Ṣaḍdarśana, 
, the "Six Schools" or "Six Doctrines" of "orthodox" Indian philosophy are the schools that accept the authority of the Vedas and thus religiously are considered part of Hinduism [note].
Accepting the authority of the Vedas, however, does not mean actually using them. Mīmāṁsā and Vedānta are specifically the schools of interpretation of the Vedas; the other four are based on independent reasoning. "Heterodox" schools, which reject the authority of the Vedas, are found in separate religions, like Buddhism and Jainism, or with the rare, reviled "materialists," whose own texts have all been lost. The treatment follows P.T. Raju's The Philosophical Traditions of India [University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971, p.35]. This was the text for class I took in 1972 with K.N. (Kashi Nath) Upadhyaya (1930-2020) at the University of Hawai'i.
, "Interpretation," or Pūrva Mīmāṁsā, 
, "Prior Interpretation," the School of Interpretation of the Karmakāṇḍa, कर्मकाण्ड, the "action part," or first half, of the Vedas. Mīmāṁsā originates fairly early, perhaps the 2nd century BC, since it is no more than a extension of the task of explaining the Vedas, a project that started in the Vedas themselves with the Brāhmaṇas. The doctrine of the eternity of the Vedas was argued by this school, and the theory of karma may have originated here; but it mostly confined itself to promoting the sanctity and power of the Vedas. The school later was practically absorbed into Vedānta.
, "End of the Vedas," or the Uttara Mīmāṁsā, 
, "Posterior Interpretation," the School of Interpretation of the Jñānakāṇḍa, ज्ञानकाण्ड, the "knowledge part," or second half, of the Vedas, i.e. the Forest Treatises and especially the Upaniṣads. Vedānta starts relatively late, since it picks up where the Upaniṣads leave off, and there may be Upaniṣads as late as 200 AD. Vedānta then sets down to interpret its fundamental texts, which include the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad Gīta, and the Brahma Sūtras of Bādarāyaṇa. The Brahma Sūtras were themselves written in the 1st or 2nd century AD and might be regarded as the first document of Vedānta itself. It is worth noting that the influence of Buddhism still seems very strong in the classic expression of Advaita Vedānta in Shãnkara (c.788-820 AD). Later forms of Vedānta became steadily more theistic and dualistic and thus approximated to Islām rather than to Buddhism.
The fundamental division in Vedānta is whether Brahman and the Ātman are identical or different. If they are identical, we have a school of 
(अद्वैतवेदान्त), Advaita or "non-dual" Vedānta. A "non-dual" doctrine can also be called "Monism," that there is only one thing. If Brahman and the Ātman are different, we have a school of 
, Dvaita (द्वैत) or "dualistic" Vedānta. The Dvaita Vedānta of Madhva (1238–1317 AD) is a Theistic doctrine of a personal God, with the "five differences": that (1) Brahman is different from Ātmans, (2) Brahman is different from matter, (3) Ātmans are different from each other, (4) Ātmans are different from matter, and (5) pieces of matter are different from each other. Thus, it is a pluralistic metaphysics, not just dualistic.
In the "qualified" Advaita Vedānta of Ramanuja (1017–1137 AD), Brahman is a personal God, who nevertheless contains all reality, including multiple selves and the world. This may be called a "Pantheism" and is comparable to the metaphysics of Baruch Spinoza. The God of both Madhva and Ramanuja is identified as the devotionalistic deity Viṣṇu.
In the "unqualified" Advaita Vedānta of Shãnkara, Brahman is the only thing that exists, and the world and individual selves are part of illusion, Māya, 
(which is not illusion, but the creative power of God, for Theistic or other realistic versions of Vedanta). Since the Ātman, identical to Brahman, is not an individual self or soul, individuality over time and from life to life must be carried by the "subtle" bodies that are examined in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Brahman is left without much in the way of positive characteristics, much like the "One" of Being in Parmenides. But there are three essential attributes of Brahman that are expressed in the formula, 
, Saccidānanda.
First is 
, sat, which is "existence." This is the same root as 
, satya, "truth," which turns up in the Satyāgraha, 
, or "Truth Force" of Mahātmā Gandhi. Second is 
, cit, which is consciousness. This diverges from the characterization of Being by Parmenides, who left the existence of both consciousness and the world unexplained. Here, the world, even as illusion, can exist as a representation within the consciousness of Brahman. Third and finally there is 
, ānanda, which is "bliss." "Ānanda" was also the name of the Buddha's personal attendant, who figures in many stories about the Buddha. Brahman is existence, consciousness, and bliss. The ultimate Self within each of us, the Ātman, is this also. So we do exist, and our consciousness is the consciousness of Brahman.
