Research On Zhu Xi’s Outlook On Life And Death

The question of life and death is the ultimate question that every individual must face,and the answer to this question and the degree of solution have become an important standard to measure whether an ideological system is mature and perfect.Zhu Xi,as a master of the Song Dynasty’s Neo Confucianism,also paid close attention to the issue of life and death,and based on the situation of the times,constructed a Neo-Confucianist system of life and death theories that included various aspects such as life and death experience,life and death cognition,attitude towards life and death,transcendence of life and death,and ghosts and gods after death.The theory of life and death is an indispensable and important part of Zhu Zi’s entire Neo-Confucianist ideology,and closely interweaves and interacts with other parts such as the theory of Li Qi,the theory of mind and nature,and the theory of time.Zhu Xi himself is also the most influential generation of great Confucianism after Confucius.His ideas and theories on life and death are very representative and typical in the entire Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism,or the entire Confucian tradition.Specifically,the formation and creation of Zhu Xi’s concept and theory of life and death are rooted in his profound experience of life and death.Zhu Xi was extremely sympathetic to the death of strangers;For the death of his teachers,friends,and disciples,Zhu Xi "filled with grief";The death of his closest relative made Zhu Xi repeatedly "lose business".The illness,aging,and endangerment of his own life made Zhu Xi feel incomparable pain,sorrow,anxiety,fear,and helplessness.The threat and coercion from life and death made Zhu Xi,on the one hand,have a strong interest in Taoism and the art of cultivating immortality,on the other hand,strengthen his own orthodox responsibility and responsibility.Of course,it is precisely under this profound feeling and experience of life and death that he is prompted to make rational cognition and genuine reflection on life,fate,and death.In the process of understanding life and death,Zhu Xi first affirmed the importance of the issue of life and death,because "what the deceased must have and must not know",and from a broad perspective,the entire Confucianism is a study of life and death.Zhu Xi also thoroughly elucidated the dialectical relationship between life and death,emphasizing that life and death are not only opposed and contradictory to each other,but also interdependent and successful.He regarded life as the dominant aspect of this contradiction.As the theoretical basis for Zhu Xi’s understanding of everything in the universe,Li Qi Theory also became his theoretical weapon for understanding and explaining the issue of life and death.Zhu Xi believed that life and death are the separation and diffusion of yin and yang,while the gasification of life and death is dominated and dominated by acceptance.When Li Qi penetrates into the individual,it determines the individual’s life and death in the form of fate,good luck,bad luck,and good luck.As a result,Zhu Xi formed a comprehensive and mature cognitive model of life and death based on his ideological framework of Li and Qi.Based on his understanding and investigation of life and death,Zhu Xi’s attitude towards life and death has a general tone of following the principles of rationalizing life and cherishing life and death.Zhu Xi inherited and developed the Confucian viewpoint of respect and rebirth,believing that only by following the order of life can the spiritual value and significance of life be realized,so that in the time of death,relying on his moral soul,he can "be peaceful without being ashamed of heaven".When this rational attitude towards life and death was applied to the specific process of choosing between life and death,Zhu Xi emphasized a value orientation of rejecting interests and extending benevolence and righteousness.On the one hand,Zhu Xi externalized benevolence and righteousness into heavenly principles,and on the other hand,internalized the nature of conscience,highlighting the moral nature and non utilitarianism in the process of choosing between life and death.On the important issue of deathbed,Zhu Xi pointed out that only through consistent moral cultivation on weekdays can one maintain the unity of mind and reason and transcend the fearless spiritual realm at the moment of deathbed.The transcendence of life and death,as the continuation and deepening of life and death cognition and attitude,also constitutes an important aspect of Zhu Xi’s theory of life and death.In the theory of immortality,Zhu Xi,on the one hand,was influenced by Taoism and hoped for the immortality of the human body,while on the other hand,he deepened the immortal spirit of Confucianism to the inner mental level.Of course,for Zhu Xi,the transcendence of life and death must be based on the Confucian Ultimate Way and the principles of heaven.Only by relying on the recognition of the sanctity,supremacy,and universality of the Ultimate Way can individuals achieve the transcendence of fearlessness,life,and death.It can be said that the ultimate heavenly way and principle are the metaphysical basis of Zhu Xi’s theory of transcendence of life and death.On this basis,Zhu Xi’s outward cognitive effort and inner cultivation effort of spiritual cultivation constitute the specific practical approach to his theory of transcendence of life and death.The existence and non existence,extinction and non extinction after death are also related to the eternity and transcendence of life.Zhu Xi deeply explored this issue in his theory of ghosts and gods.Based on the ideological framework of regulating Qi,Zhu Zi believes that ghosts and gods are the embodiment of real principles,and belong to the flexion and extension of yin and yang.After the death of an individual,it is not that he or she is cut off or non-existent.Although from the perspective of the temporal and spatial phenomena,the deceased ancestors cannot be perceived by the perceptual perceptual abilities of their descendants,in the realm of seclusion and seclusion,it is natural and vital,with a kind of indestructibility and immortality.It is precisely because the dead ancestors are often alive and angry that future generations can feel the deceased ancestors in the process of sincere sacrifice.Although this is a spiritual and emotional experience,it is true and certain in itself.In this way,individual existence is given great spiritual comfort and ultimate care.Looking at Zhu Xi’s view of life and death,it is not difficult to find that it highlights the comprehensive characteristics of rationalism.On the one hand,Zhu Xi followed the position of Confucian realistic ethics,making the issue of life and death intellectualized and systematized;On the other hand,it has extensively absorbed and adopted the viewpoints of life and death from pre Qin Confucianism,Northern Song Confucianism,and even Buddhism and Laoism,and has carried out creative theoretical construction on this basis.In the entire history of the development of the Confucian concept of life and death,Zhu Xi’s concept of life and death undoubtedly has a comprehensive position,and has had a profound impact on the concept of life and death from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties.Even in contemporary society,Zhu Zi’s outlook on life and death still has important value and significance,which is greatly enlightening and beneficial for dealing with modern people’s life and death dilemmas,such as the nihility and meaninglessness of existence,the fear of death,and the issue of hospice care.In short,Zhu Xi profoundly responded to the ultimate issue of life and death,constructing a mature and complete Neo-Confucianist system of life and death theories,greatly promoting the metaphysical and theoretical development of the Confucian concept of life and death.By comprehensively sorting out and exploring Zhu Xi’s theory of life and death,it is not only helpful for us to grasp the ideological meaning,logical structure,and formation process of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism system from different aspects and angles,but also beneficial for us to deepen our understanding of the problem orientation,deep meaning,and value concern of the entire Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism.Of course,Zhu Xi’s concept of life and death,as an important link in the development of the Confucian concept of life and death,itself reflects the historical evolution and vicissitudes of the Confucian concept of life and death,and thus constitutes a perfect perspective to perspective the Confucian philosophy of life and death and ultimate care.