wen and wu
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''Wén'' ( zh, c= ) and ''wǔ'' ( zh, c= ) are a conceptual pair in
Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical ...
and political culture describing opposition and complementarity of civil and military realms of government. Differentiation between ''wen'' and ''wu'' was engaged in discussions on criminal punishment, administrative control, creation and reproduction of social order, education and moral transformation. The concept was formed during the Spring and Autumn and
Warring States The Warring States period in Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and struggles for gre ...
periods, and best articulated in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. However, until recently it was not much discussed by the Western scholars because of their inaccurate perception of the importance of
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
in the pre-imperial and early imperial era, and their understanding of Confucianism as pacifist in its nature. An example of the last is provided by John K. Fairbank: “Warfare was disesteemed in Confucianism... The resort to warfare (''wu'') was an admission of bankruptcy in the pursuit of ''wen'' ivility or culture Consequently, it should be a last resort... Herein lies the pacifist bias of the Chinese tradition... Expansion through ''wen''... was natural and proper; whereas expansion by ''wu'', brute force and conquest, was never to be condoned.”


History of the terms

Attested in
Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...
oracle bone Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. '' Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, ''p ...
s, the earliest uses were in the posthumous epithets of certain Shang ancestors, the first recorded – conveniently, for both – being Wen Wu Ding. The most common use case of ''wen'' in the epigraphic record is in appellations to dead ancestors, where it shared semantic space of general positive eulogy with precisely the words ''huáng'' ( zh, c=皇, labels=no) and ''liè'' ( zh, c=烈, labels=no). Any bases for why one was selected over another are not apparent. The posthumous names of the
Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...
(1046–256 BCE) founders, King Wen and King Wu, represent the two terms as standing in the "father-and-son" relationship. ''Wen'' and ''Wu'' became the most popular posthumous names of regional lords during the Zhou dynasty, but ''Wen'' in particular saw no usage until nearly the end of the
Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 77 ...
, when central power was significantly weakened, suggesting the possibility of royal exclusivity akin to a ritual trademark. The first archaeologically attested use of ''wen'' and ''wu'' as common terms outside of posthumous epithets or as synecdoche for the Zhou founders dates to the Spring and Autumn period, where a ruler of the state of Qin used them to describe some of his positive qualities while asserting his assidiousness in acting as a responsible lineage head. In the transmitted literature, the terms occur at the earliest strata of the earliest texts, the '' Shijing'' and the '' Shangshu'', but the precise meaning of ''wen'' in particular is indeterminate from context. '' Shuoyuan'', compiled by Liu Xiang (77–6 BCE, Han dynasty), gives a classical example of the terms' balancing against each other:
King Cheng enfeoffed
Bo Qin Bo Qin (), also known as Qin Fu (禽父), also known by his posthumous name as the Duke Tai of Lu (魯太公), was the founder of the Lu state, a dynastic vassal state of the Zhou dynasty. Born into the royal Ji family, he was the eldest son of ...
he Duke of Zhou's sonas the Duke of Lu. Summoning him, he addressed him, saying: "Do you know the Way of acting as the ruler over the people? ... Should you possess ''wen'' but lack ''wu'', you will have no means to awe those below. Should you possess ''wu'' but lack ''wen'', the people will fear you but not draw close. If ''wen'' and ''wu'' are implemented together, then your awe-inspiring
virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...
will be achieved.", translating from '' Jundao'' chapter of the ''Shuoyuan''. The source translates ''wen'' and ''wu'' respectively as "the civil" and "the martial". The words are returned to original here to clarify the interaction of the terms without overloading them with additional meaning.


See also

* Wen Wu temple * Soil and grain


References


Bibliography

* *


Further reading

* {{Chinese philosophy Ancient Chinese philosophy Classical Chinese philosophy Concepts in Chinese philosophy Dichotomies Political culture