[Book] Os Guinness -- The Dust of Death (1973)

Os Guinness

The Dust of Death (1973)

1. I am presently re-reading some 20 to 30 books that have a formative influence on me in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Among the books is Os Guinness's The Dust of Death: A Critique of the Counter Culture (1973).

The Dust of Death (1973) made sense of the zeitgeist or spirit of the age among the youth of the 1960s and 1970s for me.

How and why did the generation that benefited from the material prosperity of post World War II became lost spiritually?

Os Guinness, with sensitivity, analyzed the antecedents and consequences of the optimism / pessimism dialectic of Humanism.

This book is a large scale cultural study and is very good.


2. The Holy Bible

(1 Corinthians 13:1-7 HCSB):

[1] If I speak human or angelic languages
but do not have love,
I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

[2] If I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains
but do not have love, I am nothing.

[3] And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

[4] Love is patient, love is kind.
Love does not envy,
is not boastful, is not conceited,

[5] does not act improperly,
is not selfish, is not provoked,
and does not keep a record of wrongs.

[6] Love finds no joy in unrighteousness
but rejoices in the truth.

[7] It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.


3. The music and lyrics of Suicide is Painless (1970)
(theme song of M.A.S.H.):

(a) Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JCQep-H3Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmLq87RU97w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-BtquTKw78

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIIqYqtR1lY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gO7uemm6Yo


(b) Lyrics:

Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see...

* That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please.

I try to find a way to make
All our little joys relate
Without that ever-present hate
But now I know that it's too late, and...
Repeat *

The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
So this is all I have to say.
Repeat *

The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I'm beat
And to another give my seat
For that's the only painless feat.
Repeat *

The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger...watch it grin, but...
Repeat *

A brave man once requested me
To answer questions that are key
Is it to be or not to be
And I replied 'oh why ask me?'
Repeat *
...and you can do the same thing if you please.


4. The Holy Bible

(1 Corinthians 13:8-13 HCSB):

[8] Love never ends.
But as for prophecies,
they will come to an end;
as for languages, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

[9] For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part.

[10] But when the perfect comes,
the partial will come to an end.

[11] When I was a child,
I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man,
I put aside childish things.

[12] For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
but then I will know fully,
as I am fully known.

[13] Now these three remain:
faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.


5. Table of Contents of The Dust of Death (1973):

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: The Striptease of Humanism
The Rise of Optimistic Humanism
The Surfacing of Pessimism
Four Pillars of Optimistic Humanism
The Striptease of Humanism
Alienation
Mystification
Romanticism
The Twilight of Western Thought

Chapter 2: Utopia or Oblivion?
The Importance of Futurology
Constructing a Scenario
Profiles of the Future
Planetary, Global and Biological Engineering
Sociological Change
The Optimists
The Pessimists: Ten Pressure Points
The Failure of Nerve

Chapter 3: The Great Refusal
Beginning with the Beat
The European Scene
The Angry Young Men
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Provos
The Hippies
The New Left
SNCC
SDS
The Failure of the New Left
The Parting of the Ways
Heightened Repression
From Realism to Romanticism

Chapter 4: One Dimensional Man
The Critique of Technocracy
The System
Critical Voices of the Fifties: Riesman, Whyte, Goodman and Mills
The Critical Voice of the Sixties: Marcuse
The Critical Voice of the Seventies: Ellul
Technophobia or Clarity of Vision?
The Weakness of the New Left-Not Its Critique But Its Alternative
Tragedy, Irony, Absurdity

Chapter 5: Violence-Crisis or Catharsis?
Violence in Political Theory
Violence in Evolutionary Theory
Violence in Psychoanalytic Theory
Violence in Cultural Theory
Violence as Catharsis
Violence as Crisis
Christianity and Violence: Traditional Views
Christianity and Violence: A Radical Understanding
Non-Violence and Christian Realism
Non-Violence and the "Use" of Force
Non-Violence and the "Understanding" of Violence
Non-Violence the Only Resort
Forgiveness Our Only Response
The Third Way

Chapter 6: The East, No Exit
East Meets West in San Francisco
Stirrings in the East and West
The East and Post-Christian West
The Silence of God
Ecology and the Nature of Nature
The Weakness of Western Christianity
Monism: An Eastern Presupposition
Monism and Reality
Monism and Personality
Monism and Morality
A Christian Alternative
Tolerance: East and West

Chapter 7: The Counterfeit Infinity
Paradise Now
The History of Marijuana
Mescaline
LSD
Objections to Psychedelics
Charting the Psychedelic Experience
Death and Evolution
Communication
Utopian Dreams
The Psychedelics and God
Psychedelics and the East
The Psychedelics and Alienation
The Psychedelics and Christian Experience

Chapter 8: Encircling Eyes
The Fire Burns Low
Back to the Occult- Why?
Superstition
Spiritism
Satanism
The Christian and the Occult

Chapter 9: The Ultimate Trip?
The Image of the Church
The Intellectual Stance of the Church
The Jesus Revolution
Christianity: Psychological Truth
Can Christianity Be Verified?
Christianity and Falsification
God's Self-Disclosure
General Revelation: The World and Man
Special Revelation: Christ and the Bible
The Logic of One's Choice

Chapter 10: The Third Race
What Not to Do
The Third Race
Constructive Christian Radicalism
The Necessity of Christian Radicalism
The Logic of Christian Premises
Radicalism and Creativity
Christian Compassion
True Understanding
Outrage
Identification
Is It Possible?


References:

Guinness, Os. 1973. The Dust of Death: A Critique of the Counter Culture. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.

"Os Guinness", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Os_Guinness
(accessed 2017-01-09).

"Suicide Is Painless", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless
(accessed 2017-01-09).

End.

[Book] Klaus Bockmuehl -- The Challenge of Marxism (1980)

Klaus Bockmuehl : The Challenge of Marxism (1980)

 Klaus Bockmuehl (1931-1989)

1. I am re-reading some 20 to 30 books that have a formative influence on me during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Among the books is Klaus Bockmuehl's The Challenge of Marxism: A Christian Response (1980).

Klaus Bockmuehl (1931-1989) was professor of theology and ethics at Regent College here in Vancouver.

 
2. One of my undergraduate subjects was Economics.

A highlight of my economics studies was taking a 3rd year course on Comparative Economic Systems.

The semester I took the Comparative Economic Systems course it was taught by a visiting professor from Hungary.

The course had over 100 students the semester I took it and the professor was favoring some form of Democratic Socialism.

Not one shy in asking questions, I asked the visiting professor many embarrassing questions about Democratic Socialism during the lectures that he was not able to answer.

But I was very impressed with the professor in that he treated my questions honestly and he said he did not had an answer when he did not.

The mid-term was a take home essay exam and for my essay, I contrasted certain views of Karl Marx and Milton Friedman from their respective Capital: Critique of Political Economy (original 1867-1894) and Capitalism and Freedom (1962).

Not only did I get a handsome grade for the mid-term, the professor invited me to his office for a discussion about my paper afterwards.

 
3. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Marxism as an ideology was passe.

I was never seduce by Marxism, but I was puzzled why many intelligent people find it fascinating and convincing.

Klaus Bockmuehl was originally from Germany and his book has mainly the Western intellectuals in view.

But Marxism was not only a Western phenomenon.

