| There are different ways to study Neo-Confucianism which are profound and multifaceted.In this paper,it focuses on the ideological picture of “Shi” in Neo-Confucianism by taking “Shi” as the field of vision,“Shi around” as the clue.Historically,the emergence of Neo-Confucianismy was driven by the strong impact of Buddhism and Lao in the social background,the ancient literature movement,the movement of respecting teachers and education,as well as the trend of civilianization of society since the Middle and Late Tang dynasties.In terms of ideological origin,it was directly inherited from Confucianism and Mencius which valued human nature and affirmed reality in the pre-Qin dynasty,but there was no lack of borrowing and playing on the ideas of Buddhism and Lao.Neo-Confucianism were first promoted by Zhou Dunyi,Shao Yong,and Zhang Zai from the “View of the Way of Heaven”,then turned to the “Theory of Human Nature” and a rigorous ideological system was built up in Cheng and Zhu.Lu and Wang who directly inherited Mencius’ “theory of the nature of mind” constructed “teleology” and created another peak in the development of Confucian philosophy.The dual task of resisting Buddhism and establishing a theoretical system externally and internally determined that the rise of Neo-Confucianism shall not only continue the meaning of “nature and the way of heaven”,but also aim to reconstruct the real life order.The above was the historical premise of the emergence of Neo-Confucianism and the theoretical logic of the germination of Neo-Confucianism of “Shi”.Logically,the thought of “Shi” in Neo-Confucianism is firstly concerned with“the way of heaven and people”.Based on the principle of “the way is not far from people” and “daily use is the way”,Zhou Dunyi’s “all Shi come out” and Shao Yong’s“the Shi of the world” confirm that people and their “Shi” are the basic way to constitute the existence of the world.Through propositions such as “Taixu is Qi”,“the benevolent Shi are always there” and “I obey Shi”,Zhang Zai argues for the interaction between heaven and man while Cheng and Zhu tries to construct a pure thinking and discernment world with judgments of “Li” and “Qi” by relying on“reason for Shi is in advance” and “use the facts to make up one’s mind”.Lu and Wang believes that “Shi” are governed by “Tao” and “Xin” and proposes “There is no matter outside of the Tao” and “There is no matter outside of the Xin”.The ontological issue that establishes the idea of “Shi” in Neo-Confucianism is how the“Way of Heaven” which has the dimension of form can penetrate the individual“Shi”.The further extension of the relationship between “heavenly and human affairs”involves “imaginary Shi and real Shi”.From the perspective of Confucianism,what is related to human nature and physics and the daily routine is the “real Shi”,while what is abandoned from human nature and physics and detached from social development is the “Imaginary Shi”.Neo-Confucianism in resisting Buddhism and reviving Confucianism externally and reviving Confucianism internally is essentially based on the “real” to resist the “imaginary” in the context of the “Shi”.The "imaginary Shi" are turned into "real Shi".And "sincerity",which communicates with "heaven" and "reason",is essentially the innate commitment of "reality".The interaction between "heavenly and human" is transformed into the principle of "Shi",that is,there is no "real Shi" without "sincerity".Proving "reality" by "sincerity" and proposing "sincerity is the real reason",the purpose of Neo-Confucianism is to prove that the origin of the world is "living" and "existence".The purpose of this theory is to provide the basis for the development of "real Shi" and the construction of the real order of life on the premise of confirming the origin of the world as "existence",use this as an important element to resist Buddhism and open up the way.The development of "practical matters",which is related to human nature and physics and the daily routine,the transformation from the relationship between heaven and man to the relationship between man and man,is inevitably associated with the discernment of group and self,righteousness and profit.Song and Ming Confucianism uses "the discernment of group and self" and "the discernment of righteousness and profit" to resolve the tension between them.The above viewpoint not only establishes the essence of Neo-Confucianism from the value dimension that distinguishes it from Buddhism and Lao,it is also the logical premise for further development of "becoming oneself" and "becoming Shi" and how to "do Shi".The specific unfolding of "real Shi" has the order of "proper Shi and remaining Shi".From the perspective of the individual,in the context of the unfolding of "real Shi","Shi" that are related to real life and can realize self-worth are classified as "proper Shi",while the opposite The "Shi" are the "remaining Shi".Under the theoretical presupposition that "knowledge" becomes virtuous and "action" becomes virtuous,Zhang Zai uses "knowledge" and "action" to realize the interaction between heaven and man,Cheng and Zhu advocates "knowledge" before "action" to construct a theoretical world of discernment and Wang Yangming proposes "the unity of knowledge and action" to achieve the realization of "conscience".The Song and Ming Confucianism on "knowledge" and "action" are based on the idea that "knowledge" comes before "action" in order to construct a theoretical world of discernment.The different emphasis on