The Supreme Harmony: Analysis of the Concept of Harmony in the Cosmological, Ethical and Social Thought of Zhang Zai 张载 (1020-1078)

Abstract

He 和, usually translated in English as “harmony”, has always been one of the key concepts in the history of Chinese thought from Confucius to Mao Zedong and the contemporary Chairman Hu. The first characteristic of the Chinese way of thinking is that it is synthetic in its emphasis on the whole rather than its parts, on complementarity rather than opposition, harmony rather than conflict. It is a system where universe, society and man represent both macrocosmic unity and microcosmic particularity. This essay focuses on the analysis of this concept in Zhang Zai’s philosophical system. I show how the neo-Confucian philosopher develops this idea from his cosmological thought where harmony is the ideal cosmic state, the source and the beginning of all phenomena. From the cosmos to the society the Zhang Zai’s “Supreme Harmony” become the main goal for human ethics, a perfect state which it can be reached through a correct and appropriate social relationship.