, "Counting, Reckoning, Reasoning, Knowledge," the School of Theoretical Knowledge. Sānkhya may well be the oldest school independent of the Vedas, growing up contemporaneously with the Upaniṣads themselves. It is argued by some that the Bhagavad Gīta was originally a popular exposition of the doctrine of the Sānkhya School, although the text is later dominated by theistic and devotionalistic additions. For our purposes, the salient features of Sānkhya doctrine are the theory of the guṇas, 
, which was later accepted by all orthodox philosophy, and the principle that the self (or soul, the ātman or, 
in Sānkhya terminology, the puruṣa) neither affects nor is affected by the world of nature (called prakṛti in Sānkhya terminology). Sānkhya was originally atheistic, with an infinite number of souls, like Jainism. In the Gīta we see the role of Sānkhya changing from the theoretical counterpart to Yoga (in Chapter 2) to an independent yoga in its own right, jñanayoga (in Chapter 3). Jñanayoga in effect becomes simply Yoga, as follows; and historically the role of Sānkhya as the theoretical counterpart to Yoga is effectively taken over by Vedānta.
, "Yoking, Vehicle, Equipment, Discipline," the School of the Discipline of Achieving Liberation. The Yoga School is to be carefully distinguished from disciplines that are yogas in the general sense of the word yoga, which is any means of achieving salvation, or a major elements of such means. Thus, there are the three yogas of the Bhagavad Gīta (jñānayoga, 
, karmayoga, 
, bhaktiyoga, 
), which are meant as classifications of all yogas, and also various yogas that are usually part of some higher order yoga: dhyānayoga (
), meditation (mentioned in the Gīta); haṭhayoga, yogic exercises; prāṇayoga, yogic breathing; auṣadhayoga, taking drugs (not a common or esteemed method); mantrayoga, chanting sacred words or phrases; layayoga, the yoga of "dissolution"; etc. Tantrism employs sexual practices for yogic purposes. The method of the Yoga School in particular is sometimes called Rājayoga (
), the "royal yoga." The Yoga School based its practice on the doctrine of the Sānkhya School, and the aim of its methods (haṭhayoga, etc.) was to quiet prakṛti, nature as it exists in the body, so that, like a calm body of water, the body can reflect the true remote and detached nature of the puruṣa, effecting liberation. The definitive and most famous statement of Yoga doctrine was in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, perhaps in the 2nd century BC. Patañjali added a personal God to Sānkhya doctrine; but the system is not devotionalistic, and the God exists only as an exemplar of detachment, not as an active or creative Deity after the manner of Viṣṇu or Shiva.
, "Analysis," the School of Logic, and
, "Individual Characteristics," the School of Pluralistic Metaphysics, are closely related minor schools. The relation of the doctrine of these schools to salvation is obscure and secondary. They concerned themselves much more with abstract issues of logic, epistemology, and metaphysics. Vaiśeṣika in particular held that reality was an infinite number of atom-like entities, although these were then distinct from souls. This pluralism is similar to the teaching of two early schools of Buddhist philosophy, the Sautrāntikas and Vaibhāṣikas, who held that reality consists of an infinite number of momentary entities, the dharmas.
History of Philosophy, Indian Philosophy
I expected that Ṣaḍdarśana would be written in the Devanagari syllabary with a ligature combination for the retroflex d (ḍ) and the dental d. Given the regularities of such combinations, the word might look like this: More substantively, "philosophy" itself in Sanskrit is Another word for "philosophy" is found in Hindi: The tradition was that there were a "Hundred Schools" of philosophy that grew up during the Spring and Autumn Period (722-481) of the Chou (Zhou) Dynasty (1027-256 BC). Later in the Former Hàn Dynasty (206-25 AD), the historian Szu-ma Ch'ien [Sīmǎ Qiān, 司馬遷] (145-86 BC), in the Shih Chi, The Chinese term for philosophy itself is While Fung Yu-lan was clearly using Confucius himself had a simple moral and political teaching: to love others; to honor one's parents; to do what is right instead of what is of advantage; to practice "reciprocity," "don't do to others what you would not want yourself"; to rule by moral example instead of by force and violence; and so forth. Confucius thought that a ruler who had to resort to force had already failed as a ruler. This was not a principle that Chinese rulers always obeyed, but it was the ideal of benevolent rule.
During the T'ang Dynasty, the canon of Confucian Classics became the basis for the great civil service examinations that henceforth provided the magistrates and bureaucrats for the Chinese government. This system is still impressive, but it was not always to good effect. The founder of the Míng Dynasty (1368-1644) Chu Yüan-chang, an illiterate peasant who rose to expel the Mongols and win the throne, was suspicious of the influence of the scholars. He tried to balance the scholarly with the military establishment so that the scholars would not dominate the government.
This crippled Chinese trade and foreign involvement; and one is left to wonder just how world history would have been different had Vasco da Gama arrived in the Indian Ocean in 1498, just 65 years later, to discover an overwhelming and technologically equal or superior Chinese naval presence. In China itself, the scholars indeed went on to dominate the government and tip the balance against the military, which left the country so unprepared that in 1644 the forces of Manchuria were allowed in to deal with a rebellion. The Manchus took advantage of this to take over the country; and so the final Chinese Dynasty, the Ch'ing [Qing] (1644-1912), wasn't Chinese at all. This was probably not what the scholars would have wanted, but they had certainly brought it about.
