Dai Zhen and Chinese Culture

Author: Xu Sumin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-10-01
Features: This book is a specialized study on the thought of Dai Zhen and its relationship with the modern transformation of Chinese culture. Dai Zhen was a great thinker in 18th-century China with a unique personality. He opposed the metaphysics of "Heaven's Principle" advocated by Confucian scholars with the metaphysics of "anthropology," taught people scientific methods that were not easily swayed by emotions, criticized asceticism, and promoted a philosophy of emotions, all of which displayed distinct modern humanistic characteristics. This book is a specialized study on the thought of Dai Zhen and its relationship with the modern transformation of Chinese culture. Dai Zhen was a great thinker in 18th-century China with a unique personality, not only in his legendary life experiences but also in his distinctive intellectual character dedicated to the mission of enlightenment. He opposed the metaphysics of "Heaven's Principle" advocated by Confucian scholars with the metaphysics of "anthropology," taught people scientific methods that were not easily swayed by emotions, criticized asceticism, and promoted a philosophy of emotions, all of which displayed distinct modern humanistic characteristics. Although his ideas were rejected by the Qing Dynasty, they had a profound influence on the development of Chinese culture after the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns, especially on the late Qing reform movement and the May Fourth New Culture Movement.