Many Chinese intellectuals from the 1910s to well into the 1950s were also seduced by it.

The Challenge of Marxism (1980) was written before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and it explained for me why many people the world over find Marxism fascinating.

Bockmuehl thesis was that Marxism was a secular religion and it advocated a secular counterpart of Christianity's Kingdom of God.

There were many structural similarities between Christianity and Marxism because both are forms of ideologies.

Like Christianity, Marxism was not only an academic theory but it also had a program to bring about the Marxist utopia.

As the famous Thesis 11 from Karl Marx's 1845 essay "Theses On Feuerbach" said: "Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it."

20th Century history took a big detour with Marxism and Marxism was buried with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

 
Reference:

Bockmuehl, Klaus. 1980. The Challenge of Marxism: A Christian Response. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.

End.

[Book] Angus Maddison -- Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run: 960-2030 AD

Angus Maddison

1. Angus Maddison (1926 - 2010) was probably the world authority on quantitative macroeconomic history.

His two volumes on the world's economy can aptly be described as monumental:

The World Economy, Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective (2001)

The World Economy, Volume 2: Historical Statistics (2003)

Most histories are written as interpretative narrative.

Yet many historical claims should be backup with statistical data.

With the advancement in scholarship, some historical claims can be presented with the appropriate statistical data as evidence.

Angus Maddison has devoted the major parts of his life in collecting basic historical data on the world economy and summarized them as statistics in tables, graphs, and lists.

And we owe Angus Maddison a debt for his labor.


2. Besides the two volumes on the world economy, Angus Maddison has also authored a volume specifically on the Chinese economy:

Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run: 960-2030 AD, Second Edition, Revised and Updated (2007)

This book is available for download from the OECD:

http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/product/4107091e.pdf

For those whom have an interest in the Chinese economy, it will repay the time spend on browsing through this 200 pages book.


3. The followings are the:

(a) Table of Contents

(b) List of Chapter Tables, Figures and Box

(c) Appendix Tables and Maps

 

4. Sample 1:

(Table D.1. Chinese Population, 1–2030 AD)

 

5. Sample 2:

(Table 2.1. Comparative Levels of Economic Performance, China and Other Major Parts of the World Economy, 1700–2003)

(Table 2.2a. Shares of World GDP, 1700-2003)

(Table 2.2b. Rates of Growth of World GDP, 1700-2003)

(Table 2.2c. Rates of Growth of World Per Capita GDP, 1700–2003)

6. Sample 3:

(Table 4.6. Shares of World GDP, 1700–2003 (Per cent of World Total))

7. Sample 4:

(Table 3.1. Growth of GDP, by Sector, at Constant Prices, China 1890–2003)

(Table 3.2. Structure of Chinese GDP, 1890–2003)

(Table 3.3. China's Geopolitical Standing, 1820–2003)

8. Sample 5:

(Table F.2. Characteristics of China’s 31 Provinces in 2005)

References:

"Angus Maddison", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Maddison
(accessed 2015-04-02).

Maddison, Angus. 2001. The World Economy, Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

----------. 2003. The World Economy, Volume 2: Historical Statistics. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

----------. 2007. Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run: 960-2030 AD. 2nd ed. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

End.

[Book] "Covetousness" by William Gouge

Note: 

I came across this article by William Gouge reprinted in RPM (Reformed Perspectives Magazine) by Third Millennium Ministries:

http://thirdmill.org/search.asp/au/wil_gouge

I enjoyed it very much and decided to re-blog it here.



William Gouge (1575-1653) was an English clergyman and author. He was a minister and preacher at St Ann Blackfriars for 45 years, from 1608, and a member of the Westminster Assembly from 1643.


Contents

1. Of the Nature of Covetousness
2. Of the Practice of Covetousness in Getting Wealth
3. Of the Practice of Covetousness in Keeping Wealth
4. Of the Practice of Covetousness in Spending
5. Of the Heinousness of Covetousness
6. Of Remedies Against Covetousness
7. Of Well-Using Abundance
8. Of Examination of a Man's Self About Covetousness
9. Of Rules to Find Out Covetousness
10. Of Over-Rash Censuring Others of Covetousness
11. Of Contentedness. What It Is.
12. Of the Grounds of Contentedness.


 
1. Of the Nature of Covetousness

Covetousness is an immoderate desire of riches. The apostle implieth as much, under this phrase, boulomenoi ploutein they that will be rich, 1 Tim. vi. 9; under that word, will, a desire, and that unsatiable desire, is comprised. The notation of both the words before mentioned, namely, love of silver and desire of having more, do demonstrate that covetousness consisteth in a desire.

Desire of riches is not simply covetousness, for a man may lawfully pray for them. So much is intended in the fourth petition. Now what a man may pray for, he may desire, with the same limitations as he may pray for it. Therefore it is an immoderate desire: that is, when a man is not content with that portion which God by his providence in a lawful and warrantable course doth afford unto him, but (according to the apostle's phrase) he will be rich; he will have more than God alloweth him in a fair way; and if he cannot otherwise get more, he will be discontent.

The general object of covetousness is riches. Under this word all the commodities of this world are comprised, and withal abundance of them, yea, more than is necessary. Things necessary may be desired, but not superfluity, Prov. xxx. 8.

This sin is especially in the heart. One may have little, and yet be covetous; and one may be rich, and yet free from covetousness.


2. Of the Practice of Covetousness in Getting Wealth

Covetousness is practiced three ways:

1. In getting.
2. In keeping.
3. In spending what a man hath.

When wealth is gotten unconscionably or immoderately, it is a sign of a covetous heart.

That is said to be unconscionably gotten which is gotten against any duty whereunto conscience is bound, as-

(1) Against any particular precept. Therein Achan covetously transgressed, Josh. vii. 21.
(2) Against piety; as they which buy and sell on the Sabbath-day for gain, Neh. xiii. 16.
(3) Against justice; as Ahab, who by Naboth's unjust death got his vineyard, 1 Kings xxi. 19.
(4) Against charity; as the rich man that took the poor man's sheep to entertain his friend, 2 Sam. xii. 6.
(5) Against equity; as Gehazi, who got that which his master refused, 2 Kings v. 20.
(6) Against truth; as Ananias and Sapphira with a lie kept back part of that which was devoted to the church, Acts v. 2.
(7) Against all these; which was Judas his sin in betraying his Master for thirty pieces of silver, Mat. xxvi. 15.

Whatsoever is by force or fraud, by stealing, lying, or any other indirect course gotten, is an effect of covetousness. It argueth an over-greedy desire. If it were not so, no means would be used but that which is lawful; and in the use of them men would depend on God, and be content with that portion which he by his providence affords them.

An immoderate getting is, when men spend their wit, pains, and time in getting the goods of this world, and rather than fail, lose their meal's meat, and sleep, and other refreshments, yea, and neglect the means of getting heavenly treasure: they are only and wholly for the things of this world. If spiritual and temporal blessings cannot stand together, temporals shall be preferred and spiritual neglected: as the Gadarenes, for fear of losing more swine, prayed Christ to depart from their coast, Mark v. 17; and they who, for their farm and oxen's sake, refused to come to the Lord's supper, Luke xiv. 18, &c.


