Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

A Study of the Hierarchical System in Ancient Chinese Society Through “The True Story of Ah Q” (Part 2)

Li Yousheng (continued) IV. The emperor’s throne rotates, next year it’ll be my turn. 1) The ideal politics of Confucianism: Chinese history is a history of gradually moving towards the ideal politics of Confucianism. [15] The separation of the upper and lower classes is the key to this political ideal of Confucianism, which makes it possible for hundreds of millions […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

A Look at the Hierarchical System in Ancient Chinese Society Through “The True Story of Ah Q” (Part 1)

Li Yousheng Abstract: This paper uses Lu Xun’s *The True Story of Ah Q* as a case study and, combined with the author’s personal experience, analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the hierarchical system in ancient China. It irrefutably demonstrates the existence and severity of this division: after dividing human society into a genetically encoded primitive society and an artificial […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

A Study of the Differences in War Culture Between East and West: The Defeat of Duke Xiang of Song by Adhering to Military Rules and His Adherence to Warfare Rules; A Supplement: Differences in the Concepts of Enemy and Self Between East and West as Seen in Liu Zongyuan’s “Admonition Against the Enemy”.

Li Yousheng The Tang Dynasty writer Liu Zongyuan wrote a short essay titled “Admonition Against the Enemy,” which is easy to read aloud and quite melodious. I have quoted it below for your enjoyment: Everyone knows the enemy’s enmity, but not the greatest benefit; everyone knows the enemy’s harm, but not the greatest advantage. Qin, having conquered six states, was […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

The Differences Between Eastern and Western Warfare Cultures: (VI) Impact on Later History – The story of Duke Xiang of Song’s defeat by Chu due to his adherence to wartime rules.

Yu Sheng (from the 24th issue of “Learning Lamp”) 1) Homogeneous cultures with no single ruler and diverse cultures coexisting: Different social structures in the East and West During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, China was a primitive, multi-ethnic superpower. Peasants migrated freely, ethnic minorities coexisted with the Han Chinese, and the land was largely undeveloped. There was no […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

The Differences Between Eastern and Western War Cultures: (Part 5) Homer’s Epics and Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Differences in Individual Heroism in Warfare

Yu Sheng (from the 24th issue of “Learning Lamp”) Homer’s epics describe the Trojan War, which was a historical event that occurred around 1200 BC, during the era of chariot warfare. Homer’s epics, however, were written in the 8th century BC, the era of infantry phalanx warfare, roughly corresponding to the early Spring and Autumn period in China. Homer’s epics […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

The Differences Between Eastern and Western War Cultures: (Part Four) Sun Tzu’s Art of War and the Ancient Greek Phalanx: Differences Between Eastern and Western War Cultures

Yu Sheng (from the 24th issue of “Learning Lamp”) This led to the differences in early war cultures between Eastern and Western civilizations. I will not go into detail here, but I will only compare Sun Tzu’s Art of War with the ancient Greek phalanx. Both are signs of the long-term accumulation of war experience and the maturation of the […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

The Differences Between Eastern and Western War Cultures: (Part Three) The Differences in the Nature of War in the Early Stages of Eastern and Western Civilizations

Yu Sheng (from the 24th issue of “Learning Lamp”) Many years ago, I read an anthropologist’s observation of a primitive tribal “war.” I still remember it clearly. Although I don’t have the relevant documents at hand, this is common anthropological knowledge: two sides lined up facing each other, about fifty meters apart. Each side had thirty or forty men, lined […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

The Differences Between Eastern and Western Warfare Cultures: (Part Two) The Bible Story and Similar Chinese Legends

Yu Sheng (from the 24th issue of “Learning Lamp”) The Bible says that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and were expelled from the Garden of Eden by God. Their sons then began to kill one another, to the point that God regretted creating humankind. Scholars, based on the biblical genealogy, have calculated that […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

The Differences Between Eastern and Western Warfare Cultures: A Case Study of Duke Xiang of Song’s Defeated Defeat by Chu Due to His Adherence to Military Rules (Part 1) A Beacon Illuminating Chinese History: Giving Duke Xiang of Song His Righteous Name

Yusheng Abstract: Western civilization followed a path of escalating warfare accompanied by a step-by-step progression of society and culture. China condensed this millennia-long Western civilizational process into the Warring States period, spanning just over two hundred years, with two thousand years of stability preceding and following it. The author uses the distinction between genetically encoded primordial society and artificially constructed […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Postmodernism

The relationship between the overall thought of the Book of Changes and the pre-Qin Daoist and Confucian schools of thought

The relationship between the overall thought of the Book of Changes and the pre-Qin Daoist and Confucian schools of thought Yusheng (revised, October 9, 2010) Abstract: This paper takes a different approach to the Confucian-Taoist debate surrounding the thought of the *I Ching* (Book of Changes). Starting with the psychology of divination, it argues that the Ten Wings aimed to […]

By Dr. You-Sheng Li

Dr.-You-Sheng-Li
Dr. You-Sheng Li

In his later years, Li Yousheng studied Taoist philosophy and proposed the concepts of a genetically encoded primordial society and an artificial secondary society.

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