Body, Multi-cultural Perspective

As a philosophy of life, Chinese philosophy is at once a philosophy orientated to the 'soul' and a practice based on the 'body'. For example, issues such as "changing the temperament (Qi-zhi)" and "enjoying the benefits [of philosophical practice]" cannot be unrelated to the 'body'. In view of this, a holistic, 'body-soul' perspective on Chinese philosophy seems truer to its inner spirit. Studying early Chinese views of the soul and the body within a multicultural horizon, in particular in contrast with Indian and Western views, can not only focus the distinctive characteristics of these different cultures through the lens of 'body', but help us better understand the distinctive features of the Chinese culture through contrast to alien cultures. Above all, such a study can help us better understand, in concreto, the human condition and its meaning.Phenomenology distinguishes corpus and body - body is not same as the physical body. This is even more so in Chinese thought, where body is never separate from soul and one cannot speak of the body without also speaking of the soul. The so-called 'body' is in fact a body-soul whole - a union of interpenetrated body-and-soul. It is becoming a consensus that in Chinese thought body and soul are two sides of the same coin, with Qi [roughly: pneuma] performing the function of interconnecting and mediating the two. The interconnections between body and soul in this live, interactive body-soul structure, how the mediating agency of Qi is possible and how it operates, these are the main issues of this dissertation. This study shows that body, soul, and Qi are commensurate on the most basic level; they are different in their phenomenal manifestations but the same in their fundamental nature. More specifically, it can be said that body is the 'condensation' or 'solidification' of Qi, whose 'rarefaction' or 'sublimation' reaches the soul.If we put this body-soul union in the ultimate context of the cosmic flow of life, Qi reveals itself to be that under which body and soul are holographically united: Body and soul are commensurate in origin, different in empirical manifestations, but fused in the same horizon.Confucianism and Taoism, though quite different regarding specific aspects of body and soul, are agreed on the Qi-mediated ['pneumatic'] unity of body and soul. Their difference—which stems from their difference in basic interests, goals, and methods—lies in the actual practice of transforming the body-soul: Confucianism stresses intersubjective 'enrichment' and 'expansion', while Taoism stresses the repudiation of interrelatedness through 'reduction' and 'reverse uncovering'.Chinese thought and Indian religion agree that the sage and the commoner are not fundamentally different, just as they are also in profound agreement that the small self and the great self are deeply connected. That one can transcend one's commonness and achieve sagehood through the affirmation of the unity of one's body and soul and through practice, is the greatest difference between Chinese and Indian cultures on the one hand and Western culture on the other.