"Shun's Understanding of Xiang's Disrespect":The Distinction between Public and Private from the Perspective of Yangming's Theory of Mind
Xiang was considered extremely inhumane,but Shun enfeoffed him Youbi.During the Song Dynasty,Confucian scholars often attempted to reconcile these contradictory records on the basis of a statement in Liji that"in family life,kindness overshadows morality;in social life,morality suipasses kindness".There are also many debates among contemporary scholars around this puzzle.However,both sides of these debates overlooked the fact that the Youbi of Shun's enfeoffment of Xiang was more remote than the Chongshan of exiled Huandou,which means that Xiang was actually exiled.Wang Yangming also noticed the matter of Shun and Xiang,but he changed the perspective of public and private,shifting from"the private of family"and"the public of society"to"the private of desire"and"the public of order",and in this way took up a dual perspective of subjective and objective.On the subjective level,people should carry the absolute responsibility towards others so as to interrupt the cycle of revenge of uncertain good and evil.On the objective level,however,there was a clear boundary between good and evil.Whoever lack filial piety and respect will endanger public order,so strict disciplinary measures should be taken to transform them.Only by breaking free from selfish desires and returning to the principle of commonality can one reach the state of unifying himself with all things.In this regard,rather than resolving the dilemma of family affection and social justice,Wang Yangming achieved the unification of subjective"self achievement"and objective"achievement of things".
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
