Short Written Assignment

        Each student shall write a paper in response to the paper topic below.  Your paper must be 5 to 6 type written (using Times Roman 12-point characters and margins of 1 on all four sides), double-spacedpages1 in length. You willhave the opportunity to discuss certain aspects of the topic in class and online, but it is expected that yourpaper be your own work.  Be sure that your paper responds to the question and contains copiousreferences to readings assigned for the course. Please use the handout in the Supplementary MaterialsFolder on Canvas regarding How to Organize and Write an Effective Paper.to prepare this paper. Alldirect quotations from the texts used in the course should be placed in quotation marks and cited usingthe short form of the author’s last name and page number in parentheses (e.g., Chan, p. xx, or Lecture,April 14, 2020) and not in footnotes at the boom of the page.  Paraphrased material or ideas other thanyour own taken from the texts or from lectures must also be cited.  You should not consult or citesecondary sources not assigned for this course.  Do not prepare a separate Works cited page.

      Prompt:
      Classical Chinese political philosophers of the Confucian, Mohist, Daoist, and Legalistschools held a variety of views on the nature of man, which in turn supported theirrespective prescriptions for the ideal polity.  The arrival of Mahayana Buddhism fromIndia in the 3rd century challenged these schools by introducing new perspectives on thenature of human beings and on the human predicament, and these in turn offered thebases for competing Socratic (legitimating) myths. Ultimately, Chinese and Japanesethinkers and political leaders responded to this challenge by developing systems ofthought that contested the Buddhist challenge, even while incorporating some of itsinsights into Neo-Confucianism.

Select one of the schools of thought below:
a. Daoism (Laozi and/or Zhuangzi)
b. Mohism (Mozi)
c. Legalism (Han Feizi, with references to Xunzi where appropriate)
d. Tiantai (or Tendai) School of Mahayana Buddhism (you should include references to the Lotus Sutra where appropriate)

Compare and contrast it to that of either the Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi) Rationalist School of Neo-Confucianism orthe Wang Yangming Idealist School of Neo-Confucianism school with respect to the following questions:

1. What is each schools view of human nature?  Are human beings fundamentally good orevil?

2. What is the current condition of humankind, and why do men and women find themselves inthis situation?

3. How do(es) the Socratic myth(s) (or “noble lie”) advocated by each school support a polity/political order that offers a solution to the problem?

Your discussion of Neo-Confucianism must include references to the writings of Confucius and Menciusas well as to the writings of Zhu Xi or Wang Yangming in order to answer these questions.

In your conclusion, be sure to address the question of the extent to which there is the possibility of legitimate revolutionary change and the role of the people in such change for each school you are discussing.

 

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