Hsiung Shih-li's Philosophy Of History

Hsiung Shih-li, is China's modern famous philosopher and an important representative of modern Neo-Confucians. As living in the era of 19th and 20th century when China was in the history of humiliation and unrest environment, Hsiung Shih-li in childhood was influenced deeply by his father's national democratic consciousness, and then at the end of 19th century, he took part in the bourgeois-democratic revolution movement and became an important member of the Hsin-hai revolution. After the failure of the revolution of 1911 and later defending bourgeois provisional constitution movement in 1917, he abandoned politics and turned to academic research for summarizing the historical reason and the defeat of the revolution, advancing the unfinished cause of Hsin-hai revolution and indicating the correct road for Chinese nation's modernization development. Then he walked on the lonely road of 20 years to explore the reality of the universe and about half a century of philosophical inquiry career. By comprehensively investigating Hsiung Shih-li's creative and producing ontology and his writings of "Zhi'hua" theory which theme is about human social history field after he had realized the reality of the universe, it can be found that concerning the future development and historical destiny of the Chinese nation and all the human world was his philosophical reflection's fundamental purport. Under the guidance of this fundamental purport, Hsiung Shih-li explored the nature, power, evolution, subject, ideal and knowledge of history in his substance-function philosophy. All these contents under the guidance of his "original mind" ontological philosophy constitutes an organic unified whole, and from the perspective of the development process of Chinese modem philosophy of history, it has already become a theoretical system of speculative philosophy of history with abundant and systematical contents.In the field of historical nature, Hsiung Shih-li, on the basis of his ontology of "original mind" and his philosophical principle of "the unity of substance and function", thinks that the universe which is the manifestation of the "original mind" develops from the natural, blind, latent state to the humanistic, self-conscious and revealed state. The human history, born in the process of the unceasing production and reproduction of the universe, in essence, is the revealed state of the "original mind" and the realization process of the spiritual freedom.In the field of historical power, Hsiung Shih-li, based on his cosmological idea that "His" and "Pi" which means two opposing tendencies of "closing" and "opening" lead to change, thinks that the internal contradiction between material and spiritual phenomena in the human history becomes the fundamental power of historical changes, and in the power, the spiritual is the most fundamental factor that finally decides the historical changes. Through this idea, he re-establishes the traditional Confucianism's ideological purport that moral power decides the history changes in modern social background. But on the other hand, Hsiung Shih-li makes historical dynamic view have more comprehensive and dialectical spirit of the new times by putting forward the following ideas: fight and "Tai'he" that means great humanity are the dialectical unification; the form of mutation plays important role in history changes; human emotional desire and material life pursuit is considered to have reasonable value in the distinction between righteousness and interests as well as principle and desires; and the dynamic function of scientific knowledge should be mastered by the moral strength for the knowledge in essence is the manifestation of the "original mind"In the historical evolution view, the "original mind" which is the unity of entity and value makes Hsiung Shih-li's idea of historical changes be both a historical evolution idea for the historical change is finally decided by the opening aspects which has value theoretical significance. Based on the rationalism of Confucian life philosophy, Hsiung Shih-li's historical evolution view is different from Spencer's mechanical evolution and Bergson's life evolution which both played important influence in modern China, and it is also different from the Marxist historical materialism. So in modern Chinese and western philosophy history Hsiung Shih-li's historical evolution view shows a distinctively unique philosophical feature, and is further specifically expressed in the respects of the evolutional mechanism, form, stages and types of mankind history.In the field of historical subject, Hsiung Shih-li, in his substance-function philosophy, especially emphasizes the importance of human active function and creativity characteristic, which fully affirms the subject position of individuals in history, overthrows the traditional idea that the history destiny is decided by the heaven and makes the human history return from the commanded outcome of some mysterious external forces as heaven into the product of mankind themselves conscious creative activities. Furthermore, in the historical background of Chinese society transforming from the imperial despotism era to bourgeois revolution era when civil-rights are advocated, Hsiung Shih-li, puts forward a distinctive idea about historical subject in which intellectuals and ordinary people who are leaded by the intellectuals are both important in historical evolution. This idea raises the ordinary people's historical subject power into an important theoretical height and unifies the saint-subject historical idea and the civilians-subject historical idea together on the theoretical basis of traditional Confucian moral determinism, which reflects the shifting track of the thoughts and age on history subject.In