On The Ethical Thought Of Yang Changji

Yang Changji was a transitional figure in the history of modern Chinese philosophy and ethical thought. He received the philosophical thought of Huxiang culture in his early time and then developed the Cheng--zhu Rationalist School, the objective dialectical philosophical thought of Wang Chuansan and Zeng auofan's theory of Heart and Human Nature. His political ethics, pragmatic ethics and moral ethics had profound influence upon later people such as MaoZedong, Cai Hesen and so on. He also grasped and developed the philosophical thought of Huxiang culture to explore universe, including emphasizing self--cultivation and being pragmatic. He regarded propagandizing patriotism as a foundation stone of his political ethic and inquired into a way to prosperity open-mindedly, which aimed to establish a medium--developed society with clear and bright politics and perfect systems by saving our country depending on science and education, by initiating industry and commerce.As an educator with sharp thought, he investigated how to cultivate people's patriotism from the perspective of culture, which aimed to encourage people to study Chinese history and culture. Based on realism and practice, his life ethics mainly included two aspects: One is the principle of "realism", namely, "being realistic" and "being principled". "Being realistic", that is to say, having feet planted on solid ground to work according to plan. The other is the principle of "practice", namely, "being thrifty" and "being hard working". "Being thrifty", that is to say, living a simple life; "Being hardworking" means that a man must work hard and be independent. Based on the principle of building up a kind of open and equal relation, from the viewpoint of equally connecting individual with society, family with country and national prosperity, his family ethics inspected and analyzed the family ethic, emphasized self-development, advocated free marriage and the equality among the family members, and criticized the blood ethic of Confucianism and the feudal ethical codes such as the "three cardinal guides", that is, ruler guides subject, father guides son, and husband guides wife, which developed Chinese family ethics greatly. He modeled some sages and heroes' characters in his virtue ethic with the characteristics of Trinity----emphasizing words and deeds, noble virtue, and success as well as noble moral character and sentiment, ambition and achievement.As an erudite and informed scholar well versed in both Chinese and western culture, Yang Changji had a wide--ranged ethical thought, which extended the content of Huxiang ethical culture. The historical position of modern Chinese ethics was thus secured. His thought had profound influence upon the youth's value of the world and life, such as Mao Zedong and so on, whose value was changed into the one of self-improving and being positive and who made up their mind to reform the society and tried their best to realize the ambition. After the May 4th movement, while Mao's thought completely converted from idealism to materialism and from history of heroism to history of the masses, and his great political purpose of reforming the society and forming a free democratic and equal country came true, Huxiang culture which was deeply rooted in his heart accompanied him through his whole life.On the one hand, searching for truth always came first in Mao's life because of the philosophical thought of "how a man comes into being " and of exploring "the nature of universe", which resulted that Mao could grasp the two main contradictions of the modern Chinese history when he analyzed the various and complex contradictions: contradictions between Chinese people and imperialism and contradictions between feudalism and the masses. The two main contradictions viewed as the keys to solving the problem of Chinese revolution.On the other hand, the combination of Huxiang culture's self—cultivation and being pragmatic influenced the style of thought and revolution of the former revolutionists such as Mao Zedong and the others. During the later long-term revolution, at the time of carrying forward the main structure of the ethical thought, they emphasized being pragmatic. They combined the two spirits well through insisting that everyone should hold the spirit of working diligently and earnestly.Mainly following the clue of Huxiang culture, this article discusses the ethical thought of Yang Changji and its influence upon such people as Mao Zedong from the four aspects of politics, life ethics, family ethics and personality—modeling.