| The flourishing situation presented by the academies of Ming Dynasty attracted great attention in the whole academy history context.In this development boom,Zhan Ruoshui’s status is quite key.As a master of great learning in Mind Theory(Xinxue)who also served in the imperial court simultaneously,Zhan built academies both when he was an official and retired.According to the time and logical order,this thesis sorts out the construction process of Zhan’s academies,showing the sophisticated entanglement between his political ambition and academic evolution.In this way,it is possible to explore the living environment and development path of the Ming academies,and then present the diversified aspects of Confucian scholars’ response to the system of imperial power.The academy that originated in the Middle Tang Dynasty gradually developed a mature lecture function in the Song Dynasty,and was formally incorporated into the local official school in the Yuan Dynasty.In Ming Dynasty,the imperial court formulated a perfect school education system from the central government to the local government,forming an ancestral law of "no academy system in this country".The development of the academy suddenly fell to a standstill,and it was forced to open up a unique imperial and folk dual path in the oppression of imperial power.The imperial court used the name of “academy” and built academies only with library and sacrificial functions,achieving the purpose of maintaining the national image,rewarding the royal clan and winning the powerful subjects,while the restoration of the academy lecture system was at the folk level.Lecture academies,free from the official school system have the nature of private learning.It was first built as a remedial measure for local official schools,and then turned into the main place for Xinxue scholars to promote academic thoughts.The development of academies in Ming Dynasty was also on the way to flourish.The academy construction of Zhan Ruoshui was carried out under the mutual confrontation and agitation between the concept of ancestral system left from the early Ming Dynasty and the new trend of Xinxue thought.In the end of Zhengde Reign,Zhan Ruoshui refused to resume his post as Junior Compiler at the Imperial Academy after the three-year mourning rite for his dead mother was complete.Instead,in order to avoid the chaotic situation under the rule of Emperor Wuzong,he moved to Xiqiao Mountain in seclusion and gave lectures under the pretext of recuperation.During this period,his philosophical principle was established,and the ideological system of Ganquan School became mature.The growing reputation of lecturing led to the founding of Dake Academy,which is similar to the construction path of Song and Yuan Confucian academies.In the daily lectures,Zhan not only taught the concept of Xinxue theory,but also actively promoted the concept of governance based on Jingtian system and the academic concept of integrating moral cultivation and imperial civil examinations.At the same time,Zhan Ruoshui,who always embraced political ideals,deliberately spread his image of a reclusive Confucian scholar in the academic circle and made friends with state officials,waiting for the perfect opportunity to return to the court.Finally,he walked out of a "Xiqiao shortcut".In the beginning of Jiajing Reign,Zhan Ruoshui reinstated in the political hurricane of "Great Ritual Controversy".Although appeared as an opposition,his swing attitude damaged academic reputation and also offended Emperor Shizong,so he was unable to seek any political benefits.After transferring to Nanjing from Beijing,he resumed his academy building and gave lectures as his official career was in dilemma.Guanguang School introduced the wind of free lectures into the imperial college,which was trying to turn the official school into an academy.Xinquan Jingshe was the academic stronghold of Ganquan School in the beginning,and then changed to the philosophical blending of two schools: Yangming and Ganquan.Ganquan Xingwo,built by Zhan’s salt merchant disciples,served as the bridge across the boundary between scholars and commerce.Diversified academy construction had given birth to the emergence of the "academy group" mode,and the cultural circle of Ganquan Academy began to be formed.Zhan Ruoshui,both capital official and Confucian master,not only won a large number of scholars as disciples,but also was supported by local resources.Therefore,Ganquan School continued to grow.Due to the urgent need to enhance the influence of his Xinxue theroy and maintain the development of the academy group,Zhan Ruoshui carried out frequent lecture activities.In addition to reinterpreting the Confucian classics,he also tried to provoke the official and orthodox position of Zhu Xi’s philosophy.In order to reiterate Cheng Zhu orthodoxy,and maintain the normal operation of local official schools,Emperor Shizong issued the imperial edicts banning academies.The academy destruction in Jiajing Reign,started with the destruction of Zhan Ruoshui’s academies as a prelude,reached a climax when Xu Zan applied for the destruction of academies in the whole country,and ended after the imperial court issued a "respecting Zhu Xi" edict.Although the academy ban led to Zhan’s comprehensive withdrawal from the academy activities in Nanzhili district,it did not cause substantial harm to the development of academies in the mid-Ming Dynasty.Zhan Ruoshui,who returned to the south after retired,promoted the "academy group" mode in his building activities in Lingnan famous mountains,and visited Hengshan Mountain twice,devoting himself to the dissemination of Ganquan philosophy.Through the construction of learning tradition,he was trying to deal with the challenges of its academy activities and philosophical theory caused by the academy ban.Simultaneously,by actively building Baisha Temple in each Ganquan academy group,Zhan made full use of the academy function of sacrifice to shape the Chen-Zhan Jiangmen school lineage.In this way,he attempted to solve the orthodox problem of Ganquan School in terms of learning and theory inheritance.At this stage,Zhan Ruoshui’s political ideals had come to an end,so returning to academic affairs became his inevitable choice.Many of the above causes constitute an important joint for the development and changes of academies in the middle of Ming Dynasty.Although building lecture academies was the private behavior of Confucian scholars and outside the political decrees of the imperial court,it was always shrouded in the charm of the court.Under the double shackles of the ancestral concept of "no academy" and the rapid expansion of imperial power in the Jiajing Reign,Zhan Ruoshui broke through layers of resistance and "Rebuild the World",expanding the living space of academies step by step.It just reflected the balance,entanglement and transcendence of Confucian scholars’ choices between distant mountains and imperial court in Ming Dynasty. |
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