Curiously, the Ch'ing adopted scholarly sensibilities; and although they prohibited things like foot binding among Manchu women, they nevertheless retained Ming naval and maritime policy xenophobia. This left China once again helpless when forces technologically superior to the Portuguese, especially the British, eventually arrived, irresistibly pressing for commercial access to the country. The scholars never did adapt, and the examination system was eventually abolished rather than modernized.
Although Taoism begins with considerable political advice, it ends up primarily dealing with art, beauty, and nature. Even Confucians, who otherwise concern themselves with moral and political discourse, could adopt a Taoist side through appreciation of nature and of arts like calligraphy. The proper Taoist sage, however, wanders the highways or lives in the mountains or forests At left we see the Taoist mendicant "Master Gourd" from Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee story, Necklace and Calabash [1967]. Although the stereotype of the Taoist Sage is an asocial recluse, wanderer, and hermit, there is nevertheless the tradition that such person may nevertheless be the wisest in practical, including military, matters. A striking example of this is in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, We see a bit of overlap again between Confucians and Taoists in the expression Later Taoism grew into one of the three classical religions of China (the "Three Ways"), picking up many popular, especially magical beliefs (things like Chinese geomancy, The Classics of Taoism are less entensive and less organized than those of Confucianism. Although Taoism counts as one of the Three Ways and thus is in one sense the equal of Confucianism and Buddhism, its books were not used for the civil service examinations and so are more of the status of the texts of other schools of philosophy than of the Confucian Classics.
This school achieved great historical significance when its views were adopted as official policy by the "First Emperor," Shih-huang-ti [ The Classics of Legalism consist of several texts:
There is one Classic of Mohism, the Mo Tzu [ Szu-ma Ch'ien's classification contains the schools of historical importance but one sometimes suspects that it may also artificially construct some "schools" out of disparate doctrines and thinkers. Nevertheless, there is a strong tradition, not only of the Six Schools, but of these together with three others, into the Nine Schools,
Much of the information on the "Nine Schools" is simply gleaned out of dictionaries. These include Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary [Harvard University Press, 1972], ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, edited by John DeFrancis [University of Hawai'i Press, 2003], The Pinyin Chinese-English Dictonary, edited by Wu Jingrong [The Commercial Press, Beijing, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1979, 1985], and the Japanese Kōjien dictionary [5th printing, Tokyo Iwanami Shoten, 1999, 2005, entry for "Kyūryū," "Nine Classes"]. All these reference sources give the Nine Schools in exactly the same sequence, though often with slightly different translations. This indicates an ultimate common source in Chinese, but that is not cited.
History of Philosophy, Chinese Philosophy
The Hàn ( Although this usage has now lapsed, the Huí, or Huíhuí (
Shih-huang-ti, the "First Emperor," came to the throne as Wang Cheng in 247, changed his name, inventing the title of Emperor (
Mao Tse-tung is reported as saying in 1958:
Mao is often compared, not surprisingly, to Shih-huang-ti.
A source on the Internet gave this interesting breakdown of the "Nine Schools" as the "Nine Classes," or perhaps "Nine Sets of Persons," in high, middle, and low forms. We go from exalted offices, to the respectable, to the disreputable. Of the latter, the only one that seem positively illegal in traditional China (where brothels and procurers could be legitimate) would be a robber -- however, one might not be elligible to enter the Chinese examination system unless from a family that had not engaged in these "base occupations" for three generations. This is all very different from the ancient theory of the Four Classes, I've been trying to track down all the Chinese terms here. Those with tones have been identified. Many do not occur in the ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, by John DeFrancis [Hawai'i, 2003], or in translation pages on the internet. I have made some substitutions already, and more will be necessary. For instance, guī is glossed by DeFrancis as "boudoir; women's quarters." This is perhaps a promising start for "procurer," but it does not mean that by itself. We would need at least another character, but I do not see a bionome in DeFrancis or in Mathews' Chinese Dictionary [Harvard, 1972, character 3613] that would extend the meaning. If there is some other "gui" meaning "procurer," I have not found it. Similar problems occur elsewhere. Other characters could be provided, but I have limited it so far to the interesting Chinese character for a Buddhist monk, which by itself actually means the Sangha, the monastic community. "Monk" proper would be
The "Six Schools," Rokushū, The Nara Schools represent a mix of speculative metaphysics from India with a couple of important Chinese schools. The first three never really existed as distinct institutional entities and did not embody any novel religious doctrine or practice. The treatment follows Earl Miner, Hiroko Odagiri, & Robert E. Morrell, The Princeton Campanion to Classical Japanese Literature [Princeton University Press, 1985, p. 369-385].
Shū,
The Six Schools expanded to Eight in the Heian Period (794-1185), when the capital moved permanently to Kyōto:
When the Tokugawa settled on Edo as their capital, in 1625 the Tōeizan, 東叡山, Kan'ei-ji, 寛永寺, Tendai Temple was founded at Ueno, northeast of the palace and castle of Edo, to guard the Demon Gate, just as at Kyōto. This also became the site of many of the Tokugawa burials. Without an actual moutain, however, Ueno has nothing like the presence of Mt. Hiei, which simply looms over Kyōto; and people are mainly attracted to Ueno Park for its spaces, its cherry blossoms, and its museums. The Tokugawa mausoleum there was destroyed in World War II, and the present Tokugawa burial monuments are closed to the public.
