Philosophy of ancient India and ancient China. Similarities and differences between Chinese and Indian philosophy

The main stages in the development of ancient philosophy:

The first forms of philosophical thinking began to appear about 2500 years ago in India, China, Egypt, Babylon, Greece and Rome. Philosophy replaced the religious and mythological picture of the world and strove for a rational understanding of the surrounding reality and the person in it.

Philosophy Ancient China characterized by the following specific features: autochthonous (appearance on one's own cultural soil); originality (lack of influence of foreign ideas); traditional (existence for thousands of years without major changes); high social status of philosophy; attention to state and socio-political life; the great role of state and family-tribal values ​​(the divine nature of the origin of the emperor's power).

The ancient Chinese sages comprehended all the phenomena of life in the circular dynamics of the alternation of activity and passivity, folding and unfolding, the interaction of male and female principles, light and shadow - "yin" and "yang" in a rhythm that forms the basis of the dynamic harmony of the world. This “natural rhythm” was called Tao (“way”) - the supreme law and the constructive principle of the universe. It was believed that Heaven is a world of eternal virtues, containing all the past, present and future of the Celestial Empire (the world where a person lives).

VII - III centuries. BC. - the heyday and rivalry of the philosophical schools of Confucianism, Taoism, Mohists, Legists and followers of the natural philosophical concept of "yin-yang". The most important were Taoism and Confucianism, which gave rise to two types of philosophizing: the perfect wisdom of Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, with his method of non-action and silence, the principles of natural simplicity and asceticism, and the Confucian ideal of a noble person, oriented in his life to humanity and "li" (rules, norms of the hostel). But they are united by their condemnation of the collapse of blood relations, the desire for harmony in the Celestial Empire.

Confucius (551-479 BC) created an original ethical and political system of ideas of self-education and universal rules of morality. He left a wide and indelible mark on the spiritual development of an entire cultural region. Moreover, his social and moral ideals subsequently became the subject of increased attention both in the West and in Russia.

Confucius wanted to convince a person that his salvation lies in his own self-improvement, in the organization and management of social life. He considered himself only a translator of tribal traditions. He focused all his attention on human relationships. In order to make morality the "house" of one's individual existence, one must "enter" the past of one's people. In the process of learning and familiarizing with the past, a person learns the truth. Self-education begins with the moment of “containment” by each of himself and respect for the other. Confucius said: "Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you."

The ideal ruler, according to Confucius, should be fair, strive for good, then the people will follow him, like "... grass bends after the wind." According to Confucius, in the place of the sovereign should be a person who is supposed to rule from birth. The ruler should be such that "...those who are close were glad, and those who were far away came."

We can also come across thoughts about an ideal state: “If wealth is distributed evenly, then there will be no poor, if harmony is established in the country, then the population will not seem small. If the people are in a state of rest, then the state will not face any danger. But the most important thing, according to Confucius, is that the people must believe in their "managers, otherwise the state will not stand."

Later, Confucianism absorbed the cosmological ideas of Taoism, we go of Buddhism, and from the XIV century. it becomes the state religion in China.

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Philosophy Dr.India.

In the Vedas and Upanishads (the first sacred books of India), along with religious ideas, there are speculative ideas about a single and verbose world order, an integral spiritual substance, an individual soul, the rebirth of souls (immortality), according to the law of retribution (Karma)

Religious and philosophical teachings of that time received mainly ethical orientation. Buddhism, which later became a world religion, gained the greatest fame. The main idea of ​​Buddhism: liberation from suffering through nirvana. Opposition to Buddhism was the Charvak school. The philosophers of this school believed that the only reality is matter. Everything in the world is made up of four elements. The goal of human life is enjoyment, not the renunciation of desires.

Philosophy of China.

Confucianism was the most widespread philosophy, the founder was Confucius. It was an ethical-political doctrine, the main principles of which were considered to be the following:

Reciprocity,

philanthropy,

Restraint and caution in actions.

He also opposed excessive violence.

At the same time, Laozi's doctrine of the sacred Tao became widespread. All things, according to this teaching, are born and die due to their own path (tao). A person must follow natural laws, give up philosophizing. Laozi rejected the ethical principles of Confucius, calling for humility, compassion and ignorance.

In Confucianism, as in Buddhism, any uniqueness of a person was seen as evil. The main thing was to discover the impersonal absolute.

