Dr Maud M’BONDJO
INALCO (CEC) / Université Paris Diderot- Paris 7
Theme 3: Philosophy, Art and Ethics
Neo-confucianism’s premises facing the Aesthetics question: Art (yi), Ethics
(de) and the Way (dao) in Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073)’s thought.
Abstract
Zhou Dunyi 周敦颐 (1017-1073) is commonly considered as the founder of the
Confucian revival during the Song Dynasty (976-1279). In his moral treatise, Penetrating the
Book of Changes (Tongshu), Zhou Dunyi clearly distinguishes art (yi) from reality (shi). But,
in his opinion, the role of writing (wen) is precisely to express the Sage Kings’ Way. We can
therefore wonder to what extent art and Ethics participate to the restoration of the Way. Is
there a philosophy of art in Zhou Dunyi’s moral discourse?
Moreover, Zhou Dunyi’s thought central concept of cheng 誠 (term usually
mistranslated as the noun sincerity) plays a key role into the apprehension of the Way. If
moral cultivation implies an artistic practice, would cheng therefore become an aesthetic
concept? At last, what resonances this theory would have into other major Neo-Confucian
masters’ thoughts and establishes therefore the premises of a major intellectual movement
towards the aesthetics question?
Key-words: Zhou Dunyi, art, ethics, sincerity, orthodoxy.