the relationship between "knowledge" and "action" in Song and Ming Confucianism implies that "knowledge" and "action" are in the process of "becoming oneself",there is an order of "the right thing" and "the rest".With "becoming oneself" as the point of reference,"ascending to the top" and "learning from the sages" are both "Shi" in pursuit of the value of one’s life.Confucianism,which has always taken virtue and perfection of character as the pursuit of self-worth,has always taken "learning from the sages" as the "first thing",while it has been quite critical of the "ascending to the top" of seeking fame and fortune.The "Shi" of "attaining the highest rank" has been a subject of much criticism.From the point of view of "Shi",doing the "proper Shi" carefully and handling the "remaining Shi" properly is not only a further confirmation of the "proper Shi",but also a way to achieve the "remaining Shi".It is also a necessary part of realizing "becoming oneself" and constructing the corresponding world of meaning.The process of "becoming Shi",which corresponds to the "Shi" of "becoming oneself",contains the distinction between "big Shi and small Shi".Song and Ming Confucianism insist on the principle of "humane government is the greatest" and recognize "governmental affairs",which embody the responsibilities and political ideals of the world,as "big Shi".Zhou Dunyi’s "restoring ancient rites and changing modern music," Zhang Zai’s "people’s harmony," Cheng and Zhu’s "obedience" to rule,Lu Jiuyuan’s "the way to the world " and Wang Yangming’s "oneness of all Shi",etc.,are all found in this.The "food" as the connotation of "goods" and "life",from Ercheng to Zhu Xi and then in particular,Wang Yangming’s theory of "four people with different professions and the same path" has relieved the difference between "seeking the path" and "seeking food" to some extent.In particular,Wang Yangming’s theory of "four people with different professions and the same path" to a certain extent not only relieve the tension between "seeking the way" and "seeking food" in Confucianism,but also reflect the social reality of commercial development and the mobility of the "scholar,farmer,industrialist" classes since the late Ming Dynasty.Therefore,the "Shi" of "governance of life" show signs of transformation from "small Shi" to "big Shi".The purpose of the discussion of "big Shi" and "small Shi" is to reflect the importance of "Shi" in Song and Ming Confucianism as a whole and the opening of Neo-Confucianism to people and to society.From "becoming oneself" and "becoming Shi" to further examine the social field in which people can exist and develop,it involves the issue of historical evolution in a broad sense,which is presented in the dimension of "Shi" as "historical Shi and situations".The historical tracing of "Shi" in the dimension of time is precipitated and condensed into "historical Shi",while the infinite extension of "Shi" in the present or future constitutes the essence of "Shi".The essence of "situation" is made of "Shi" according to the setting that "history".Song and Ming Confucianism derive "history seeks reason" from "reason in Shi" and use the latter as the basis for the "materialism".The latter is used as an important work of "knowledge of Shi".The latter is used to outline the "potential" of phenomenal situations,existence scenarios or development trends related to Shi,people and events,which are related to human existence and its activities at the substantive level.This is how Song Ming Confucianism come up with the term "situation",which is used to analyze the specific scenario and developmental trend in which "Shi" unfold.With the unfolding of "Shi" as the background,"Shi and situations" constitute both the favorable side and the side that is opposite to people or can be influenced by non-people,so in Song Ming theory,there are "follow the situation and Shi".Therefore,There is a practice of "following the trend and the situation" and "using the situation to become the situation" in Neo-Confucianism.From the viewpoint of "Shi",the dimensions of "history" and "potential" do not seem to be the thought direction of Neo-Confucianism,but its exposition of righteousness is always based on "history" and "potential".However,the interpretation of its doctrine is always based on "history" as the source and "potential" as the background and it has formed its own unique way of treating history and its characteristic historical philosophy.This paper mainly adopts a combination of historical and logical approaches and the study of the basic source,taking "Shi" as the field of view and "Shi around" as the clue,focusing on "the historical preconditions for the emergence of Neo-Confucianism.The study will focus on " the historical prerequisites for the emergence of Neo-Confucianism "," heavenly and human affairs "," imaginary Shi and real Shi ",“proper Shi and remaining Shi","big Shi and small Shi","historical Shi and situations".It explores the idea of "Shi" in Neo-Confucianism.The goal of this paper is to prove that "Shi" is an important category in Neo-Confucianism and it is the main line of thought that runs through the logical development of Neo-Confucianism.The corresponding "Shi" of what people do is the daily practice of Song and Ming Confucianism that affirms the real world.The "Shi" that people do are the "Shi" that Song and Ming Confucianism affirm the daily practice of the real world,the "Shi" that build the order of social life,that is,"Shi around" !... |
