Looking Back and Looking Forward (A Review and Prospect of Research on Confucian Culture)

Author: Xu Hongxing, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-10-01
Features: This book has two main strengths: First, it provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese hermeneutics, revealing its major principles and veins; second, Li Qingliang is highly knowledgeable about Chinese classics, citing references extensively and integrating various schools of thought. However, where the book excels, its shortcomings also lie. Due to the extensive use of ancient texts, the arguments often become convoluted, and the flow of the text is disrupted. Additionally, as 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 of this book, 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 methodology of layer-by-layer deduction, as well as the important psychological hermeneutic methodology that awakens experience as a.