1001Philosophers

Cheng Hao Quotes

Cheng Hao, known as Cheng Mingdao, was a Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher of the Northern Song dynasty, the elder brother of Cheng Yi and one of the founding figures of the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism. His emphasis on the unity of all things in the cosmic principle of humaneness and on the immediate, intuitive recognition of one's identity with this principle distinguished his approach from his more analytic younger brother and exerted a long influence on the later school of mind associated with Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming. The quotes below are attributed to Cheng Hao, organized by topic.

Cheng Hao on Freedom

  • “The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said more than once that I am a free person. Did I do anything wrong by leaving my home? If other people helped me leave ... this is something that should be praised. Why then when I leave do they break into my home to beat people, detain them.”

    May 25, 2012 Activist Chen urges China to prosecute those who harassed him

  • “When I spoke out against China's 'one child' policy and other injustices, I was persecuted, beaten, and put under house arrest by the government...In April, 2012, I escaped and was given shelter in the American embassy in Beijing. I am forever grateful to the American people for welcoming me and my family to the United States where we are now free.”

    August 26, 2020 Speech in RNC's livestream. Chinese dissident brought to US by Obama administration attacks Democrats at RNC

Cheng Hao on God

  • Attributed to Cheng Hao:

    “Reverence is the gate through which the mind enters into accord with heaven.”

Cheng Hao on Justice

  • “China will see democracy, I’m one hundred per cent sure – it just needs time. If everyone makes an effort to build a more just and civil society then it will come faster and if everyone stands by and does nothing, then it will come slower but is still inevitable. Whether the authorities wish it to or not, the dawn comes and the day breaks just the same.”

    September 22, 2012 Lunch with the FT: Chen Guangcheng

Cheng Hao on Knowledge

  • “May 25, 2012 Activist Chen urges China to prosecute those who harassed him”

    The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said more than once that I am a free person. Did I do anything wrong by leaving my home? If other people helped me leave ... this is something that should be praised. Why then when I leave do they break into my home to beat people, detain them.

  • “September 22, 2012 Lunch with the FT: Chen Guangcheng”

    China will see democracy, I’m one hundred per cent sure – it just needs time. If everyone makes an effort to build a more just and civil society then it will come faster and if everyone stands by and does nothing, then it will come slower but is still inevitable. Whether the authorities wish it to or not, the dawn comes and the day breaks just the same.

  • “August 26, 2020 Speech in RNC's livestream. Chinese dissident brought to US by Obama administration attacks Democrats at RNC”

    When I spoke out against China's 'one child' policy and other injustices, I was persecuted, beaten, and put under house arrest by the government...In April, 2012, I escaped and was given shelter in the American embassy in Beijing. I am forever grateful to the American people for welcoming me and my family to the United States where we are now free.

Cheng Hao on Love

  • Attributed to Cheng Hao:

    “He who has truly seen humaneness in himself sees it in everything else.”

Cheng Hao on Mind

  • Attributed to Cheng Hao:

    “To calm the nature is not to suppress its motions, but to allow them to move in their proper way.”

Cheng Hao on Nature

  • Attributed to Cheng Hao:

    “Heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things share one body with humaneness.”

Cheng Hao on Truth

  • Attributed to Cheng Hao:

    “The principle is one; its differentiations are many.”