How Sages Taught People the Art of War: “Discourse on Armament and Food” by Li Zhi
Abstract
The present article is a continuation of the research on the chapter «Diverse Writings» (Za shu) from the famous “Book to Burn” (Fen shu), the opus magnum by the iconoclastic late Ming thinker Li Zhi (1527–1602). The article comprises the first translation into Russian of the essay by Li Zhi “Discourse on Armament and Food” (Bing shi lun) accompanied by introduction and comments. The tenor of the Chinese text is the social role of armament. Li Zhi revises the saying by Confucius regarding the priority of people’s trust to the food and armament. He also strongly criticizes Mengzi’s ideas. The latter recommended to enlighten people by educating them in village schools and to openly force them to follow the righteous way of the king. Li Zhi suggests an effective alternative to such approach by following the more flexible Daoist way. Following his suggestion, one should create special conditions in which people would self-regulate in natural way and could be manipulated without being able to notice it.
About the Author
Nikolai V. Rudenko
Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nikolai V. Rudenko ‒ Ph. D., Research Associate, China Department
Moscow
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Supplementary files
Acknowledgments: The research was supported by the grant from Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFFI) – grant ref. № 18-311-00158 “A Book to Burn” (Fen shu) of Chinese Thinker Li Zhi (1527–1602): Translation and Analysis of the Main Philosophical Essays”
For citation:
Rudenko N.V. How Sages Taught People the Art of War: “Discourse on Armament and Food” by Li Zhi. Orientalistica. 2020;3(4):1068-1096. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31696/2618-7043-2020-3-4-1068-1096
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