Li Zehou's Philosophical Thought from the Perspective of Two-Tier Society Theory

Li Yousheng (2014/09/21)

Around February 28, 2013, I read several online articles about Li Zehou’s philosophical thought and also consulted relevant online literature. This article is based on my notes at that time and has been slightly expanded.

Li Zehou is one of the most influential thinkers in China after the reform and opening up. He synthesized the ideas of Marx, traditional Chinese thought, and the American pragmatist philosopher John Dewey, often referring to himself as a practitioner of reason, a historical ontology, and an emotional ontology. It is said that in the 1980s, Li Zehou was so popular among young intellectuals that everyone knew him. When his book “The Course of Beauty” was published, long queues formed at the Haidian Bookstore near Peking University. I studied at Peking University in the early 1960s. After enrolling, I first lived in dormitory building number 42, which was very close to the only small bookstore on Haidian Street. I often went there to search for cheap secondhand books. I bought a modern version of “The Art of War” with a preface and annotations for about five cents. Afterwards, I began to use the principles of “The Art of War” to guide my life, such as the idea of being invincible and then waiting for the opportunity to win. This had a profound impact on my later life.

It is said that many of the people who lined up to buy the book did not get it because the bookstore’s “The Journey of Beauty” sold out quickly. However, many women returned the book the next day, giving the Peking University students who did not get the book a second chance to buy it. Those women bought the book because they loved beauty and wanted to get inspiration for dressing and beauty. After buying it, they found that it was not what they expected. Just as the CCP revolution attracted many like-minded people who did not believe in Maoist communism, “The Journey of Beauty” was so popular that it attracted many like-minded people. The main source of Maoist communist thought was traditional Chinese thought, including the Taoist idea of a equitable society and the Confucian idea of the Great Harmony. [1]

Like Wang Meng, Li Zehou is also a thinker within the CCP regime. After embracing Western thought, he uses the language of Western philosophy to interpret contemporary Chinese thought. Contemporary Chinese thought is, of course, a combination of Marxism-Leninism and traditional Chinese thought. Whether one is dominant or subordinate to the other is a matter of opinion. Furthermore, since the two pillars of traditional Chinese culture, Taoism and Confucianism, both regard a primitive society as their ideal, almost all the key terms in Li Zehou’s philosophy can be explained in terms of primitive society, thus fully reflecting the characteristics of primitive societal thinking. These will be discussed point by point below.

I. Practical rationality and applied rationality

Practical rationality, or utilitarian rationality, is a label Li Zehou gave to traditional Chinese thought, and also the label of his so-called philosophy. In primitive societies, like other animals, humans needed to follow rational principles to succeed in hunting and finding food. If, while hunting, one didn’t chase the prey but ran in the opposite direction, one would drift further and further away from the animal, ultimately failing to achieve their goal. Primitive humans didn’t consider their prey as their entire world or their lives; they viewed the world and life based on observations and reflections during their leisure time. When viewing the world and life through the lens of entertainment and enjoyment, rationality is unnecessary; excessive rationality can even be harmful. The West, with its competitive civilization built on warfare, constructs its society on a foundation of rationality. In contrast, the limited rationality of primitive Chinese societies is what Li Zehou termed “practical rationality.”

Kant’s *Critique of Practical Reason* is the culmination and purpose of his earlier work, *Critique of Pure Reason*. Practical reason refers to the will of the practical subject; the critique of practical reason examines the nature of the will that determines moral behavior and the principles it follows. The book comprises two main parts: the fundamental theory of pure practical reason and its methodology. Its significant theoretical importance lies in highlighting the issue of human subjectivity, emphasizing the dignity and sublimity of the human personality, and demonstrating a strong humanistic spirit. In Kant’s view, human reason has two functions: the cognitive function and the volitional function. He calls the former theoretical reason and the latter practical reason. In modern philosophy, Kant was the first to introduce the category of practice into philosophy, although his concept of practice was limited to the realm of ethics. In summary, Kant’s theoretical reason is the governing reason for all things, including practical reason, which explains the continuous material progress and linear development of Western society. Neil MacComick (1941-2009) argues that practical reason is the use of reason to determine how to act justly in a given situation. In ancient primitive societies, this refers to how to obtain necessities like food; in modern secondary societies, philosophers use it to plan moral practices.

II. Music Culture and Emotional Essence

The first half of Li Zehou’s book, “Practical Reason and Joyful Culture” (Sanlian Bookstore, 2005), discusses practical reason, while the second half discusses the joyful culture of emotional essence. [2] Li Zehou summarizes Chinese tradition as joyful culture. He takes human existence as the basis, which is in contrast to the Western tradition’s emphasis on the absolute and transcendent. He refers to family affection and even interpersonal relationships. He said: From ancient times to today, from the upper elites to the lower classes, from erotic paintings to the elderly, from toasting etiquette to playing drinking games (wine culture), from heart-to-heart talks to chatting (tea culture), from food, clothing, housing and transportation to sex, health, longevity and entertainment, all show the emotional essence of Chinese culture in pursuing happiness in celebrating life, enjoying life, affirming life and daily life. Although we know that people die and the spirit perishes, like fireworks, life is short and the world is impermanent, we are still not afraid of emptiness and live a difficult life. According to You Sheng, this is a thoroughly primitive social outlook, and it is precisely this outlook that led to the defeat of the mighty Chinese Empire by the Mongol tribes, numbering only a million, and later, its conquest by the Manchus, ultimately becoming prey for the West in modern times. Primitive societies cannot defeat secondary societies. Li Zehou’s concept of celebrating and enjoying life is based on a quasi-primitive rural society, where most farmers were illiterate. Today, people have acquired the perspective of a secondary society and are considered part of it. Western absolute and transcendent culture provides a definite meaning and landing point for the unstable secondary society, using religion to replace lost primitive social elements.