3. Of the Practice of Covetousness in Keeping Wealth

Covetousness in keeping wealth is practiced two ways:

(1) When men hoard up all that they can, though they have enough for the present, yet fearing want for the future, treasure up whatsoever they can get. So did the rich fool in the Gospel. His ground bearing fruit plentifully, his mind was presently set upon enlarging his barns to lay up for many years to come, Luke xii. etc. &c. The wise man doth set out this covetous practice, 'There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches,' Eccles. iv. 8. These are they that take thought for the morrow; that is, cark and care for the future time, which Christ expressly forbiddeth, Mat. vi. 34. They think that whosoever want, they will not.

(2) When men hoard up only for themselves, they care not what treasure for the future the commonwealth or the church hath against times of need and trial, nor do they care for the flock of the poor.


4. Of the Practice of Covetousness in Spending

A covetous practice in spending is manifested two ways:

(1) By spending too sparingly and too niggardly in all things, as when men live under their degree and place, when they regard not decency in apparel or other like things, when they afford not necessaries to themselves or to those that are under their charge- these are pinch-pennies. Thus doth the wise man set out such a one, 'A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth: yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof,' Eccles. vi. 2.

(2) By being too prodigal in some things, as in housekeeping, in apparel, in their pleasures on themselves, wives, and children, but are too strait-handed in all works of charity, and in contributions to church and state. Nabal was such a one. He made a feast in his house 'like the feast of a king,' but yet refused to refresh David's soldiers in their necessity with any part of his provision, 1 Sam. xxv. 11, 36. And such a one was Dives; he was 'clothed himself in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day,' yet refused to feed Lazarus with the crumbs that fell from his table, Luke xvi. 19, etc. These may be counted pound-prodigal, and penny-covetous.


5. Of the Heinousness of Covetousness

There are many circumstances concerning covetousness which do much aggravate the heinousness thereof; for,

(1) It is a deceiving sin; it blinds the understanding and corrupts the judgment in a main point of happiness: for the covetous man 'maketh gold his hope, and fine gold his confidence,' Job xxxi. 24. This is further manifest by the titles that are usually given to it, as 'substance,' and 'goods.' They who get much wealth, are said to be made for ever; and they who lose much, to be undone for ever. The rich man, when his corn exceedingly increased, thus saith to his soul, 'Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry,' Luke xii. 19. Upon this conceit of happiness, wealth so stealeth away a man's heart, and so inflames his affections, as he maketh it his god. Justly there fore is a covetous person called an idolater, Eph. v. 5; and covetousness idolatry, Col. iii. 5.

(2) It is an unsatiable sin. 'He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase,' Eccles. v. 10. In this respect covetousness is like a dropsy, which increaseth thirst by much drinking; and like a fire, which by addition of fuel is the more fierce. The desire of a covetous man ariseth from abundance, and in that respect is unnatural; for nature is satisfied with sufficiency. Hunger and thirst cease when a man hath eaten and drunk that which is sufficient.

(3) It is a galling sin; it works a continual vexation, and takes away all the comforts of this life. The apostle saith, that 'they which covet after money, pierce themselves through with many sorrows,' 1 Tim. vi. 10. There is a threefold woe that accompanieth covetousness-1. A woe of labour and toil in getting wealth; 2. A woe of care and trouble in keeping it; 3. A-woe of grief and anguish in parting with it. Nothing makes death more unwelcome than a covetous desire of the things of this world.

(4) It is an ensnaring sin. 'They that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare,' 1 Tim. vi. 9. Wealth, as it is a bait to allure men to snap thereat, so it is a snare fast to hold them, and a hook to pull them down to perdition. 'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God !' Mark x. 23. This snare kept the farmers from the wedding feast, Luke xiv. 18, 19. It keeps many from the word; yea, it steals away the heart of those that come to the word; for 'their heart goeth after their covetousness,' Ezek. xxxiii. 31.

(5) It is a mother sin. 'The love of money is the root of all evil,' 1 Tim. vi. 10. Fitly therefore doth the prophet thus style it 'evil covetousness,' Hab. ii. 9. There is no evil which a covetous man will forbear. His covetousness puts him on to all evil. It is a root of impiety. It draws the heart from God, so as there can be no true love nor fear of God in a covetous heart. It makes a man be of that religion which is professed in the place where he liveth, though it be palpable idolatry. A covetous man can swallow all manner of oaths, yea, and perjury itself. For gain he will profane the Sabbath. It makes inferiors purloin from their superiors, and superiors to neglect their inferiors. It is a cause of much rebellion, of many treasons, murders, thefts, robberies, deceit, lying, false witness, breach of promise, and what not.

(6) It is a growing sin. The longer men live in the world, the more covetous they use to be after the world. Old men are commonly the most covetous. Herein it differeth from other violent sins, which by age abate in their violence.

(7) It is a devouring sin. 'The deceitfulness of riches choke the word,' Mat. xiii. 22. Covetousness is like Pharaoh's lean cows, 'which did eat up the fat cows; and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still as ill-favoured as at the beginning,' Gen. xii. 20, 21.

(8) It is a crying sin. 'The cries of them which are oppressed' by covetous persons 'enter into the ears of the Lord.' Hereupon an apostle bids them 'weep and howl,' James v. 1, &c. Covetousness causeth a curse from man and God. 'He that withholdeth corn' (as the covetous man will when he can), 'the people shall curse him.' As for God's curse, 'the wrath of God cometh upon men because of these things,' Eph. v. 5, 6. The apostle reckoneth 'covetous persons' among those that 'shall not inherit the kingdom of God,' 1 Cor. vi. 10.


6. Of Remedies Against Covetousness

For preventing or redressing covetousness, these rules following are to be observed:

(1) The judgment must rightly be informed in these two points-

(a) In the nature of true happiness.

(b) In the vanity and deceitfulness of riches.

Many learned men lack this point of understanding.

It is the blindness of a man's mind that maketh him place a kind of happiness in the things of this world, whereby he is brought even to coat upon them. If therefore we shall be rightly instructed that happiness consisteth in matters of another kind than this world affords, and that the things of this world are so vain as they can afford no solid comfort to a man, especially in spiritual distress, and so uncertain as they may suddenly be taken away from men, or men from them, surely their immoderate desire of riches could not be but much allayed. He that said, 'There be many that say, Who will shew us any good O Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us,' Ps. iv. 6, well discerned the difference betwixt earthly and heavenly blessings. So did he who said, 'Riches profit not in the day of wrath; but righteousness delivereth from death,' Prov. xi. 4.

(2) The will and heart of man must follow the judgment well informed, and raise themselves up to that sphere where true happiness resteth. 'Set 'our affection on things above, not on things on the earth,' Col. iii. 2. This will keep the heart from coating on things below; for 'where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,' Mat. vi. 21. A beast which is feeding in fair and fresh pasture will not stray into a bare and barren heath; much less will an understanding man, that finds the sweetness of spiritual and heavenly blessings, feed upon earthly trash. This made Paul account all outward things but dung, because his heart had tasted of the sweetness of Christ, Phil. iii. 8, &c.

(3) A man's confidence must be placed on God and his providence. God's providence is an overflowing and ever-flowing fountain. The richest treasures of men may be exhausted; God's cannot be. Be therefore fully resolved of this, that 'God will provide,' Gen. xxii. 8. This casting of our care on God's providence is much pressed in Scripture, as Ps. lv. 22, 1 Pet. v. 7, Mat. vi. 25, 26, &c. By experience we see how children depend on their parents' providence. Should not we much more on our heavenly Father? This resting upon God's providence is the more to be pressed in this case, because nothing makes men more to misplace their confidence than riches. 'The rich man's wealth is his strong city,' Prov. x. 15.

