Chinese Perspectivism: Perspectivist Cosmologies in Zhuangzi and Journey to the West

Abstract

Perspectivism as a cosmology, according to which all beings perceive themselves as humans, has been discussed mainly in connection with the Amazonian region, for the term perspectivism stems from Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, who applied it to the indigenous worldview of that particular region. To a lesser extent, it has also been studied in North Asia and some other hunter-gatherer societies. In this article I wish to demonstrate that perspectivism may be more widespread than previously thought, and its occurrence is not necessarily limited to hunter-gatherer cultures. Perspectivism can also be found in pre-modern China, which can be seen from such well-known texts as Zhuangzi (4th-3rd century BCE) and Journey to the West (16th century).The connecting link that makes the occurrence of perspectivism possible both in South America and East Asia is probably shamanism, which is present in both of these regions. It is characteristic of Chinese perspectivism that the multiple perspectives are not equal, but there is one proper perspective that is at the same time also the moral perspective. Chinese cosmology can contribute to the understanding of American perspectivism with its concept of cosmological relations, which fits the model of perspectivism.

Autochtonie

“…En suivant le même chemin, nous assistons par exemple au retour de termes tels que « animisme », « chamanisme » et « totémisme » s'opposant au « naturalisme occidental » dans le discours et la théorie anthropologique (Costa et Fausto 2010). Par conséquent, on pourrait dire que dans les premières décennies du XXI e siècle, l'autochtonie est ressuscitée en tant qu'une « catégorie bonne à penser », en particulier, chez les anthropologues « à tendance ontologique » qui constatent soudain un perspectivisme amérindien partout et à toutes les époques (voir, par exemple, les travaux de pan-perspectivistes tels que Pedersen [2001] et Lind [2014]).…”

Rice Ecology and Ecological Relations: An Ontological Analysis of the Jiangjunya Masks and Crop Images from China's East Coast

“…At the same time, numerous other researchers argue that animist ontologies exist not only in Amazonia, but also in the Arctic and subarctic regions as well as other parts of the world (Anderson 2017; Brightman et al 2012; Fienup-Riordan 1994; Hallowell 1960; Harvey 2006; Lind 2014; Pedersen 2001; 2007; Watts 2013; Willerslev 2004; 2007). I agree with Lind (2014, 148) that these criticisms do not invalidate ontological theory, but rather add ‘an extra dimension to it’. What we need to understand is that there may not be homogenous ‘culture’ or ‘humanity’ in any region because animist ontologies are always situated in social and historical contexts and composed of heterogeneous factors.…”

“…It must be noted that ontological approaches have attracted considerable criticism (Laugrand & Oosten 2015; Lind 2014; Londoño Sulkin 2005; Rival 2005; Turner 2009; Weismantel 2015). First, ontological anthropologists simply define humanity in contradistinction to animality and are inclined to obliterate the difference between humans and animals through conceptualizations of uni-culturalism (Rival 2005, 4).…”

“…Second, both Viveiros de Castro's perspectivism and Descola's animism, provide a broad schema in which the whole world is viewed as universally homogeneous. Lind (2014, 148) points out that ‘the Amazonian region is not homogenous but has a multitude of different cultures’. Using the term ‘moral’, Londoño Sulkin (2005) argues that, in Muinane society, many animals fail to relate in moral ways to their own kind like ‘real people’.…”