Most of the later Kamakura schools were essentially spinoffs from Tendai, which commemorates them with a hall on Mt. Hiei that displays the portraits of Kamakura founders who studied on the mountain.
Tendai itself emphasized Nirvāṇa in this life, the power of the Lotus Sutra -- Tendai practice on Mt. Hiei was Lotus Sutra in the morning, Pure Land in the evening. This was vividly formalized by the Abbot Ryōgen in 936, when corresponding adjacent halls for Lotus and Pure Land practice were joined by a covered walkway -- creating a The dualism of this was subsequently broken by Hōnen, who posited the Nembutsu as the only effective practice in the Final Dharma Age of Mappō. Nichiren responded to this by asserting that only the Lotus Sutra was the final and effective practice in Mappō. Consequently, Asa Daimoku, Yū Nembutsu began to mean "can't make up your mind" -- their unity in Tendai practice was often forgotten.
However, since the focus of Pure Land and Lotus practices was different, with Pure Land preparing for the afterlife, with careful attention to deathbed ritual, and Nichiren Lotus devotion focusing on benefits in this life, there is no particular reason why these should exclude each other or be hostile. Thus, their unity in Tendai begins to sound more reasonable, and the "carrying hall" a vivid symbol.
The monastic army of Mt. Hiei was long a factor in the politics of Kyōto, until in 1571 it was destroyed and the mountain burned by the "Dictator" Oda Nobunaga. The burning destroyed the library and records of the Sect, which was a catastrophic loss to history. And Esoteric influence on the other Sects of Buddhism was considerable. The Nembutsu and Nichiren's use of the title of the Lotus Sutra, the Daimoku, 題目 (tímù, "title"), both functioned as Esoteric mantras, while Nichiren substituted for Buddha images a caligraphic mandala based on the Daimoku.
During the Period of the Kamakura Shōguns (1185-1333) the traditional number of schools expanded to Twelve:
A fierce polemicist, Nichiren and then his followers became known for annoying the government, engaging in acrimonious, distruptive debate with other sects, and refusing to participate in the sort of eclectic practices common to Japanese religion or to accept money from non-believers, including even the Shōguns.
The latter refusal was often interpreted as lèse majesté and provoked torture, executions, and suppression of particularly offensive parts of the Sect. Apart from Christians, Nichiren Buddhism thus probably has the largest number of martyrs in Japanese religious history. On the other hand, we also get kabuki comedy skits of encounters between Nichiren and Pure Land monks, who seem to reduce their disagreements to absurdities.
Shown below is a Nichiren Shū temple in Izu, with its distinctive banners of the Daimoku. Nichiren Shū is the principle Nichiren sect in Japan, but it is less infamous than Nichiren Shōshū, perhaps the most rigorous of the Nichiren sects, and previously conspicuous for its large lay organization, the Soka Gakkai, which helped spread Nichiren Shōshū overseas. The "Gakkai" and Nichiren Shōshū, however, split in 1991, principally over the ambition of the Gakkai to be, as it were, the tail wagging the dog. For instance, in Southern California, where the Soka Gakkai headquarters was on Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica, one of the busiest places in the metropolitan area, the Myōhōji temple was located in Rancho Cucamonga, well East of Los Angeles, to prevent casual contact between Gakkai members and the priesthood. After the split, the Myōhōji was relocated to Crescent Heights Blvd. in Hollywood. All the Kamakura schools were more interested in practice than in speculative metaphysics and consequently came to dominate popular religion. The Nichiren Sect briefly ruled Kyoto in the Hoke-ikki, 法華一揆, or Lotus Uprising, 1532 to 1536. The Sect had become popular among the sake brewers, whose influence, already considerable in Japanese society, was magnified as they had also become money lenders.
History of Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy
The "Six Schools" of Indian Philosophy, Note
. However, neither my wife nor I have been able to find such a ligature ever used. As is common in Hindi, Sanskrit in this case seems to write the two letters separately, with the virāma diacritic under the first to show that it is used without a vowel, thus: . Unicode, which automatically produces ligatures if you enter a virāma, does not produce a ligature for this combination: षड्दर्शन.
, darśana-śāstra, where , darśana, is "seeing, appearance, view," or "thought, doctrine," and , śāstra, is "system, science" or "teaching." Thus, 
, dharma-śāstra, is a law code, a doctrine of dharma or "duty."
. This is actually read 
, falsafā, with a Sanskrit ligature, and where the "ph" is written with an underdot to indicate that it is an "f" from Persian or Arabic. There is no "f" in Sanskrit or Hindi. This word is clearly not borrowed from English or Greek, but from Arabic 
, falsafah (Unicode: فَلْسَفَة).
THE "SIX SCHOOLS" OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY
, "Historical Records," the first great systematic Chinese history, identified "Six Schools," Liu Chia, 
(or Liu Chiao, 
). For these, the treatment below follows Fung Yu-lan's A Short History of Chinese Philosophy [Free Press, 1948, 1966, pp. 30-31].
