On the Deconstruction of Metaphysics in Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism
The Neo-Confucianism of Cheng Hao,Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi,as a product of the merger of Confucianism,Taoism,and Buddhism,was the last metaphysics of morality in ancient China.It suffered the fate of gradual deconstruction from its inception.First,Zhu Xi was questioned by Lu Jiuyuan brothers at the Goose Lake meeting,and then he was completely subverted by Wang Yangming to the extent that the whole rationalistic Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi was replaced by the idealistic Neo-Confucianism(namely,the school of universal mind).The reason for this is that,although the"typology"absorbed from the Taoist philosophy by the rationalists provided a theoretical basis for Confucianist theory of mind and nature,it still had a tendency to be separated from the"sincerity"principle of the doctrine of"respect for virtue"(one of the main theories for traditional Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius).The tendency is so powerful that it could not resist the overpowering attack of Confucian fundamentalism and lost the battle for dominance.During the time of transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties,Wang Fuzhi,by reflecting on the gains and losses of the entire Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism philosophies,abolished the separation of"Li"(heavenly principle)and"Yu"(human desires),as well as the boundaries between"Dao"(the metaphysical)and"Qi"(the physical).The construction of metaphysical system in Neo-Confucianism eventually became the strategy for governance of the world in Yan Yuan and Dai Zhen's"Doctrine of Practice"(practical Confucianism).So to speak,it declined to be a"vulgar doctrine"that Zhuang Zi looked down upon,and lost interest in constructing a metaphysical system thoroughly.
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