CHI 322 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Comparative Religion, Citta, Shang Dynasty

• School: University of Kentucky
• Department: Chinese Culture and Language
• Course: CHI 322
• Professor: Matt Wells

Document Summary

This article argues against the strong holist position that the early chinese lacked any concept of mind body dualism, and more broadly against a neo-orientalist trend that portrays chinese thought as radically different from western thought. In the first half, it makes the case against strong mind body holism by drawing upon traditional archeological and textual evidence. In this section, the role that deep humanistic knowledge can, and should, play in scientific approaches to culture is also explored. The article concludes by suggesting that a mutually informed, humanities scientific approach to religious studies is the best way for our field to move forward. Scholars of chinese religion often believe that, while western thought is dualistic in nature, early chinese thought can be contrasted as profoundly holistic. There is thought to be an important binary of mind-body. Strong mind-body holism in early china is a myth started with the word xin ( ).