, consisting of 
, "wise," and 
, "study." It is not clear to me if this is an ancient or a modern usage. A route along a canal in Kyōto, where one of the Kyōto School philosophers, Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945), used to stroll, is now called the 
, Tetsugaku-no-michi in Japanese, the "Philosopher's Walk" (literally, "Philosophy Way" or "Way of Philosophy"). This identification was probably suggested by the famous daily walk (Philosophenweg) that Immanuel Kant took in Königsberg. "Philosopher" itself is 
, Chê-hsüeh-chia [Wade-Giles].
to mean "school," I was originally perplexed that this meaning was not immediately evident in Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary [Harvard University Press, 1972, character #594, p.79], where the primary meaning is "a house, family, a home, relatives" (rather tellingly composed of a pig under roof, which we can imagine made for a prosperous home in much of rural China). However, a secondary meaning, "a suffix to indicate the agent... a specialist in any branch" (as used for "philosopher" above), includes the buried definition "a class or school." This is much clearer in the ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, edited by John DeFrancis [University of Hawai'i Press, 2003, p.408], where the second definition is "school of thought." At the same time, Mathews defines [character #719, p.98] as "to teach, instruct," and "a sect, religions, doctrines," which may apply better to Confucianism and Taoism than to the other schools of philosophy. As seen below, in the expansion of the "six schools" to nine, the different meanings of the first character give rise to some ambiguity or confusion in the tradition.
Ju Chia [
], School of the Literati, Confucianism. Confucius, K'ung-fu-tzu, 
, (551-479 BC) becomes, long after his death, the dominant Chinese philosopher both morally and politically. Mencius (Meng Tzu) (c.390-305 BC) extends and systematizes Confucius's ideas; but, with Confucius's adoption in the Hàn Dynasty as the official moral and political doctrine of the State, the Confucian tradition became so broad that "Scholar," 
, or "Literatus," , became all but synonymous with "Confucian." And as one of the "Three Ways" (
), together with Taoism and Buddhism, Confucianism grew into one of the traditional religions of the Hàn Chinese [note].
Later, when the Chinese sent Admiral Chêng Ho [Zheng He], a Moslem eunuch who started out as a war prisoner slave, on seven great 
naval expeditions into the Indian Ocean between 1405 and 1433, it was the scholars who powerfully opposed engaging in anything so lowly as trade and dealing with such uncivilized barbarians. The expeditions, indeed, visited not only Indonesia and India, but penetrated into the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and far down the east coast of Africa. The fleets were large, heavily manned, well armed, and contained, reportedly, ships of nine masts that were more than 400 feet long. But when the court faction of the scholars triumphed and ended the expeditions, they also destroyed their records and made it a capital offense to build anything larger than a two-masted ship.
Tao-Te Chia [
], Taoism. The philosophical beginnings of Taoism in the Tao Te Ching, reputedly by the sage Lao Tzu, 
, and the Chuang Tzu -- named after Chuang Tzu [Zhuangzi], c. 369-c.286 BC -- led to the great alternative to Confucianism in Chinese culture. The Tao is the "Way," both as a course of action (what everyone else, like Confucius, meant by it) and a hidden Force that is responsible for the Order of Nature, if, that is, we do not disrupt things by our own attempts at control.
alone -- the 
, "mountain and forest hermit" -- answering only in riddles questions put to him. This preference for the rural, individual, and paradoxical was certainly a factor in Taoist political advice not being taken very seriously. In this, they look like the Chinese equivalent of the Cynics in Greek philosophy. A Taoist Sage would never put himself forward, which is why it is probable that Lao Tzu, the "Old Master," despite legends about him meeting Confucius, did not exist. A true Taoist might think it too much to put his name on a book -- although, of course, later many did.
, where Liu Pei (Liu Bei), who would become the first Emperor of the Shu Han dynasty, seeks out the Taoist recluse Chu-ke Liang (Zhuge Liang), known as K'ung-ming (Kongming). Liu Pei travels three times to find and petition K'ung-ming before obtaining his services. Then K'ung-ming serves the Dynasty with superior administrative, diplomatic, strategic, and tactical abilities. Thus, while the prevalent political ideas of classical China are Confucian, there is the suspicion that the Taoists may know more about the way things work -- including magical abilities, which K'ung-ming also uses occasionally. Even Master Gourd of the Judge Dee story turns out to be involved in high level Chinese politics.
, "retired scholar." We have seen , "hidden, withdrawn," above for the Taoist hermit. But when attributed to a scholar, , it is simply "retirement." The retired Confucian, indeed, free of public office, becomes much more like a Taoist, although probably not wandering the highways or becoming a recluse in the mountains or forests.
, the art of discovering auspicious positions and orientations for homes, furniture, businesses, graves, etc.), monastic practices from Buddhism (to the disgust of Confucians), and especially a body of alchemical research whose purpose was to bring about immortality. Taoists thus worshipped a group of deities, the "Immortals," who were supposed to dwell on distant blessed islands. This desire for unnatural life extension seems to contradict the original thrust of philosophical Taoism, to allow Nature to take its course. The idea that mercury, because it preserved bodies so well in embalming (and there are some spectacular mummies found by Chinese archaeology), would be part of an elixir of immortality led to many deaths, including perhaps that of Shih-huang-ti himself, from mercury poisoning.
