Culture

Chinese Logic in the World Logic System

2025-04-21   

In the history of human thought, the logic originating from ancient Greece, China, and India is known as the three major sources of world logic. In the ancient period of the birth of Chinese and foreign thought and culture, the three logics were in a relatively independent and parallel development state, playing a supporting and foundational role in their respective knowledge systems. The pre Qin period of Chinese logic, as a component of the world logic system, was a period of great transformation in ancient Chinese social systems and forms. The major changes in social form will inevitably promote great prosperity and development in the field of ideology. At the same time, the pre Qin period was also the period of the birth and growth of traditional Chinese thought and culture. As the Chinese historian Lv Simian once said, "The academic works of all dynasties were purely created by me, and they are only the ears of pre Qin scholars." Almost all major theoretical issues and ideological theories in the history of Chinese thought can be found in the classics and writings of the pre Qin philosophers. 'Zhengming' is the core of Chinese logic. The pre Qin philosophers took "correcting names" as their responsibility and conducted in-depth discussions on the relationship between name and reality, exploring the universal methods of correcting name and reality, distinguishing all things, and categorizing them, giving Chinese logic a distinct instrumental feature as a method of argumentation. But the pre Qin philosophers held different views on why and how to "correct their names". The difference in logical thinking among the philosophers lies in their understanding of the universe, the ways to correct their names, and the specific methods and approaches to correct their names. This difference precisely demonstrates the richness of the content of Chinese logic, thus forming a unique theoretical system of Chinese logic in its formation stage. Chinese civilization is the only uninterrupted civilization in the world, and Chinese logic, as a tool for argumentation, has also maintained its own continuity. After the Qin and Han dynasties, the development of Chinese logic presented phased cultural characteristics in different periods of Chinese philosophy and cultural development. In the context of the study of Confucian classics during the Han Dynasty, a logical argumentation method centered on Confucian classics was formed. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, metaphysics emerged. Wei and Jin metaphysics is an academic trend known for its emphasis on rhetoric and techniques in discourse and debate. Its discourse and debate methods have distinct characteristics of the times, especially the discussion of the relationship between language and meaning, which is an important issue unique to this period. The Song and Ming dynasties were another new stage in the development of Chinese philosophy and culture. The rise of the new ontology of Confucianism during the Northern Song Dynasty demonstrated a new tendency in Chinese philosophy. During this period, Chinese logic, as a fundamental method of argumentation, combined with the construction of Confucian ontology, presented new characteristics and promoted the deepening development of Chinese logic. The transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties was a period of great social turmoil in China. After the flourishing and development of Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, it was generally unable to adapt to social changes and meet the practical needs of dealing with social crises. The spirit of achievement, which has been suppressed for a long time, has reached an unprecedented height. The practical learning trend, which emphasizes practicality, empirical evidence, and practical application, is increasingly flourishing. The development of logical thinking in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties also reflected this change accordingly. Chinese logic maintains its continuity while also possessing openness and inclusiveness consistent with Chinese culture. With the spread of Buddhism in China, the Yin Ming, which originated in ancient India, began to be introduced to China from the Southern Dynasties, and with the sinicization of Buddhism, there was a trend towards localization. The argumentative approach of Yin Ming was reflected in some literary and philosophical works of the time, demonstrating a tendency towards integration and fusion with Chinese culture. Chinese and Tibetan traditions have become an integral part of Chinese culture. As an intermediary for cultural exchange and mutual learning between China and foreign countries, Chinese logic began to be introduced into China with the modern knowledge system of the West, and gradually became the main method of Chinese logic research, making the latter an independent research field. The study of Chinese logic began in the Japanese academic community during the Meiji period. In the process of translating and introducing Western and Chinese studies, Japanese scholars began to adopt the theories and methods of Western traditional logic to examine ancient Chinese thought, and achieved a series of results. There are two main understandings of Chinese logic in the Japanese academic community: one is that China lacks logic, as proposed by Fumichiro Matsumoto in 1898, that "philosophy in China lacks the study of logical reasoning"; Secondly, it is believed that China has logic. Sangmu Yanyi wrote "An Overview of the Development of Ancient Chinese Logical Thought" and "Xunzi's Logical Theory" in 1900. He believed that Xunzi's exploration of the concept of name seemed to be more profound than Aristotle's. These two viewpoints in the Japanese academic community directly influenced the modern academic community in China, and the logical viewpoints in China have received positive response and development. In addition to Sun Yirang, Zhang Taiyan, Liu Shipei, Liang Qichao, Wang Guowei and others, there are also scholars who have affirmed the existence of Chinese logic from the perspective of the relationship between Chinese logic and Chinese academia. Some scholars have proposed that "there are three major schools of scholarship in the world, and as a result, three major schools of scholarship have emerged, namely Chinese scholarship, Western scholarship, and Indian scholarship. Chinese scholarship is a tool for Chinese scholarship, and it is only with Chinese scholarship that Chinese scholarship can Chinese scholarship emerge." Logic is an important foundation for the formation and development of the academic system. The most important reason why Western academia, Indian academia, and Chinese academia are different is that each department has its own unique style and methodology. Therefore, understanding and grasping the logic of China is a prerequisite for recognizing the overall characteristics of Chinese academia. The study of modern Chinese logic reflects the process and methods of collision and integration between Chinese and Western cultures, and also plays an intermediary role in connecting the knowledge systems of China and the West. The reason for saying this is because logic plays an important supporting role as the foundation of the knowledge system. The correspondence and integration between two different knowledge systems must first start from the foundation