Yan Fu And The Turning Point Of Chinese Concept Of Order

This article takes Yan Fu’s view of order as the center to carry out research on related issues.In a narrow sense,the so-called“秩序”is the Chinese translation of the word“Order”.In the course of the development of Western philosophy,the characteristics of the word“order”have gone through a transition from the holism that penetrates to the dichotomy between nature and human.Similar to the development of the Western view of order,the ancient Chinese view of order also experienced a transition from holism to separatism.In the world of traditional Chinese thought,the so-called“order”and“Tao”have the same connotation.When speaking of“order”at the level of“Tao”.the prominent expression is the recognition of the unity of the law and purpose of the way things exist.Taking Zhu Xi’s《太极解义》as an example,this paper makes a basic analysis of the holistic view of order in Neo-Confucianism from three perspectives:the relationship between Li and Qi,the distinction between the nature of temperament and the nature of destiny,and the dichotomy of Taiji(太极)and Huangji(皇极).In Zhu Xi’s conception of the order of heaven,the core issue is the analysis of the relationship between“Tian”and“Li”.“Li”is mainly related to“Tian”,and“Tian”is mainly related to“human nature”.The distinction between the nature of temperament and the nature of destiny provides an ontological foundation for the restoration of human virtues,and re-realizes the unity of heaven and man through the cultivation of renaturation.This concept of order in the form of the unity of Tian and Ren faced the dilemma of being disintegrated and rewritten in the late Qing Dynasty.Different from the view of order constructed by Kang Youwei and Zhang Zhidong,which divides Tian and Ren,Yan Fu’s view of order in the evolution of the universe shows the characteristics of harmony between the Tian and Ren.For the construction of natural order,Yan Fu emphasized the principles of“force”and“evolution”.Yan Fu’s understanding of“force”is not the same as the principle of“force”in the sense of classical Newtonian mechanics.His distinction between“physical strength”and“point strength”actually reflects more of a feature of the view of vitalism.On the basis of“force”,there is an“evolution”relationship between the natural world and the man-made world.The“天演”contains the unified connotation of both natural and man-made contents.we can see that the concept of“Tian”main connotation is the law of unity,which is different from the“heaven”in the purely material sense.On the basis of defining the natural order as the principles of“force”and“evolution”,for Yan Fu,the construction of spiritual order is mainly manifested in the emphasis on“名理”.we found that Yan Fu’s interpretation of the relationship between people’s words and behaviors reflects the intrinsic relationship between name and morality.On the basis of exploration of the problem of“名理”,Yan Fu pointed to the search for“axiom”.In the process of constructing social order,Yan Fu emphasized the concepts of qun(群),law、right、equality and liberty.Yan Fu’s analysis of these concepts shows the characteristics of a“界”thinking.The“界”is the dialectical synthesis of the awareness of the differentiation of the real social order.For the construction of the social order,differentiation and synthesis in the sense of name and words means not only the recognition of the independence of individuals,but also the recognition of the unity of the internal relationship of individuals.On the whole,the most prominent feature of the order concept constructed by Yan Fu is that it is harmony between the heaven and human.Different from the Confucianists’ understanding of“Tian”and“Ren”,Yan Fu made a new interpretation of both “nature” and “human”.We can conclude that Yan Fu’s concept of order is consistent with the traditional concept of order in terms of thinking structure,but has substantial differences with the traditional in terms of specific connotation.From the perspective of the history of thought,Yan Fu’s order concept of harmony between the heaven and human was inherited and carried forward by subsequent thinkers.