[Daozang, although I've cited the "treasury" character with its alternative pronuniciation, Tao Ts'ang]. This is a large and much later compilation, c.400 AD, and is thus not one of the core Classics of Taoism, but is often accorded that dignity in its name. Additions were subsequently made in the T'ang, Sung, and Ming Dynasties.
], the Ying-Yang School, or the "Cosmologists," where the theory of the fundamental opposites, yin and yang, 
, was developed. Like the theory of the guṇas in India, the theory of yín and yang was eventually adopted in all Chinese thought, and the Yin-Yang School ceased to be a separate entity (if it ever had been). But the Cosmologist philosopher Tsou Yen is reported to have developed the original Chinese theory of the five elements. This School is sometimes also called the School of Divination because of the use of the I Ching [
], which embodies Yin-Yang theory.
], the Legalist School or School of Law []. The Legalists rejected the Taoist and Confucian ideas that government must be based on morality and that good government must foster, in one way or another, moral dispositions in the people that will then automatically make them behave well. The Legalists thought that government was simply a matter of laying down laws and then punishing people, mostly by execution, who did not obey them. By denying or ignoring the foundations of law and government in morality or natural justice, the Legalists sound the most like Thomas Hobbes in Western philosophy. It is a theory of political absolutism and judicial positivism.
] of the Ch'in [
] Dynasty (255-207), tempermentally a political absolutist if there ever was one [note]. Shih-huang-ti had a ferocious and ruthless disposition that found the advice of the Legalist philosopher Li Szu [Li Si] agreeable. In 213, on Li Szu's urging, Shih-huang-ti outlawed all other schools of thought and began to burn their books. This may be why more is not known about the "Hundred Schools." Scholars who resisted the order were executed: 346 (or more) are supposed to have actually been buried alive [note]. The fall of the Ch'in Dynasty soon thereafter, which also led to the execution of Li Szu, was later seen as proof of the working of the Mandate of Heaven.
], School of Names, the "Debaters," "Sophists," or "Logicians." this contains a variety of thinkers who were concerned with issues of language, logic, and meaning. Kung-sun Lung (c.320-250 BC) is once supposed to have replied, when told that he could not travel on a certain road with his horse, that his horse was white and that because the rule mentioned horses and not white horses, it did not apply to him: 
, "A white horse is not a horse." This leaves us in no doubt why some members of the School of Names can be called "Sophists." While a white horse is indeed a horse, we might supply Kung-sun Lung with a parallel statement that is correct: "New York is not York."
], School of Mo Tzu [
, or Micius] (479-381 BC), Mohism. Mo Tzu was an early critic of Confucius. Although Confucius teaches both righteousness (yì) and love (rèn), Mo Tzu believed there was far too much emphasis on duty and too little on love. Mo Tzu also rejected Confucius's distant attitude towards religion. That is somewhat ironic, since Confucianism actually became a religion precisely by absorbing traditional religious practices. Mo Tzu advocated a kind of Utilitarianism, called Mutual Profitableness: "Righteousness is that which yields profit...Mutual love produces mutual profit....Common good arises from loving and profiting others....God must like to see men loving and benefiting one another." Confucius might not have rejected this himself, but his references to profit are mostly disparaging and the Confucian tradition came to strongly disapprove of profit as a motive or of its pursuit as an activity. Even Mo Tzu did not advocate any sort of individualistic pursuit of profit. He saw it all, like Utilitarianism itself, as a matter of producing "the greatest good for the greatest number."
], named for its author.
. Indeed, there is a common expression in Chinese: , the "Three Religions and Nine Classes," or the "Three Great Teachings and the Nine Minor Traditions." The "Three Religions" are of course the "Three Ways" of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. On the other hand, , the "Nine Classes," has more than one meaning, as itself can mean "current," "class," "kind," or "set of persons." The expression can mean (1) the specific Nine Schools of philosophy, or "Nine
Traditions," given here, (2) "nine classes of literature," (3) "various religious sects and academic schools," or (4) it can mean "people in various trades," "people of all sorts," or "people of all walks of life." This latter usage curiously is said to have a derogatory overtone [note]. For our purposes, is rendered "Nine Schools." In various sources the Nine Schools tend to be given in a fixed order, begining with the Six Schools above and then passing into these, which use the more familiar :
], School of the Politics or Political Strategists. This is something specific to the Warring States Period (
, 481-221 BC). The origin of the term is of great interest. The character can mean "perpendicular; vertical, north-south." The 
, "North-South Agreement," was an alliance against the Ch'in []. The final alliance, of 240 BC, against the Ch'in consisted of the Six Kingdoms. The character can mean "crosswise, horizontal, east-west." The 
, "East-West Connection," meant states that had joined with the Ch'in. As far as political strategy went, of course, Ch'in won and the Six Kingdoms were conquered.
