Chapter 21 remarks

Feng Youlan said: Reflection on the human spirit in the history of philosophy.The difference between philosophy and science is that the former seeks good while the latter seeks truth. Mr. Feng Youlan has a bit of a stutter in his speech, but if he doesn’t bother, he once compared the similarities and differences between him and Jin Yuelin and said: We both have strengths and weaknesses. His strength is that he can make simple things complicated, and mine is that Very complicated things are very simple. Feng Youlan said in his "Self-Report": "The history of Peking University should be counted from the Taixue of the Han Dynasty, because I saw that famous universities in the West have a history of hundreds of years, while Peking University has only a few decades of history. , which seems very disproportionate to the ancient civilization of China.”

Feng Youlan believed that the Revolution of 1911 was actually a "struggle between the power of the gentry and the power of the government". , Back to his original place, he was a gentry....I now feel that part of the driving force of the Revolution of 1911 was that the power of the gentry overthrew the power of the government, that is, those who were not in power of the landlord class defeated those in power of the landlord class.” Feng Youlan believes that the so-called democracy is "the minority obeys the majority", and the way to realize democracy is elections, "Nothing can overwhelm individual human rights, there is only one thing that can overwhelm, and that is the 'majority'." "If there is no real election, then There is no democracy."

In 1923, under the guidance of Dewey and others, Feng Youlan completed his doctoral thesis "Comparative Research on the Ideal of Life" (also known as "On the Gains and Losses of Heaven and Man"), successfully passed the defense, and obtained a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University.In this article, Feng Youlan divides the philosophies in the world into three categories: the first category is harming the way; the second category is benefiting the way; the third category is the middle way.Feng Youlan’s comparative view of Chinese and Western philosophies and Liang Shuming’s theory of “three directions of culture” are different, but the basic spirit is the same. This cannot but be said to be influenced by Liang’s cultural theory.The difference is that Liang regards Indian culture as the final destination of mankind, while Feng regards Confucian culture as the destination.

Through horizontal comparison, Feng Youlan came to another conclusion: feudal society is "noble and noble", capitalist society "respects the rich", and socialist society "exalts the virtuous". During the period of the Republic of China, Feng Youlan once told foreigners.One day, he walked into the office of a foreigner named Heng Shi'an, and said nonchalantly: You Westerners always want to find a place where you can stop and make a final and conclusive speech.However, the world has no final conclusion, and the world has not stopped.The sixty-fourth hexagram, which is also the last hexagram, is Weiji, "Not yet finished!"

Feng Youlan claimed to be good at simplifying complex issues. His article "On the Inheritance of Chinese Philosophical Heritage" was published in Guangming Daily on January 8, 1957. One of the critics was "Marxist theorist" Chen Boda .Feng complained that Chen's "thoughts were so confused that people didn't know what he was asking." Feng Youlan thinks that "you are a gentleman Confucian, not a villain Confucian", and thinks that the academic circles can't understand it.The etiquettes of red and white events in his hometown in Henan are very complicated. There is a kind of people who are "waiters" who are familiar with these etiquettes. He believes that such people are "little people". "Confucianism", but the identity is a servant, called "little man Confucianism".He thinks this is the exact interpretation of the sentence above.

Feng Youlan once said in "Xin Shi Lun": We often hear many jokes about city people and country people. According to these jokes, not only the people in the city are more knowledgeable, talented, and enjoy better than the people in the country. Dogs in the city are also more knowledgeable, capable, and enjoy better than dogs in the country.Although these are jokes, they are not necessarily untrue.We can even say that not only do dogs in the city have higher knowledge, talents, and enjoyment than dogs in the country, but also dogs in the city, in some respects, have higher knowledge, talents, and enjoyment than the dogs in the country... In China , out of a hundred country folks, at least ninety have never eaten the same food as the rich dogs in the city in their lives.

Feng Youlan said: China lacks clear thinking, and the compensation they get is more rational happiness. They are rational hedonists who give up strength for enjoyment, so they don't need science. They only hope to conquer themselves. Therefore, the power of science is not needed. In their view, the content of wisdom is not rational knowledge, and the function of wisdom is not to increase material wealth. Taoists believe that material wealth can only bring chaos to the mind. Feng Youlan once said: The world we are in now seems to pay little attention to philosophy on the surface, but deep down, our world attaches great importance to philosophy.Throughout the world, in most countries, there are philosophies that he advocates and prohibits.At this point, we can see how people today feel the power of philosophy. Every political and social system needs a theoretical basis, and there must be a theoretical basis. "... There are many countries in the world that have established a kind of philosophy, which is considered to be orthodox, to correct people's hearts, to put an end to heresy, to distance themselves from lies, and to indulge in obscene words.

Feng Youlan said: In Chinese philosophy, Mencius School of Confucianism and Zhuang School of Taoism both take the mystical realm as the highest state, and mystical experience as the highest achievement of personal cultivation, but the two methods are different. Taoism uses pure experience to forget oneself, Confucianism uses love Career is selfless, selfless and selfless, and the individual is one with the universe. Feng Youlan said: The reason why people from Britain, America and Western Europe are "wise", "rich" and "strong" is not because they are from Britain, America and other countries, but because they are city dwellers; the reason why Chinese people are "stupid" , "poor" and "weak" people are not because they are Chinese, but because the Chinese are country people.

Feng Youlan once talked about one of the advantages of the British, that is, they are good at protecting traditions.He believes that as long as it is new wine, there is nothing wrong with putting it in an old bottle. What he is afraid of is "old wine in a new bottle", which is "replacing the soup without changing the medicine". Feng Youlan said that with regard to Chinese philosophy, he "continues to explain", rather than "speaks according to". Before dying, Feng Youlan said the last sentence about philosophy: "Chinese philosophy will surely shine in the future, and we must pay attention to the philosophy of "Book of Changes."