Features and main stages of the philosophy of Ancient Greece.

The philosophy of ancient Greece reflected the originality of the social system in which it arose. It was the path from mythology, mythological consciousness to the elements of the first scientific knowledge. Ancient Greek philosophers became famous for their ability to create short wise sayings. Classical Greek philosophy has had a huge impact on world culture. This philosophy is mainly associated with the names of three people: Socrates, his student Plato, and in turn Plato's student - Aristotle. The contribution of Socrates is mainly related to his method, which consisted in presenting a philosophical question in the form of a dialogue between two philosophers who initially disagree with each other, one of whom, after exhausting the arguments against, agrees with his opponent. The Socratic method was a prelude to a formal critical analysis of another philosophical concept and was used by Plato. The main merit of Plato lies in his theory of ideas. In the theory of ideas, Plato contrasts material objects with the ideal "forms" or "ideas" of these objects that exist somewhere in the sublime world. In Plato's philosophy, material objects are only flawed similarities of ideal forms sent down from above. Thus, Plato formed the most important direction in philosophy, which would later be called idealism ...

Aristotle systematized the philosophical knowledge accumulated in Greece in a new form, which laid the standards for scientific literature. His works included a consistent presentation of logic, metaphysics, ethics, rhetoric, as well as Greek natural philosophy: cosmology, physics, zoology, etc. Aristotle's works were the quintessence of Greek philosophy that appeared at the decline of ancient Greek civilization, and became the standard in some areas of knowledge for centuries, in some - for millennia. Aristotle coined related terminology. In parallel with the systematization of the material, Aristotle outlined his own philosophical paradigm, expressed, in particular, in the doctrine of the four causes and the theory of universals, which differed from Plato's philosophy in greater attachment to the material world. Aristotle believed that knowledge can be obtained through observation and experience, and Plato, following Socrates, believed that all knowledge already exists, and a person “remembers” it, and does not acquire it.

Stoicism, an ethical concept similar to Chinese Taoism, stood out among the new currents of this period. Finally, another important trend of this period was Neoplatonism. The well-known philosopher of this period, the ideologist of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (3rd century AD), objected to the anthropomorphism of God, arguing that in this way God, who should be omnipotent, would have the limits of possibilities as a result of human likeness. As a consequence, in Neoplatonism there is a rapprochement between the monotheistic almighty god and the world of ideas or forms of Plato, which made possible the partial integration of Plato's ideas into Christianity and other monotheistic religions.

Socrates and the Sophists.

Sophist - (Greek) connoisseur, master, sage. For them, it was not the search for truth that was important, but the development of a theory of eloquence and argument. Plato wrote that in the courts the truth is not sought, only persuasiveness is needed.
The Sophists did not represent a single group either in terms of socio-political orientation, or in relation to the previous ancient Greek philosophy, or in terms of their own philosophical ideas. Some common features of the philosophy of S. can be identified - the movement of philosophical interests from the sphere of natural philosophy into the field of ethics, politics, and the theory of knowledge.
Gorgias (c. 483-375 BC) in his work “On Nature” proves three propositions: that nothing exists, and if something exists, then it is inexpressible and inexplicable. As a result, he came to the conclusion that nothing can be said with certainty.
Aristotle wrote: “Gorgias correctly said that the seriousness of opponents should be killed with a joke, and a joke with seriousness.”

Philosophy of Socrates.
The invaluable merit of Socrates is that in his practice dialogue has become the main method of finding the truth. His anti-dogmatism was expressed in the rejection of claims to the possession of reliable knowledge. Socrates also denied that chaotic subjectivity of the sophists, which turned a person into something random, single, optional even for himself. He approached everything with irony. Socrates used the so-called midwifery art, called maieutics - the art of defining concepts through induction. With the help of skillfully asked questions, he singled out false definitions and found the correct ones. Socrates first began to use inductive proofs and give general definitions of concepts. Socrates became famous as one of the founders of dialectics in the sense of finding the truth through conversations and disputes. The core of his philosophy is man, his essence, the internal contradictions of his soul. Thanks to this, knowledge moves from the philosophical doubt “I know that I know nothing” to the birth of truth through self-knowledge. Socrates erected his philosophical principle - the saying of the Delphic oracle “Know thyself!”, since. I saw that the person is “not empty”. The Sophists neglected truth, but Socrates made it his lover.