(4) Our appetite or desire of riches must be moderate. Herein be of his mind who thus prayed, 'Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me,' Prov. xxx. 8. This is the main scope of the fourth petition, Matt. vi. 11. Be content, therefore, with that portion which God gives thee, and be persuaded it is best for thee. This lesson had Paul well learned, Phil. iv. 11. Contentedness and covetousness are directly opposite, as light and darkness. The apostle here in this text opposeth them.

(5) We must pray against covetousness, as he who said, 'Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness,' Ps. cxix. 36. We ought the rather to pray to God against it, because it is a hereditary disease, and in that respect the more hardly cured. It was one of Christ's greatest miracles to cure one that was born blind, John ix. 32.


7. Of Well-Using Abundance

In case God by his providence give abundance, as he gave to many of the patriarchs-to Job, David, Solomon, and others-great care must be taken about well-using the same. For that end let these rules following be observed. Some of them are negative, and some affirmative.

(1) Negative rules are such as these:

(a) 'Abuse not the world,' 1 Cor. vii. 31. By the world is meant the things of the world-all manner of earthly commodities. These are abused when they are esteemed above that for which they were given-when they are preferred before spiritual and heavenly things.
(b) 'Set not your heart on riches if they increase,' Ps. lxii. 10. Delight not too much in them.
(c) 'Trust not in uncertain riches,' 1 Tim. vi. 17. Do not so place thy confidence on them, as if happiness were to be found in them.
(d) 'Let not the rich man glory in his riches,' Jer. ix. 23, nor be puffed up by them. There is nothing in them to make a man proud of them.
(e) Let not thy wealth move thee to scorn the poor. This is it which an apostle taxeth in rich men; saying, 'Ye have despised the poor,' James ii. 6.
(f) Let them not occasion thee to oppress others. The foresaid apostle implieth that rich men are prone hereunto, where he saith, 'Do not the rich oppress you?' James ii. 6. The rich man that took his poor neighbour's lamb to entertain a traveller, oppressed him, 2 Sam. xiii. 4.

(2) Affirmative rules are such as these:

(a) 'Honour the Lord with thy substance,' Prov. iii. 9. So order the goods of this world which God giveth thee, as with them thou mayest maintain the service of God, and promote piety
(b) 'Be 'rich in good works,' i Tim. vi. 18. According to the abundance which God hath given thee, abound in works of charity. He that had five talents gained thereby five other talents, Mat. xxv. 20.
(c) 'Make friends of thy riches,' Luke xvi. 9. They are made friends when they are so used as they may be evidences, and thereby give testimony of our piety, charity, justice, and other like graces.
(d) Seriously and frequently meditate on the account that men are to give of using their wealth. We are not lords of our riches, but stewards; and a steward must give an account of his stewardship, Luke xvi. 2. That which the wise man saith to the young man, may be applied to a rich man, 'For all these things God will bring thee into judgment,' Eccles. xi. 9.
(e) Be ready to let go whatsoever God shall be pleased to take away. Of this mind was he who, when he had lost all that he had, thus said, 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord,' Job i. 21.
(f) Trust in the Lord. This advice doth the apostle give to rich men, 1 Tim. vi. 17; for this very end, to draw them from trusting in riches. He doth therefore thus infer the one upon the other, 'Trust not in uncertain riches, but in the living Lord.'


8. Of Examination of a Man's Self About Covetousness

Covetousness being such a sin, as hath been declared, in the nature, practice, and heinousness of it, it nearly concerns every Christian to consider how far it hath seized on him, and how guilty he stands thereof. This duty lieth on every one in these especial respects:

(1) Covetousness doth especially consist in the inward desire of a man, which is best known to himself. A man's desire is one of the things of a man which no man knoweth, 'save the spirit of man which is in him,' 1 Cor. ii. 11.

(2) It is so hereditary a disease, as no man is altogether free from it. It will in some degree or other be found in the best, if they thoroughly sift themselves. Certainly he found himself addicted thereto who thus prayed to God, 'Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness,' Ps. cxix. 36; yet he was 'a man after God's own heart,' Acts xiii. 22.

(3) It is so deceiving a sin, covering itself under the veil of prudence, providence, good husbandry, thriftiness, harmlessness, and sundry other presences, as if it be not thoroughly examined, it will hardly be discerned.

(4) It is so eating, fretting, and consuming a sin, as if it be not searched out, but suffered to lurk and grow, it may prove like the thorns which soak out the heart of the earth, and make the seed fruitless, Mat. xiii. 22. The heart of many that frequent the word 'goeth after their covetousness,' Ezek. xxxiii. 31. This covetousness in the heart of a professor may prove like the wild gourds that were put into the pot of pottage, 2 Kings iv. 39, 40; and like that accursed thing that was by Achan brought into the camp of the Israelites, Josh. vii. 11.

(5) Many, for want of thorough trying of themselves in this case, think better of themselves than there is cause. The Pharisees were covetous, yet they thought too highly of themselves, Luke xvi. 14,15, and xviii.


9. Of Rules to Find Out Covetousness

It is in vain for any to search after that which he knows not how to find out. God himself having exhorted Joshua and the elders of Israel to search out the accursed thing that was hid in the camp, gave him advice and direction how to do it, Josh. vii. 13, 14. I hold it meet, therefore, here to add a direction.

(1) Observe the inward wishes of thine heart. If they be especially for the things of this world, they argue a covetous disposition. Covetousness is styled 'the lust of the eye,' 1 John ii. 16; that is, an inward inordinate desire arising from the sight of such and such a thing, Josh. vii. 21. Many things may be seen which are not desired, but if desired, and that inordinately, there is covetousness.

(2) In things which differ, mark what is preferred. If earthly things be preferred before heavenly, temporal before spiritual, that disposition is covetous. Such was the disposition of those who are invited to the king's supper, and refused to go, Luke xiv. 18, &c.; and the disposition of the Gadarenes, Mark v. 17.

(3) In the means of getting, consider whether they be just and right, or no; for all unjust and undue ways of getting, arise from covetousness. A mind free from it will rest content with that portion which by the divine providence shall be allotted, Jer. xxii. 17, Micah ii. 12.

(4) Compare with the stint which thou first settest to thyself, the issue that followeth. If. upon the obtaining of the first desire, a man remain unsatisfied, and his desire be more and more enlarged, he hath a covetous heart. For example, a poor man thinks if he could get ten shillings a week, it would serve his turn; he hath it, but then he desireth ten shillings a day; he hath that also, yet is not satisfied; from shillings his desire ariseth to pounds, and yet is not satisfied. These are such of whom the prophet thus speaketh, 'Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth,' Isa. v. 8. Such a one is said to 'enlarge his desire as hell,' Hab. ii. 5.

(5) Well weigh the effects of thy desire of riches. If thoughts thereupon break thy sleep, and care thereabouts consume thy flesh, and labour and toil therein take up all thy time, and impair health and strength, that desire is immoderate-it is plain covetousness, Eccles. ii. 23, and v. 12. This argueth a greediness after 'filthy lucre,' as the apostle terms it, 1 Tim. iii. 3.

