Witness Realm — The Purpose of Liu Zongzhou's Philosophy

Author: Li Zengang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: This book is a revised and expanded version based on Professor Zengang's doctoral dissertation. He harmonizes the ancient and modern, connects the East and the West, possesses profound insights, and presents numerous new perspectives. The book enters into its academic background from the late Ming period when the study of Zhu Xue was declining and Wang Xue was undergoing transformation. As a scholar who resided in the imperial court, he proposed the way of benevolence, while in retirement from the wilds, he cultivated the study of Confucian classics to save the world and its people. The book interprets his intellectual journey, spiritual characteristics, and logical structure from this context. It demonstrates the harmonious integration of the mind-body and nature-soul, blending temperament into principle, determining the human heart with the way of the heart, and the interconnectedness of mind, will, knowledge, and perception. It shows how Xishan, through the mind, embodies the nature, stabilizes the subjective mind, and actualizes the metaphysical nature. From the unity of essence and method, self-mastery and sincerity, quiet contemplation and active observation, it reaches the integration of principle and matter, the unity of the way and the means, the harmony of the way of the heart and the human heart, the fusion of rationality and temperament, the unity of nature and emotion, and the integration of the unrevealed and the revealed—ultimately achieving the state of perfect harmony between mind and nature. In this book, its approach, presentation, connection, logic, and structure are distinct from contemporary works of a similar nature. Its interpretation, understanding, comprehension, and realization also possess unique and exquisite qualities.