Biography of Cheng Xuanying

Author: Zhang Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: He was a renowned Taoist theorist during the early Tang Dynasty and a key ideological representative of Chongxuanism. Chongxuanism inherited the cognitive achievements of Wei-Jin Xuanxue and Buddhist Madhyamaka, and through rigorous theoretical analysis, it consciously employed metaphysical philosophy to explain the problem of the subjective self, logically advancing Chinese philosophy into a new era of neoxuexue. It established a complete philosophical system in the history of Chinese philosophy, encompassing metaphysics, ontology, methodology, cultivation theory, epistemology, and axiology, achieving a third phase of development in Lao-Zhuang thought equivalent to that of pre-Qin Lao-Zhuang and Wei-Jin Xuanxue. Not only did it make epoch-making contributions to the maturation of Taoist doctrine, but it also laid a solid metaphysical foundation for the later development of Taoist internal alchemy. This book focuses on explaining philosophical issues and methodology, specifically examining how philosophers of different eras understood and addressed various philosophical problems, as well as their successes and failures, showcasing the historical landscape of the spiritual creativity of great figures in Taoist thought.