(6) Take notice of thy disposition in hoarding up and keeping wealth, and sparing to spend it; for covetousness consisteth as much (if not more) in keeping as in getting. The rich man in the parable herein especially manifested his covetousness, Luke xii. 19. The Lord, therefore, for avoiding covetousness, forbids from laying up treasures on earth, Mat. vi. 19. See Sec. 51

(7) Observe thy manner of spending. If it be too sparingly, niggardly, and basely, if under thy degree and means, if against health and strength in general, not affording what is needful thereunto; or against special occasions, not affording physic or other requisites in sickness, or help of surgery in case of wounds, sores, or other maladies; or against the charge that belongs unto thee, as wife, children, servants, kindred, and neighbours; or against the duty and due which thou owest to the poor, state, and church; or in what thou doest in any of the foresaid kinds, thou doest perforce so as otherwise thou wouldst not of it, surely this kind of spending savoureth rank of covetousness, Eccles. 4:18.


10. Of Over-Rash Censuring Others of Covetousness

Covetousness being a heinous sin, and exceedingly disgraceful to the profession of the true faith, we ought to be very tender about laying it to the charge of professors. It cannot be denied but that many professors are too guilty thereof: yet withal it cannot be denied but that many others are too rash in censuring professors. It may be that to lay covetousness to one's charge will not bear an action in our courts of justice, but in God's court of justice it may prove a matter of condemnation.

Men may more safely judge themselves hereabouts than others. For covetousness is an inward inordinate desire; and a man may better know the kind and qualification of his own desire than of others' 1 Cor. ii. 11.

The grounds which, ordinarily, men have of judging professors is suspicion or surmise, to which the apostle giveth this attribute, 'evil,' 1 Tim. vi. 4; for surmises are evil in their quality, and in their effects.

Ordinary surmises are such as these:

(1) Such a man is very industrious and painful in his calling; he riseth early; he sitteth up late.
Ans. It may be that a good conscience about employing and improving his talent to the best advantage he can, putteth him on to that diligence, and not covetousness.

(2) He lives not according to his estate, but much under it.
Ans. Thou mayest surmise his estate to be greater than it is. Dost thou know all his losses, all his debts, his manifold charges, and several ways of laying out

(3) He is not liberal to the poor.
Ans. He may be prudent in well ordering his charity; and conscionable in observing this rule of Christ, 'When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth,' Mat. vi. 3.

(4) He layeth up much.
Ans. Thou canst not tell what part of his estate he layeth up, nor to what ends. The apostle prescribeth it as a duty belonging to parents to lay up for their children, 2 Cor. xii. 14.


11. Of Contentedness. What It Is.

Contentedness is a satisfaction of the mind concerning the sufficiency and fitness of one's present condition.

This general matter of contentedness, a satisfaction of mind, doth not only put a distinguishing difference betwixt contentedness and covetousness, but also sheweth that they are diametrically contrary one to another: for a covetous mind is never satisfied with any estate: and a contented mind is never unsatisfied with any.

This satisfaction useth to accompany such things as God bestoweth on such as he taketh an especial care of. Such persons having long life are satisfied therewith. God with the blessing giveth satisfaction, Ps. xci. 16. 'The meek shall eat and be satisfied,' Ps. xxii. 26. God 'will satisfy the poor with bread,' Ps. cxxxii. 15. When God promiseth to send corn, wine, and oil as a blessing, it is added, 'ye shall be satisfied therewith,' Joel ii. 19, 26.

This satisfaction is said to be of the mind, to shew that it extends itself as far as covetousness doth; which is an inward inordinate desire of the mind. A contented person doth not only forbear outward indirect courses of getting more and more; but doth also restrain the motions of his mind or soul, from desiring more than God is willing to allot unto him.

The sufficiency mentioned in the description, hath not reference to any set quantity or measure which the contented person propounds to himself; but only to the wise providence of God, who doth give to every one of his what is sufficient for him: answerably a contented person so accounts his own estate, and is satisfied. She that made this answer, to him that would have spoken to the captain of the host for some reward to her, 'I dwell among mine own people,' was such a contented one, 2 Kings iv. 13.

This word fitness is added, to shew that contentedness extends itself not only to the things which are needful for man's livelihood, as food and rainment, 1 Tim. vi. 8, but also to the several estates s hereunto man is subject: as of peace and trouble, ease and pain, honour and dishonour, prosperity and adversity. Contentedness makes a man account that estate, be it joyous or grievous, whereunto God brings him, to be the fittest and seasonablest for him.

The present condition wherewith a contented mind is limited in this text, admits a double reference. One to the time past; wherein though his condition hath been better, yet he repineth not at the alteration thereof.

The other reference is to the time to come; wherein though he have never so great hope of bettering himself, yet for the present he remaineth content with his present condition.


12. Of the Grounds of Contentedness

The grounds of contentedness are such as follow:

(1) Knowledge of God's disposing providence; that he ordereth all things in heaven and earth, according to his own will, Ps. cxv. 3, and cxxxv. 6. Hence we may safely infer that our estate, whatsoever it be, great or mean, plentiful or scanty, quiet or troublesome, is ordered by God. 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away,' Job i. 21. 'I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things,' Isa. xiv. 7. Who would not, who should not, be content with that estate which God provideth for him? [This section continues from here.]


End.

[Book] Berlinski on Belief and Evidence

The Devil's Delusion (2009) 

David Berlinski

1. I have recently read David Berlinski's The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions (2009).

Berlinski is very erudite and his prose style is exquisite and a joy to read.

In this book, the Four Horsemen of New Atheism comes in for some biting criticisms.

(The Four Horsemen of New Atheism refers to Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett.)

One reason why Berlinski's criticisms are so biting is because he is not some fundamentalist Christian or Moslem bent on refuting the new atheists.

Berlinski is a self-proclaimed secular Jew (Berlinski 2009, xiii):

"At the beginning of his Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris writes that his fiercest and most 'disturbed' critics are Christians who are 'deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism.' It would seem that a good many of those intolerant critics have been sending Harris biblical verses supporting their intolerance. Now, I count myself among Harris's warmest detractors. When he remarks that he has been dumbstruck by Christian and Moslem intellectual commitments, I believe the word has met the man. But here it is, an inconvenient fact: I am a secular Jew. My religious education did not take. I can barely remember a word of Hebrew. I cannot pray. I have spent more years than I care to remember in studying mathematics and writing about the sciences. Yet the book that follows is in some sense a defense of religious thought and sentiment. Biblical verses are the least of it."

Berlinski's book makes many thought provoking points.

This blog post will consider only two of them:

(a) Clifford's Injunction is false.

(b) Theory determines evidence.

This post will end by quoting a section of Berlinski's book.


2. What is labelled as Clifford's Injunction is the claim that "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."

The quotation is from W.K. Clifford's 1877 essay "The Ethics of Belief".

On the surface, the Injunction seems reasonable and true; but it turns out that in many cases, it is unreasonable and false.

To head off a possible misunderstanding, please remember that the denial of "all are" is "some are not", not "none are".

The denial of Clifford's Injunction is the claim: It is right sometimes, somewhere, and for someone to believe something upon insufficient evidence.

The denial of Clifford's Injunction is not the claim: It is right always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

The denial of Clifford's Injunction does not legitimatize belief anarchy.

