Research On Li Dong's Theory Of Kung F

During the Song and Ming Dynasty,Confucian scholars took the initiative to blend the transcendental theory of Buddhism and Taoism into Confucianism,and put forward a series of unique Confucian theory,which called Neo-Confucianism.Compared with more abstract terms like Ontological-theory and Mind-theory,the Gongfu-theory has been widely concerned by multitudinous Neo-Confucian philosophers because of its highly practicality of morality.Therefore,the Gongfu-theory expounded different characteristics in different development stages of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties.Li Dong(1093-1163)was an important Neo-Confucian scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty.His Gongfu-theory mainly originated and creatively developed the self-restraint Gongfu-theory called"Objectless Desire Leads to Quiet(主静无欲)"proposed by Zhou Dunyi and"Zhong He(中和)"theory proposed by the Two Chengs,and was directly inherited from Tao-nan School which was represented by Yang Shi and Luo Congyan.In the process of establishing the ideology of his Gongfu-theory,Li Dong creatively put forward the ontological thoughts of"Take Benevolence as the Principle and Stress the Emphasis of its Different Points(以仁释理,重在分殊)"through his interpretation of the theory of"Benevolence",which was used as the ontological basis of his Gongfu-theory.In addition,Li Dong drew lessons from Mencius’s theory of"Exerting Mind(尽心)"and the theory of"Exerting Nature(尽性)"in Yi Zhuan,and put forward the Mind-theory of"Knowing the Benevolence and the Natural Principle by Exerting Mind and Nature(尽心识仁,尽性合道)".Besides,Li Dong also took the Mind-theory as the bridge between the Ontological-theory and Gongfu-theory,and making his Gongfu-theory smooth implementation possible.Li Dong’s Gongfu-theory mainly includes two aspects,which most exists in his interpretations of the"Four Books".The first aspect was the theory of physical and mental cultivation,which through the way of"Meditation(静坐默识)"and"Nourishing the Vital Force(涵养夜气)"to create an extremely quiet cultivation environment,so as to reach a free realm shown as the convergence of body and mind,understand the temperament of"Zhong He(中和)"from the"No-stirring",and so on.The second aspect was the theory of practice,which through the way of integrating the sage’s words into the daily life consciously,and to prepare for the understanding of sage’s empty temperament.After practicing the above two kinds of Gongfu-theory,Li Dong put forward the realm theory to understand the temperament of philosophical and sages from the heart,and finally achieve the dual transcendence of personality and spirit.In addition,as the preacher of Zhu Xi,Li Dong also taught him the whole of the Gongfu-theory,and hope that he could be separated from the theory of Buddhism and Taoism,so as to understand the real temperament of sages in his daily life.As for a Neo-Confucian scholar between the Two Chengs and Zhu Xi,Li Dong and his Gongfu-theory played an important transitional role in them.On the one hand,Li Dong supplemented and developed the Gongfu-theory of Zhou Dunyi and the Two Chengs.On the other hand,Li Dong also inspired the early Gongfu-theory of Zhu Xi.At the same time,Li Dong’s Gongfu-theory also has ideological limitations such as implementation difficulties and extreme internalization,which should be viewed dialectically.In a word,the study of Li Dong and his Gongfu-theory is not only helpful to assess the academic status of him in the Neo-Confucianism of Cheng-Zhu,but also help to sort out the development context of Gongfu-theory in Song Dynasties,thus opening up study the field of vision of Neo-Confucianism.