Tian and ren in early Chinese thought
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | This paper focuses on those instances in ancient Chinese texts where tian apparently means "nature" - processes and forces that are beyond human control but not accessible to sacrifice or other ritual/religious practices. This paper addresses the question of the ways in which the processes referred to as tian are accessible to human use (the ways in which humans adapt to natural processes and use them for their own ends) and explores what other terms are used to describe these processes. Differences in terminology across different texts are analyzed and the potential significance of the correspondences and differences for our reading of ancient Chinese texts is explored. |