Chapter 12 Section 4 Confucianism in the Qing Dynasty—New Confucianism

From the late Ming and early Qing to the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, went from prosperity to decline. At this time, the official Confucianism, Zhu Zixue, could not produce anything new except for chewing on the leftovers of the Song people.On the contrary, folk Confucianism still has considerable vitality.Intellectuals in the early Qing Dynasty summed up the historical lessons of the subjugation of the Ming Dynasty, and believed that Confucianism was empty and useless, which was an important reason for the collapse of the country and the family.They abandoned Confucianism and advocated the study of practicality, thinking that this is the real Confucianism.Confucian scholar Gu Yanwu (1613-1682 A.D.) put forward the slogan "Confucianism is Neo-Confucianism", saying that Neo-Confucianism explains the nature of the mind, which is actually Zen.They do not study the texts of the Six Classics, do not discuss contemporary affairs, and do not engage in the practical study of self-cultivation and governance of others, that is to say, they engage in Neo-Confucianism outside of Confucian classics, so they go astray.In fact, there is no Neo Confucianism without Confucianism, so there is only one kind of real learning, and that is Confucianism.However, Gu Yanwu's study of Confucian classics is not only different from Dong Zhongshu's study of subtle words and great righteousness, but also different from the study of tedious textual research, but a practical study of practical application in the world.His "Book of the World's Commanderies and Countries' Benefits and Diseases" are all masterpieces of elucidating and embodying his practical thoughts. The latter book was written after years of on-the-spot investigations, describing the shape of mountains and rivers, economic conditions, customs and customs in various places, etc. Prepare for anti-Qing, Ming-ming and governing the world.

Huang Zongxi (AD 1610-1695), a great thinker as famous as Gu Yanwu, was influenced by Wang Xue’s idea of ​​self-domination, developed the essence of democracy in Confucianism, and wrote a great political philosophy book "Ming Yi Dai Fang Lu".He criticized the previous view of the monarch, pointing out sharply that the monarch is "a great harm to the world", who sacrificed countless lives when starting a business, and searched for the blood and sweat of the people of the world when he was successful to satisfy his own selfish desires.He believes that in ancient times, the people were the masters of the world and the ruler was the guest. After three generations, it was reversed, the ruler was the master and the people were the guests.The law of more than three generations is the "law of the world", and the law of later generations is the monarch's "law of the family".He called for the abolition of the "law of the family" and the restoration of the "law of the world"; changing the monarch and the people into democratic monarchs, so that the people will become the king's service objects again.These ideas are the germination of modern democratic consciousness.In order to change the autocratic monarchy, he proposed to turn the school into an administrative organ, and the policies and decrees of the emperor must be discussed and approved by the school before they can be implemented.His school already had some functions of the bourgeois parliament, and it was really rare to be able to propose this idea at the time.Huang Zongxi is also a well-known historian, familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty, and has several monographs. He is engaged in the compilation of "History of the Ming Dynasty" as a commoner, and many of the major difficult issues are determined by him.His "Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty" and "Song and Yuan Xuean" preserved a large number of precious historical materials of philosophy in the Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, and systematically reflected the appearance and evolution of each school in the Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties with the style of academic cases.He used the facts of history to oppose the emptiness of Neo Confucianism.

The great philosopher Wang Fuzhi (AD 1619-1692), who was at the same time as Gu Huang, inherited and developed Zhang Zai's theory. He believed that reason is not outside of Qi, and Tao is not outside of utensils. The real entity is Qi or utensils, and reason or Tao. It is the law of movement of Qi or Qi.It denies Cheng Zhu's superiority.In his view, the Dao changes with the change of the instrument, and it is not static.Similarly, human nature is not static, it is born day by day, formed and changed in the activities of learning and practice.He also criticized the slogan of Song and Ming Confucians "preserve the principles of nature and get rid of human desires", arguing that reason cannot be separated from desire, and reason is the criterion for regulating desire. How can there be reason if desire is removed!Wang Fuzhi has profound thoughts and rich knowledge, reaching a new peak of Confucianism.

At that time, the philosopher Yan Yuan (1635-1704 AD) also advocated the practice of the world. He believed that Neo Confucianists wanted people to read books, sit quietly, and introspect, and did not encourage people to do the practical work of governing the country and the world. On the one hand, it harms scholars, making them weak, sick, and useless, and at the same time, it also harms the country, leaving it unruled, unguarded, and headed to perish.He advocated "substantial writing, practice, substance, practicality, and making achievements for the world" ("Cunxuebian·Shanglu Biaoting Book"), replacing Taoism's empty talk about rationality, qi, and mind with practical practices.

Because the Qing government used high-pressure means to prohibit people from discussing practical issues, it encouraged scholars to engage in textual research away from reality.Therefore, the New Confucianism and Historiography research initiated by Gu and Huang with the purpose of being practical in the world gradually transformed into the study of textual criticism after Qian and Jia. Textual research is to interpret ancient classics starting from the study of characters, phonology, exegesis, system of names and objects, astronomical calendar, geographical and historical facts, etc.The Qing Dynasty made outstanding achievements in sorting out and interpreting ancient documents, far surpassing those of its predecessors, and some of these achievements also had a huge impact on the history of thought.For example, Hu Wei's "Yi Tu Ming Bian" argues that the "Tai Chi Tu" that Zhu Xi and others regarded as gods was originally the Taoist "Tai Chi Xiantian Diagram".Yan Ruoqiu's "Guwen Shangshu Shuzheng" proves that a classic of Taoism, "Guwen Shangshu", is a fake book fabricated by Wang Su, a native of Jin Dynasty.Dai Zhen's "Mencius Characters and Meanings" explained the words and phrases such as Tianli and human desire, criticizing the Song and Ming Confucian views of opposing reason and desire, and believed that their reason was a tool for the noble to oppress the humble, and a cruel murder weapon.He said that cruel officials kill people with the law, and later Confucianism kill people with reason, which is even more cruel.

However, after all, people live in social life, and the profound social contradictions and economic crisis in the Qing Dynasty strongly attracted the attention of scholars.In order to solve these problems, many people abandoned textual research and turned to Jinwen Confucianism, especially Gongyangology.Before and after the Opium War, Gongyang scholars Gong Zizhen (AD 1792-1841) and Wei Yuan (AD 1794-1857) put forward the resounding slogan of reforming the government and learning foreign skills to subdue them, which had a profound impact on the political and intellectual circles at that time.This is the last flash of Confucianism at the end of feudal society.