THE PERSUASION OF KUEI KU TZU
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
BY
DING-REN TSAO
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
NOVEMBER, 1985
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To Pang-ta Fung, my grandfather-
He firmly believes in education.
He has the highest hope in my success.
He is ninety years old.
He firmly believes in education.
He has the highest hope in my success.
He is ninety years old.
I have never seen him, but,
I know, he will be pleased that
I have finally done it.
I know, he will be pleased that
I have finally done it.
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CONTENTS
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I. INTRODUCTIONA. SOME BASIC CONSIDERATIONS .......
B. KUEI KU TZU: THE PERSON AND THE BOOK 9
C. THE PRACTICE OF PERSUASION IN ANCIENT CHINA 32
D. A NOTE ON TRANSLATION. 42
E. PLAN FOR THE THESIS 47
II. KUEI KU TZU IN TRANSLATION
A. PAI-HO: OPENING UP AND CLOSING DOWN 48
B. FAN-YING: REFLECTION AND RESPONSES 56
C. NEI-CHIEN: INTERNAL BONDS 64
D. TI-HSI: DEALING WITH FISSURES 70
E. FEI-CH'IEN: jMAKING FLY AND MANACLING 75
F. WU-HO: DISAGREEMENT AND AGREEMENT 78
G. CH'UANG: FIGURING OUT 82
G. CH'UANG: FIGURING OUT 82
H. MO: STROKING 86
I. CH'UAN: WEIGHING 91
I. CH'UAN: WEIGHING 91
J. MOU: PLANNING 96
K. CHUEH: DECIDING 102
L. FU-YEN: THE EFFECTIVE SPEECH 105
III. DISCUSSION
A. THE NATURE OF PERSUASION ACCORDING TO KUEI KU TZU 113
1. The Nature of Persuasion 114
2. On Silence and Secrecy..122
3. Tools of Expressing and Knowing 127
4. The Ideal Persuader 131
B. THE ROLE OF CH'ING IN PERSUASION 134
1. The Importance of ch'ing 135
2. Methods of Gathering ch'ing 140
K. CHUEH: DECIDING 102
L. FU-YEN: THE EFFECTIVE SPEECH 105
III. DISCUSSION
A. THE NATURE OF PERSUASION ACCORDING TO KUEI KU TZU 113
1. The Nature of Persuasion 114
2. On Silence and Secrecy..122
3. Tools of Expressing and Knowing 127
4. The Ideal Persuader 131
B. THE ROLE OF CH'ING IN PERSUASION 134
1. The Importance of ch'ing 135
2. Methods of Gathering ch'ing 140
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C. FOUR SPECIFIC METHODS 145
1. Nei-chien: The Internal Bonds 146
2. Ti-hsi: Dealing with Fissures 150
3. Fei-ch'ien and Wu-ho 152
D. CHUEH: DECIDING 157
IV. CONCLUSION
A. A SUMMARY 160
B. SOME RERLECTIONS ON KUEI KU TZU 168
C. CONTRIBUTION AND APPLICATION 179
D. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 185
BIBLIOGRAPHY 188
APPENDICES 197
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
A. SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
The purpose of this work is to provide an introduction to the practice of persuasion in ancient China through the work of Kuei Ku Tzu.
If we define persuasion as "communication intended to influence choice," a then it is rather apparent that persuasion is an essential force in molding cooperation in any human society. However, practice is one thing; a conscious effort in observing, describing and studying with the intention of improving the effectiveness of practice is quite another. It may require a certain level of sophistication in thinking and expression in a given culture to be able to do the latter. That each major civilization of the world has recorded in its early
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a winston L. Brembeck and William S. Howell, Persuasion: A Means of Social Influence, 2nd ed., Englewood cliff: Prentice Hall, 1976, p.19.
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documents its observation and reflections upon this characteristically human interaction is not surprising.
However, observation and reflection upon the practice of persuasion do not necessarily constitute a systematic study of it. Few would disagree that the Greeks were the only early people who made the study of persuasion a separate discipline and regarded it as an integral part of education. Greek practice carried over into Roman education, and consequently, affected the Western world through the centuries down to the present.
Greek education in the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. legitimized the significance of the discipline and channelled sufficient scholarly attention to form a tradition that has persisted in Western culture. Although rhetoric, as the Greeks designated that discipline, had its high tides and low ebbs, and although its content was diversified to include more than persuasion by eloquence, western rhetoric constitutes a body of knowledge about conducting persuasion that is unique among the civilizations of the world.
Recently, the fervent discussions in the renewed search for definitions and directions of rhetoric is indicative of the vitality of that tradition. a It is
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a See, e.g., Chaim Perelman, The Realm of Rhetoric, trans. William Kluback, Dame Press, South Bend, Indiana: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1982 ; Chaim Perelman and L. Notre Obrechts-Tyteca, The New Rhetoric, trans. John Wilkinson and Purcell Weaver, South Bend, Indiana: , 1969; Ernesto Grassi, Rhetoric as Philosophy: The Humanists Tradition, University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State Univ. Press, 1980; and Michael Mooney, Vico in the Tradition of Rhetoric , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press, 1985.
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