Songming Neo-Confucianism (Second Edition)

Author: Chen Lai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Minglixue, also known as "New Confucianism" or "Neo-Confucianism," is sometimes referred to as "Neo-Confucianism" in Japan. The terms "Confucian," "Confucianism," and "Confucianism" were all used in ancient texts. In the Chinese-speaking world, these three terms are often used interchangeably; however, when used separately, it can be generally said that the term "Confucian" emphasizes the distinction between Confucianism and other schools such as Taoism and Mohism, "Confucianism" emphasizes its significance as an academic system, and the term "Confucianism" often focuses on its role as an educational system. Since modern times, the Chinese academic community has commonly used the terms "Confucian" and "Confucianism" to refer to "Confucian thought," in other words, "Confucianism" and "Confucian" refer to the intellectual tradition established by Confucius. As Feng Youlan once said, historically, "Confucianism was the orthodox thought of China's feudal society," reflecting the tendency of Chinese scholars to regard Confucianism as the mainstream of their academic thought system. The term "New Confucianism" or "Neo-Confucianism" is believed to have been first used in Feng Youlan's works. In the chapter "Xunzi and the Xun School within Confucianism" in the first volume of his History of Chinese Philosophy, Feng Youlan wrote: "During the Warring States period, there was a debate between the Mengzi and Xunzi schools, just as there was a debate between the Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang schools in the Song-Ming era of New Confucianism." Boodde's later English translation, which rendered "New Confucianism" as "Neo-Confucianism," was based on this. However, the use of "New Confucianism" in modern Chinese academia does not necessarily originate with Feng Youlan. For example, in the chapter "The Initial Rise of Daoism and the Influence of the Two Schools of Buddhism in Daoism" in the second volume of his History of Chinese Philosophy, he stated: "The Daoists of the Song-Ming era are what are now referred to as New Confucians." The phrase "what are now referred to as" suggests that the term "New Confucianism" should have been used to describe Song-Ming Confucianism before the early 1930s. According to Chen Rongjie, "In the 17th century, when Catholic missionaries came to China, they saw that Song-Ming Confucianism differed from Confucianism as taught by Confucius and Mencius. Following the progression of Western philosophy, they called it 'New Confucianism.' In recent decades, Chinese scholars have been heavily influenced by the West, and thus have adopted the term 'New Confucianism' to represent their studies." However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that the use of "New Confucianism" in Chinese academia in the 1920s and 1930s was directly derived from the West. In fact, the term "New Confucianism" or "Neo-Confucianism" was not popular at the time. Chen Rongjie once said: "Before the War of Resistance, when I went to Honolulu, the term 'New Confucianism' was not only unknown to foreigners but also to Chinese professors." This shows that in the mid-1930s, the term "New Confucianism" was still quite unfamiliar to most people. Although, since Feng Youlan, the use of "New Confucianism" to refer to Confucian thought after the Song Dynasty has gradually increased, most scholars still prefer to use "Daoism" or "Lixue" to refer to the mainstream Confucian thought of the Song-Ming era. Even Feng Youlan, in his later work A New History of Chinese Philosophy, used "Daoism" as the primary keyword and regarded "Neo-Confucianism" as a "Western" term. This usage of "Confucian," "Confucianism," and "Neo-Confucianism" reflects, to some extent, the research attitude and cognitive orientation of Chinese scholars. Chinese Confucian thought has a history of over two thousand years, with numerous Confucian scholars who have contributed to its intellectual system. Therefore, for Chinese scholars, Confucianism is primarily philosophical thought—an intellectual inquiry into the universe, morality, and knowledge, as well as an inner experience of the human heart, life, and nature. It is also a pursuit and practice of the ideal personality and spiritual realm, and of course, an advocacy and exploration of society, politics, and history. This characteristic of Confucianism is not only reflected in the famous thinkers such as Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, and Wang Shiyuan but also in the Confucian scholars of various historical eras in China, especially the numerous thinkers of Song-Ming Lixue. Just by reading The Cases of Song and Yuan Learning and The Cases of Ming Learning, one can see from the detailed discussions on the Dao of Nature, the Nature of Humanity, the Nature of the Mind, existence and non-existence, and movement and stillness, that the intellectual system of Chinese New Confucianism is highly philosophical and dialectical. The thinkers of Song-Ming Lixue have a systematic theoretical reflection and meticulous analysis of the universe, the human heart, experience, and practice. Therefore, it is undeniable that Lixue is not only an intellectual inquiry with universal significance but also a reflection and experience of spiritual life, and of course, a moral practice that leads to ultimate meaning. Based on this understanding, in Chinese academic research, there has always been a focus on Confucian studies in the philosophical sense.