Looking Back and Looking Forward - A Review and Prospect of Confucian Cultural Studies (Volume 1)

Author: Xu Hongxing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: This book has two main advantages: First, it provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese hermeneutics, revealing its major principles and veins; second, Li Qingliang is highly proficient in Chinese classics, citing references extensively and integrating various schools of thought. However, where the book excels, its shortcomings also lie. Due to the heavy use of classical texts, the arguments often become convoluted, and the flow of the text is disrupted. Additionally, since Li Qingliang focuses on explaining the general framework of Chinese hermeneutics, many details are not thoroughly explored. The most important contribution of this book lies in proposing three methodologies of classical Chinese hermeneutics: the linguistic hermeneutic methodology and the psychological hermeneutic methodology. In the four case studies of classical Chinese hermeneutics conducted in Chapter 7, the most noteworthy is Section 3, which analyzes the hermeneutic methodology of Zhu Xi's interpretation of the "Four Books." Zhou Guangqing first points out that Zhu Xi's hermeneutic methodology for the "Four Books" is highly systematic, with particular emphasis on the key linguistic hermeneutic method of layer-by-layer deduction and the crucial psychological hermeneutic method of awakening experience as a turning point.