Michael Puett’s course on Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory is the third most popular undergraduate course at Harvard University, behind only Introduction to Economics and Introduction to Computer Science. Christine Gross-Loh wrote in The Atlantic about some of the insights the students gain.

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The smallest actions have the most profound ramifications. Confucius, Mencius, and other Chinese philosophers taught that the most mundane actions can have a ripple effect, and Puett urges his students to become more self-aware, to notice how even the most quotidian acts—holding open the door for someone, smiling at the grocery clerk—change the course of the day by affecting how we feel.

That rush of good feeling that comes after a daily run, the inspiring conversation with a good friend, or the momentary flash of anger that arises when someone cuts in front of us in line—what could they have to do with big life matters?

Everything, actually. From a Chinese philosophical point of view, these small daily experiences provide us endless opportunities to understand ourselves. When we notice and understand what makes us tick, react, feel joyful or angry, we develop a better sense of who we are that helps us when approaching new situations.

Mencius, a late Confucian thinker (4th century B.C.E.), taught that if you cultivate your better nature in these small ways, you can become an extraordinary person with an incredible influence, altering your own life as well as that of those around you, until finally “you can turn the whole world in the palm of your hand.”

Decisions are made from the heart. Americans tend to believe that humans are rational creatures who make decisions logically, using our brains. But in Chinese, the word for “mind” and “heart” are the same. Puett teaches that the heart and the mind are inextricably linked, and that one does not exist without the other.

Whenever we make decisions, from the prosaic to the profound (what to make for dinner; which courses to take next semester; what career path to follow; whom to marry), we will make better ones when we intuit how to integrate heart and mind and let our rational and emotional sides blend into one.

Zhuangzi, a Daoist philosopher, taught that we should train ourselves to become “spontaneous” through daily living, rather than closing ourselves off through what we think of as rational decision-making. In the same way that one deliberately practices the piano in order to eventually play it effortlessly, through our everyday activities we train ourselves to become more open to experiences and phenomena so that eventually the right responses and decisions come spontaneously, without angst, from the heart-mind.

Recent research into neuroscience is confirming that the Chinese philosophers are correct: Brain scans reveal that our unconscious awareness of emotions and phenomena around us are actually what drive the decisions we believe we are making with such logical rationality.

According to Marianne LaFrance, a psychology professor at Yale, if we see a happy face for just a fraction of a second (4 milliseconds to be exact), that’s long enough to elicit a mini emotional high. In one study viewers who were flashed a smile—even though it was shown too quickly for them to even realize they had seen it—perceived the things around them more positively.

If the body leads, the mind will follow. Behaving kindly (even when you are not feeling kindly), or smiling at someone (even if you aren’t feeling particularly friendly at the moment) can cause actual differences in how you end up feeling and behaving, even ultimately changing the outcome of a situation.

While all this might sound like hooey-wooey self-help, much of what Puett teaches is previously accepted cultural wisdom that has been lost in the modern age. Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do,” a view shared by thinkers such as Confucius, who taught that the importance of rituals lies in how they inculcate a certain sensibility in a person.

In research published in Psychological Science, social psychologist Amy Cuddy and her colleagues found that when we take a power stance (stand with our legs apart, arms thrust out, taking up space), the pose does not only cause other people to view us as more confident and powerful; it actually causes a hormonal surge that makes us become more confident.

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I have read a little Chinese philosophy in English translation, and I agree there is much wisdom to be found there. In the European tradition, we make sharp distinctions between mind (or soul) and body, reason and emotion and even good and bad, but these are differences in definitions of words. When it comes to an individual person, there is no line of separation to be found.

I like the idea of Confucian emphasis on reinforcing good behavior—through the study of the classics, through rituals and ceremonies, through codes of etiquette—until it becomes almost automatic, rather than depending on punishments to deter bad behavior.

But at some point, Chinese people probably grow weary of ceaselessly trying to do the right thing in the proper way, and then they turn to Daoism [Taoism], which teaches you to relax, go with the flow, get in touch with your inner nature which is also part of the nature of the world.

Historically the Chinese didn’t limit themselves to just one philosophy. They were Confucians, Daoists, Buddhists or whatever, as needed, rather than saying that if one of these philosophies is true, the rest have to be false. I think this “cafeteria” approach to philosophy and religion can work well. There is no culture that is more cohesive or longer-lasting than the Han Chinese.

Click on Why Are Hundreds of Harvard Students Studying Ancient Chinese Philosophy? for the full article by Christine Gross-Loh in The Atlantic.

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Tags: China, Chinese Philosophy, Confucianism, Confucius, Daoism, Harvard University, Mencius, Taoism