Chinese Perspectives on Death. 1

Just heard another talk at the HKSHP Friday last night. It was given by Professor Kwong Kwok Keung (鄺 國 強) of the Hong Kong Taoist College. Quite enlightening..

Kwong thinks that since death is a problem which has troubled many people both in the past and even now, what some ancient Chinese thinkers thought about this perennial subject may well be worth our attention. What strikes him is how pragmatic Chinese philosophers have been about this question. They all think that death is closely connected with two other questions: human immortality and the meaning of life. He summarizes his conclusions under two short phrases:"Life  and death are natural. Justice is all" (生死自然, 唯義所在). He elaborates his views under the following sub-headings: 1. Life and Death as the Tao of Nature.  2. Ignorant about Life, wherefore Death? 3. Meaning of Life and Immortality.

The Naturalness of Life and  Death

The Taoists think that
(1) at the root of life and death is "Ch"i (氣): life arises naturally when chi gathers (聚)and death arrives when "Chi" is dissipated (散)/They also think that  they know nothing about being pleased with life nor detesting death (不知說(悅)生.不知惡死) and may even think that death is returning to reality (歸真).e.g. In ChuangTzu 莊子, the following passages are relevant:
(a) The Northern Adventures of the Sage/Knowledge  (知北游): "Man lives between heaven and earth, like a white horse observed through the crack of a wall. All of a sudden, it's all over: arising, thriving, none can  stop life; vanishing and leaving in silence, none can prevent it going away.It begins in changes and dies in changes....life is the follower of death and death is the beginning of life. Who knows the laws which govern them! Human life is the accumulation of Chi. Where there's accumulation, there's life; where there's dissipation, there's death. If life and death follow each other, why should I be bothered? "("人生天地之間，若白駒之過郤， 忽然而已， 注然勃然， 莫不出焉; 油然漻然， 莫不入焉， 巳化而生， 又化而死...生也死之徒， 死也生之始， 孰知其紀!人之生， 氣之聚也， 聚則為生， 散則為死，.若死生為徒， 吾又何患," 
(b) The Great Master (大宗師) :" In the old days, a man who has attained Truth, takes no pleasure in talking about life and knows nothing of detesting death, He won't make any announcement about birth ; nor does he resist death. He goes suddenly, he comes suddenly . That's all. " (古之真人, 不知 (悅) 說生, 不知惡死; 其出不訢, 其入不距;翛然而往, 翛然而來而已矣往) and "Death and Life.That's fate. There's a law about evenings and mornings, That's sky.There are things which man cannot control because that is the truth of the matter." (死生， 命也，其有夜旦之常， 天也， 人之有所不得與，佳物之情也.") and "The Great Earth gave me form,  hard work with life, leisure with age and rest with death" (夫大塊載我以形，勞我以生，佚(逸)我以老，息我以死)
(c)  Ultimate Joy (至樂):   "ChuangTzu' wife died. WeiTzu (惠子) went to grieve her, ChuangTzu was singing, hitting a vessel squatting on the ground. WeiTzu (惠子) said: She having lived with you and now dying of old age. Isn't not crying enough? Why are you singing and hitting the vessel? Isn't that a bit too much?" ChuangTzu replied: " No, When she died, how could I not regret it at the beginning? But having noted that she never had life to begin with, not only did she not have life, she never had form, not only did she not have form, she never had Chi and then she slipped in between the tips of some brushes and started to have a bit of Chi, the Chi changed into form and form into life and now she has changed back to being dead, just like the marching of the seasons of spring, autumn winter and summer. The person is now silent, sleeping in the big room and I wailed after her. I then thought that that meant I did not understand what life is all about and I stopped. (" 莊子妻死, 惠子吊之, 莊子則方箕踞鼓盆而歌. 惠子曰: "與人居， 老身死， 不哭亦足矣，又鼓盆而歌，不亦甚乎?莊子曰: "不然， 是其始死也， 我獨何能無概然!察其始而本無生， 非徒無生而本無形，非徒無形而本無氣，雜乎芒芴之間， 變而有氣，氣變而有形，形變而有生，今又變而之死, 是相與為春秋冬夏四時行也，人且偃然寢於巨室，而我噭噭然隨之而哭之，自以為不通乎命，故止也。")
(2) It is as natural for there be death as it is for there to be life. Thus 揚雄 said in 法言.君子: "There must be death where there is life and there must be an end where there is a beginning. It's the Tao of Nature.." ("有生者必有死，有始者必有終，自然之道也" ) (楊雄 法言. 君子)
 
