2400 year old educational institution discovered

March 24, 2022 4:29 PM

The JiXia Academy was a scholarly academy during the Warring States period of China. Daoist, Naturalist, Mohist, and Confucian scholars all spent time there, including such luminaries as Zhuangzi and Mencius.

Some have argued it was the probable location for the editing and redaction that produced the current Tao Teh Ching, and another important text compiled there was influential on the teachings of the Master of Ghost Valley who wrote the first book on rhetoric in Chinese and taught the grandson of SunZi.
The institute used to be a place relegated to the historical record; experts believed it probably existed, but little was known about Jixia and there was no definitive proof that it was a real place. Until now.

posted by ambulocetus (18 comments total)

Wow. Wooooooooow. This is COOL.

Like, I am the furthest thing from an expert, but I know a tiny bit because my ex made an ill-fated run long ago at an advanced degree in ancient Chinese literature.

This is uh-MAY-zing.
posted by humbug at 4:44 PM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]

Amazing!
One of my students complained last week that I didn't know enough about Chinese construction history. Now you have provided a great first stepping stone for me.

(don't you just want to hug all the kids?)
posted by mumimor at 4:45 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

Excellent.
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posted by clavdivs at 5:14 PM on March 24, 2022 [5 favorites]

This really is extremely cool! Apart from the trove of things that can be learned from the location and architecture, there’s so many connections that can be made to other pieces of history through things like handwriting and materials and methods of craftsmanship. The routes people and knowledge traveled can be discovered, and then more sites of interest might be found in between those points. So awesome.
posted by Mizu at 5:19 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

humbug, I know just enough about ancient Chinese literature to know that any attempt at a degree I could make would also be ill-fated. I picked up a smattering of Mandarin from Tai Chi class and working in restaurants when I was younger, but ancient Chinese is a whole other thing entirely.
posted by ambulocetus at 5:21 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

Wow, indeed!
posted by praemunire at 6:05 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

Excellent.
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43 Breakthrough
posted by otherchaz at 6:45 PM on March 24, 2022 [4 favorites]

Oh wow.

I have some grad school papers I’d like to revise…
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:41 PM on March 24, 2022 [3 favorites]

I forgot my 6th line.
I have Dobson' 'Mencius' No idea how accurate the translation is, so starting slow.

6.28
Mencius said, "functions of the body are the endowment of Heaven. But it is only a sage can properly manipulate them." (7A.38)

and back to Tao The Ching.....

Exterminate learning and there will no longer be worries. (vrs. 44)
Exterminate the sage, discard the wise,
And the people will benefit a hundredfold;
Exterminate benevolence, discard rectitude,
And the people will again be filial;
Exterminate ingenutiy, discard profit,
And there will be no more thieves and bandits.

These three, being false adornments, are not enough
And the people must have something to which they can attach themselves:
Exhibit the unadorned and embrace the uncarved block,
Have little thought of self and as few desires as possible.

-Chapter19, Commentary.

At School I jumped on 'exterminate the sage', like Dr. H whats with exterminate, something lost in translation?

He just smiled, smiled damnit.

And Judge Dee, A legalist but damn.
posted by clavdivs at 9:02 PM on March 24, 2022 [5 favorites]

clavdivs, Mencius is cool, but I really like MoZi:
When the rulers cannot get a coat made they will employ able tailors. When they cannot have an ox or a sheep killed they will employ able butchers. In these two instances they do know they should exalt the virtuous and employ the capable for business. But when it comes to the disorder of the country and danger of the state, they do not know they should exalt the virtuous and employ the capable for government. Rather, they would employ their relatives, they would employ the rich without merit, and the good-looking. But as to the employment of the rich without merit and the good-looking -- will these necessarily prove themselves wise and intelligent? To let these rule the country is to let the unwise and unintelligent rule the country. And disorder can then be predicted. Moreover, the rulers employ their minds by the attractiveness of their appearance, and show them favour without finding out their knowledge. As a result, those who are not capable to rule a hundred men are assigned to posts over a thousand, and those who are not capable to rule a thousand are assigned to posts over ten thousand
posted by ambulocetus at 10:34 PM on March 24, 2022 [5 favorites]

MoZi. same here.
Ezra Pound thought he discovered chinese poetry/philosophy. Towards his end, he knew it. So I began a poem with
"I am Menchius reversed
going down the street
slow
and deliberate"

Mohism is street up.


"Heaven’s Intent” and “Understanding Ghosts.”
Heaven is the noblest, wisest moral agent, so its intent is a reliable, objective standard of what is morally righteous and must be respected. Heaven rewards those who obey its intent and punishes those who defy it, hence people should strive to be benevolent and do what is righteous. Social and moral order can be advanced by encouraging belief in ghosts and spirits who reward the good and punish the wicked.
posted by clavdivs at 11:16 PM on March 24, 2022 [3 favorites]

Yea well, I don't really care for that part, but I like MoZi's doctrine of universal love among other things.
posted by ambulocetus at 5:04 AM on March 25, 2022

Fascinating discovery.
I'm very curious about what kind of academic institution it was. A think tank, argues one expert in the linked article.
posted by doctornemo at 9:24 AM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

doctornemo, I first heard about it on the Archaeology Channel's audio news, and there is a little bit more clarity there.
posted by ambulocetus at 10:00 AM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

'... MoZi's doctrine of universal love among other things'
Certainly. But I have always found "Understanding Ghosts" a fascinating phrase. It's implies that the corperal world has agency in ones conduct in-step with the concept of Heaven and it's "rigid" system.
It seems to address the older schools then moves on to the better aspects of a three concept philosophy to later Mohist canons.

"Inclusive Care” and “Condemning Aggression.” To achieve social order and exemplify the key virtue of ren (benevolence, goodwill), people must inclusively care for each other, having as much concern for others’ lives, families, and communities as for their own, and in their relations with others seek to benefit them. Military aggression is wrong for the same reasons that theft, robbery, and murder are: it harms others in pursuit of selfish benefit, while ultimately failing to benefit Heaven, the spirits, or society as a whole."
posted by clavdivs at 11:45 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

Zhou Boqun, an assistant professor in the School of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong, said: "...Everyone wanted to end the perennial warfare; everyone wanted a stable society, that was the general wish shared by almost everybody.”"
posted by porpoise at 8:08 PM on March 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

Thanks clavdivs, I hadn't thought about it like that. My skeptical nature causes me to have a knee jerk reaction when I hear talk about ghosts, but I should have figured it was deeper than it appeared on the surface. I need to dig deeper into the Mohist Canon, but I'm not sure how much is available in English.
posted by ambulocetus at 9:13 PM on March 28, 2022

thank you. This post reminded me what I learned and more importantly, how much farther to go.
posted by clavdivs at 7:44 PM on March 29, 2022