Bodhisattva ideal (shown by the behavior of the old man in the parable), in which the "old man" saves his "children" from the "burning house" by enticing them with various "carts." The old man's motive is to save his heedless children, and the cart offer is an example of the Bodhisattva's skill in teaching, which conveys a message the hearers can understand, and which moves them to action.

Another important theme is to establish the Mahayana as the "true" Buddhist path, and all others as limited and provisional teachings. The story's three "carts" correspond to three different Buddhist paths:

  • the "Disciples" (Theravada and related schools, which followed the historical Buddha's teaching, and sought individual nirvana based on it),
  • the Pratyekabuddhas (solitary Buddhas who become enlightened by themselves, but who do not teach others),
  • the Mahayana (which strives to bring all beings to nirvana).

The old man promises three types of carts (Buddhist Paths), but this is just a skillful teaching to move people toward enlightenment. The Mahayana is the only genuine path, whereas the earlier teachings were merely provisional truths to get people started. This claim is a common strategy by which a later religious group can discredit or marginalize an earlier one.

  • Why have stories been such popular teaching tools? Can you think of any other examples from your own experience?
  • The speaker in the parable claims that the old man did not lie to his children. Do you accept this claim? Why or why not? Is lying ever morally justified?
  • If you were a Buddhist, who might you consider to be the Bodhisattvas currently working among us? Why?

Avalokiteshvara Sutra

The Avalokiteshvara Sutra is a clear example of devotional Buddhism. As noted above, the Bodhisattva was an actual ideal for real people, but also designated a class of celestial beings who were worshipped along with the Buddha. Avalokiteshvara was one of the most important of these: he was not only close to enlightenment (and thus possessed considerable powers), but was also the embodiment of compassion, and would respond to those in need. The text details troubles from which one could be rescued by calling the Bodhisattva's name-among them physical danger, infertility, and mental defilements-and also details the differing guises in which the Bodhisattva appears. This is another example of skillful teaching, since the Bodhisattva appears to people in the form most effective for their understanding. This shifting identity is reflected in historical practice. In Indian Buddhism Avalokiteshvara is clearly male, but in China was transformed into a woman-the goddess Kuan-yin (Japanese Kannon), who was one of the most important popular deities. Some hint of these devotional practices can be seen in the list of offerings in paragraph seven.

  • The text gives various sorts of troubles from which the Bodhisattva will save a faithful devotee. What does this list tell us about the concerns of that time? If this text was being rewritten today, what new dangers might be included?
  • Why does this Bodhisattva respond so quickly and faithfully to people?
  • The text claims that calling on the Bodhisattva will save one from punishment, even if it is justified. Were the writers encouraging people to commit crimes, and then escape punishment by calling on the Bodhisattva? If not, what is the text trying to convey?

The Rape of Nanking

In 1997 at the age of 29, Iris Chang published an explosive nonfiction account of the infamous Rape of Nanking. She became curious about this topic when her Chinese parents told her of the massacre in which 300,000 Chinese were slaughtered in Nanking (1937) Yet she was troubled when she could find little of this horrific episode in Sino-Japanese war accounts.9 At that point she decided that such an atrocity should not be a footnote to the history of World War II.

Warning: Chang's work includes graphic descriptions and pictures of torture and rape.

The Heritage program's purpose in including this text is not to demonize the Japanese. In the past, the Heritage program has looked at the Holocaust (Schindler's List), genocide (Native Americans), and slavery (Beloved): examples of frequent inhumanity to others. Because the Japanese invasion of China and the Rape of Nanking floats in the background of Tsukiyama's novels (Women of the Silk and Samurai's Garden), Chang's Rape of Nanking is a good companion text. Her account reminds us that all human beings are capable of and have committed atrocities against fellow human beings. The Rape of Nanking still figures in political relationships that China, Korea, and other Asian nations have with Japan. Some of these nations feel that Japan, as a nation, has not atoned enough for its aggression and brutality.

Those who study genocide note that in cases of "large-scale killings…the sheer power of government is lethal."(10) In recent times, genocide has occurred or is occurring in the Congo, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, Afghanistan under the Taliban, and other places around the globe. And contrary to what you may expect, human slavery is still part of the human condition (in Mauritania and Sudan). As human beings most individuals, or at least governments, have yet to learn how to foster tolerance and respect for the fundamental rights and dignity of other human beings.

"I am not born for one corner of the world; the whole world is my native land."
Seneca the Younger.

Some questions for you to consider as you read The Rape of Nanking are:

  • Do you agree with the premise that "the basic cultural values of East and West are not different?"
  • What explanations can you come up with for why the Nanking events occurred?
  • Can you draw any parallels between events in Nanking and events elsewhere since World War II?