Their views have been adopted even by the later Confucians e.g.Chang Tsai (張載) (1020-1077 CE), a Sung scholar and moral philosopher who thought that so long as we follow the right practice, we may die with peace of mind. He said " 存, 吾順事, 沒, 吾寧也" ( 張載集 正蒙 乾稱) and "if we follow our nature and then we shall know that if we got nothing during life, then there is nothing for us to lose in death ( 盡性然後知生無所得則死無所喪) (ibid 誠明). He think that just like the sea freezing will produce ice which will gather together when they float but that the sea had nothing to do with the character and nature of ice and the relevant accumulation or their life and death. The same principle will apply to our exploration of life and death." ("海水凝則冰, 浮則, 然冰之才, 之性, 其存其亡, 海不得而與焉, 推是足以究死生之說"(ibid 動物). The two Chings  ie. Cheng Yi  程颐; or  Ch'eng I, 1033–1107), with courtesy name Zhengshu (正叔), also known as Mr. Yichuan(伊川先生), a Song Dynasty philosopher who worked with his elder brother Cheng Hao (程灏), also think like the Taoists. According to them, life is
unceasing and when something reaches it furthest point, it will return and for the same reason, whenever we have life, there death will follow. They said, "the way that birth comes about is the unending work of nature, as if 7 days which go and come. In the interval, its source never stops to renew itself  and the positive is reborn and when it reaches it furthest point, it returns because that is the way that it is. Where there is life there is death. Where there is beginning, there is end." (生生之理, 自然不息。如復言七日來復，其間元不斷續，陽巳復生，物極必返，其理須如此。有生便有死，有始便有終" (二程集，可河南程氏遺書. 卷十五) as are the thinking of 李贊, who thought that life and death are like day and night and that after death, there will be no rebirth about which we can do nothing and hence upon death, there is no need to grieve but on the contrary, what we need to grieve is about what damages life. (生之必有死也. 猶晝之必有夜也。死之不可復生 猶逝之死之不可復返也。人莫不欲生，然卒不能然卒不能使之久生；人莫不傷逝，然卒不能然卒不能使之久生。既不能然卒不能使之久生，則生可以不欲矣。既不能止之勿逝，則逝可以無傷矣。故吾直謂死不必傷矣，唯有心乃可傷耳。勿傷逝。願類傷生也). 王夫之 also thinks that life and death, like success and failure follow the tendency inherent in the application of reason and that if we set ourselves the aim of dedicating ourselves to the good of the world, then death and failure cannot be treated as dangers outside of our contemplation whilst our life and our success can be planned and that we can know that perhaps we may die and death may alert us to the possibility of life and when we meet with failure, we may think of the possibility of success and if we meet with success, we may reflect on our chance of failing and whether we succeed or fail, whether we live or die is a matter of changing trends  but if we keep to the centre of our Chi, we can calculate everything and if we run well, we should never exceed our limit ; if so, we shall be as unmovable as a mountain or as flexible as water. This is the so-called centre of our Chi". (生之與死, 成之與販， 皆理勢之必有...既以身任天下，則死之與敗，非意外之凶危；生之與成，抑固然之籌劃；生而知其或死，則死而知其固可以生；敗而知有可成，則成而抑思其且可以販。生死死生，成敗敗成，流轉于時勢，而皆有量以受之，如凡善走，不能踰越于盤中。其不動也如山，其决機也如水，此所謂守氣也。)

Ignorance of Life after Death

But there is another type of view represented by Confucius who think that if if we can't serve man, how we can be expected to serve spirits  and that if we don't even know about life, how we can expected  to know anything about death. (未知生, 焉知死) . Thus In the Confucian Analects (論語)   asked Confucius asked the master how he could serve spirits and gods and death and got the above answers( Zi Lu/Tsze-lu 子路 (or 季路) 問事鬼神, 子曰: "未能事人, 焉能事鬼?" 曰: "敢問死".  子曰: "未知生,焉知死"

No matter whether they are Confucians or Taoists, they all share a common disregard of death which to him is perfectly reasonable. But what do they think about the meaning of life and immortality. Dr. Chan thinks that the Confucians all think the path to immortality are, as first mentioned by Gongsun Long or Kung-sun Lung
(公孫龍) (ca. 325–250 BC) of the period of Warring States,  ie. either to uphold
virtue or to put it into practice in our community or to leave behind some memorable words (立德,立功, 立言).

Meaning of Life and Immortality

What is immortality in the view of Chinese philosophers?

