Witness Realm (The Purpose of Liu Zongzhou's Philosophy)

Author: Li Zengang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: This book is a revised and expanded version based on Professor Zengang's doctoral dissertation. He harmonizes the past and present, integrates Eastern and Western thought, possesses profound insights, and presents numerous original perspectives. The book enters into its academic background from the late Ming period when the decline of Zhu Xue (Zhuism) and the transformation of Wang Xue (Wangism) occurred. When living in the imperial court, Ji Shan proposed the principles of the "Way of Kingship," and when retired to the countryside, he cultivated the "Way of Sage Learning" to save the world and guide people's hearts. It interprets his intellectual journey, spiritual characteristics, and logical structure. From the harmonious integration and mutual verification of the "Heart-Mind" (Xin) and "Nature" (Xing), incorporating temperament into principle, determining the human heart with the "Way of the Heart-Mind," and the interconnectedness of the "Heart-Mind" perceiving things, Ji Shan demonstrates how he embodies the "Nature" in the "Heart-Mind," stabilizing the subjective "Heart-Mind" and realizing the "Nature" beyond the material world. From the unity of substance and practice, self-cultivation and sincerity, quiet contemplation and active observation, he reaches the integration of principle and substance, the unity of the Way and the means, the harmony of the "Way of the Heart-Mind" and the human heart, the fusion of rationality and temperament, the unity of nature and temperament, and the integration of the unrevealed and revealed. Ultimately, he achieves the state of perfect harmony between the "Heart-Mind" and "Nature," reaching the realm of the Sage. In this book, his approach, presentation, integration, logic, and structure differ from those of existing works in the same field. His interpretation, understanding, and insights are also unique and profound.