Taoyuan Wenxin Bian

Author: Wang Tao
Editor: Pan Zhenping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Wang Tao was a unique and insightful figure among the reformist thinkers of the late Qing Dynasty, with a rich life experience and a prolific body of work. This book is a newly compiled collection of Wang Tao's works. It selects texts advocating the spread of Western learning and promoting Chinese reform from published works such as Tao Garden Literary Records: External Compilation, Tao Garden Letters, Continuation of Tao Garden Letters, Journey to Fusang, and manuscript works Random Records of a Wandering Tour and Diary of Honghua Hall. These texts have been collated, annotated, and segmented, with a new table of contents added, and compiled into one volume. Excerpt:
[Note 1] The quoted text is from the Book of Rites·Doctrine of the Mean. There is one teaching that unifies all. The people of the world are blocked by mountains and limited by the sea, each following their own teaching and arguing for its correctness. Among them, some rise while others fall, some flourish while others perish, interacting with human affairs and the course of history. For example, Taoism evolved into heresy, Buddhism faded after entering China, and teachings like the Jiao Jun, Jing, and Sani have long been forgotten. Islam, though widespread today, has also declined significantly. Recently, only Catholicism and Christianity stand firmly against Confucianism. In Catholicism, rituals like veneration, liturgies, purgatory, and repentance, as well as prohibitions on marriage and eating meat, are no different from those of Buddhist monks. This is perhaps inferior to the principles of Christianity. Today, the countries of Europe are growing increasingly powerful. Wise people have invented steamships and trains to connect different continents, their footsteps nearly reaching every corner of the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and their reach extending to even the most remote islands and peoples. The unity of the world is about to emerge from this. As people unite from divided states, so too will their paths converge from diverse teachings. The metaphysical is called "the Way," and the physical is called "the tool." If the Way cannot be directly transmitted, it must first be conveyed through tools. Steamships and trains are all means to carry the Way. There is a sage in the East, and there is a sage in the West, yet both share the same heart and the same principles. The direction of the human heart is the revelation of the Way. It is certain that there will be someone who can synthesize and harmonize these principles to make them one. Therefore, what the Western countries today use to bully China are methods and artifacts created by later sages to unify all nations. This principle was already illuminated and grasped by the sage in the Doctrine of the Mean. He said, "The chariots of the world will be of the same track, the scripts of the world will be the same, and the ethics of the world will be the same." And immediately following, he added, "What the heavens cover, what the earth carries, what the sun and moon illuminate, what frost and dew fall upon," "where ships and chariots reach, and where human effort extends," "all who have blood and breath will respect and cherish each other." [Note 1] This is called the Great Unity. China is the ancestral homeland of the world, not only the birthplace of writing but also the origin of rites, music, systems, astronomy, and arts, all of which were passed on from China to the outside world. During the reign of Yao, the brothers Xihe were already skilled in crafting instruments to measure the heavens, using the jade celestial armillary sphere to align the seven celestial bodies. The four brothers were divided into the east, south, west, and north, with the west being called "Mige," a place in the far west with no boundaries. At that time, the descendants of the officials of astronomy must have passed on their knowledge to the people there. That is why the root of the square is still called the "Eastern Method." However, Europeans insist that the "Eastern Method" refers to India, not China, unaware that India itself derived its knowledge from China. Most of Europe's laws, calendars, and natural sciences came from India, which in turn received them from the Central Plains. Even in music, the cyclical changes of the seven tones, returning to the principle of "palace," are no different from ancient Chinese instruments. Other examples include military music and drum songs, which China once had but has since lost. The ancient instruments Yang and Xiang, mentioned in the Analects·Wei Zi, suggest that ancient music did not originate in the West. As for Zu Chongzhi, who could build ships capable of traveling a thousand li without wind or water, and Yang Mei, whose wheelboats moved like flying, were they not the precursors of European steamships and battleships? The principle of the compass carriage was invented by the Duke of Zhou to guide the people of Yue back home [Note 2]. The thunder cannon was already known in ancient legends, and the compass carriage appeared in the Battle of Cai Shi during the Song Dynasty, long before the French-made cannons. Electricity was discovered through experiments with amber. The clock was invented by the people of Yangzhou.