Cheng Yaotian's Philosophy Under The Style Of Textology

Cheng Yaotian (1725-1814) is a famous scholar in Qian-Jia period in the Qing Dynasty. He did not confine his studies to other's interpretation, but understood the profound meaning of ancient books by reading repeatedly. As a man who was saturated with knowledge and correct in behaviour, he was well versed in both Han studies and Song studies. Although he had a reputation for precise textual research, he didn't give up philosophy. His book "Tong Yi Lu," contains philosophy, explaining ancient books, naming objects, the system, rhythm, mathematics, was widely praised by most scholars. In this paper, Cheng Yaotian's "Lun Xue Xiao Ji" and "Lun Xue Wai Pian" are the main objects of study, but some of his other philosophical works are also referred. To research his philosophical discourse under the background of the popularity of textology, this paper is aimed to summarize the philosophy of Cheng comprehensively and systematically to obtain a more complete understanding of his thinking.This paper is mainly made up of preface, three chapters of text and epilogue. The preface of this paper roughly discusses the current academic research to Cheng Yaotian and this paper's writing ideas and research significance. The first chapter mainly introduces the background and academic origin of Cheng's philosophy, analyses the two styles of study's influence to it, which are the style of Sinology in Qian-Jia period and the style of Hui Zhou which was deeply influenced by Zhu Xi's philosophy. The second chapter discusses the research methods and the view on human nature of Cheng Yaotian, sums up his attitude toward research and his learning method, compares his view on human nature with Dai Zhen to find the similarities and differences. The third chapter discusses Cheng's epistemology, revealing his theory of "Rules Root in Material" which develops Dai Zhen's theory of "Feelings Replace Truth" and has a great influence on Ling Tingkan's theory of "Etiquette Replaces Truth". The epilogue simply evaluates Cheng YaoTian's philosophy.