5. Philosophy of Ancient India and Ancient China (Confucianism and Taoism).

Philosophical Ideas in Ancient India

Philosophical ideas in Ancient India begin to take shape around the 2nd millennium BC. In our time, they became known thanks to ancient Indian literary monuments under the general name “Vedas”, literally meaning knowledge, knowledge. “ Vedas" represent they are a kind of hymns, prayers, chants, spells, etc. They were written approximately in the second millennium BC. e. in Sanskrit. In the "Vedas" for the first time an attempt is made to approach the philosophical interpretation of the human environment. Although they contain a semi-superstitious, semi-mythical, semi-religious explanation of the world around man, nevertheless they are considered as philosophical, and more precisely, pre-philosophical, pre-philosophical sources.

Philosophical works, corresponding to our ideas about the nature of the formulation of problems, and the form of presentation of the material and their solution, are “ Upanishads", which literally means to sit at the teacher's feet and receive instruction. They appeared approximately in the 9th-6th centuries BC and in form, as a rule, they represented a dialogue between a sage and his student or with a person seeking the truth and subsequently becoming his student.

In the Upanishads, the leading role in explaining the root cause and fundamental principle of the phenomena of the world, that is, the habitat, is assigned to the spiritual principle, which is denoted by the concept of “brahman” or “atman”. Noting the presence of an attempt to a certain extent natural-philosophical explanation of the root cause and fundamental principle of the phenomena of the world and the essence of man, it should be noted that the authors of the "Upanishads" still assigned the leading role to the spiritual principle - "brahman" and "atman". In most texts of the Upanishads, “brahman” and “atman” are interpreted as a spiritual absolute, the incorporeal root cause of nature and man. Here is how it is said in the Upanishads: “19. Brahman arose first of the gods, the creator of everything, the keeper of the world.

The idea of ​​the identity of the spiritual essence of the subject (man) and the object (nature) runs like a red thread through all the Upanishads, which is reflected in the famous saying: “You are that”, or “You are one with that”.

The "Upanishads" and the ideas set forth in them do not contain a logically consistent and holistic concept. With the general predominance of the explanation of the world as spiritual and incorporeal, they also present other judgments and ideas and, in particular, attempts are made to explain the natural philosophical explanation of the root cause and fundamental principle of the phenomenon of the world and the essence of man.

Cognition and acquired knowledge are divided in the Upanishads into two levels: lower and higher. At the lowest level, only the surrounding reality can be known. This knowledge cannot be true, since its content is fragmentary, incomplete. Cognition of the truth, that is, the spiritual absolute, is possible only through the highest level of knowledge, which is acquired by a person through mystical intuition, the latter, in turn, is formed largely due to yoga exercises.

Thus, the thinkers of ancient India noted the complexity of the structure of the human psyche and distinguished in it such elements, as consciousness, will, memory, breath, irritation, calm e, etc. Their interconnection and mutual influence are emphasized.

Paying considerable attention to ethical problems, the authors of the Upanishads actually call for passive-contemplative behavior and attitude towards the surrounding world, considering the highest bliss for a person to be completely estranged from all worldly concerns. To the highest bliss they refer not to sensual pleasures, but to a blissful, calm state of mind. Incidentally, it is in The Upanishads for the first time pose the problem of the transmigration of souls (samsara) and evaluation of past actions (karma), which later developed in religious beliefs.

2. Philosophical thought in ancient China

The most prominent philosophers of Ancient China, who largely determined its problems and development for centuries to come, are Laozi (the second half of the 6th - the first half of the 5th century BC) and Confucius (Kung Fu Tzu, 551–479 BC. ).

Lao Tzu and his writings laid the foundations of Taoism, the first philosophical system of Ancient China, which received a long life and has not lost its significance today. The philosophical views of Laozi are contradictory. This should not be surprising, they could not be otherwise. In that era, the process of formation of Chinese philosophy was going on, and every great thinker, and Laozi was such, could not but reflect in his teaching the inconsistency of the world around him.

