A Study Of The Philosophical Ideas On Liu Zongzhou’s Ren Pu

As a leading figure in the history of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties,Liu Zongzhou made an important and irreplaceable contribution to the reconstruction of the philosophy of the mind and the development of the whole Confucianism.Ren Pu is the work of Liu Zongzhou in his later years,and is the culmination of his wisdom,which is the result of a great deal of effort and the combination of his lectures and lifelong practice.He reconstructs the essence of mind and proposes a systematic set of remedies for reform.The first part of the thesis is the life of Liu Zongzhou and the completion of Ren Pu.Liu Zongzhou had a difficult family background.Not only did he suffer from hunger,but he also suffered from many illnesses.In terms of learning from his teachers,Liu Zongzhou was deeply influenced by his maternal grandfather,Nanzhou Gong,and then studied under Xu Fuyuan.He had a bumpy political career,being dismissed from his position as a citizen three times and eventually dying on hunger strike because he was unable to realize his political ideals.All these experiences paved the way for his great academic achievements.The original intent of Ren Pu was a critique of the booklets recording merits and faults and a response to the social crisis of the late Ming Dynasty.At the same time,it played an important role in correcting the development of the theory of mind.The most important difference between Ren Pu and other booklets recording merits and faults is that it rejects utilitarianism and the idea of deliberate goodness,transforming the study of life into a practical study of the sage.In the second part,Ren Pu manifests the essence of mind.As the general outline of Ren Pu,the theory of Renji’s picture takes the concrete way to become a sage as the central topic of its discussion.The establishment of the nature of the mind is the theoretical premise on which the study of sanctification unfolds.Although there are many similarities in the sentence structure between the theory of Renji’s picture and the theory of Taiji’s picture,its ideological tenets have changed considerably.The establishment of the body of mind,which is no goodness but the highest goodness,reveals the true meaning of Renji.Renji is achieved by Solitude.The Main Methods of Proving a Person highlights the connotation of Solitude and analyzes the relationship between Solitude and mind and nature.Solitude is a philosophical concept under mind,which is not only realistic and concrete,but also objective and transcendental.The nature of the mind’s mandate is inherited by Solitude.In addition,Liu Zongzhou uses the phrase of movement and stillness without end,microscopic and infinite to describe the state of operation of the solitude.The third part of the work is the theory of reformation and the realm of sages in Ren Pu.The establishment of the ontology of mindfulness sets the stage for the unfolding of the work of reformation.In the book,faults are divided into six categories,arranged from the smallest and the faintest to the largest and the most significant.The six types of faults are closely related to each other.If the smaller faults are not corrected in time,they will accumulate and develop into higher faults.The cause of the faults is the obscuring of the body of mind by the Qi of delusion.The only way to prevent faults from developing into evils is to nip them in the bud.The specific methods of correcting faults include litigation and reformation.The litigation of faults means sitting in silence,while the reformation of faults is actually the six lessons of merit aimed at the six types of faults.The reformation of faults is not simply a reverse work of restraint,but also a process of approaching the positive nature of the mind.It is the ultimate goal of Ren Pu,and the universal value of the Song and Ming scholars,to attain the ideal state of life and the sage character through reformation and becoming good.The fourth part is about the academic contributions and modern values of Ren Pu.The greatest academic contribution of Ren Pu lies in its critique and revision of the inner workings of teleology.Post-Yangming studies was characterized by the problem of the drift into nothingness.There are mainly two ways.Firstly,Wang Longxi’s over-exaggeration of the Four Nothings say,which led to a metaphysical void of enlightenment.Secondly,the late development of the Taizhou school,which confused emotion and conscience for conscience and over-indulged in human desire,which led to the suspension of the essence.In order to rectify these two shortcomings,Ren Pu,while inheriting Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming’s promotion of the body of mind,absorbed the ideas of science and used the objective meaning of the nature of the mandate of heaven to chastise the body of mind,making up for the subjective and arbitrary nature of the body of mind.There is no doubt that Ren Pu is also of value in contemporary society.Firstly,it helps people to correctly understand the dark side of human nature.Secondly,it inspires people to cultivate a sense of moral self-consciousness.Thirdly,it provides a programme for the practice of moral cultivation.In short,we must deeply appreciate the philosophical connotations of Ren Pu,and view its academic contributions and ideological value with a dialectical and developmental perspective.