As to when it is right for someone somewhere to believe something upon insufficient evidence or even no evidence?

This must be considered on a case by case basis.

For a very readable argument on how the denial of Clifford's Injunction applies to belief in God, please see Alvin Plantinga's 1983 essay "Reason and Belief in God".


3. A standard format for writing a scientific report consists of four sections (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill):

(a) Introduction: states the hypothesis.

(b) Methods: details how the hypothesis is tested.

(c) Results: provides the raw data collected.

(d) Discussion: considers whether the data obtained support or refute the hypothesis.

The format of a scientific report suggests that data or evidence will determine whether a theory is true or false: Evidence determines theory.

But the converse of the slogan is also true: Theory determines evidence.

This converse slogan is true in the sense that what we will see, notice or consider as evidence also depends on our theory about the world.

Theory also determines evidence has been emphasized by contemporary philosophy of science at least since the Second World War.

The following quotation of Berlinski has a very nice explanation of it.


4. The following quotation is a section called "Evidence" of Chapter 3: Horses Do Not Fly of Berlinski's book (Berlinski 2009, 47-50):

Evidence

It is wrong, the nineteenth-century British mathematician W. K. Clifford affirmed, “always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” I am guessing that Clifford believed what he wrote, but what evidence he had for his belief, he did not say.

Something like Clifford’s injunction functions as the premise in a popular argument for the inexistence of God. If God exists, then his existence is a scientific claim, no different in kind from the claim that there is tungsten to be found in Bermuda. We cannot have one set of standards for tungsten and another for the Deity. If after scouring Bermuda for tungsten, we cannot find any of the stuff, then we give up on the claim. By parity of reasoning, if it is wrong to believe anything upon insufficient evidence, and if there is insufficient evidence for the existence of God, then it must be wrong to believe in his existence.

There remains the obvious question: By what standards might we determine that faith in science is reasonable, but that faith in God is not? It may well be that “religious faith,” as the philosopher Robert Todd Carroll has written, “is contrary to the sum of evidence,” but if religious faith is found wanting, it is reasonable to ask for a restatement of the rules by which “the sum of evidence” is computed. Like the Ten Commandments, they are difficult to obey but easy to forget. I have forgotten them already.

Perhaps this is because there are no such rules. The concept of sufficient evidence is infinitely elastic. It depends on context. Taste plays a role, and so does intuition, intellectual sensibility, a kind of feel for the shape of the subject, a desire to be provocative, a sense of responsibility, caution, experience, and much besides. Evidence in the court of public opinion is not evidence in a court of law. A community of Cistercian monks padding peacefully from their garden plots to their chapel would count as evidence matters that no physicist should care to judge. What a physicist counts as evidence is not what a mathematician generally accepts. Evidence in engineering has little to do with evidence in art, and while everyone can agree that it is wrong to go off half-baked, half-cocked, or half-right, what counts as being baked, cocked, or right is simply too variable to suggest a plausible general principle.

When a general principle is advanced, it collapses quickly into absurdity. Thus Sam Harris argues that “to believe that God exists is to believe that I stand in some relation to his existence such that his existence is itself the reason for my belief” (italics added). This sounds very much as if belief in God could only be justified if God were to call attention conspicuously to Himself, say by a dramatic waggling of the divine fingers.

If this is so, then by parity of reasoning again, one might argue that to believe that neutrinos have mass is to believe that I stand in some relationship to their mass such that their mass is itself the reason for my belief.

Just how are those neutrinos waggling their fingers?

A neutrino by itself cannot function as a reason for my belief. It is a subatomic particle, for heaven’s sake. What I believe is a proposition, and so an abstract entity—that neutrinos have mass. How could a subatomic particle enter into a relationship with the object of my belief? But neither can a neutrino be the cause of my belief. I have, after all, never seen a neutrino: not one of them has ever gotten me to believe in it. The neutrino, together with almost everything else, lies at the end of an immense inferential trail, a complicated set of judgments.

Believing as I do that neutrinos have mass—it is one of my oldest and most deeply held convictions—I believe what I do on the basis of the fundamental laws of physics and a congeries of computational schemes, algorithms, specialized programming languages, techniques for numerical integration, huge canned programs, computer graphics, interpolation methods, nifty shortcuts, and the best efforts by mathematicians and physicists to convert the data of various experiments into coherent patterns, artfully revealing symmetries and continuous narratives. The neutrino has nothing to do with it.

Within mathematical physics, the theory determines the evidence, and not the other way around. What sense could one make of the claim that top quarks exist in the absence of the Standard Model of particle physics? A thirteenth-century cleric unaccountably persuaded of their existence and babbling rapturously of quark confinement would have faced then the question that all religious believers now face: Show me the evidence. Lacking access to the very considerable apparatus needed to test theories in particle physics, it is a demand he could not have met.

In the face of experience, W. K. Clifford’s asseveration must be seen for what it is: a moral principle covering only the most artificial of cases.

The existence of God is not one of them.


References:

Berlinski, David. 2009. The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions. New York: Basic Books.

Chignell, Andrew. 2010. The Ethics of Belief. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-belief/
(Spring 2013 Edition).

Plantinga, Alvin. 1983. Reason and Belief in God. In Faith and Rationality: Reason and Belief in God, ed. Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff, 16-93. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.

The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [n.d.]. Scientific Reports.
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/scientific-reports/
(accessed 2014-05-10).

"New Atheism", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atheism
(accessed 2014-05-10).

End.

[Book] Library of Chinese Classics

Library of Chinese Classics

1. If you are looking for English translations of classical Chinese texts, the Library of Chinese Classics ("大中华文库") is probably the place to begin the search.

The Library of Chinese Classics is a project of the government of China.

The planning stage of this project began in 1994 and 110 titles from all areas of knowledge of the entire Chinese written corpus were selected for inclusion in the Library.

The areas of knowledge can be broadly divided into classics, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and technology.

The publishing of the titles involved 17 publishers in China under the auspices of the Foreign Languages Press of Beijing.

The first title was published in 1999.

Each volume in the Library contains 3 kinds of text:

(a) the text of the original Chinese,

(b) the text in modern Chinese,

(c) a foreign language translation.

As expected for a venture by the government of China, all the Chinese texts are in Simplified Chinese.

The volumes in the Library have an uniform layout.

The Library will use an existing translation if there is an adequate one; otherwise, the general procedure is to translate the original Chinese into modern Chinese and from the modern Chinese into English.

Each translation is revised 5 times: 3 times within the publishing house responsible for a particular title, once by the Academic Consulting Committee, and once by the Editorial Committee.

The Library is meant for the general reader and volumes in the Library do not contain any scholarly apparatus.

The foreign languages translation is in two overlapping phases:

(a) In the first phase, the Chinese titles are translated into English.

(b) In the second phase, the Chinese titles are translated into 7 other foreign languages: French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Korean.

This is a massive undertaking.

After nearly 20 years, the English translations are mostly done; but the other language translations are still ongoing.


2. Take for example the title Xunzi ("荀子").

The text of Xunzi is consisted of 32 "books" (equivalent to modern day chapters).

In the Library of Chinese Classics, these 32 books are in 2 volumes.

(a) The front cover of Xunzi:

(b) The title page of volume 1:

The English translation is an existing one by John Knoblock.