Wang Chong or: Wang Ch'ung (王充) (AD  27–c. 100 AD),otherwise known as Zhongren
(仲任), a Chinese philosopher in the Han Dynastic who was the first to
give a materialistic and naturalistic account of the universe and the
writer of Lúnhéng 
or Critical Essay (論衡 ) Chapter on Taoist Untruth( 道虛篇) said, "Wherever
you find blood vessels, there'll always be life. Wherever there's life,
there'll be death. From the fact of birth, one knows that there must be
death. Heaven and earth are not born, hence they'll never die. Yin and
Yan are not born, hence they'll never die. Death is the result of life.
Life is the proof of death. Thus wherever there's a beginning, there'lll
be a final termination and wherever there's termination, there'll  will
be a beginning. Only if there's no beginning or termination will you
find immortality."
有血脈類，無有不生，生無不死。以其生，故知其死也。天地不生，故不死。陰陽不生，故不死。死者，生之效。生者，死之驗也。夫有始者必有終，有終者必有
始。唯無始無終者，乃長生不死。)

To the Confucians, the purpose of life is to serve as a vehicle for justice or righteousness or benevolence (以生載義 or 仁). Thus Confucius advocates benevolence as the highest value, and even to die for it. (殺生成仁). In  Wai Ling Kung of Confucian Analects (CA)(論語 衛灵公), Confucius said: "No willing scholars and the benevolent will hurt benevolence for the sake of seeking life. They would only kill themselves for the sake of fulfilling benevolence. (志士仁人，無求生以害仁，有殺身以成仁). But the kind of benevolence that he has in mind is the kind that looks after the public good, not merely one which just satisfies personal honour. Thus in CA, Hin Wen,(論語. 宪問) "Tsze-kung (子貢) said, "I understand that Kwan Chung is lacking in virtue. When Duke Hwan caused his brother Master Chiû to be killed, Kwan Chung failed to die with him. He even turned Duke Hwan's prime minister. The Master said, "Kwan Chung became Duke Hwan's prime minister, became the first amongst the nobility, united the country and even now, the people are enjoying his gifts. Had it not been for for Kwan Chung, we should still be wearing unbound hair and have the lapel of our gown on the left hand side. Would you have him observe the faith of the ordinary  men and women, who would have committed suicide in some unknown stream or a ditch?"  (子貢曰：“管仲非仁者與？桓公殺公子糾，不能死，又相之。子曰：“管仲相桓公，霸諸侯，一匡天下，民到于今受其賜。微管仲，吾其被髮左衽矣。豈若匹夫匹婦之爲諒也，自經於溝瀆而莫之知也！”)

What are the criteria by which to tell whether a person is a complete or ideal man according to Confucius? In Hin Wen, CA (論語,宪問) "Tsze-lû (子路) asked
what makes a complete/ideal man. The Master said, "Assume a man with Tsang Wû-chung's knowledge, Kung-ch'o's lack of greed, Chwang of Pien's courage, Zan
Ch'iû's multiple talents and add thereto manners and music, that'd be close. He then added, "But what is needed of complete man nowadays? One who thinks of righteousness/justice when faced with profit, one prepared to sacrifice his life in the face of danger. one who remembers his promise long ago--one might then call him a complete/ideal man." (子路問成人。子曰：“若臧武仲之知，公綽之不欲，卞莊子之勇，冉求之藝，文之以禮樂，亦可以爲成人矣！Elsewhere he said: "What is required of a person nowadays to be complete? To think of righteousness vis a vis profit, to obey the call of his life when confronted with danger and never to forget what he promised a long time ago. That would be close." (曰：“今之成人者何必然？見利思義，見危授命，久要不忘平生之言，亦可以爲成人矣。” )

Mencius however, advocates justice or righteousness and if necessary to give up one's life for the same (捨身取義). Mencius said, 'Fish is something I like. Bear's paws are also something I like. If I cannot have both, I will forgo the fish and have the bear's paws. Likewise, life is something I like and so is righteousness. If I cannot have both, I , I will forgo life and have righteousness. Life is something that I like but there is something I like more than life, hence I will not seek it improperly. Death is also something I dislike but there is that which I
dislike more than death. But there are times when I would not avoid such a risk. If there is nothing which a man likes more than life when he can have life, why should he not take advantage of it?  If there is nothing which a man dislikes more than death when he can avoid death, why should he not take advantage of it?  But there are cases when men will not avail themselves of that which preserves life nor avert the risk of death. That's when there is that which they like more than life, and that which
they dislike more than death. It's not that only good people have this capacity. Everybody has it. It's just that the good has the ability not to lose it. A small
basket of rice and a bowl of soup. If you have them, you'll live and if not, you'll die. If offered in an insulting voice, not even a tramp will have them. If offered with a kick, not even a beggar will consider it beneath him to take them....That's what one would call, losing his nature" (Mencius; Gaozi I 告子上: 孟子曰：“魚，我所欲也；熊掌，亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍魚而取熊掌者也。生，亦我所欲
也；義，亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍生而取義者也。生亦我所欲，所欲有甚於生者，故不為苟得也；死亦我所惡，所惡有甚於死者，故患有所不辟也。如使人之
所欲莫甚於生，則凡可以得生者，何不用也？使人之所惡莫甚於死者，則凡可以辟患者，何不為也？由是則生而有不用也，由是則可以辟患而有不為也。是故所欲有
甚於生者，所惡有甚於死者，非獨賢者有是心也，人皆有之，賢者能勿喪耳。一簞食，一豆羹，得之則生，弗得則死。嘑爾而與之，行道之人弗受；蹴爾而與之，乞
人不屑也...此之謂失其本心。)

