History of Chinese Human Nature Theory (Pre-Qin Period)

Author: Xu Fuguan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Xu Fuguan is a major representative figure of New Confucianism in China. His work A History of Chinese Human Nature Theory is widely regarded as a counterpart to Tang Junyi's On the Origin of Chinese Philosophy (Part on Nature), often cited as the twin pillars of contemporary scholarship in this field. This book, dedicated to the discussion of human nature theory, examines personality as its central focus, particularly emphasizing the use of insights derived from the life experiences of ancient philosophers as a basis for understanding the intrinsic connections within the complete life of pre-Qin thinkers. As a result, it achieves a concise yet profound analysis. In this book, the author strives to use inductive methods to determine the specific meanings of abstract terms employed by different schools and individuals, providing them with clear definitions. Additionally, it clearly identifies cases where the same abstract terms are used but refer to different scopes of meaning, which may help in dispelling unnecessary historical confusion. For example, the terms "ming" (fate) and "tianming" (divine fate) in the Analects cannot be distinguished through traditional exegesis, leading to many irrelevant debates about Confucius's statement "At fifty, I understood the divine fate." However, by using inductive methods to define their distinct meanings, some clarity can be achieved. This demonstrates that supplementing traditional exegesis with inductive methods is an issue that those studying the history of thought should pay attention to. Personality differs from ordinary objects. Ordinary objects are quantifiable, measurable, and divisible. Personality, however, is qualitative, unquantifiable, and indivisible. Human nature theory is a study centered on personality. The abstract terms that appear in human nature theory are not based on reasoning but on the experiences of ancient philosophers in their own lives. These can be called "substantive terms." The characteristic of "substantive terms" lies in that the content represented by the same term often corresponds to the "hierarchical nature" of personality, possessing its own "hierarchical nature." For instance, in the Analects, the term "ren" (benevolence) varies in its meaning depending on the hierarchical level of the inquirer. This is not a parallel difference but a hierarchical difference. Parallel differences may indeed involve mutual influence between different things, but these are often external connections. Hierarchical differences, however, involve an intrinsic connection within a three-dimensional, complete life, whether moving from the lower to the higher or vice versa. Some Western philosophers, thinkers, great writers, and aesthetes who stand on the concept of the body often organize this intrinsic connection into a philosophical system, expressing it through corresponding textual structures, making it easier for readers to follow their reasoning and gain a realistic understanding. Chinese ancient philosophers, on the other hand, often presented their insights as ready-made facts in simple statements, without consciously constructing a theoretical system. Many of these statements were made spontaneously in response to specific situations. As a result, the intrinsic connection within the three-dimensional, complete life is often obscured by statements that appear in isolation. If we do not gather these scattered statements together and use comparative, analytical, and "experiential tracing" methods to discover their intrinsic connections and construct them accordingly, but instead rely on fragments and use Western reasoning frameworks as criteria for judgment, it is like arbitrarily cutting a cross-section of a three-dimensional, complete life and concluding that this life is only this way and never that way. How much more reckless and fragmented is such an approach? Feng Youlan's History of Chinese Philosophy claims to represent the orthodox school, but apart from some contributions to the school of (the Sophists), it fails to grasp even the basics of Confucian, Daoist, and Mohist thought, especially regarding Confucianism and Mohism. This is not due to his dishonesty but because he never passed through this critical stage. The author's efforts in this regard may not yet yield significant achievements, but in discovering the intrinsic connections, they have allowed scattered statements (such as the term "ren" in the Analects) to fulfill their role in constructing a complete life, occupying appropriate positions, and providing mutual corroboration among themselves.