A Study Of Wang Yangming 's The Analects Of Confucius

As a well-known philosopher in Chinese history,Wang Yangming’s Xin-Xue(心学)exerts a long influence in the development history of Confucianism.Having received lots of attention before his death,Wang–Xue(王学)or Yangming-Xue(阳明学),which is named after his sure name or given name,has been formed gradually.For a long time,Wang-Xue or Yangming-Xue,was studied from the perspective of Xin-Xue by scholars in most cases,while the LunYU-XUE----the study of the Analects of Confucius(论语学)of Wang Yangming was seldom studied,which has some relevance with the fact that Wang Yangming himself has not annotated the Analects of Confucius.This dissertation holds that following the thought of Confucius’passing on the ancient culture without adding anything new to it in his whole life,there are large amount of annotations of the Analects of Confucius in the collected works of Wang Yangming.Through the interpretation of the above mentioned annotation,it could be concluded that Wang Yangming’s thought of Xin-Xue is obtained from the ancient books like the Analects of Confucius.Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE shows the characteristic of unified Sheng-Xue(圣学),Xin-Xue(心学),Shi-Xue(实学),which is the quintessence of Wang–Xue.Therefore,Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE could be regarded as the specified and detailed Yangming-Xue,and it occupies an important place in the development history of the LunYU-XUE.Being different from the predecessors’emphasis on text interpretation and following Confucius’tradition of passing on the ancient culture without adding anything new to it,Wang Yangming’s annotation of the Analects of Confucius by using his unique way,which changed the domination of the LunYU-XUE of Zhu Xi,exerts influences on the LunYU-XUE in the middle and late Ming Dynasty together with his Xin-Xue.The dissertation is divided into two parts, the first part of which is the main body, while the second part is the appendix. Since there is no annotation works of the Analects of Confucius by Wang Yangming and the study of his LunYU-XUE requires certain text interpretation, therefore, before the main body of the dissertation, his annotation of the Analects of Confucius are collected from Wang Yangming’s works and are compiled as the Annotation of the Analects of Confucius by Wang Yangming following the order of the chapters in the Analects of Confucius. Existing as the appendix of the main body, objectively speaking, the significance and value of the Annotation of the Analects of Confucius by Wang Yangming equals and even surpasses that of the main body.Using figures as the clue, the specific analysis and study of Wang Yangming’s Lun YU-XUE in the main body consists of five chapters and additional introduction and conclusion. The part of introduction mainly expounds the origin of the dissertation, research status and research technique. Using history as the clue, Chapter One briefly reviews the development history of LunYU-XUE before Wang Yangming, which could be divided into four periods. The first period is the formation period of LunYU-XUE. The second period is the LunYU-XUE in the period of the study of Confucian Classics. The third period is the LunYU-XUE in the period of metaphysics. The fourth period is the Lun YU-XUE in the period of neo-Confucianism. Undertaking the LunYU-XUE in the period of neo-Confucianism, Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE is expressed as different from that of Zhu Xi’s LunYU-XUE.Chapter Two mainly explains the textual foundation of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE. From the three parts of Wang Yangming’s academic background, Wang Yangming’s esteem for the Analects of Confucius and Wang Yangming’s casual interpretation of the Analects of Confucius, the important status of the Analects of Confucius in Wang Yangming’s entire academic idea system is presented respectively. Wang Yangming’s esteem for the Analects of Confucius could be explained from the following sections----the scholar-gentry family background, his well-read of books in Confucian classics in his early years, and his experience in studying of Buddhism and Taoism. The most important embodiment of Wang Yangming’s esteem for the Analects of Confucius is his following Confucius’ passing on the ancient culture without adding anything new to it----he did not annotate the Analects of Confucius. In spite of the fact that Wang Yangming did not annotate the Analects of Confucius directly, it could be found in his works that he indirectly annotated the Analects of Confucius in three ways.In Chapter Three, the methodological characteristics of Wang Yangming’s annotation of the Analects of Confucius are the focus of analysis. In the times of neo-Confucianism, Wang Yangming’s annotation of the Analects of Confucius differs from others in the methodological characteristics, which are represented in the following four aspects. Firstly, not focus on exegetics. Although Wang Yangming himself did not focus on exegetics, his annotations of the Analects of Confucius have the element of exegetics. Secondly, not confine to the determinate interpretation. Wang Yangming’s annotation of the Analects of Confucius is the multi-interpretation of one chapter, one-interpretation of several chapters and not determinate chapter of one certain interpretation. Thirdly, annotate the Analects of Confucius with the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean and the Analects of Confucius which named the Four Books. Wang Yangming usually used the Analects of Confucius, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean as the evidence in annotation of the Analects of Confucius. Fourthly, surpass authority. The characteristic of no focusing on exegetics and not confining to determinate interpretation determines that Wang Yangming’s annotation of the Analects of Confucius could surpass authority, which is represented as the denial of Zhu Xi and the surpass of Confucius.Chapter four expounds the main content of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE.Through textual analysis,the main content of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE could be concluded from the four aspects of Ti-Yong category(体用观),life-death category,Li-Yu category(理欲观)and Zhi-Xing category(知行观).Wang Yangming adopted the thought of Ti and Yong have the same origin(体用一源)by Cheng-Zhu(程朱)and used it to interpreted the relationship between benevolence and etiquette,advocating the benevolence is Ti and the etiquette is Yong(仁体礼用).On the basis of the Confucius’concept that Life and death are decreed by fate,Wang Yangming further developed Confucius’view of life-and-death,believing that Life and death has certain rules and put forward the viewpoint of Dao beyond life-and-death(道无生死)to confront the view of life-and-death of Buddhist and Taoism.Carrying on Cheng-Zhu’s proposition of upholding justice and destroying human desires and incorporating with his own interpretation of Xin-Xue,Wang Yangming believed that the study is upholding justice and destroying human desires.Combining with the restrain oneself to Li(克己复礼)in the Analects of Confucius,Wang Yangming put forward that restrain oneself to destroying human desires(克己去欲).On the basis of predecessor’s Zhi-Xing category,Wang Yangming present the unity of Zhi-Xing(知行合一).Chapter five briefly summarizes the basic characteristic of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE, which consists of three aspects. The first is the Sheng-Xue, the second is the Xin-Xue, and the third is the Shi-Xue. Sheng-Xue, Xin-Xue and Shi-Xue are the three characteristic of Wang Yangming’s philosophy, which are interrelated with each other and unified. In the first place, Wang Yangming’s philosophy is Sheng-Xue, which differs from Buddhism and Taoism. In the second place, it is Xin-Xue, which differs from the Neo-Confucianism. In the last place, it is Shi-Xue, which makes itself applicable to practice and accepted by others.The part of conclusion briefly introduces the historical status of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE and its influence on the later ages. The historical status of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE is mainly reflected on two aspects: the first is the status of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE in the history of LunYU-XUE, which is mainly shown in the way of Wang Yangming’s interpretation of the Analects of Confucius. The second is the status of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE in Yangming-Xue, which is represented as the unified thoughts of Sheng-Xue, Xin-Xue and Shi-Xue. Lastly, taking Sun Ying’ao’s Annotation of the Four Books as example, the influence of Wang Yangming’s LunYU-XUE on LunYU-XUE in middle and late Ming Dynasty is analyzed.