A Study On You Zou's Philosophy Thoughts

You Zuo was one of the most outstanding heritors of Luo School. He leaded the four appendices of Cheng, which showed his great status in Li School. You Zuo inherited the fundamental viewpoints of the Cheng brothers in Li and Qi, Principle and Implement, Heart and Nature and the science of benevolence, with a little modification. When discussing Qi, You Zuo shared the same opinion with the Cheng brothers of the origin of Qi, but he emphasized more the characteristics of human nature of Qi. When discussing Li, You Zuo stressed Li from moral perspective, though he approved of the viewpoint of the Cheng brothers that the natural rules could be regarded as the basic connotation of Li. In Principle and Implement, You Zuo put his special attention to the statement of Doctrines of gentleman and saints and Doctrine of the Mean and agreed the view of the Cheng brothers, but made his contribution to the development of how to understand and practice the principle. In heart and nature, You Zuo presented in detail the relationship between Heart and Nature, while the Cheng brothers pointed out that the two were a whole. In the science of benevolence, You Zuo inherited the Cheng brothers' idea that benevolence embodies the basic feature of everything is an inseparable whole, but differed from them on the problem of what is benevolence. You Zuo held that filial piety and fraternal duty was the fundamental of benevolence, while the Cheng brothers pointed out filial piety and fraternal duty was just a means of realizing benevolence. In a word, You Zuo developed the Li School, but his fundamental philosophical view identified with his master. The present thesis tries to explore You Zuo's philosophical view from this aspect in hope of having a deeper understanding of it.