A Study Of Wu Cheng's LaoZi Zhu

Wu Cheng was a famous neo-confucianist,thinker and educationist in Yuan Dynasty.Wu Cheng was born at the end of the southern Song Dynasty,when the Southern Song Dynasty fell into the Yuan Dynasty at the age of twenty-seven.As a synthesizer of the Yuan Dynasty neo-confucianism,the end of the Song Dynasty neo-confucianism,and Xu Heng,known as the North and South Wu Xu.Wu Cheng is well-versed in knowledge and works,and his study of Confucian classics is mainly represented by Wu Jing Zuan Yan,but also involves in history,literature,medicine and other fields.In the field of neo-confucianism,he mainly inherited Zhu Xue and absorbed Lu Jiuyuan's theory of mind,thus taking "He Hui Zhu Lu" as the main ideological feature.Politically,Wu Cheng served as Guozijian,Hanlin Bachelor,and served as a local government.However,he was indifferent to fame and wealth and loathed the official career of the imperial examination.His thoughts are embodied in Lao Zi Zhu.Lao Zi Zhu was written by Wu Cheng when he was staying in Qingdu on his way home from his resignation.His thought of Lao Xue is mainly expressed in the aspects of Taoism and political solicitude.Specifically speaking,Wu Cheng's Tao theory includes Tao theory,moral theory,tao-qi theory,tao-object theory and so on.Under the background of highly mature neo-confucianism,Wu Cheng usually combined "Li" with "Tao" in Lao Zi Zhu,the relationship between "Tao" and "Li","De","Qi" and "all things in heaven and earth" is expounded by using the proposition of "Li Yi fen Shu" for reference.It can be said that Wu Cheng's Tao absorbed a large number of neo-confucianism and Buddhism and other ideological achievements,and from the cosmology,ontology level for a systematic exposition.But what is neglected is that this note condenses Wu Cheng's strong concern for Realpolitik.Fed Up with politics,Wu is not a professional politician,but he has deep thoughts on Realpolitik.His thought of managing the state affairs for practical use and the thought of governing the three generations are embodied in Lao Zi Zhu,and his theory provides valuable reference for realistic politics.In addition,Wu Cheng collected more than ten books of LaoZi,which were divided into sixty-eight chapters according to "literal meaning" and the original meaning of LaoZi was restored.Its sixty-eight chapters also had a great influence on the history of Lao Xue.As a representative of neo-confucianism in the Yuan Dynasty,Wu Cheng's vision was not confined to the field of neo-confucianism.Both the textual research and the ideological interpretation of Lao Zi Zhu have new ideas,which not only provide us with a comprehensive understanding of Wu Cheng's academic thinking,but also play an important role in the history of Lao Xue in China.