A Study Of Ji Ben’s Four Books

Yangming school was the mainstream of Confucianism in the middle and late Ming dynasty,and it had a flourishing situation in which disciples were everywhere,and it was passed down for more than a hundred years.The rise of Yangmingism influenced the trend of scholars’interpretation of the Four Books in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.he Notes of Four Books四书私存,written by Ji Ben季本(1485-1563)who was a disciple of Wang Yangming in Zhejiang province,is one of the representative workswhich is influenced by Yangming theory and interprets the Four Books by mind theory in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.Howere,Ji Ben not only interprets the Four Books with Yangming’s scholarship,but also criticizes Zhu Hsi’s朱熹interpretation of the Four Books.He constructs a system of thought from ontology to Gongfu,from cultivation of self to indoctrination of others through the dual approach of criticism of Zhu and description of Wang.Ji Ben’s understanding of the ontology was deeply influenced by the fact that some Yangming scholars studied Yang Jian’s杨简studies,which appeared to have the disadvantage of taking perception as conscience,as well as his own corporal understanding of the Confucian classics,such as the Zhou Yi周易.Based on his empirical evidence of the classics and his response to the problems of his time,Jiben stipulated the ontology in three dimensions:the mind as the supreme goodness,the mind as the spirit of emptiness,and the mind as the master.Since he emphasizes the mastery of the mind,he believes that the metaphor of mirror commonly used in Song and Ming philosophy is not sufficient to express the characteristic of the heart,so he proposes to use dragon as a metaphor for the heart,and thus conducted in-depth debates with Wang Ji王畿,Zou Shouyi邹守益,Li Mo李默,Xue Kan薛侃,and others on such issues as the metaphor of dragon or mirror for the heart,and the relationship between the mastery of the heart and the meaning of nature.Because of the emphasis on the dominance of the heart,Ji Ben takes Jindu谨独as the core of his Gongfu theory工夫论.This means that when the mind meets things,the mind is placed as the master of the whole body,and the subtleties of all thoughts are placed under the scrutiny of the mind.Jindu was regarded as the main way of self-cultivation,so Ji Ben criticized the specific work of Zhu Zi,such as studying,opening the mind,and pursuing the knowledge in things.In order to provide a corresponding classical basis for his own work of careful solitude,Jiben also provided new interpretations of the important concepts,such as aiming at absolute perfection止于至善,Gewu格物,invisible virtue不显之德.Confucianism is the study of self-cultivation and indoctrination of others which means it also attaches importance to the edification of the other.In his understanding of human nature人性,Ji Ben opposed the dichotomy between the mandate of heaven天命and the temperament of human nature气质since the Song Dynasty,and rejected the inclusion of the temperament in the consideration of human nature.Out of his rejection of the nature of qi气,he interpreted the important textual materials that scholars had used to discuss human nature since the Song Dynasty.Based on the understanding that all human beings are good in nature,he disagreed the civilize means the sages to cultivate and teach,to regulate character and morality,and to teach through ritual,music,and punishment.He thought the world can be transformed only by self-cultivation.Therefore,he made important propositions in line with the Qinmin亲民principle of The Great Learning,the teaching of cultivation修道之谓教,consummating oneself and the nature成己成物,and the gentleman ruling others君子以人治人with others in The Doctrine of Mean中庸.Under Ji Ben’s theory of teaching by example and self-renewal,everyone becomes the subject of self-cultivation,therefore advances toward the realm of sanctity becomes a common goal for all people.In his view of sainthood,he inherited Yangming’s virtuous view of sainthood on the basis of his reflection on Zhuzi’s view of sainthood,proposing that saints only discuss their virtues惟论其德,that saints are not omniscient and omnipotent全知全能,and that saints do not stop cultivating工夫不已,which shorten the distance between saints and ordinary people.In addition,he defended King Wu武王and Zigong子贡,whose saintly status was criticized in Confucian history because of the destruction of Zhou周朝and the trade货殖.Because of its status as an official school,Zhu Zi’s study has always occupied a key position in Ming academia;and Zhu Zi’s Four Books study is also a presence that Ming scholars cannot ignore when developing issues related to the Four Books.The important content of Ji Ben’s Four Books study was developed through criticisms on Zhu Zi’s interpretation of the Four Books,and new ideas on the Four Books are stimulated in dialogue with Zhu Zi.At the same time,Ji Ben’s critique of Zhuzi’s Four Books is also a product of a specific history,a response to the struggle of Yangming scholarship to develop in response to the suppression of official ideology and the Zhuzi school community during the Zhengde正德and Jiajing嘉靖periods.In The Great Learning大学,he did not believe in Zhuzi’s chapter and verse text,but made a new and revised version of it,and criticized Zhuzi’s ideas of"Gewu"格物and"Xinmin"新民.In The Doctrine of the Mean中庸,he believed that there is no distinction between movement and stillness in the human heart,and opposed Zhu Zi’s view that the human heart is divided into two times.In the Analects论语,he argues that humanity仁is only about"no selfishness within".He thought that ritual礼was about respect and caution and fear,not about specific ritual programs.In Menciu孟子,he argues that speech言is the expression of the righteousness of our heart,therefore Zhi Yan知言means knowledge of the heart,and opposes Zhuzi’s interpretation of Zhi Yan by knowledge of things.He also thought that there is no need to cultivate qi气beyond holding the will,opposing Zhu Zi’s view that holding the will and cultivating qi is cultivated both internally and externally.The criticism of Zhu is an important part of Ji Ben’s Four Books study,and it runs through his whole process of exegesis of the Four Books.Ji Ben’s Four Books study is a typical representative of Ming Dynasty‘s Four Books study明代四书学which has its distinctive features compared with the Four Books study represented by Zhu Zi’s philosophy.It is characterized by a free style of interpreting the scriptures and emphasizes direct expression of ideas.Besides,Ji Ben’s Four Books study is characterized by the importance of Gongfu工夫,both in his understanding of the onto reality本体,Gongfu theory工夫,self-renewal theory of edification教化论,and the sage view圣人观。The purpose of this ideological trait was to correct the evil of the disregard for Gongfu that had emerged in the Yangming school.In terms of historical development,the last stream of Wang Studies tended to be wildly Zen狂禅and could not be detained by the rules名教because of its disregard for Gongfu in the end of the Ming Dynasty.With the development of academic,the scholars of the early Qing dynasties were out of reflection on the empty and speculative nature of Wang’s scholarship,which eventually contributed to the transformation of Ming and Qing scholarship明清学术转型.Therefore,Ji Ben’s Four Books study provides us with both a case study for understanding certain qualities of Ming scholarship and a reference for understanding the transformation of Ming and Qing scholarship.