and use it as a starting point. Chinese logic internally inherits pre Qin philosophy and knowledge system, and extends to the entire traditional Chinese philosophy and its knowledge system; Externally connecting with Western logic and extending to modern Western philosophy and its knowledge system, it has become a bridge connecting Chinese and Western cultures. The unique value of Chinese logic in the world logic system began in the mid to late 20th century, and the international logic community began to pay high attention to the study of Chinese logic. The characteristics and functions of Chinese logic, as the only non Indo European language, have become the focus of researchers. German sinologist He Moxie pointed out in the first part of Volume 7, "Traditional Chinese Language and Logic" (1998) of "History of Science and Technology in China" edited by Joseph Needham that "the reflection of logical history in China (because it is based on non Indo European languages) has special importance for any global logical history and thus for any global scientific foundation history." He criticized the view that "logic belongs only to the West" and believed that Chinese language and grammar contain complex logical expression abilities and unique logical thinking patterns. German scholar Gu Youxin examined the dissemination and acceptance of Western traditional logic in China since the late Ming Dynasty from the perspective of cross-cultural communication in his book "The Discovery of Chinese Logic" (2011). He broke through the concept of "Western centrism" and demonstrated that Western logic, after entering China, underwent complex cultural reconstruction and integration, ultimately forming a logical system with Chinese cultural characteristics, highlighting the unique value of Chinese logic. Gu Youxin's research is considered by the international academic community to not only demonstrate the logical cross-cultural communication path, but also reveal the integration process of local knowledge and foreign ideas in China's modernization process. The author believes that the characteristics of Chinese logic should be analyzed from the general features of the world logic system. Ancient Greek logic, ancient Indian logic, and Chinese logic should be regarded as the three basic types of parallel development in the world logic system, and the general features of the world logic system should be systematically studied and summarized. At the same time, we should also note that Chinese logic, as an integral part of Chinese culture, needs to study the emergence and development of Chinese logical thought itself, discuss its unique cultural aspects, and demonstrate the unique value of Chinese logic in the world logic system through comparison and mutual learning with ancient Greek logic and ancient Indian logic. We can use the insights of German scholar Klaus Glashoff in his commentary on the chapter "Indian Logic" in the Handbook of the History of Logic to illustrate the value of Chinese logic: "People should be aware of the fact that Indian indigenous logic provides us with a formal logical system that is not based on the Greek tradition, and this should be seen as an opportunity to critically reflect on our own logical traditions and ideas." As the only non Indo European language of logic, Chinese logic inevitably has different foundations, characteristics, and expressions from ancient Greek logic and ancient Indian logic, and is equally important for critically reflecting on the traditions and ideas of Western logic as ancient Indian logic. The construction of methods and systems: The direct result of the mutual learning between Chinese and Western cultures. Chinese logic is not only an important component of excellent traditional Chinese culture, but also the main external expression and theoretical manifestation of traditional Chinese thinking. Therefore, the study of Chinese logical thinking is an important pivot for exploring the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture and constructing an independent knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences. The ideological changes in modern China are closely related to the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures, and the various changes and transformations in Chinese academia during this period can be seen as a direct result of the interaction and mutual influence between Chinese and Western cultures. Especially since the Western logic theory and methods have been widely accepted by the intellectual community, modern scholars have begun to adopt new concepts and methods to deeply reflect on traditional Chinese thought and academia, and have made bold explorations and innovations in theory, promoting the transformation of traditional philosophy and the construction of modern philosophy. At the same time, in the development process of Western philosophy from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, with the basic completion of the transition from traditional logic to modern logic, there was also a transformation of language philosophy and analytical philosophy with logical analysis as the main method. Continuing this change, some scholars in the Chinese intellectual community have begun to consciously explore new logical methods suitable for constructing modern Chinese philosophy. It can be said that pure logical analysis methods are lacking in traditional Chinese academia, and the use of logical analysis methods to construct new philosophical systems is also an important characteristic and symbol that distinguishes modern Chinese philosophy from traditional philosophy. However, the emergence and development of modern Chinese philosophical thought and system are not completely free from traditional academia, but rather a development and transcendence based on the original foundation. The construction process of modern Chinese philosophy has undergone three levels of changes, all of which are closely related to the study of modern Chinese logic and are the direct result of the mutual learning between Chinese and Western cultures. The first level is the transformation of ideas. After the introduction of western culture into modern China, after the Westernization Movement, reformist thoughts and other social movements and ideological changes, at the same time, combined with the transformation from Confucian classics to Zixue that occurred during this period, most scholars began to gradually recognize the limitations of traditional ideas and academia, and turned their eyes to Western learning outside middle school to explore China's realistic way out. The spirit of science and rational concepts have become its core. As Yan Fu proposed to thoroughly reform Chinese academia, "if it is not for mathematics and mathematics, then its mind is not sufficient to observe the principles that cannot be ignored, the inevitable numbers; if it is not for mechanics and quality, then it does not know the interdependence of cause and effect." "Name, number, quality, and power" are the four basic sciences of Western modern times. The study of name, also known as Western logic, is an important method for reforming Chinese academia and developing modern science and culture. The core of conceptual transformation is to introduce the scientific spirit of modern Western times into traditional Chinese academia

Edit:Momo Responsible editor:Chen zhaozhao

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