Central to Taoism is the concept of Tao. which constantly, and not once, appears, is born at any point in the Universe. However, the interpretation of its content is ambiguous. On the one hand, “dao” means the natural path of all things, independent of God or people, and is an expression of the universal law of movement and change in the world. In accordance with this approach, all phenomena and things, being in a state of development and change, reach a certain level, after which they gradually turn into their opposite. At the same time, development is interpreted in a peculiar way: it does not go along an ascending line, but is carried out in a circle.

On the other hand, “dao” is an eternal, unchanging, unknowable principle that does not have any form, and is not perceived by the human senses. "Tao" acts as an intangible spiritual basis of all things and phenomena of nature, including man.

Laozi and his followers are convinced of the need for knowledge and note its enormous role in human life.. However, their ideal of knowledge, their understanding of knowledge differ in originality. This is, as a rule, contemplative knowledge, that is, a statement, fixation of things, phenomena and processes occurring in the world. In particular, this finds its confirmation in the recognition that “Since everything that exists changes by itself, we can only contemplate its return (to the root). Although things (in the world) are complex and varied, yet they all flourish and return to their root. I call the return to the former root peace, and I call peace the return to the essence. I call the return to essence constancy. Knowing permanence is called achieving clarity, and not knowing permanence leads to confusion and trouble. He who knows permanence becomes perfect.

But what ideas are expressed about the social structure of society and its management. So, characterizing the style of government, and indirectly this implies forms of government, the ancient Chinese thinker considers the best ruler of the one about which the people know only that he exists. Somewhat worse are those rulers whom the people love and exalt. Even worse are those rulers whom the people fear, and worse than all those rulers whom the people despise. It is said about the method, the style of public administration, that when the government is calm, people become simple-hearted. When the government is active, people become unhappy. And as a kind of recommendation and advice, rulers are invited not to crowd people's homes, not to despise their lives. Whoever does not despise the common people will not be despised by them. Therefore, a wise man, knowing himself, is not imbued with pride. He loves himself, but he does not exalt himself.

The further formation and development of ancient Chinese philosophy is associated with the activity confucius. The formation of Confucius as a thinker was largely facilitated by his acquaintance with ancient Chinese manuscripts: “The Book of Songs” (“Shits-zing”), “Books of Historical Traditions” (“Shujing”). He put them in proper order, edited them and made them available to the general public. The great popularity of Confucius for many centuries to come was brought by substantial and numerous comments made by him to the "Book of Changes".

The basic concepts of Confucianism, which form the foundation of this teaching, are “jen” (philanthropy, humanity) and “whether”. “Ren” acts both as the foundation of the ethical-political doctrine and as its ultimate goal. The basic principle of "jen": "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to people." "Lee"(reverence, community norms, ceremonial, social regulations) includes a wide range of rules governing, in essence, all spheres of public life, ranging from the family and including state relations, as well as relations within society - between individuals and various social groups. Moral principles, social relations, problems of public administration are the main topics in the teachings of Confucius.. Confucius considers moral behavior, for example, of a son who respectfully observes his actions during the life of his father, and after death follows the example of his actions and does not change the rules established by the parent for three years. To the question of how to control people and how to make common people obey, Confucius answers: If you instruct people with the help of moral requirements and establish a rule of behavior in accordance with “li”, then people will not only be ashamed of bad deeds, but will sincerely return to righteousness. path.

As regards comprehension and knowledge of the surrounding world, Confucius basically repeats the ideas expressed by his predecessors, and in particular, Laozi, even yielding to him in some ways. So, the surrounding world, the nature of Confucius, in essence, narrows and limits only the celestial sphere. An essential element of nature for him is fate, as something innately predetermining the essence and future of man. So, he says: “What can be said about the sky? The change of the four seasons, the birth of all things.” It is said about fate: “Everything is originally predetermined by fate, and here nothing can be added or subtracted. Poverty and wealth, reward and punishment, happiness and unhappiness have their root, which the power of human wisdom cannot create.” Analyzing the nature of human knowledge and the possibilities of cognition, Confucius believes that by nature people are similar to each other. Only the highest wisdom and extreme stupidity are unchanging. People begin to differ from each other due to habits and upbringing. As for the levels of knowledge, he makes the following gradation: “Higher knowledge is innate knowledge. Below is the knowledge acquired by teaching. Even lower is the knowledge acquired as a result of overcoming difficulties.

