Dao Text

Since the topic"The ontology of form is Tao"is considered to belong to the category of Jing, the Confucian concept of form has long been misinterpreted and criticized. In their beliefs of Jing, Confucian scholars believe that the issue of form and Tao is primarily concerned with"what literature is about", rather than"how to write literary works". The former is related to the more philosophical side of literature and the latter to stylistics. Moreover, we have found various interpretations and views regarding form, Tao and their relationship, existed in the past dynasties. Then, what are the beliefs behind the different understandings?When we turn to the crosscultural study of the Comparative Literature, we may discover that the expression of the Confucian scholars'beliefs in Jing of poetry writing could be rather different from the conventional opinions about the Confucian literary concept. In other words,"The ontology of form is Tao"reflects the Confucian faith to Jing and its expression in poetics. .Apart from introduction and epilogue, the dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 discusses Confucian scholars'understanding and interpretation of Jing, and the proposition"The ontology of form is Tao"."A place to settle down"is pursued by Confucian scholars and it is regarded as their ultimate concern, a concept first mentioned by Tillich, a famous German theologian) . When Confucian scholars got to know Jing, they willingly took it as their belief, as their ultimate concern. This means for Confucian scholars,'The ontology of form is Tao'became a spiritual guide. Moreover, Jing is the ultimate place pursued by Confucian scholars to put their souls.The second chapter talks about some Confucian scholars'understanding and illustration of Jing and"Tao is the ontology of form",presented by Liu Xie in Wei and Jin Dynasty. With the decline of Jing and the emergence of social crisis in the late Dong Han Dynasty, intellectuals started to think about what the ontology of form really is, which disturbed the original beliefs in Jing. In XuanXue, Liu Xie revealed the absence of ontology in poetics and made the statement"The Tao is The ontology of form"in his paradigm. He regarded Tao as the ontology of form and Jing as the origin of form. We take his theory as the foundation for the ontology of Confucian scholars'faith to Jing.The third chapter deals with Confucian intellectuals'interpretation of Jing and the theory that"The Ontology of form is Tao"to verify that Tao is loaded in writings, presented by Han Yu in Tang Dynasty. Buddhism and Taoism became more prevalent in Tang Dynasty and they had been penetrating into the Confucianism which was stagnant at that time. The influence resulted in the combination of Confucianism either with Buddhism or with Taoism. Reflecting on the deviation of most poems from the traditional Tao in his time, Han Yu presented his theory of pure Confucianism, the idea of"The form is an indication of Tao."The purpose of the theory is not only to accomplish reading and interpretation, but also to bring changes to the readers'vision of the world. The understanding of Jing for Confucian scholars, represented by Han Yu, emphasized the purity of Confucian Tao in poetry writing and refuted deviationism.Chapter 4 focuses on Confucian intellectuals'understanding and illustration of Jing and the proposition"the form could fully represent Tao", which was brought out by Zhu Xi in Song Dynasty. The challenge from Buddhism and Taoism drove the Confucians scholars in Song Dynasty to further develop the ontology of the Confucian Tao. Zhu Xi believed that the world is nothing more than a Li ("理"). The Li had been regarded as an Absolute Presupposition for Confucianism. In Zhu Xi's view of poetics,"The form fully reflects Tao", Tao itself is hidden in the secular world. For the poetics, the form is the only way to present Tao. In other words, the form is one of the representatives of Tao. After all, a representative is nothing more than a representative, i.e. it is wrong to take the form, the representative of Tao, as Tao itself. So, if we write before comprehending Tao, the form can only be colorful verbalism, unable to express Tao. This is why the Confucian scholars in Zhu Xi's time took the Confucian Tao as the metaphysical foundation for poetics.Towards the end of the dissertation, the author proposes life concern as the purpose of learning or study. In the course of learning, Jing may constantly have a great influence on Confucian intellectuals'life, which kept them away from the temptations of the world. We believe Jing helps us understand the true meaning of life and brings peace into our heart and spirit.