Historical Thinking in Classical Confucianism—Historical Argumentation from the Three Dynasties
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Abstract
Mencius’ thinking is dipped in history. He could not help but argue and persuade, and whenever he did so, he did it from history, citing historical incidents, whether ethical, political, or cosmic. Such an historical argumentation is very powerful because it is based on facts.
This historical argumentation that typifies Chinese concrete thinking has in itself a long historical tradition. From time immemorial, the Chinese people have been watching the way situations came and went, and learned therefrom the historical patterns of actuality, after which they pattern their behavior.
This paper cites historical incidents of historical argumentation in Chinese thinking, from the ancient days of the Classic of history and the Classic of Poetry through writings of classical Confucian thinkers, among them the Analects, the Mencius, etc.—especially instantiating their views on the famous Three Dynasties, the Golden Ages to which everyone looked up.
These historical matters are less those of our theatrical appreciation of a passive audience than of powerful symbols whose rich implications are to be drawn out by empathie participation, less of museum mummies to be objectively investigated than of the rich resources to be interpreted and learned. In this manner, our present generations shape history as they are shaped hereby.