Dong Zhongshu Quotes
Dong Zhongshu was a Chinese Han-dynasty Confucian philosopher and statesman, the principal architect of the imperial Confucianism that, under his recommendation to the emperor Wu, became the ideological foundation of the Han bureaucratic state and shaped Chinese political life for two millennia. His Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals systematically integrated the Spring and Autumn moral history into a cosmology of yin and yang and the five phases, in which the actions of the ruler were continuously read by Heaven through portents and natural signs. The quotes below are attributed to Dong Zhongshu, organized by topic.
Dong Zhongshu on God
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Attributed to Dong Zhongshu:
“What men call portents are the conversation of Heaven with the throne.”
Dong Zhongshu on Nature
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Attributed to Dong Zhongshu:
“Heaven, Earth, and Man are three aspects of one continuous order.”
Dong Zhongshu on Politics
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Attributed to Dong Zhongshu:
“When the ruler is unjust, Heaven sends warnings before it sends punishments.”
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Attributed to Dong Zhongshu:
“Confucianism is the proper philosophy of empire; the other schools are partial.”
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Attributed to Dong Zhongshu:
“The sage emperor is the heart in which Heaven and Earth meet.”