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Beijing Forum 2007: Lisa Raphals --
Comparative Reflections on Embodied
Virtue: Performance and Competition
in China and Greece
By Liu Xiaohua
PKU NEWS 2007--11--08
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=194529612
Peking University, Beijing, 2007/11/2: The panel ―Tao and Sophia: The Olympic
Spirit from Athens to Beijing‖ of Beijing Forum 2007 was held in the Great Hall of
People of China, Nov. 2nd, 2007. On the afternoon, Lisa Raphals from University of
California, Riverside delivered a lecture about the comparative reflections on
embodied virtue between China and Greece in the Yunnan Hall.
Lisa Raphals pointed out her opinion about the comparative reflections on embodied
virtue between China and Greece. Her point is that it is difficult to compare Greek
and Chinese views of what, in both cases, look like athletic performance.
In Greek views of sport as competitive there are clear winners and losers, but also a
morality of competition that puts virtue ahead of victory. However in the Chinese
case, what on the surface looks like competitive sport may be a performance for a
superior: sometimes a ruler, but sometimes the gods. In other cases, athletic
physical activities may be elements of highly embodied techniques for
self-cultivation. Examples include gymnastics, longevity practices, and martial arts.
Another difficulty in comparison involves metaphysics.
She put forward a question that how do we reconcile Greek philosophical views that
profoundly separate mind from body with a Chinese metaphysics in which they are a
continuum? Then she explores these comparative questions through the intersection
of three points: (1) the stereotype of Chinese court-sponsored athletic performance
and Greek polis-sponsored athletic competition; (2) Chinese and Greek attitudes
toward physical "self-cultivation" and the embodiment of virtue; and (3) the
problematic role of metis or "cunning intelligence" and deception.
Edited By : Liu Xiaohua
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