(The original English translation by John Knoblock is a critical edition with scholarly apparatus published by Stanford University Press in 3 volumes in 1988, 1990 and 1994.)

The modern Chinese translation is by Zhang Jue.

The publisher responsible for this particular title is the Hunan People's Publishing House under the auspices of the Foreign Languages Press.

(c) The contents of volume 1 in Chinese and English:

(d) The original Chinese text is on top, followed by a translation in modern Chinese on the bottom:

 

(e) The English translation is on the facing page:
 

3. Some titles from the Library of Chinese Classics:

• 300 Early Chinese Poems (206 BC - 618 AD) ("汉魏六朝诗三百首") (2 vols.) (2006)
• A Dream of Red Mansions ("红楼梦") (6 vols.) (1999)
• A Dream under the Southern Bough ("南柯记") (2006)
• A Record of the Buddhist Monasteries in Lu-Yang ("洛阳伽蓝记") (2007)
• Amazing Tales: Second Series ("二刻拍案惊奇") (4 vols.) (2008)
• Anthology of Tales from Records of the Taiping Era ("太平广记选") (2 vols.) (2007)
• Creation of the Gods ("封神演义") (4 vols.) (2000)
• Dragon-Carving and the Literary Mind ("文心凋龙") (2 vols.) (2003)
• Gems of Classical Chinese Poetry ("新编千家诗") (2006)
• Guanzi ("管子") (4 vols.) (2005)
• Huai Nan Zi ("淮南子") (3 vols.) (2010)
• Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns ("四元玉鉴") (2 vols.) (2006)
• Journey to the West ("西游记") (6 vols.) (2000)
• Laozi ("老子") (1999)
• Liezi ("列子") (2005)
• Mencius ("孟子") (1999)
• Mozi ("墨子") (2 vols.) (2006)
• Outlaws of the Marsh ("水浒传") (5 vols.) (1999)
• Records on the Warring States Period ("战国策") (3 vols.) (2008)
• Selected Chinese Stories of the Song and Ming Dynasties ("宋明评话选") (2 vols.) (2007)
• Selected Poems of Li Bai ("李白诗选") (2007)
• Selected Poems of Su Shi ("苏轼诗词选") (2007)
• Selected Tales of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties Periods ("汉魏六朝小说选") (2006)
• Selected Tang Dynasty Stories ("唐代传奇选") (2007)
• Selections from Records of the Historian ("史记选") (3 vols.) (2008)
• Selections from Records of the Listener ("夷坚志选") (2009)
• Selections from Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio ("聊斋志异选") (4 vols.) (2007)
• Six Records of a Floating Life ("浮生六记") (2006)
• Sunzi: The Art of War; Sun Bin: The Art of War ("孙子兵法，孙膑兵法") (1999)
• Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber (Jingui Yaolue) ("金匮要略") (2007)
• Taibai Yinjing ("太白阴经") (2007)
• Tending the Roots of Wisdom ("菜根谭") (2003)
• The Analects, 2nd Edition ("论语" 第2版) (2008)
• The Book of Lord Shang ("商君书") (2006)
• The Book of Poetry ("诗经") (2 vols.) (2008)
• The Classified Characters and Political Abilities ("人物志") (2007)
• The Complete Works of Tao Yuanming ("陶渊明集") (2003)
• The Handan Dream ("邯郸记") (2003)
• The Peony Pavilion ("牡丹亭") (2 vols.) (2000)
• The Poems of Ruan Ji ("阮籍诗选") (2006)
• The Scholars ("儒林外史") (3 vols.) (1999)
• The Six Strategies ("六韬") (2005)
• The Spring and Autumn of Lu Buwei ("吕氏春秋") (3 vols.) (2005)
• The Tale of Heroic Sons and Daughters ("儿女英雄传") (2 vols.) (2003)
• The Three Strategies of Huang Shigong; Questions and Replies Between Tang Taizong and Li Weigong ("黄石公三略，唐太宗李卫公问对") (2005)
• The Verse of Chu ("楚辞") (2006)
• The Zhou Book of Change ("周易") (2 vols.) (2008)
• Three Kingdoms ("三国演义") (5 vols.) (2000)
• Treatise on Febrile Caused by Cold ("伤寒论") (2007)
• Wu Zi; The Method of the Sima; Wei Liao Zi ("吴子，司马法，尉缭子") (2005)
• Xunzi ("荀子") (2 vols.) (1999)
• Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine: Plain Conversation ("黄帝内经：素问") (3 vols.) (2005)
• Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine: Spiritual Pivot ("黄帝内经：灵枢") (3 vols.) (2008)
• Yellow Emperor's Four Canons ("黄帝四经") (2006)

References:

"大中华文库", Baidu,
http://baike.baidu.com/view/763638.htm
(accessed 2013-10-22).

"《大中华文库》汉英对照版110种即将出齐", China Reading Weekly,
http://epaper.gmw.cn/zhdsb/html/2011-03/23/nw.D110000zhdsb_20110323_7-01.htm
(accessed 2013-10-22).

"向世界说明中国 汉英对照《大中华文库》全球首发", China.org.cn,
http://www.china.com.cn/news/txt/2007-01/12/content_7645526.htm
(accessed 2013-10-22).

Knoblock, John, and Zhang Jue, trans. 1999. 《荀子 I》 [Xunzi I]. Library of Chinese Classics, ed. Yang Muzhi. Changsha, Hunan: Hunan People's Publishing House and Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.

Knoblock, John, and Zhang Jue, trans. 1999. 《荀子 II》 [Xunzi II]. Library of Chinese Classics, ed. Yang Muzhi. Changsha, Hunan: Hunan People's Publishing House and Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.

End.

[Book] A Simple Listing of Chinese Chronology (in Chinese)

A Simple Listing of Chinese Chronology (2002)

Contents (1)

 Contents (2)

1. This is a book recommendation.

Traditional Chinese historians recorded dates by a combination of:

(1) dynastic name, an emperor’s assumed name (or aliases), the emperor's era name and year of the era, and

(2) years into a Sexagenary Cycle (or Stems-and-Branches).

To those of us who read a little bit of Chinese history but have not memorize the hundreds of Chinese emperors' names and their era names, A Simple Listing of Chinese Chronology ("中國歷史年代簡表") is a godsend.

This handy reference is just a listing of Chinese chronology by:

(1) Year in CE (Common Era) or BCE (Before Common Era) (Preface by a '-' sign in the book).

(2) Year in the Sexagenary Cycle.

(3) Emperor's name and assumed name.

(4) Emperor's era name and year of the era.

And it is an invaluable companion to reading traditional Chinese history.


2. One very common complaint by students in reading Chinese history is the very complicated Chinese chronology system.

But not so with Western calendar.

Western cultures, influenced by the Bible and Christianity, have a linear view of history.

So they record their history in a linear chronological fashion.

The common designations used to record history in western cultures are Anno Domini (AD or A.D.), which is Latin for "In the year of the Lord", and Before Christ (BC or B.C.). ("Anno Domini", Wikipedia.)

The secular counterparts of the two designations are Common Era (CE) and Before Common Era (BCE).

So western chronology can be enumerated simply by the positive integers:
...
year 3 BC (or BCE)
year 2 BC (or BCE)
year 1 BC (or BCE)
year 1 AD (or CE)
year 2 AD (or CE)
year 3 AD (or CE)
...