Xu Youyu commented that Li Zehou used a lot of Western philosophical materials when constructing his system, but fundamentally he did not understand Western philosophy. Of course, he understood Marxism and had also studied German classical philosophy, which was one of its sources. He especially did not understand contemporary philosophy, which is why he could say such ridiculous things: “All schools of philosophy in the 20th century are characterized by anti-history and destruction of humanity, so that people either become machines or animals.” He could never enter the metaphysics and transcendental dimension of the Western tradition. The system he formulated could not be separated from the Chinese traditional routine of “cultivating oneself, regulating one’s family, governing the country and bringing peace to the world”. Perhaps no one told him this. What he was out of touch with was not the times and people, but philosophy itself. [3]

III. Subjective Sensibility

The original social order was rooted in emotional aesthetics, and discussing aesthetics in today’s secondary society brings us closer to the perspective of that original society. In the 1950s and 60s, there was a debate in Chinese academia about aesthetics. A key question in aesthetics is what beauty is, leading to the debate about whether beauty is purely objective or subjective. Li Zehou transcended the perspectives of both sides, discussing aesthetics from the angle of social practice, thus bypassing the subjective/objective dilemma of aesthetics. In fact, the perspective of humanity in the original society is one of harmony between humanity and nature, because only humans in the original society are truly natural humans, still part of nature like other animals. Secondary society is a man-made society, in which humans are also created by themselves, products of artificial society and culture; the essence of such man-made humans is the separation of humanity and nature. Li Zehou views aesthetics precisely from the perspective of the original society in traditional Chinese culture.

In the mid-1970s and early 1980s, Li Zehou, through critical research on Kantian philosophy, put forward the slogan of subjective practical philosophy, and based on this premise, explored many new issues related to aesthetics. However, Li Zehou’s subjective sensibility is from the perspective of man in a philosophical sense, not from the perspective of a specific individual. But emphasizing subjective sensibility experience is the foundation of Li Zehou’s philosophy, and also the inevitable result of looking at the original society in relation to the secondary society, and returning to the original society.

IV. Historical Ontology: Linear Historical View, Circular Historical View, and Nihilistic Historical View of Living in the Present

Li Zehou emphasizes that traditional Chinese culture is a historical ontology. Strictly speaking, primitive societies have no history, but humans easily grasp the concept of history from their concept of time. People in primitive societies also had a concept of history, only it differed from that of people in secondary societies. As for the historical perspectives of secondary societies, there is the Western linear historical view, which is also the historical view currently recognized by the historical community. Another is the cyclical historical view of cultural traditions such as India, which believes that history is cyclical and repetitive, and there is no such thing as linear progress.

The Western linear view of history, beginning with the biblical creation myth of God and the creation of man, has a clear linear historical perspective, believing that the human world has a beginning and is constantly adjusting thereafter. The rapid changes in the modern world further support this view of linear historical progress. India has had interactions with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations since ancient times, with a tradition of clergy acting as intermediaries to guarantee the credit of commercial transactions. This demonstrates that Indian history differs from China’s, beginning with a two-tiered society, similar to the West. The cyclical view of history in traditional Indian culture is also a two-tiered view of history, but it examines history within a broader perspective. The historical view of traditional Chinese culture is neither linear nor cyclical, but rather emphasizes a part of the original social life of the present. From Wang Bo’s “Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng” (“Where is the prince in the pavilion now? The Yangtze River flows emptily outside the railing”), to Su Shi’s “The great river flows eastward, its waves sweeping away countless heroes of the past… I, with my prematurely gray hair, should laugh at myself; let me offer a cup to the moon on the river,” and then to the opening poem of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”:

The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, its waves washing away the heroes of the past. Right and wrong, success and failure, all vanish in the blink of an eye. The green hills remain, witnessing countless sunsets.

White-haired fishermen and woodcutters on the riverbank are accustomed to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze. A pot of turbid wine brings joy in our meeting. So many things, past and present, are all consigned to laughter and conversation.

The underlying message is that, like other animals, early humans in society prioritized living in the present, viewing history as meaningless and nihilistic. This is the historical perspective of ordinary Chinese people, a perspective that intellectuals in Chinese history, after being marginalized, came to realize, and it represents the mainstream historical perspective of traditional Chinese culture.

Li Zehou’s ontology of history is based on Marx, Kant, and Chinese tradition. It represents Li Zehou’s own historical perspective and a contemporary intellectual view that synthesizes Eastern and Western cultural traditions. While primitive society possessed practical reason, it lacked an ontology of history. The linear evolutionary view of history was suitable for Chinese bureaucratic intellectuals but not for farmers. Replacing Western religious transcendence with history was limited to bureaucratic intellectuals, and specifically, those at the court. Once these individuals returned home, or, like Wang Bo and Su Shi, experienced moments of leisure and melancholy, they reverted to the ordinary people of primitive society and deeply felt the nihilistic aspect of history.　

literature:

[1] You Sheng (2005): Mao Zedong and Taoist thought. (http://taoism21cen.com/Chinesechat/maoyudao.html)

[2] Li Zehou: Practical Rationality and Musical Culture, Sanlian Bookstore, 2005.

[3] Xu Youyu: Reading Li Zehou’s new book “Practical Rationality and the Culture of Musicality”. (http://book.douban.com/subject/1047572/discussion/56658229/)