We need to raise a very important question, which was also a topic of much debate in the Neo Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties at that time. What is the relationship between reason and harmony?
Mr. Feng Youlan used the form of theory and material to define the relationship between theorems and qi. He said:
The actual existence of anything must be based on two factors: the first is the reason that makes things what they are, and the second is the qi that realizes what they are.
That is to say, a thing contains two levels, one is the principle of the cup, and the other is the qi of the cup. The principle of the cup is to make this thing become this thing, to make it the cup rather than the table. That is the principle of the cup. The aura of a cup can reflect its principles. For example, the reason why a cup is a cup is because it can indeed hold water. Secondly, a cup has capacity, certain functions, a certain color, and so on. These things are called aura.
If the former is a determinacy of things, although it objectively exists, it is not an actual thing. We cannot see the principle of this cup, but it does exist in reality. This is the logic of independent reality, which can only be truly realized through qi. Therefore, in this sense, it is called Tai Chi and Qi Wuji.
We have already studied the Neo Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties, and Zhou Dunyi has a very important proposition that is' Boundless and Taiji '. The concept of Wuji Taiji was not proposed by Mr. Feng here. He borrowed it from the entire development of Cheng Zhu or Song Ming Neo Confucianism. However, his understanding of Wuji and Taiji has some continuity and differences. Mr. Feng Youlan referred to Li as Taiji and Qi as Wuji. In his view, there is no hierarchy between Li and Qi that says Taiji came first and then Wuji, or Wuji came first and then Taiji.
He said that a thing must contain two levels, which are both rational and energetic. Reason is the reason that distinguishes this thing from others, and energy is the thing that helps reason to be realized.
He also borrowed the concepts of reason and material to clarify qi. If this is reason, qi is the material that constitutes it. If one is form, the other is content. If reason is a form, qi is the content that enables it to be realized, but it may not be accurate. This is just a temporary way to help us understand.
In fact, when we studied Western philosophy before, we noticed a distinction between absolute and relative bases.
There is a distinction between absolute and relative materials, with absolute materials being more fundamental than relative materials. Mr. Feng Youlan also noticed this issue, so he used Qi or Zhenyuan Qi to describe absolute material.
Qi refers to a logical concept abstracted from thought, rather than an actual thing. For example, he said, 'A cup, extract all its properties one by one, and finally extract it to the place where it cannot be extracted, this is the absolute base material.'.
A cup that can be emptied of all its contents, and the absolute residue left is what Mr. Feng Youlan called Qi or Zhenyuan Qi. The size, color, and function of a cup make it the most important thing when drawn to the end. It has free space for you to store things. If this cup has no empty space, you won't be able to hold anything. It will not become a cup, it can only be an ornamental item or a tangible thing, it cannot be called a cup.
Of course, what we are talking about here is taking something randomly. It can be said that Mr. Feng Youlan mentioned qi. The reason why he emphasized absolute material in the end is that he still hopes to exclude many formal connections between qi and actual things from the concept of qi.
What do you mean by anger?
It is some colors, sounds, tastes, and other things that they implement. If there is an error in the specific rules of color, sound, and taste of these things, it cannot be fully implemented. In this implementation process, the principles of things cannot be truly reflected, and the nature of things cannot be fully realized.
So he said, the Qi or Zhenyuan Qi that I am referring to here is an absolute bottom line. In this way, only with an absolute base material can I abstract a thorough and unrestricted concept. So in this sense, what is reasonable and harmonious is a formal affirmation of reality, rather than a concrete affirmation of facts.
Let's take the frog as a metaphor. A concrete thing contains two levels, namely the principle of the frog and the qi of the frog. One is the principle, and the other is the material. The principle of frogs is that we make frogs into frogs, not tadpoles, not toads. We call it frogs here.
The qi of a frog contains both relative and absolute base materials. Relative base materials, such as the belly, legs, and eyes of a frog, are its relative base materials that enable the frog to be formed as a frog, rather than anything else. For example, the skin of a frog is slightly different from that of a toad, and this relative base material is used.
Absolute base materials, such as cell water, oxygen, and so on, that can be extracted to the point where there is no specific property to speak of, are called Qi. This is its absolute base material.
However, it may not be entirely accurate to say that this is about extracting the final cell water, and oxygen is the absolute base material. We are just giving an analogy, and we can probably extract at this level. The formation of a real frog is achieved through the principles and qi of the frog, which are realized through its relative and absolute base materials, ultimately giving rise to the concept of the frog. So in the end, the concept of a frog, rather than a specific frog. The frog was analyzed here, and the concept of frog was obtained. Not a specific frog. Because the relationship between theory and material has been removed from the actual things, that is, empirical things have been gradually eliminated.
So, Mr. Feng believes that this concept of a frog is the one we truly deserve. According to this standard, you are very clear about whether something is a frog or not, and you can make a direct decision based on this standard. Therefore, Mr. Feng said that the Qi of Zhenyuan is not an actual thing and cannot have any practical relationship, so it is not in the bottom of time and space. Li Qi is not specific to time and space, so concepts about time and space are not applicable to them.
Because any concrete thing exists in a specific time and space. Through this philosophical abstraction, through this abstraction of concreteness and commonality, we ultimately obtain something that attempts to adapt it to any time and space through this concept. I don't care about its scientific development, I don't care about it at any time, I don't care about it in any space. I hope that my proposition will eventually have some kind of truth, and it's not wrong.
For example, if we don't follow this line of thought, let's take horses as an example. Horses may be easier to describe. If you use things like white horses and constantly abstract them, then you think that all horses in the world should be like this white horse. All horses should be white and have some kind of appearance, and then the concept you extract is that the white horse looks like this. Obviously, this concept is wrong.
But if you analyze the white horse, the first step is to remove the relative base material, such as white, which belongs to a certain color. Then you see that the whiskers of the horse have four legs and what the head looks like. Finally, you extract the relative base material and reflect the concept of the horse. The concept of the horse is not the same as that of the cow. In the end, we come up with the concept of the horse. Relatively speaking, it is obviously more universal than the concept of the white horse extracted earlier, and it is not only applicable to Chinese horses, but also to horses such as England, France, etc. Their horses can be applied to the same concept. We call it the horse.
Of course, in the process of actually understanding things, our thinking process is not as complex as it seems. I use this concrete thing to abstract it and then look back, but it has evolved for many years. Our way of thinking is that we naturally have the ability to filter information and abstract it.
However, Mr. Feng Youlan said that we hope to eliminate some things that may lead to errors during the screening process, which is the philosophical abstraction he wants to achieve.
Let's look at the fourth set of propositions first, not the third set. We'll talk about why later?
The fourth proposition is to introduce the concept of a complete collection, which he says, 'There is a complete collection of everything.'.
There are two types of existence in the world. One is the world that exists without existence, which means that mountains have the principle of mountains and water has the principle of water. You cannot see or touch this thing, but it is indeed reflected in the fact that you can feel it. He said that this type of existence is called existence without existence. There is a world of reason or a truth. This world is entirely composed of reason, and it is not a real existence. However, things must be based on it.
The second is the real existence, which also exists and exists, called the world of things, that is, reality, the existence of all practical things. For example, there are two types of things in our world, one is the cup we see ourselves, and the other is the cup, which consists of concrete and abstract elements, forming the existence of all things in the world.
Mr. Feng said that this is the entirety of what we understand.
If we haven't read Mr. Feng Youlan's Complete Works, and you go to read them, you think that all the Complete Works are the sum of all the things we can see and experience, and you call them 'there' and 'complete'.
