Author ｜
Ji Feng
Abstract ｜
In Chinese history, the meaning of “authenticity” (真) was originally related to the meaning of the word ding (鼎), which refers to a container commonly used by the Pre-Qin alchemists. Sharing the same origin with ding, “authenticity” was also related to the corresponding alchemistic activities.Being borrowed by Pre-Qin Taoists, the word “authenticity” became unique and started to carry strong Taoist connotations. Afterwards, “authenticity”underwent significant semantical changes several times due to its long-term interaction with the concept of “sincerity” (誠) in Confucianism. Through its self-evolution and absorption of the concept of “sincerity,” “authenticity” has gradually morphed into its present-day meaning, which also accounts for the far-reaching spread of the concept of “truth”. This paper aims to reveal the transformation of the Chinese ontological concept of “truth” from a pursuit of ultimate goal to that of ultimate cause by tracing the development of the mutual interaction of “authenticity” and “sincerity”.
keywords ｜
Sincerity, Authenticity, Truth, Morality, History of Ideas