The Theoretical Features of Ma Yifu's Confucian Classics-Philosophy System:An Examination from the Perspective of the"Hermeneutic Circle"
The"Six Arts Theory"constitutes a fundamental framework of Ma Yifu's academic thought,which both serves as a system for his studies on Confucian classics and his own philosophy.Consciously inheriting the long-standing tradition of explicating works ever since Confucius,Ma Yifu manages to express his ideas by constructing the Six Arts Theory within the Confucian classics system.At the level of"Dao"and"Dao-Shu,"Ma Yifu interprets the Six Classics as an internally-connected system of meanings,therefore not only revealing significances in the process of classification,differentiation,explanation,as well as mutual integration and interpretation,but also forming a hermeneutic circle in his interpretation of Confucian classics and his own philosophical system.Ma Yifu's emphasis on the holistic existence and intellectual continuity of Confucian classics stands out amidst the trend of specialization in modern Chinese academia,in that it provides significant insights for contemporary reflections on constructing the modernity of Chinese thought and culture.