| Tang Zhen (1630—1704), who lived in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, is a scholar focused on humanistic pragmatism. He connected the Philosophy of the Mind with Pragmatism, following Mencius and Wang Yangming’s theory, highlighted pragmatism as the ultimate purpose of the principle of Saint Inside and King Appearance. His theory expresses the sense of responsibility of a scholar and his deeply concern over realistic life, as well as introspects and responds to the political situation and the overflow of Yang-ming followers. Tang is an important representative humanistic pragmatist of his time.This dissertation contains four chapters:chapter one, Tang’s life and reasons for my research; chapter two, the reconstitution of "Dao"; chapter three, the usage of Dao; chapter four, the ideal vision of Dao.Chapter one, Tang’s life and reasons for my research. This chapter starts with the humanistic pragmatism tradition of Confucianism, then, illustrates the influence of social background on Tang’s theory. After that, I outline the Philosophy of the Mind and Pragmatism as the origin of Tang’s theory. In the last part, I summarize the research status of Tang and give reasons for my research.Chapter two, the reconstitution of "Dao". This chapter discusses the background of the reconstitution of "Dao". Neo-Confucianism of Cheng-Zhu and the tension between Dao and authority are those two basic questions of Tang Zhen. He revealed the pragmatism-deficiency of Cheng-Zhu, and believed the tension between Dao and authority is too grave to continue the peaceful relation between them. And finally, the tension causes the dissimilation of moral, which should be responsible for the perishment of Ming dynasty. By introspection, Tang reconstitution his "Dao", which contains three parts:one, Dao is whole and all with great usage; two, Dao is in everyone’s heart; three, to seek Dao is to seek our heart. Those three parts aim to solve what and where Dao is, and how to get Dao.Chapter three, the usage of Dao. The usage of Dao, in Tang’s mind, is focused on the cultivation of the ideal personality and the governance of the nation. For the former part, Tang put forward his theory of "be sincerity and serviceable" to cultivate an ideal personality. The theory of "be sincerity and serviceable" contains three parts:be sincerity; be esteem in behaviors; be versatile. The ideal personality should concerns on both morality and usage. The following parts discuss the usage of Dao in politics. The part of "Zheng" discusses the usage of Dao in the cultivation of an emperor; the part of "Zhi" discusses the administration of the country, which contains the synchronized administrative rules, the setting of the government, morality governance and courtesy governance. The last part is the governance method, which means the bureaucracy and technology, it requires effectiveness in administration. The dissertation chooses the salvation of vulnerable groups and charity as topics to discuss. In Tang’s theory on the usage of Dao, he attached great importance to "achievement of Dao", which is also the most obvious characteristics and the ultimate aim of his theory.Chapter four, the ideal vision of Dao. The dissertation points out that by combining the principle of Saint Inside and King Appearance with humanistic pragmatism Tang Zhen expounded his definition on the ideal personality and ideal society. The ideal personality and ideal society must meet a double standard:the morality and pragmatism. In those two standards, the pragmatism standard has an overwhelming significance. Tang Zhen’ connection of Philosophy of the Mind with Pragmatism, based pragmatism on morality and also expounded the practical side of morality, is unique in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties academic field. |
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