Mencius thinks that whether we may want to preserve our life or not depends on whether the Tao is being followed. He said. " If there is Tao within the realm, then  we dedicate our lives to it. If there is no Tao within the realm, then we sacrifice our lives for its sake. It's unheard of that we should sacrifice our lives for the sake of men" (meaning those rulers who don't follow the ways of the Tao) ("天下有道，以道殉身；天下無道，以身殉道")(Mencius Giving it All part 1 孟子. 盡心上)

Xun Zi ( 荀子 or  Xún Zǐ or  Hsün Tzu,)  ca.312-230 BCE ), another Confucian legalist philosopher living in the period of the Warring States, think that there are all kinds of courage and that it takes a complete man to uphold righteousness and justice in the face of death. He says in Honour and Dishonour (荀子.榮辱篇). To him, there are different kinds of courage in the face of death. He says in that discourse that "There is the courage of dogs and swine. There is the courage of merchants and robbers. There is the courage of little people. There is the courage of scholars and the perfect or complete man. To fight for food and drink, to lack moderation and shame, to be ignorant of right and wrong, unafraid of death and injury and fearless about various boundaries. To see nothing but food and drink. That is the courage of dogs and swine. To serve only profit, to fight for goods and money, to be uncompromising  to be brave and strong, to be violent out of strong greed, to see only profit. That is the courage of merchants and robbers. To be violent out of contempt for death. That is the courage of the little people. Where righteousness and justice are concerned, not to lean towards those in power, to ignore his personal advantage, to remain unflinching in front of the whole nation, to remain unyielding in upholding righteousness even in the face of death. That is the courage of the ideal or complete man." ("有狗彘之勇者，有賈盜之勇者，有小人之勇者，有士君子之勇者。爭飲食，無廉恥，不
知是非，不辟死傷，不畏眾彊，牟牟然惟利飲食之見，是狗彘之勇也。為事利，爭貨財，無
辭讓，果敢而振，猛貪而戾，牟牟然惟利之見，是賈盜之勇也。輕死而暴，是小人之勇也。
義之所在，不傾於權，不顧其利，舉國而與之不為改視，重死持義而不橈，是士君子之勇也 ).  He says in The Correct Title,(正名) : " Man most desires life. Man most detests death. But there are those who would go from life to death, not that they do not desire life and desire death but that they cannot properly live but can properly die. (人之所欲生甚矣，人之惡死甚矣；然
而人有從生成死者，非不欲生而欲死也，不可以生而可以死也。)

In "knowing Distinctions of Lui's Annals of Spring and Autumn" (呂氏春秋. 知分) , it is written that a person who has reached the peak would not allow his life and death to be determined merely by advantages to be gained. "One who thoroughly understands, understands the distinction between life and death. If one understands the difference between life and death will not be baffled or tempted by advantages  or disadvantages.". (達士者, 達乎死生之分。 達乎死生之分，則利害存亡弗能惑矣). Sima Qian or Ssu-ma Ch'ien (ca. 145 or 135 BC – 86 BC)  ), the Grand Historian (太史公 taishigong) of the Han Dynasty, also distinguishes between different kinds of death. He says in 報任安書, "All people must die once. There is a death heavier than Mountain Tai or one lighter than a feather. It really depends on the difference in the directions in which it is employed." (人固有一死，死有重于泰山，或輕于鴻毛，用之所趨異也). Other scholars have different notions about what a benevolent person is like e.g. in the Legends of Li Dao, chapter 93 of the Book of Late Han (後漢書.卷九十三，李杜列) it is written "The Tao of the benevolent is great indeed. He puts into practice that which he declares and would never fish for honour and for self-protection and would use benevolence as a criterion to decide on whether to stay or to leave and to set right the trend within the country so that life may be completed by reason, and death will fit the notion of righteousness" ("夫稱仁人者，其道弘矣！立言踐行，豈徒徇名安己而已哉，將以定去就之概，正天下之風，使生以理全，死與義合").

Other Confucian scholars also share the view that we should die for the Tao. It is said that "The fish live in water, dies in water; flowers and trees live on earth and die on earth; man lives in the Tao and dies in the Tao, That is the law of the gods or heaven. " (魚生于水，死于水；草木生于土，死于土；人生于道，死于道，天經也。") in Chung Ni, Knowing the Motto, the Wu Wang Collection ( 胡宏集. 知言. 仲尼)