Huai-Chin Nan - Basic Buddhism - Exploring Buddhism and Zen

Appendix

The Zen Monastic System and Chinese Society

A The term society refers to the situation in which there are established relations and a sharing of benefits among several groups; on this basis they work together to attain a set goal and organize into an integral collectivity. In common parlance, the Chinese word she-hui, society, is used as a term designating a group of people who share certain kinds of common enterprise or a certain type of similar status, like the Upstream Society or the Labor Society. It is also used for groups with a certain regional character, like the Shanghai Society or the Hankou Society.

In 1838, the French scholar Auguste Comte created the term sociology (Chinese: sbe-hui-xue). He used it to mean the branch of science that studies society. In the past, we also used the term qutt-xue for this. Ever since the British scholar Herbert Spencer followed this usage of the term sociology, it has become a term for a specialized branch of science. The specialized study of social organization is called social statics; the specialized study of the growth and development of social organizations is called social dynamics. In general, there are three objects of sociological study: the nature of society, the process of social progress and transformations, and the basic principles of social progress and transformation. Some sociologists bring in evidence from biology and some from psychology.

THE DIFFERENT SOCIETIES OF EASTERN AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION

If we delve back into the history of our Chinese culture, one hundred years ago there was basically no such term as sociology. This branch of learning had not been established. We cannot say that this was because, in the past, we were unscientific. All we can say is that, in the past history of our culture, we did not have need of this concept. This was a matter of the difference in spirit at a time when the material basis of culture was different.

From the viewpoint of economics, China in the past was always an agrarian country. Its territory was large and materially rich and the land was not densely populated. There were ample natural resources that could be used to support a prosperous life and it was not necessary for the Chinese to go abroad and struggle for profit in order to survive. In addition to this, the traditional culture always taught the Chinese to live in peace, be happy with their occupations, and be content with their destined lot. Thus, in traditional China, people only had to give the prescribed social forms their due, obey the law, and pay their taxes to the government. In the society of the farming villages, it was very common for people of neighboring hamlets to live out their lives without ever seeing each other. The poem by Fan Chengda of the Song dynasty says:

Green fills the mountain meadow, white foamy rivers

In the cuckoo's cry, the rain is like mist

In the village in June few are idle

They're tending the silkworms and planting the fields.

Such a beautiful picture of a natural way of life! Who would prefer life in a society obsessed with industry and commerce, with its hustle and bustle and its frantic pace that makes people forget themselves? In the main, our ancestors in old China lived peaceful, harmonious, healthy, and happy lives. The exceptions were the nomadic herding peoples of the northwest and northern borderlands, who lived a harsh existence described in the verse, in felt tents under the moonlight, the sad sound of the flute, and so had to launch raids to rob and plunder.

In old Europe, things were not as in China, because it history was different from ours. They did not experience an early unification like that carried out in China by the Qin and Han dynasties. The Europeans lived in small domains under local feudal chieftains. Since they lacked broad territories, they could not base their nations on agriculture alone. Hence, in many regions, the premodern Europeans could not depend on the products of the soil for their entire livelihood. Thus, the characteristic pattern of European politics developed from a state of raiding and plundering to aggressive wars among nations. By undertaking long distance trading ventures, the Europeans in the medieval period developed organized handicraft and commercial groups, and all the societies of Europe came to need these organizations. By this means, Western society grew and developed and, in this context, such organizations very naturally became a central need of human group life. Economic needs dictated the main primary purpose of society.

Sociological concepts such as the social system and divisions within society all developed gradually during the 19th century as more and more problems developed within European society: other examples are social movement, social revolution, social policy, social psychology, and so on. When problems arose for 19th-century European society, their sociological theorists took this problem as their focus, analyzed it and studied it, and made it into a special branch of learning.

Under such conditions, the socialism of Marx and Engels thus could arise very naturally. If Marx and Engels had been born in China's agrarian society, it is very possible that they might have turned out like the eminent poet Du Fu, lamenting and composing verses full of pity for the human condition like this:

How heartbreaking! Spring along the river is about to end.

Leaning on my staffi make my way slowly along the sandy islands overgrown with fragrant plants.

Crazy willow fronds dance in the wind.

Delicate peach blossoms float with the current.

The falling flowers make the stream flow red.

Without saying anything I blame the east wind.

As Western society and the Western economy advanced into modern times, Europe and America developed into societies based on scientific industry and commerce. Thus, all kinds of corporate organizations, interest groups, and trade associations developed. From economies based on exploitation and aggression, the Western countries have developed into economies oriented toward social welfare. National laws set the guidelines for organizations and the organization of society influences national legislation.

In one main variant of the Western tradition, the political ideology of liberal democracy developed as a reflection of commercial competition in the marketplace. In the other main variant, from the Western emphasis on political economics, the ideology of socialism and of communist dictatorship developed.

When our historical Chinese culture came into the modern period, it was just at the time when these Western developments were taking place. China was thrust into these vast contradictory world currents and it was up to the Chinese, through their own efforts, to unify and synthesize them and stand up firmly in their midst.

The Differentiation of Patriarchal Clan Society

To explain the social history of our historical Chinese culture from a sociological point of view, some call it a patriarchal clan society, since, in the past, the social structure was based on clans. Stricdy speaking, this is problematic, because a society is an organization put together on the basis of common interest or a common purpose. The patriarchal society of our ancestors was just a representation and symbol tied together by the spirit of the Chinese people as an ethnic group. It did not forget the basic origin of the people, and so it transmitted and perpetuated the virtues of the ancestors and demanded that their descendants in later generations carry forward their greatness and glory.

Thus, traditional Chinese society was not an organization founded on collective laws, as Western society was. Nor was it an organization dedicated to some common interest, or to reaching some political or economic goals. All we can say is that the patriarchal system was the expression of the