Philosophy of Ancient China - the most important briefly. Confucianism briefly and Taoism. This is another topic from a series of articles on philosophy. In a previous post, we reviewed together. Now let's turn to ancient Chinese philosophy.

Philosophy in China began to develop in the fifth century BC, when society began to stratify along economic lines and a class of wealthy city dwellers and an extremely poor class of village dwellers arose. As well as a class of officials who own not only money, but also land.

The philosophy of Ancient China is based on the principle of the trinity of the Universe represented by Earth, Sky and Man. The Universe is an energy ("Ci"), divided into the feminine and the masculine - yin and yang.

The philosophy of ancient China has a mythological-religious origin in the same way as the philosophy of ancient India. Its main characters were spirits and gods. The world was understood as the interaction of 2 principles - male and female.

It was believed that at the moment of creation the Universe was a chaos and there was no division into Earth and Sky. Chaos was ordered and divided into Earth and Sky by two born spirits - yin (the patron of the Earth) and yang (the patron of Heaven).

4 Concepts of Chinese Philosophical Thinking

• Holism- is expressed in the harmony of man with the world.
• Intuitiveness- the earthly essence can be known only through intuitive insight.
• Symbolism- the use of images as tools for thinking.
• Tiyan- the fullness of the macrocosm can be comprehended only by emotional experience, moral awareness, volitional impulses.

Confucianism

Confucianism - the main ideas briefly. This philosophical school was created by Confucius, who lived in the 6th-5th centuries BC. During this period, China was torn apart by turmoil and the struggle for power between senior officials and the emperor. The country was plunged into chaos and civil strife.

This philosophical direction reflected the idea of ​​changing chaos and ensuring order and prosperity in society. Confucius believed that the main occupation of a person in life should be the pursuit of harmony and observance of moral rules.

The main part of the philosophy of Confucianism is considered human life. It is necessary to educate a person and only then do everything else. It is necessary to devote a lot of time to the soul of people, and as a result of such education, the whole society and political life will be in harmonious interaction with each other and there will be neither chaos nor wars.

Taoism

Taoism is considered one of the most important philosophies in China. Its founder is Lao Tzu. According to the philosophy of Taoism, Tao is the law of nature that governs everything and everyone, from one person to all things. A person, if he wants to be happy, must follow this path and be in harmony with the entire Universe. If everyone observes the principle of the Tao, it will lead to freedom and prosperity.

The basic idea of ​​Taoism (basic category) is non-action. If a person observes the Tao, then he can completely follow non-action. Lao denied the effort of one person and society in relation to nature, since this only leads to chaos and an increase in tension in the world.

If someone wants to rule the world, then he will inevitably lose and doom himself to defeat and oblivion. That is why non-action should serve as the most important principle of life, as soon as it is able to give freedom and happiness to a person.

Legalism

Xun Tzu is considered its founder. According to his ideas, ethics is needed in order to keep everything bad that is in human essence under control. His follower Han-Fei went further and argued that the basis of everything should be a totalitarian political philosophy, which is based on the main principle - a person is an evil being and seeks to benefit everywhere and avoid punishment before the law. In legalism, the most important idea was the idea of ​​order, which should determine the social order. There is nothing above it.

Moism

Its founder Mozi (470-390 BC). He believed that the most basic should be the idea of ​​love and equality of all living things. According to his beliefs, people need to be told which traditions are the best. It is necessary to strive for the good of everyone, and power is a tool for this, and should encourage behavior that benefits as many people as possible.

Philosophy of Ancient China - the most important briefly. VIDEO

Ideas of Confucianism briefly. VIDEO

Taoism. Key ideas and principles in 1 minute. VIDEO.

Summary

I think the article “Philosophy of Ancient China is the most important thing. Confucianism and Taoism in brief” has become useful for you. Did you know:

• about the main schools of ancient Chinese philosophy;
• about the 4 main concepts of the philosophy of Ancient China;
• about the main ideas and principles of Confucianism and Taoism.

I wish you all always a positive attitude for all your projects and plans!

The periodization of ancient Indian philosophy is based on various sources of philosophical thought, known both in antiquity and in the modern era. There are three main stages:

XV-VI centuries BC. - Vedic period;

VI-II centuries. BC. - epic period;

2nd century BC. - VII century. AD - epoch sutras.

