The Rear Successors Of Yangming School In Shaoxing:A Study On Tao Wangling And Tao Shiling

Tao Wangling(1562-1609)and Tao Shiling(1571-1640)were important Yang-ming school scholars in Late-Ming dynasty in Shaoxing where Wang Yangming(1472-1529,Shaoxing Yuyao),Wang Longxi(1498-1583,Shaoxing Shanyin)and Zhou Haimen(1547-1629,Shaoxing Shengxian)were born.In the Anthology of the Philosophical Works of the Ming Dynasty,Huang Zongxi classified Zhou Rudeng and Tao Wangling into the Anthology of Taizhou School and considered them as the followers of Luo Rufang who was a master of Taizhou School.And Tao Shiling’s anthology was not documented in this book.As was pointed out by Peng Guoxiang,Zhou Haimen and Tao brothers were Wang Longxi’s successors,“Wang Yangming-Wang Longxi-Zhou HaimenTao Wangling”,was an important clue of Yangming School’s inheritance in Zhejiang province.As a consequence of Huang Zongxi’s work in Anthology of the Philosophical Works of the Ming Dynasty,it seemed that there were no famous successors of Wang Longxi,and there were no philosophical progress of the Yang Ming School in Zhejiang,until Liu Zongzhou’s works appeared.This thesis first comprehensively introduced Tao Wangling’s relationship with some important scholars outside Shaoxing.Although Tao Wangling was born in Shaoxing,he didn’t show interest in Yang Ming School until he became a Jinshi in Beijing and was greatly influenced by Jiao Hong,Li Zhi and Yuan brothers.Tao also kept in close contact with lots of famous monks,including YunqiZhuhong,who was one of the “four great monks” in Late-Ming dynasty.And Tao even took of Bodhisattva precepts from Zhuhong.Tao Wangling showed his intersts in the pursuit of authenticity and self-value,penetrating the mystery of life and death,advocating for syncretism of three teachings,practicing Chan Buddhism and longing for Pure Land under the influence of his era.With this pre-understanding,Tao got attracted by Zhou Haimen soon after they first met.Tao treated Zhou as his teacher,and assisted Zhou in holding Zhengren Society in Shaoxing,and in the compilation of the Orthodox Transmission of the Sacred Learning,the Orthodoxy of Cheng School and the Orthodoxy of Wang Yangming’s doctrines.They tried to make themselves to be the orthodox scholars among Wang Yangming’s multiple followers.Tao Wangling strictly distinguished liangzhi(original knowledge of the good)from other forms of knowledge.He agreed with the doctrine titled “ Neither good nor evil”(wu shan wu e)proposed by Wang Longxi,and applied the terms from Buddhism and Daoism into interpreting the character of Liangzhi.Tao Considered Liangzhi as the only creative reality.According to this understanding,Tao thought that moral practice should realize the Liangzhi.We could pursue to emancipate from the obsession of life and death in order to realize the true happiness.He applied the proposal “Dao Shi Bu Er”(there’s no distance between Dao and Thing)into combining Wang Longxi and Luo Jinxi’s theories and emphasized that moral practice should start in everyday life.And He tried to resurge the Teacher’s Moral to put Dao into practice by winning the support of the emperor.In general,Tao was the successor of Wang Longxi and Zhou Haimen,which made him a member of Shaoxing Yangming School.After Zhou Haimen and Tao Wangling died,it was Tao Shiling who inherited Shaoxing Yangming School.In Zhengren Society,Tao Shiling always emphasized to realize the liangzhi as the moral subject.He held that Liangzhi should command moral good or evil.He attributed human evil to human’s liangzhi.Tao Shiling stuck to the Confucian stand,and also held an open attitude towards Buddhism and Daoism;made hard efforts in moral cultivation on the basis of embodiedknowing liangzhi;proposed pursuit of happiness after pursuing for moral good;regarded the mindheart as the motivator and inspector of moral activity,and also the creator of meaning and values,by which he proved the practical necessity of the consistency of morality and happiness.After Tao Wangling’s passing away,the inheritance of Shaoxing Yangming School had come to an end as a result of no famous scholar in this school.In the meantime,Liu Zongzhou put forward a new theory which replaced Wang Longxi’s.After these examination of Tao brothers,this thesis will make a conclusion that Tao Wangling and Tao Shiling were the rear successors of Shaoxing Yangming School.