], School of the Eclectics or Miscellaneous Writers. It is not clear to me whether this is a grab bag for otherwise unclassified doctrines, or whether there are Eclectics who have some kind of theory of Eclecticism. One dictionary simply says "writers of various subjects," which sounds less like a School of Philosophy than another meaning for the "Nine Schools," that they are classifications of literature.
], School of the Agriculturists. I cannot glean from my sources who this refers to. The expression can now simply mean a "peasant family." In such terms, it fits well with the meaning of the "Nine Schools" as being classes of persons rather than Schools of philosophy.Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2023 Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved
The "Six Schools" of Chinese Philosophy, Note 1
) Chinese are to be contrasted, for instance, with the Huí (
) Chinese, who are simply those who practice Islām, 
(i.e. the "religion of the Huí"), which is not one of the Three Ways. Since huí can also mean "Turks" or "Uigers," Moslem Chinese obviously were thought of as the equivalent of foreigners. Confucians originally thought of Buddhists as similarly un-Chinese; but Buddhism became so popular after the fall of the Later Hàn Dynasty (220 AD) that, by the time of the Suí (590-618) and T'ang [Táng] (618-906), it was accepted as properly Chinese. The Huí are still counted as an ethnic minority, some 6,490,000 as of 1980, and in the northern province of Ningxia constitute a majority of the population.
), in the Ming dynasty meant Jews and Christians as well as Muslims. All three groups had come down the Silk Road from Central Asia. The original Christians in this case, of course, were the Nestorians who appeared at the T'ang court in 635. Jews as well as Muslims did not eat pork. They all used related sacred languages, like Arabic, Syriac, and Hebrew. They claimed many of the same prophets, like Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. To the Chinese then, although there might be some differences between these groups, they were more similar to each other than to anyone else, and very different in belief, language, and culture from the Chinese.
The "Six Schools" of Chinese Philosophy, Note 2
), after the unification of China in 221, and died in 209.
The "Six Schools" of Chinese Philosophy, Note 3
What's so unusual about Emperor Shih Huang of the Chin Dynasty? He had buried alive 460 scholars only, but we have buried alive 46,000 scholars....We are 100 times ahead of Emperor Shih of the Chin Dynasty in repression of counter-revolutionary scholars.
The "Six Schools" of Chinese Philosophy, Note 4
, and it hardly seems exaustive in terms of possible offices, trades, crafts, or professions.
The Three Religions and the Nine ClassesHigh, 
Middle, 
Low, 
1 prime minister, zǎixiàng doctor, yisheng brothel owner, wángba 2 grand historiographer, shàngshū fortune-teller, jin procurer, gui? 3 governor general, dūfǔ scrivener, piaohang actor, xìzi 4 provincial commissioner, fāngbó glyphomancer, tui bugler, chuīshǒu 5 provincial commander, títái itinerant musician, qinqi conjurer, móshùshī 6 brigade general, zhentai calligrapher, painter, shuhuà juggler, xiaocai? 7 intendant of Circuit, dàotái Buddhist monk, 
barber, lǐfàsī 8 prefect, zhīfǔ Taoist priest, dàoren robber, dàomài 9 deputy of magistrates, zhīzhōu physiognomist, mayi drug trafficker, chuihui 
, with a suffix that I have added for "Taoist priest."
THE "SIX SCHOOLS" OF JAPAN
, in Japanese history are the speculative, doctrinal, and disciplinary schools of Buddhism that existed during the Nara Period, 710-794, when a permanent Japanese capital was first established, at Nara. As wel will see, the numbers of Buddhist schools expands as Japanese history continues.
, tends to be used for sects of Buddhism, or religions, while the term seen above, , means "household," "school," or "member of a school," as in , Juka in Japanese, "Confucianism" or a "Confucianist." , kyō in Japanese, can mean "teaching," "doctrine," "religion," etc. "Buddhism" is thus 
, with the character that is used in Chinese, or 
, with the simplified character that now tends to be used in Japanese, both pronounced Bukkyō in Japanese. Or "Buddhism" can be 
, Butsudō, the "Buddha Way." 
, bukka or, more commonly, bukke in Japanese, can mean a Buddhist, or, more commonly, a Buddhist priest (i.e. Japanese monk). The combination by itself means "religion."