Veda(literally - "knowledge") - religious and philosophical treatises that were created by those who came to India after the 15th century. BC. from Central Asia, the Volga region and Iran by Aryan tribes. The Vedas are usually included into itself: “holy scripture”, religious hymns (“samhitas”); description of rituals (“brahmins”), composed by brahmins (priests) and used by them in the performance of religious cults; books of forest hermits ("aranyaki"); philosophical commentaries on the Vedas ("Upanishads"). Of greatest interest to researchers of ancient Indian philosophy are the final parts of the Vedas - Unishads (literally Sanskrit - "the seat of the teacher"), in which a philosophical interpretation of the content of the Vedas is given.

The most famous sources of philosophy of ancient India of the second ( epic) stage (VI II centuries BC) is two poems - epics"Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", which touch upon many philosophical problems of the era. In the same era, teachings appeared that were opposed to the Vedas, including Buddhism.

Completes the period of ancient Indian philosophy era sutras(II century BC VII century AD) - short philosophical treatises that deal with individual problems (for example, "nama-sutra", etc.).

Later, in the Middle Ages, the dominant position in Indian philosophy was occupied by the teachings of Gautama Buddha - Buddhism.

Ontology of Indian Philosophy(the doctrine of being and non-being) is based on the law of Rita - cosmic evolution, cyclicality, order and interconnection. Existence and nonexistence is associated, respectively, with exhalation and inhalation of Brahma-Cosmos (God the Creator). In turn, Cosmos-Brahma lives for 100 cosmic (8640000000 Earth) years, after which it dies and absolute non-existence sets in, which also lasts 100 cosmic years before the rebirth of Brahma. The world is interconnected. Any event (human act, natural phenomenon) affects the life of the Cosmos. Main Feature ancient Indian epistemology(the doctrine of cognition) is not the study of external (visible) signs of objects and phenomena (which is typical for the European type of cognition), but the study of the processes occurring in consciousness when in contact with the world of objects and phenomena.

Soul in Indian philosophy consists of two principles: Atman - a particle of God-Brahma in the human soul. Atman is original, unchanging, eternal; Manas is the soul of a person that arises in the process of life. Mana constantly evolves, reaches high levels or worsens depending on the actions of a person, his personal experience, the course of fate. Karma- the predetermination of human life, fate. moksha the highest moral perfection, after which the evolution of the soul (karma) stops.

Buddhism- a religious and philosophical doctrine that spread in India (after the 5th century BC), China, Southeast Asia (after the 3rd century AD), as well as other regions. main idea Buddhism is the "Middle way" of life between the two extremes: "the path of pleasure" (entertainment, idleness, laziness, physical and moral decay) and "the path of mascetism" (mortification of the flesh, deprivation, suffering, physical and moral exhaustion). "Middle path" - the path of knowledge, wisdom, reasonable limitation, contemplation, enlightenment, self-improvement, of course, the goal of which is Nirvana - the highest grace, liberation.

Philosophy of China It has gone through three main stages in its development:

7th century BC e. - III century. n. e. - the origin and formation of the oldest national philosophical schools;

III - XIX centuries. n. e. - penetration to China from India Buddhism(III century AD) and its influence on national philosophical schools;

20th century n. e. - the modern stage - the gradual overcoming of the isolation of Chinese society, the enrichment of Chinese philosophy with the achievements of European and world philosophy.

Taoism- the oldest philosophical doctrine of China, which tries to explain the foundations of the construction and existence of the surrounding world and find the path that man, nature and space should follow. The founder of Taoism is Lao Tzu (Old Teacher), who lived at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th centuries. BC e. The main sources are philosophical treatises called "Daodejing".

The philosophy of Taoism contains a number of main ideas:

Everything in the world is interconnected, there is not a single thing, not a single phenomenon that was not interconnected with other things and phenomena;

the matter of which the world consists is one; there is a circulation of matter in nature;

· the world order, the laws of nature, the course of history are unshakable and do not depend on the will of man, therefore, the main principle of human life is peace and inaction ("wu-wei");

It is necessary to yield to each other in everything.

Confucianism- the oldest philosophical school, which considers a person, first of all, as a participant in social life. The founder of Confucianism is Confucius (Kung Fu Tzu), who lived in 551-479. BC e., the main source of teaching is the work of Lun Yu ("Conversations and Judgments").