Respect virtue and inquire about learning

Author: Fang Xudong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book is a systematic study of the philosophical thought of the Yuan Dynasty Confucian scholar Wu Cheng. The author adopts a research method that combines textual analysis with modern interpretation, placing Wu Cheng within the broader historical context of Song Dynasty Neo-Confucianism. Following the cognitive logic of the Way (Dao) as the unity of the mind and nature, inquiry into learning, and the application of knowledge, the book examines and organizes propositions and doctrines such as "the principle (Li) precedes matter (Qi)," the theory of the Taiji (Great Ultimate), "the differentiation of principles," the theory of nature (Xing), the mind school, the pursuit of broad learning, the essence and sequence of learning, methods of learning, and methods of self-cultivation. Through this, it comprehensively elucidates the theoretical system of Wu Cheng's philosophical thought, highlighting and revealing its fundamental characteristics and historical significance.
From the perspective of the problem awareness, the concept of the lineage of the Way (Dao), and the cultivation methods reflected in Wu Cheng's philosophy, as well as his overall academic direction and framework, Wu Cheng was not a compromiser between Zhu Xi and Lu Ji, but primarily an inheritor of Zhu Xi's thought. He can be appropriately termed "post-Zhu Xi studies."
Theoretically, Wu Cheng was the first to propose the proposition "the principle (Li) exists within matter (Qi)" in the history of Chinese philosophy. In the intellectual history of the mind school, Wu Cheng's views represent an inheritance of the entire Song Dynasty Confucianism, not just Lu Jiuyuan's mind school. In terms of learning methods, Wu Cheng's vast academic framework and the prioritization of understanding the principle (Li) to attain knowledge fully reflect the path of "inquiry into learning" re-emphasized by Zhu Xi. Moreover, Wu Cheng's emphasis on reverence (Jing) as the foundation of knowing and acting demonstrates that his understanding of "revering moral nature" largely inherits the tradition of "revering reverence" in the Cheng-Zhu school.