Ways of Heaven: An Introduction to Chinese Thought

by Roel Sterckx

A brilliant history of ancient China's masters of philosophy -- and how they help us understand China today In Ways of Heaven , leading China scholar Roel Sterckx offers an engrossing introduction to classical China's world of ideas. Drawing on evocative examples from philosophical texts, literature, and everyday life over centuries of Chinese history, Sterckx introduces major thinkers and traditions, illuminates key concepts like the dao , qi , yin , and yang , and examines questions of leadership, social order, death, nature, and more. He also reveals how these ideas shape contemporary China, from table manners at a traditional banquet, to the Chinese obsession with education and family, to the rhetoric of political leaders and the nation's grand strategy.Essential reading for students, travelers, businesspeople, and anyone curious about this rising global power, Ways of Heaven shows that to comprehend China today we must learn to think Chinese.

Genres: Philosophy, China, Nonfiction, History

512 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2019

About the author

Roel Sterckx FBA (born 1969) is a Flemish-British sinologist and anthropologist. He is the Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History, Science, and Civilization at Cambridge University, and a fellow of Clare College.

Reviews

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 5 out of 5]

"China, so far, tends to creep into our narrative only from the time it appears on the imperial horizons of the West, or when it enters the international politics of the twentieth century, or when its economy seems unresistingly relevant (or threatening) to us." Preface, x

Ways of Heaven, by professor Roel Sterckx from the University of Cambridge, seeks to build a bridge for the western mind to a thorough understanding of Chinese thought through its philosophy, history, historical figures, rituals, food and more.

The result is a delightful window into a different world, complete with context and signposts to guide your way.

I was looking for a book with a general overview of Chinese philosophy and this one definitely fits the bill.

Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about military formation. Confucius replied: 'I have, indeed, heard something about the use of sacrificial vessels, but I have never studied military matters.' The following day, he left the state. (An. 15.1) pg 221

Sterckx explains how Chinese history changed with each dynasty as well as the interpretations of key philosophical texts. Each succeeding ruling figure had to prove that their rule was legitimate and connected to all of the ones that went before it. Also, if Confucius's teachings didn't fit with how the current emperor wanted to rule, all that had to be done was to craft a different interpretation for the new ruler.

In that way, Chinese history and philosophy are both living systems, shaped by those who came before us and also, perhaps, changed in ways we will never know. It is fascinating to consider.

(And also ripe fodder for any authors who are looking for material to create historical fiction or alternative universes.)

I appreciated how Sterckx teases out the importance of symbols and materials that permeate Chinese culture. Lately, I've been on a Chinese and Korean television binge through Netflix and I could tell I was missing all sorts of meanings because I didn't grasp the cultural cues.

Ways of Heaven helps with that too.

"In the Olympics of Chinese metaphor, champions are those who float along the river of life with ease, accompanied by a teacher or loved one and with the looks of a dragon and a character like jade." pg 367

My favorite part of the book is when Sterckx talks about the use of music in Chinese ritual. How many times in films and television have you seen an ancient sage playing a flute while seated serenely on the side of a mountain? I can think of dozens of examples of just that. Now I know why:

"Music creates an unspoken bond that no other medium can achieve. ... It is ritual lived through sound: 'Music is what sages delight in, and it can be used to make the hearts of the people good. Its effect on people is deep; it can change habits and alter customs.'" pg 241

Highly recommended for readers who are interested in Chinese history or philosophy.

[Dallin Kohler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice overview of Chinese philosphy, history, and culture. Easy to read, though it doesn't go in depth much.

[Warren Tutwiler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable and comprehensive overview of Confucian thought (and it's competitors) on a variety of subjects spanning the ages, and still applicable (to an extent) to modern Chinese culture.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clearly written book on Chinese intellectual traditions, focusing primarily on Confuciansim but looking at other classical and medieval philosophers like the Legalists and Daoists. Sterckx sticks strictly to native traditions; he hardly mentions Buddhism or other non-Chinese influences.

This book is for a general, non-Chinese audience. Anyone with any background in Chinese history and philosophy will probably not find much new here.

I did like his final summation of what makes Chinese philosophy distinct from most of its Western rivals:

The idea of the Chinese philosopher conceiving of his trade as butchery or cookery might raise an eyebrow. Nevertheless, I believe some things ring true in the metaphor. The dividing line running through ancient China's intellectual landscape was not one between rationalists and idealists, or between those who believed or disbelieved in the forces of the supernatural; it was not between adherents of logic or advocates of intuition, or between those who developed theories of knowledge and those skeptical of it. "To carve or not to carve" was the question that exercised the thinking minds of ancient China. The point of departure for most intellectual traditions we have encountered in this book lay here: do we gain more from life by cutting up the world into units or categories we can control, manipulate and (pretend to) understand, or is human existence better served if we leave the world intact to operate following its own internal and spontaneous logic? Is it better to alter or adapt, be in or out, engage or withdraw? Is our inner self best left untouched, like an uncarved block, or should we work and sculpt it? And when we fashion ourselves and society around us, what shape should it take? Crucially, through it all, how do we preserve the harmony of the whole and the integrity of the one: the self, the family, the state, the monarch, the empire, Heaven, the cosmos, the Way? To most, then, thinking Chinese meant focusing on society, politics and the ethics of the here and now. The shape of the cleaver mattered little as long as it could cut. Perhaps not much has changed. (pp. 431-33)

[Gabriel Salgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense but fluid. All the topics that can fit in an introductory book for Chinese thought.

[Wake Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

My previous foray into ancient Chinese philosophy was The Path by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh, a slighter volume that was very informative, but heavily tinged by self-help (though, given the human- and practice-centred nature of Chinese thought, this is perhaps inevitable!). Sterckx’s work is a much deeper and more scholarly proposition while still being aimed at a general audience (no footnotes and references, just a brief but thorough notes section). It is organized thematically (China in Time and Space, The Dao (Way), Government, the Individual and the Collective, Rituals, Spirits and Ancestors, Nature, Work and Wealth), rather than by individual thinkers. It is also scholarly enough for academic use while remaining accessible enough for the casual educated reader. There is a very natural, elegant flow to the book.

Chinese thought, or what we know of it, was really founded in a period of division and strife - the Warring States period (~475-221 BCE). This is a partial explanation of why, unlike the classical Greek or Indian thinkers, Chinese philosophers were more strongly focused on practical matters rather than metaphysical, existential speculations (though, there is rather more of this in Daoism). How should society be organized and run, from governments down to families? How should wars be fought? How should an individual conduct himself [sic, and a deliberate sic] in society and in relation to others? Confucianism - often characterized and parodied as a sterile, ritualistic philosophy - is delved into here as a complex, dynamic tradition. If there is anything to criticize, I think it’s that Daoism is given less prominence.

I found particularly interesting Sterckx’s discussion of the Chinese conception of nature. Chinese thought emphasizes the interconnectedness, interrelatedness and interdependence of everything in the cosmos, human and non-human. Rather than separating and analyzing each component individually (a method that goes back to Aristotle), explaining the natural world involves teasing out these connections. Now, I am a believer (whatever that means) in modern science as the most accurate means for understanding and explaining physical reality. However, it and “nature” are social or cultural constructions (I will save a rant about that for the future). Sterckx’s necessarily brief discussions of Chinese medicine, biological classification, and engineering, as well as the Needham question, are fascinating. If ancient Chinese explanations of scientific phenomena have been superseded, then I would still argue we have a considerable amount to learn from their ways of thinking about nature.