Thirdly , concerning the cosmology of different cultures, Christian religion is unilateral, whereas in Chinese Confucianism, it is dialectical. In western philosophy, the early stage of cosmology is closely related to the religion. In the Bible, it is clearly stated that it is the god who has created the universe and everything, whether alive or not alive. Not until the 15th century did the polish scientist Copernicus advanced the theory that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun. From then on, people began to look at the universe from a more rational perspective. However, as far as religion is concerned, the notion that god is the sole creator of the world is still dominating people’s mind. Christians believe that God is the transcendent and omnipotent master who has the almighty power to control people’s life. Even the protestant believe that everyone’s fate is destined and one can have no control over one’s own fate. You can only work hard to indicate god’s favor, without the slightest chance to interact with god to change your destiny. Thus, it has become a unilateral relationship, with no gateway for common people to get to the god and change god’s will.
However, in the Chinese concept, the outlook about the universe has neither been religious nor scientific and rational. Of course, we may think that the universe stands for something mysterious and powerful, but we never put it to a position of incomprehensible. like what we have talked about before, the concept of “天人合一”，( tian and common people becoming one)conveys the idea that sometimes common people can find connections with the universe. We believe that a person can get closer to the universe through demonstrating the proper conduct, which is also what the “天” asks of us. Those who are exemplifying the proper conduct can always be considered as the representatives of “天”. In ancient china , the empires always claimed that they are chosen by “天” and “天” just granted him the absolute power to reign the country. In that case, his right to govern is justifiable. I think this kind of behavior can also be dated back to the traditional Chinese ways of thinking about the universe. any one who is doing something righteous is considered obeying the 天’s will and any one who is in power gets his power from “天”. In this way, “天” inevitably exerts a great influence on us and helps us to restrict our behavior. That’s one reason that Chinese people admire “天” and its power.
Unlike western people , Chinese people think the power of “天” is by no means omnipotent . if “天” abuses its power, people can also fight against it. in the ancient time , when there was an uprising, the leaders would always attribute the cause of the riot to “天无道”(Tian isn’t doing the right thing ). Interestingly , the excuse of “天无道” was much more appealing to common people than the concept of “人无道” or “君无道”(the emperor isn’t doing the right thing) From this point , we can also get a clear picture of how the concept of “天人合一” (tian and people becoming one)ingrained in people’s mind because even if the error is committed by empire, we always blame the “天” for the simple reason that the person is 天’s representative. Also , from here, we can see that if “天” has lost its justice ,people can fight against it and tries to change the way and then change the order in the society. In this way, the common people also exert a influence on the universe and the “天”. As common people ,we should not only demonstrate the appropriate conducts but also tries to keep “天” in its right tracks and make sure the way is carried out in a just and proper way. The changing of “天” is also depending on us.
to be continued