Research On Tan Sitong's Equality View Of Renxu

Tan Sitong’s doctrine of benevolence emerged in the context of global trade,science,politics and ideology,which was the result of the convergence of Chinese and western ideological resources and the continuation and reconstruction of Confucianism.It demands to transcend the fetters of ethical status and moralization,contemporary authority and customs,reinterprets the concept of benevolence,and returns to the essence of benevolence.Within Tan Sitong’s benevolence system,equality interprets benevolence,and benevolence interprets equality.Equality is the core spirit of benevolence.From the top,it contains the understanding of the ontology of benevolence,and from the bottom,it inspires the compassion and fearlessness of all living beings,which is the key to "saving all Chinese people from sufferings with spiritual force".The basic connotation of equality includes equality between individuals,between the upper and the lower class,between men and women,between subjective and objective determination,and between China and foreign countries.The equality between individuals is the hinge of the spirit of equality,which is formed through the process of the elimination of discrepancy,non-self status and separation of consciousness.The other four parts involve the interpretation of traditional cosmology--the structure of "Yin and Yang".The thinking mode of "Yin is subordinate to Yang"has been eliminated by the times,and the remolding of "heavenly principles" has become inevitable.The connotation of equality can be roughly interpreted from both ideological and institutional aspects.In the emerging process of benevolence,there are some problems such as promoting blending Buddhism in Confucianism,the immortality of soul and the contention between mental and physical understanding,which needs futher statement in the process of interpretation.Although Tan Sitong has the tendency of materialism in the view of nature,he still belongs to the way of "morality--practice" in ontology.