The advantages of this chronological system are that it is simple, linear ordered, unique and easy to count the years.

Reading history using this system, one always has a sense of one's absolute and relative position in time and history.


3. Not so with the traditional Chinese historical recording system.

Traditional Chinese historians recorded dates by a combination of:

(1) Dynastic name, an emperor’s assumed name (or aliases), the emperor's era name and year of the era, and

(2) Years into a Sexagenary Cycle (or Stems-and-Branches).

The four elements system is a linear system while the Sexagenary Cycle is a cyclical system that repeats the counting in 60 years cycle.

For the purpose of chronology, the Sexagenary Cycle is auxiliary and is mainly recorded because of its cultural significance; so I will say no more about it.

The main mean of determining chronology in Chinese history is by giving the four elements of:

(a) a dynastic name,

(b) an emperor’s assumed name (or aliases),

(c) the emperor's era name, and

(d) the year of the era.

By recording these four elements, a unique year is determined.

The weaknesses of this system are that there are many names to memorize and there are many complications.

As to memory work, to know every year in Chinese history corresponding to the Western calendar, a student has to memorize:

(a) 83 dynastic names ("中国皇帝", Wikipedia),

(b) 557 emperor's names just between Qin Dynasty and Qing Dynasty ("Emperor of China", Wikipedia),

(c) and for most emperors, between 1 to 5 era's name (some as much as 18 and 21),

(d) and the irregular length of each era of each emperor.

And there are many complications to this system of recording.

The complications resulted in one Western calendar year may have more than one reckoning in the Chinese four elements system.


4. A single year in the Western calendar can have two reckonings by the Chinese recording system because one emperor died and another emperor enthroned in the same year.

The year 827 CE has two reckonings in the Chinese recording system because of the death of an emperor.

 

page 124

(a) 827 CE = 唐敬宗李湛寶曆三年.

Sexagenary cycle: 丁未

Dynastic name:  唐

Emperor's assumed name: 敬宗

Emperor's family name: 李

Emperor's given name: 湛

Emperor's era name: 寶曆

Year of the era: 三年 (third year)

(b) 827 CE = 唐文宗李昂大和元年.

Sexagenary cycle: 丁未

Dynastic name:  唐

Emperor's assumed name: 文宗

Emperor's family name: 李

Emperor's given name: 昂

Emperor's era name: 大和

Year of the era: 元年 (first year)

Traditional Chinese histories did not refer to an emperor's family and given name.

A Simple Listing of Chinese Chronology gave that information only for our reference.

In traditional Chinese culture, it was considered rude and impolite to call a person by his family and given name; in the case of an emperor, it was an offence.


5. A single year in the Western calendar can have more than one reckoning in the Chinese recording system because an emperor might decree a new era in that year.

The year 692 CE has three reckonings in the Chinese recording system because Empress Wu Zetian changed her era name twice in that year.

 

page 116

(a) 692 CE = 周武則天天授三年.

Sexagenary cycle: 壬辰

Dynastic name:  周

Empress’s assumed name: 則天

Empress’s family name: 武

Empress’s era name: 天授

Year of the era: 三年 (third year)

(b) 692 CE = 周武則天如意元年.

Sexagenary cycle: 壬辰

Dynastic name:  周

Empress’s assumed name: 則天

Empress’s family name: 武

Empress’s era name: 如意

Year of the era: 元年 (first year)

(c) 692 CE = 周武則天長壽元年.

Sexagenary cycle: 壬辰

Dynastic name:  周

Empress’s assumed name: 則天

Empress’s family name: 武

Empress’s era name: 長壽

Year of the era: 元年 (first year)

Although there were many powerful women in Chinese history, Empress Wu Zetian had the distinct honor of being the only Empress in Chinese history.

Not only was Empress Wu Zetian an empress of her husband's dynasty ("Tang"), she was also the only empress of a dynasty she founded ("Zhou").

The impossible situation she faced was that if she passed her dynasty to her sons, then the dynasty will revert back as Tang.

But if she passed her dynasty to her nephews the Wu's, then they were not her direct descendants.

What happened was that there was a palace coup in Empress Wu Zetian's old age and the dynasty reverted back to Tang.


6. A single year in the Western calendar can have more than one reckoning in the Chinese recording system because China was divided and there were more than one claimant as emperor.

The year 222 CE has three reckonings in the Chinese recording system because it was the Three Kingdoms period in China and there were three claimants as Emperor.

 

page 77

(a) 222 CE = 魏文帝曹丕黃初三年.

Sexagenary cycle: 壬寅

Dynastic name:  魏

Emperor's assumed name: 文帝

Emperor's family name: 曹

Emperor's given name: 丕

Emperor's era name: 黃初

Year of the era: 三年 (third year)

(b) 222 CE = 蜀漢昭烈帝劉備章武二年.

Sexagenary cycle: 壬寅

Dynastic name:  蜀漢

Emperor's assumed name: 昭烈帝

Emperor's family name: 劉

Emperor's given name: 備

Emperor's era name: 章武

Year of the era: 二年 (second year)

(c) 222 CE = 吳大帝孫權黃武元年.

Sexagenary cycle: 壬寅

Dynastic name:  吳

Emperor's assumed name: 大帝

Emperor's family name: 孫

Emperor's given name: 權

Emperor's era name: 黃武

Year of the era: 元年 (first year)


7. There are many more complications to the Chinese recording system, but the three samples above should give you a taste of the difficulties a student of Chinese history faces.

I have no doubt that some professional Chinese historians have memorized all 83 dynastic names, 557 emperors' names, the hundreds of era names and the length of each era.

But for us occasional dabbler in Chinese history, A Simple Listing of Chinese Chronology is a godsend.


8. Book details in Traditional Chinese:

書名:        中國歷史年代簡表

版別:        第二次修訂版

作者名稱:  文物出版社編輯部

出版社:     三聯書店(香港)有限公司

出版日期:  2002 (香港第一版)

ISBN:      962-04-2180-9

語言:        繁體中文版

頁數:        244頁

售價:        HK$33.00


9. Names, Words and Phrases

Dynastic name (Traditional Chinese: 朝代名; Simplified Chinese: 朝代名).

Emperor's assumed name (Traditional: 帝王稱號; Simplified: 帝王称号).

Emperor's era name (Traditional: 帝王年號; Simplified: 帝王年号).

Qin Dynasty (Traditional: 秦朝; Simplified: 秦朝).

Qing Dynasty (Traditional: 清朝; Simplified: 清朝).

Sexagenary Cycle (Traditional: 六十花甲; Simplified: 六十花甲).

Stems-and-Branches (Traditional: 干支; Simplified: 干支).

Tang Dynasty (Traditional: 唐朝; Simplified: 唐朝).

Wu Zetian (Traditional: 武則天; Simplified: 武则天).

Zhou (Traditional: 周; Simplified: 周).


References:

"Anno Domini", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Domini
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"Chinese era name", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_era_name
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"Emperor of China", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_China
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"Sexagenary cycle", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagenary_cycle
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"Wu Zetian", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"中国皇帝", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E7%9A%87%E5%B8%9D
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"干支", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%B2%E6%94%AF
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"年號", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E5%B9%B4%E8%99%9F
(accessed 2012-08-24).

"武则天", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E5%88%99%E5%A4%A9
(accessed 2012-08-24).

End.