Study On Wang Zhong's Thought

Mr. Wang Zhong was one of the famous representative personages of the Yangzhou School in the Qing Dynasty. Though he had to struggle to make a living for his family, he made great achivement in the study of Exegesis, Confucian Classics, History, Geography, Zis, Literature and etc. Because of this, he had been called systematic learned Confucianist in that era. Being a pioneer of the Yangzhou School, Wang Zhong's thought greatly influenced the formation of the Yangzhou School, and was the key point in the development process of the Qianjia School, which was on the road from specialized and mastered to systematic learned. His effort to correct the defects of the Qianjia School was useful to the further development of the Qianjia School.After Mr. Hui Dong began to disseminate openly, the method of Han was accepted by the vast majority of the scholars gradually. Although Mr. Hui had announced that the target was to get the spirit of the Confucian Classics, he didn't do as so. There came with the defects, such as a preference of ancient exegesis. With the growth of the atmosphere of the Qianjia School, the defects became more powerful, too.Influenced by the thought of Mr. Hui, Mr. Dai Zhen, who was influenced by the Neo-Confucianism when he was young, led a new method of Han which was planed to study the philosophy in the Confucian Classics through the method of Han. Obviously, Mr. Dai wanted to rectify the defects of the Qianjia School. There were a few scholars who supported the thought of Mr. Dai. In the vast majority of the scholars' eyes, there was confusion between the Han and the Neo-Confucianism in the try of Mr. Dai, so they boycotted the thought of Mr. Dai together.Based on the try of Mr. Dai, Mr. Wang continued the try to rectify the defects of the Qianjia School. Firstly, Mr. Wang knew the auduous situation of the bottom class because of being poor, so he could accept the thought of Jingshi easely under the influence of Mr. Gu Yanwu and Mr. Hang Shijun, and established an aim for study, which was fo find the spirit of the Confucian Classics and make it be useful to improve the people's living conditions. He established an ultimate aim for the Qianjia School when he made a link between the study and the Jingshi.Secondly, influenced by the thought of Mr. Dai, Mr. Wang tried to get the spirit of the Confucian Classics through the method of Han. Of course, his thought was different from Mr. Dai's. It wasn't to study the concept of the Neo-Confucianism through the method of Han, it was aimed to be useful to improve the people's living conditions. The aim of the study of the Confucian Classics wasn't itself, but to get the law of the ancient government.Thirdly, for getting the true understanding of the law of the ancient government, Mr. Wang studied the history of academic. From his study of Zis, he found a new system of classics' imparting named Kong-Xun, which was different from the Neo-Confucian Kong-Meng system. The system of Kong-Xun could defend the Qianjia School in the conflict with the Neo-Confucianism, because the Qianjia School was linked to Confucius in this system. He found that the academic's development process of Pre-Qin Dynasty was from Shi to Zis. Then the Confucianism which was worshiped excessively came from Shi just like Zis. As it was the basis of Shi, the Li was the source of the later academic study, too. As it was used to improve the people's living conditions by Shi, the Li was the source of the later Jingshi thought, too. In fact, Mr. Wang's Jingshi thought was also based on the Li. And the other scholars of the Yangzhou School after him were explaining the Confucian Classics based on the Li. They even wanted to replace the philosophy of the Neo-Confucianism in order to get the practical value of the Qianjia School with the Li.The Qianjia School was on the process of development from the beginning, Mr. Hui initiatived the method of Han, and was followed by so many scholars. And Mr. Dai tried to get the ancient thinkers' philosophy through the method of Han in order to rectify the defects of the Qianjia School. And influenced by the thought of Mr. Dai, Mr. Wang wanted to rectify the defects of the Qianjia School, too. He made the Jingshi be the core of the study, and aimed the method of Han to get the spirit of the Confucian Classics. His thought influenced the later scholars of the Yangzhou School, became the core of the pioneers. There came the systematic learned after the specialized and mastered.From the point of Mr. Wang's thought, we can see a picture full of vitality. The Qianjia School is new compared to the Neo-Confucianism, thought there are some defects, there are tries and capacities to rectify the defects from the scholars of the Qianjia School, too. It was the aim of the learned Qianjia School' scholars that they wanted to get the spirit of the Confucian Classics and make it useful to improve the people's living conditions. It is a fact that there were defects in the Qianjia School, but we should evaluate it with the viewpoint of development because the Qianjia School was always on the road of rectification.