the field of historical ideal, Hsiung Shih-li, by the interpretation of the traditional Confucian categories of "internal saints" and "external kings", shapes an ideal personality which is the integration of independence, equality, freedom and fraternity under the command of the traditional Confucian rationalism of morality, and an ideal society that is great harmonious with high development of science and democracy. By the ideal personality and ideal society Hsiung Shih-li expresses his ideal seeking about the future development of human history as a Chinese traditional Confucian intellectual. And in the background of modern society Hsiung Shih-li reconstructs the ideological approach of the traditional Confucianism that is from "internal saints" to "external kings" through his philosophical exploration of "original mind" ontology based on which the "external kings" that consists of democracy, science and great harmonious society can be grew from the "internal saints" which is also reconstructed by "the unity of substance and function". Hsiung Shih-li's philosophical exploration about this is a very creative answer full of rich historical and realistic contents about the future development of modern China and all of the human world and the answer in theoretical system finally establishes and creates the theoretical direction of the modern new Confucianism which is later summed up with "internal saints grow out new external kings".In the field of historical understanding, Hsiung Shih-li affirms the possibility of historical understanding both in the metaphysical level and in the physical level through a profound ontological interpretation which is based on the metaphysically self-evident and self-knowledge attribute of the "original mind" itself and the distinction between "original mind" and "physical mind" as well as the moral cultivation practices theory of shifting the evil "physical mind" into the good "physical mind". Consistent with this view, "Hsing'zhi" which means the understanding method by which the "original mind" knows itself is emphasized and required to be fundamental in historical understanding for it is in command of the other method of knowledge, "Liang'zhi", that means the understanding method by which the "physical mind" knows the phenomena of the world, so Hsiung Shih-li's idea about the historical understanding methodology shows a basic characteristic that is moral rationality is in command of knowledge rationality. Associated with the historical understanding whose object is the actual historical process, Hsiung Shih-li, aiming at the research status of Chinese historians, discusses the objects, nature, contents, forms, methods and value of history from the perspective of historical knowledge theory. These discussions are important contents of Hsiung Shih-li's idea about historical understanding in the significance of analytic philosophy of history, and also become an organic part in his philosophy of history.Through detailed interpretation on the above contents, Hsiung Shih-li's thought on philosophy of history is comprehensively presented in general. Based on the perspective of the meta-philosophy of history, through three different aspects which consist of theoretical properties, thoughts origin and historical position the dissertation finally reaches the summarizing conclusion from the above contents about the academic significance of Hsiung Shih-li's philosophy of history as follows:Hsiung Shih-li's ideas on philosophy of history in the form of absolute idealism reflect the bourgeois-democratic revolutionary time spirit and class consciousness of that specific time, express the understanding of this particular age and class about the essence of human history:History is the revealed state of the spiritual life and the realization of human liberty course. His philosophy of history is born on the basis of full integration of modern western culture into Chinese traditional culture. Among the thoughts origin of Hsiung Shih-li's philosophy of history, the traditional Chinese philosophy of history, especially Wang Chuan-shan's philosophy of history, western philosophy of history mainly of Hegel, Spencer and Bergson, and Chinese modern theoretical tradition from Kang You-wei to Zhang Tai-yan, constitute the most direct theoretical sources of his philosophy of history. In the modern transition course of China's traditional Confucian philosophy of history, Hsiung Shih-li's philosophy of history realizes the traditional Confucian philosophy of history that is moral centrality with historical evolution thought organically, reconstructs Confucian philosophy of history characterized with moral determinism in the form of historical evolution, so advances the traditional Confucian philosophy of history into evolutionary form of modern times. Furthermore, Hsiung Shih-li's philosophy of history has abundant and profound dialectics which promotes theoretical thinking level of modern Chinese philosophy into a new era height. Of course, as a product of a specific age, Hsiung Shih-li's philosophy of history also has distinct era and thought limitations. His outstanding theoretical contributions and limitations make his philosophy of history be an important theoretical link in the course of modern development of Chinese traditional philosophy of history and occupy an important status in the development history of Chinese modem philosophy of history. To sum up seriously and inherit critically Hsiung Shih-li's philosophy of history will have important theoretical and realistic significance, not only to thoroughly understand the development course of Chinese modem philosophy of history, but also to fully utilize and carry forward the modern value of the Confucian traditional philosophy of history under the background of new era.