], introduced to Japan in 658. The name (Chu She in Chinese) translates Sanskrit Abhidharmakosa. Based on the writings of the Indian philosopher Vasubandhu (c.350 AD), this is the Japanese representative of the Indian Theravada Sarvāstivādin school, which held the metaphysical doctrine that reality consists of an infinite number of real, momentary entities or dharmas [
]. In India the Vaibhāṣika subdivision held that the dharmas are directly perceived, the Sautrāntika that they are indirectly perceived. This ultimately was not important in Japan. The school had been introduced in China by Paramartha in 556 AD;
], introduced in 625; another Theravada school which held that the dharmas don't really exist. This was based on the writings of the Indian philosopher Harivarman. This was not ultimately important in Japan either. It had been introduced in China by Kumarajiva, best known as the translator of the Lotus Sutra, in 408 AD;
], introduced in 625. This is the Japanese representative of the important Indian Mahāyāna Mādhyamika School. Nagārjuna (c.150-c.250), perhaps the greatest Buddhist philosopher in India, held that the dharmas neither exist nor don't exist -- an application of the Four-Fold Negation. There is thus only Emptiness, Shunya. This was not institutionally important in Japan, but most subsequent Japanese schools regarded Nagārjuna as one of the most important figures in the history of Buddhism. This was also introduced in China by Kumarajiva in 408 AD;
], introduced in 653. This is the important Vijñānavādin or Yogācāra School from India, which held that Consciousness was the only reality (or that Consciousness is all that we can know -- scholars disagree). Vasubandhu, who shifted to Mahāyāna ideas, and his brother, Asanga, as well as other Indian and Chinese figures, contributed texts used in Japan. Hossō is a minor school but still with an important center at the Kōfukuji temple in Nara. The School had been introduced in China by Hsüan Tsang (after his pilgrimage to India, 629-645) in 648 AD;
], introduced in 754, focused on Buddhist monastic discipline (the Vinaya). This was institutionally important in Japan only as it was revived in a Shingon version (Shingon Risshū) by Eizon (1201-1290) at the Saidaiji in Nara. This was introduced to China by Tao Hsüan around 650 AD; and
], introduced in 735. This is the important Chinese Hua-yen, 華嚴, School of Fa-tsang (643-712) and Hsien Shou (712). Its institutional base, still at the magnificent Tōdaiji temple in Nara, was the most important of its time, but its subtle metaphysics failed to attract much popular following.
], the important Chinese T'ien T'ai School, founded by Chih I in 575 AD, brought back from China by Saichō (767-822) in 805. 
Tendai became the institutionally and politically dominant form of Japanese Buddhism when Saichō began what later turned into a vast establishment of temples and hermitages (the "Three Pagodas and Sixteen Valleys") on the sacred mountain, Mt. Hiei, looming over the city of Kyōto to the northeast, the direction of the "mountain" trigram and the perilous "Demon Gate," which could thus be guarded by the temples.
, Myōhō-Renge-kyō in Japanese -- and devotion to the Buddha Amitābha, 
, Amida in Japanese, whose Pure Land was available to anyone who invoked the power of the Vow of Amida with the Nembutsu mantra: "Namu Amida Butsu [
]."
, Japanese Ninaidō, or "carrying hall," i.e. by analogy to the two buckets at the ends of a carrying pole. This duality is expressed in the saying Asa Daimoku, Yū Nembutsu, 
, 
(朝題目, 夕念佛, zhāotímù, xìniànfó), "Morning Daimoku [the title of the Lotus Sutra], Evening Nembutsu."
], the Esoteric or Vajrayāna school (Chen Yen, founded in China by Vajrabodhi in 719 AD) brought back from China by Kūkai (Kōbō-Daishi, 774-835) in 806. Kūkai is a legendary figure in Japan, often supposed to still be walking alive among the living and working miracles. Shingon became established at the important Tōji temple in Kyōto and at the site of Kūkai's tomb on Mt. Kōya -- where the sage sits in meditation, either mummified or deathless, as one prefers. His body has never been open for public inspection.
], the important Chinese Ch'an School, supposedly founded in China by Bodhidharma in 520 AD, first successfully brought from China by Eisai (1141-1215) in 1192. In 1227 Dōgen (1200-1253) founded the Japanese version of the important Sōtō branch of Zen. Both men had also studied at Mt. Hiei. Often said to be the favorite School of the Samurai warriors, who, however, actually preferred Jōdo;
], the "Pure Land" Sect founded by Hōnen (1133-1212) in 1174. One of the most widespread forms of Buddhism in East Asia, though in Japan it is Jōdo Shin Shū (see next) that has the largest membership. The first "single practice" sect, with exclusive devotion to the 
Buddha Amitābha, or Amida in Japanese, using the mantra Namu Amida Butsu []. Nevertheless, the sect is regarded as founded in China by Hui Yüan in 402 AD; see the saying of Dàochuò here. Relying on the Vow of Amitābha wins one birth in the "Pure Land of Utmost Bliss," 
, where, enjoying not exactly the Bliss of Salvation, one is undistracted to progress on the Bodhisattva Path;
], the "True Pure Land," Sect, a uniquely Japanese form of Buddhism, founded in 1224 by Shinran (1174-1268), who married, taught salvation by faith alone (in Amida's Vow), and consequently has been called the "Martin Luther of Japan" -- first of all by early Jesuit missionaries in Japan, such as, Alessandro Valignano, who of course did not regard this as to the credit of Shinran -- he said that Satan had taught Shinran the same heresy as Luther; and
], "Lotus," or Nichiren Shū [
] Sect, also uniquely Japanese, founded in 1253 by Nichiren (1222-1282), who taught salvation by faith in the Lotus Sutra, especially by invoking its title, the Daimoku, , 
in the mantra "Namu Myōhō-Renge-Kyō []." Nichiren seem to have been reacting against the single practice Jōdo innovation of Hōnen, with the result that Nichiren and Hōnen represent a kind of schism of Tendai, separating Tendai Pure Land and Lotus veneration into separate sectarian practices.
Nichiren calms the waters Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved