Lecture 16: Naturalist Neo-Confucianism

Question 1

How does Wang Fuzhi see the relations between substance and function (ti and yong, Reality Itself and its manifestations), dao and concrete things, li and qi?

Answer 1

• He continues the naturalist tendency of Zhang Zai, especially the idea of qi (vital force), and looks on the universe as constituted by qi and concrete things in which the reality of things can be perceived only through their functions.
• Therefore, dao should be shown in concrete things, substance should be manifested through functions, and li (principle or reason) should realized in qi (material or vital force).

Question 2

How does Fang Yizhi distinguish three kinds of science? How does he compare them with Western science?

Answer 2

• The science of causes of concrete objects, named zhice, like today’s positive science;
• The science of governance and education, named zaili, like today’s social sciences;
• And the science of the ultimate and universal principle, named tongji, like philosophy.

Question 3

How do Yan Yuan and Li Gong, under the influence of Western science and technology brought to China by Jesuits, organize their teaching? How do they look on the distinction between “nature of Heavenly endowment” and “nature of physical disposition”?

Answer 3

• Influenced by the efficient Western technology brought to China by Jesuit missionaries, Yan Yuan and his disciple, Li Gong, were not interested in pure philosophy related to meditation and book reading; they emphasized practical arts such as music, ceremony, agriculture, martial arts, medicine, calculation, etc.
• Their school and its content of learning are organized in four halls: first for studying classics and history (jingshi), second for literary matters (wenzhang), third for martial art and craft (wubei), and fourth for practical arts in dealing with concrete affairs (yineng).
• They criticize any form of dualism, including that between the nature of Heavenly endowment and the nature of physical disposition in Neo-Confucianism.
  
  • They proposed a more organic vision of human nature.

Question 4

How does Dai Zhen interpret the concept of li?

Answer 4

“Li is a name given to the examination of minutest details with which to make necessary distinctions. This is why it is called the principle of differentiation. In the case of the matter of things, we call it “fibre in muscle,” “fibre in flesh,” and “pattern and order” (wenli). When the distinction obtain, there will be order without confusion. This is called “to organize into order (tiaoli).”

Question 5

How does Dai Zhen see human desire and the meaning of life?

Answer 5

Mencius said, “For nourishing the mind there is nothing better than to have few desires (guayu).” It is clear that men should not be without desires at all but should have only a few. There is no greater pain in a man’s life than being unable to preserve and fulfill one’s own life. To desire to preserve and fulfill one’s own life and also to preserve and fulfill the desires of others is humaneness (ren). To desire to preserve and fulfill one’s own life to the point of destroying the lives of others without any regard is inhumanity. Whatever the issues, desire is always concerned with life and its support. When desire is wrong, it is the result of selfishness and not of the obscuration of your mind by desire.

Question 6

What’s the meaning of Chinese philosophy for today’s philosophizing? Give an answer with your own view.