The Research On The Confucian Theory Of Heart And Nature And Gongfu

An Analysis on the Essential Relationship between the Confucian Theory of Heart-Mind and Nature and the Theory of GungfuEssentially, as the typical paradigm of Confucian thoughts, the theory of heart-mind and nature consequently results in the way of individual person's practice, namely, the theory of Gongfu. Thereupon, the problems such as the discussion and reflection on the Confucian thoughts and its modern transformation, can be approached by following this line.From such a perspective, this thesis interprets and makes some conclusions from the tradition of the Confucian theory of heart-mind and nature, trying to manifest the necessary connecting relationship between the way of moral thinking and that of the personal practice (i.e. the Gongfu). That is to say, the Jen of cosmos, the original goodness of human nature and other characteristics determine the union of theory and practice or the indistinctiveness between them. It had been manifested primarily in the Book of Poem and the Book of History. As the sage of his age, Confucius innovatively transformed the tradition of the Zhou ritual system into the new idea of the union of Jen-Rite concerning the human nature and practice. For all the Analects of Confucius had implicated the inclination of the Benti and Gongfu both in terms of meaning and the way of teaching, it was not until the school of Si-Meng had the discursive way of Confucian theory of heart-mind and nature established. With the Neo-Confucianism, the discussion of Benti and Gongfu finally came to be the dominant way of dealing with the essential issue of the Confucian theory of heart-mind and nature.With such a theoretical transformation, this thesis discusses the particular characteristics of the Confucian theory of heart-mind and nature, focusing on the three ontological concepts, that are, Xingli (the principle within nature), Xinti (the substance of heart-mind) and Xingti (the substance of nature). It demonstrates its particularity in comparison with the Taoism, western philosophy and the Buddhism, i.e. the ontological uniting of moral and logic and the universal and individual as the Produce/reproduce-Heaven/Principle-Nature does. It also demonstrates the theory of Gongfu developed from the interrelation of the Heaven-nature-mind, including such issues as Weifa/Yifa (Inactiveness/activeness), integrity and reverence and self-cultivation and so on. It holds that, according to the essential logic of the Confucian theory of heart and nature and the Neo-Confucian way, Gongfu and Benti is definitely to be united in general and it is a reasonable process from Zhuxi to Wang Yangming.With the analyses on the necessity and openness of the context of being to personal experience and enlightenment in the Confucian theory of heat-mind and nature, the thesis argues for the union of such knowledge and practice, Gongfu and Benti. Further, the thesis discusses such issues as the relationship between the mind of Way and the mind of human, inactiveness and activeness as the fundamental issue, investigation of things and extension of knowledge in terms of the two alternative meanings of Zhi in the Neo-Confucian theory of Gongfu. Finally, Liu Jishan's Shendu (self restrain in privacy), which is an assimilation of the Benti into the Gongfu, is looked upon as the necessary result of the development of the Confucian theory of heart-mind and nature and that of Gongfu.This thesis tries to suggest:the theory of traditional Chinese philosophy, on the one hand, is supposed to implicate the respect of non-theoretical personal practice, on the other hand, the discussion of personal practice implicates the tension between knowledge and ethical virtue. By the same way, it is possible as well to undergo the reflection on the modern transformation of the Confucian theory of heart-mind and nature.