So this is one of his characteristics. He is also known as Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, and his new manifestations are in several aspects.
The first one, for example, when Confucius talked about heaven, he rarely talked about it. So later, his student Zigong said, "Confucius' words about nature and the way of heaven cannot be heard." It is not that Confucius did not say it, but rather that Confucius believed that this issue was not a matter of speaking, but a matter of practice. He only practiced it and did not say it.
So, Confucius said that true benevolence knows heaven. In the Song and Ming dynasties, Confucian scholars believed that benevolence and harmony were one, or benevolence and harmony were one.
Confucius also had a level of kung fu. In the Neo Confucianism of Song and Ming dynasties, he combined the essence with kung fu. The essence is kung fu, and kung fu is the essence. He has this meaning.
Secondly, Mencius emphasized the importance of wholehearted dedication, intelligence, and understanding of the heavens, and the unity of heart and nature; So the common tendency among Confucian scholars in the Song and Ming dynasties is that the human heart, nature, and heaven are one. So in "The Doctrine of the Mean," it is said that "the mandate of heaven is called nature." There is a mandate of heaven, but the delegation of this mandate has a personality. For example, if the mandate of heaven comes to a peach tree, peach blossoms will bloom, which are red; if the mandate of heaven comes to a pear tree, pear blossoms will bloom, which are white. This is what the mandate of heaven is called nature. But the Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties directly emphasized the interconnectedness of heaven, nature, and destiny.
In the Book of Changes, it is said that 'when the dry path changes, each person's life is right'. When explaining the Yuan Dynasty's Henry Zhen, the heavenly path changes, but under this heavenly path change, differences are discovered. For example, in spring, when everyone goes on a spring outing, they see green mountains and clear waters, flowers and willows. The sky is blue and the clouds are white, that's no problem. So this is called "Qiandao Change, Each Correct Life". In the process of the popularity of the Heavenly Way, what should be white is white, what should be red is red, and what should be green is green. This is each correct life,
The Confucian studies of the Song and Ming dynasties further elaborated on this point. The Tao Te Ching states that there is both Dao and De, and Dao is a common law. De is not a common law, but Dao is a common law. Everyone can obtain this Dao, but if a sheep obtains this Dao, it becomes a sheep, and if a tiger obtains this Dao, it becomes a tiger. The nature of a tiger and the nature of a sheep are not the same anymore, so this is different, which is called 'correct life'.
However, according to the Confucian teachings of the Song and Ming dynasties, the nature demonstrated by the changing "nature" of the Qian Dao is the essence of the Qian Dao, which is the heavenly Dao of "being invincible in all things and unpredictable in all living beings". The nature is determined by each individual personality, and the "destiny" demonstrated is the fatal nature determined by the entity.
You can see that in the words of the Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties, there are two layers in the beginning. For example, Confucius and Mencius are both two layers. By seeing this benevolence, one can know that heaven, and by knowing this nature through the heart, one can know this nature. The mandate of heaven is for this nature, and these are all two layers. But when it comes to the Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties, everyone is willing to merge them together.
So the Song and Ming Confucianism has this characteristic, which is that it is both the essence and the skill, and both the skill and the essence. This is the new aspect of it, as it is old and indistinguishable.
For example, in universities, 'The Great Learning' talks about 'Mingde', which refers to the manifestation of bright virtues to him. As a result, scholars in the Song and Ming dynasties believed that 'Mingde' was based on the nature of the earth's heart, not the 'virtue' of the fruit earth.
This is different from demonstrating the virtue of light to him. The manifestation of the virtue of light is from the perspective of the fruit field. So, the Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties was misguided. Next, Mr. Mou Zongsan began to judge Confucianism during the Song and Ming dynasties, dividing it into three major parts.
From Hu Hong to Liu Dongzhou, this can be considered as one line. In the first three chapters of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, and Cheng Hao, he said that this line is the orthodox of Song and Ming Confucianism. This orthodox is reflected in the return of "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "Yi Zhuan" to "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius". The Doctrine of the Mean particularly emphasizes the "nature of destiny" and honesty. The concept of 'Qian Dao changes, each corrects their own life' is implemented in the Analects and Mencius. Therefore, he believes that when you read the Analects and Mencius, you must adhere to this idea, which is the concept of sincerity and the concept of heavenly mandate as nature.
The concept of 'Qian Dao changes, each corrects their own life', if you simply apply it to Confucius and Mencius, you can grasp the orthodoxy of Confucianism. Therefore, why did Confucius say to everyone that, for example, if you did the right thing, he did the right thing. For example, what is benevolence? What you do is also benevolence, what you do is also benevolence, what you do is filial piety, and what you do is filial piety. Isn't this what the Book of Changes says, 'When the path changes, each person's life is right'. So he believes that this is a orthodox form of Song Ming Confucianism.
So, Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming, he said that this is another line of Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, which is inherited from Mencius. He infiltrated from "Lun Yu" and "Mencius" to "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "Yi Zhuan". Wang Yangming particularly emphasized the body and conscience in his heart. Mencius said, "With all one's heart, one can understand, and with understanding, one can understand heaven." This is what Mencius said. Lu Xiangshan said, "The universe is my heart, and my heart is the universe." Wang Yangming said, "The heart is reason," emphasizing that there is nothing outside the heart and that knowledge and action are integrated.
So in this series of words, he particularly emphasizes the status of the essence of this heart, because this principle is not outside the heart, not that there is a principle outside the heart, and he does not recognize this principle.
But Zhu Xi clearly believed that if the mountains, rivers, and the earth were to collapse, there would still be this principle. It doesn't matter if the mountains, rivers, and the earth collapse or if the universe explodes, there still exists a principle. However, Wang Yangming believed that this cannot be understood in this way. Principle is inseparable from happiness. He once went to investigate things, and he wanted to learn to be a saint. He was not prepared to be a saint since childhood. This person is not simple because many of us have not yet established this conscious moral consciousness, saying that we want to be a saint.
Modern people have a low level of cultivation, so they do not have this level. Most people just want to earn more money at most, but they are different. They have always wanted to be a saint since they were young. How can they become a saint? When they read a book, they found that they can gain knowledge by examining objects, and eventually become a saint. So they went to study objects, but after studying bamboo for a long time, they couldn't find anything.
Later on, he discovered that one cannot seek reason outside of one's heart. This reason should be sought within one's heart. Therefore, he believed that this system was infiltrated from the Analects of Confucius and Mencius to the Doctrine of the Mean, and returned to the Analects from the Doctrine of the Mean and the Book of Changes. Mencius was the definitive foundation of this system. Fundamentally, it is about the transformation of the dry path and the correction of each person's life, and the concept of nature as determined by the mandate of heaven. Then, returning to the foundation of Confucius and Mencius, we first establish a foundation.
So, Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming's "Analects" and "Mencius" permeated into the "Doctrine of the Mean". Because Mencius established his nature, because this nature permeated into the "Doctrine of the Mean" and "Yi Zhuan", meaning that this nature was first established. Because Mencius first established his nature, the determination of nature was based on the principles of the "Doctrine of the Mean" and "Yi Zhuan", such as "understanding virtue, being friendly to the people, and reaching the ultimate good", "investigating things to gain knowledge, sincerity, cultivating oneself, governing the country, and pacifying the world". So, first establish the essence, and then through these principles, such as the "Analects" and "Mencius", he is the essence. The "Doctrine of the Mean" and "Yi Zhuan" are specific principles. So this is also a path.
These two schools, he said, were a mainstream of Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, because they reflected two paths: one was to create an external entry from the mind, and the other was to create a mind with rules and regulations that extended into the inner world. Therefore, this is the foundation of Confucianism.
So there is another lineage behind them, namely Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi. He said that this lineage is "the other son as the sect", and he highlighted the lineage of Hu Hong and Liu Zongzhou, believing that they are the orthodox of Confucianism. He pulled down the orthodox lineage of Yichuan and Zhu Xi, believing that they are "the other son as the sect", and said that they are not orthodox. If this judgment is made, it will have a great impact on the Neo Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties.
Of course, he believes that when it comes to the system of Zhu Xi and Cheng Zhu, he has a flaw in exploring an objective heavenly principle without the mind. This philosophy is closer to Western philosophy and epistemology, and it is not the kind of moral metaphysics in Chinese philosophy. Because Zhu Xi emphasized the exploration of physics, he regarded principle as an objective principle. Therefore, he feels that this is a deviation from traditional Chinese moral metaphysics.
It deviates a bit from the moral metaphysics of traditional Chinese philosophy, and approaches metaphysics with the entry of morality. And Zhu Xi and Cheng Yi said that on this issue, he is somewhat close to physics, approaching it from the perspective of the objectivity of reason. This deviates a bit from the metaphysics of moral subjectivity in China, which is called 'taking the other child as the master'.
This is the third major issue. This is Mr. Mou Zongsan's review of Chinese philosophy that we are discussing. He has sorted out the Confucianism of Confucius, Mencius, and Xun in the pre Qin period; He sorted out the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin dynasties, including Wang Bi, Xiang Xiu, and Guo Xiang; He sorted out Buddhism, Prajnaparamita, and Buddha nature; He sorted out the nature of the mind in Song Ming Neo Confucianism and believed it to be Neo Confucianism.
After such a comprehensive review, Mr. Mou Zongsan gained a complete understanding of Chinese philosophy. With this understanding, he began to conduct a comparative study of Chinese and Western philosophy, and began to understand the differences between them.
He believes that Chinese philosophy and Western philosophy are different. Western philosophy, starting from ancient Greek philosophy and the first philosopher of Thales, is a natural philosophy that is closely related to science. He explores the external world from a human perspective, understanding how it is composed of water, fire, numbers, and atoms. He engages in this outward exploration, which brings about a natural philosophy and science.
