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The Greek Philosophers also expounded on the relationship between the physical
education and other endeavors. Xenophanes from the Eleatic School held that the
physical education, philosophy and wisdom should enjoy equally important status.
―Near the Zeus temple at Olympus if one stands out in the racing or the Pentathlon,
or wrestling or the fierce boxing, or the awesome comprehensive event, he will be
hailed as a great success in the common people‘s eyes and he will win a prominent
position in the athletic contest, then he will be invited to the banquet held at the
public expense of the city states and be awarded the prize, a treasure to him; if he
wins in riding the chariot, he will gain the glory and prize as well, but he doesn‘t
deserve the glory as much as I do because our wisdom is superior to the strength of
the man and the horse. Such a practice goes on for no good reason. It is unfair to
attach more importance to physical strength than to wisdom.‖
More importantly, the Greek philosophy reveres the ―equity‖ as ―the top virtue‖ in that
equity reigns in whatever activities held among the city states. And the harmony in
the soul of the individual lays the basis for the equity among the city states, so the
equity thus achieved is conducive to the peace and harmony between the city states.
This is one of the key concepts of the Olympic Games.
China Reading Weekly: As you have just mentioned, this forum aims to seek for
something cognate between the Chinese and Greek philosophy. If my memory
doesn‘t fail me, I remember you once made reference to the concept of ―branching
out from the same origin‖ in your studies. Could you share with us your detailed
understanding about this concept?
Zhao Dunhua: In The Syllabus of Chinese philosophy, Zhang Dainian made a
distinction between the Dahua theory and the Bengen theory as revealed by the
following quotation: ―The western tradition holds that the metaphysics is divided into
ontology and cosmology. The ancient Chinese Bengen theory is corresponding to
the western ontology while the Chinese Dahua theory is roughly equivalent to the
Western cosmology.‖ Strictly speaking, the Dahua theory is today‘s cosmogony.
―Bengen‖ means the ultimate origin of the universe. Aristotle divided the metaphysics
into two categories as well: one is to study the being itself and the other is to account
for the being‘s inherent attributes. Aristotle regarded the ―noumenon‖ as the being
and the very origin of the ―noumenon‖ as the inherent attributes of the being, i.e.,
Aristotle held that the very origin was inherent in the being. By contrast, Zhang
Dainian held that the factors accounting for the becoming are fundamental to the
universe. The divergence in the above two viewpoints is a reflection of the
differences between the western metaphysics in maturity and the Chinese-western
metaphysics in rudiments rather than that between the Chinese and Western
metaphysics. The fact remains that both the ancient Chinese philosophy and the
Greek natural philosophy in the initial period were devoted to the study of the
becoming in the universe as well as the factors and elements accounting for these
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