On origins of Chinese metaphysics: Terminological clarifications

Abstract

Researchers cannot ignore metaphysics, as an attribute and integral characteristic of European philosophy, as well as an indispensable part of any other philosophical tradition. The term ‘metaphysics,’ due to its undoubtable importance, could not avoid subsequent interpretations in non-European philosophical traditions. Moreover, these interpretations are of great interest due to their ability to highlight the philosophical specificity of the traditions that have produced them. The article deals with the initial philosophical meaning of the phrase from ‘Xi Ci Zhuan,’ commentary to ‘The Book of Changes,’ which became a prototype for the concept of 形而上學 (Chinese xin er shang xue, Japanese kei ji jo gaku). This concept was invented by the Japanese philosopher Inoue Tetsujiro on the basis of a phrase from ‘Xi Ci Zhuan’ to translate the term ‘metaphysics’ into Eastern languages (first into Japanese, then into Chinese). This article discusses the hieroglyphic etymology and semantic fields of the Chinese philosophical terms dao (道), xing (形) and qi (器) that constitute this phrase. The authors indicate three main points of view on the interpretation of the phrase from ‘Xi Ci Zhuan’ — eidetic, technomorphist, and empiric. Based on the assumption of the greater relevance of the empirical point of view, they reconstruct the meaning of this phrase that defines the semantics of the terms dao (道), xing (形) and qi (器) used in it.

Keywords:

Chinese Philosophy, Metaphysics, The Book of Changes, Xi Ci Zhuan, Dao, Etymology of Chinese Characters