Research On Several Types Of Political Mindset Of Intellectuals In Wei-Jin Dynasties

Since the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Confucianism and the study of Confucian classics had declined gradually. In Wei-Jin Dynasties, a new academic thought appeared which was called Metaphysics or Wei-Jin Metaphysics. The general feature of Wei-Jin Metaphysics, which was reflected on the Intellectuals who lingered between Confucianism and Taoism, was to blend Confucianism and Taoism. In the latest two decades, the researches on Wei-Jin Metaphysics have made important progresses, which include not only profound analysis of Metaphysics propositions, but also special researches on representatives of Metaphysics.However, there are still some issues in contemporary researches that deserve further exploration. First, the concept of Metaphysics could not summarize all the ideologies during that era because there still existed other ideologies besides Metaphysics. Secondly, Metaphysics itself is a huge and complicated system. The proportions of Confucian and Taoist elements were different in the metaphysicians' thoughts and the Political positions and academic perspectives of the metaphysicians were different from each other. The objective of the dissertation is to summarize and describe the Wei-Jin Metaphysics generally and outline the different types. Base on our researches, the political mindset of The Wei-Jin representative intellectuals could be divided into four types.The first type is traditional Confucian. Its representatives were FuXuan and YuanZhun. They were flexible Confucian scholars who altered Confucian and cure the social evils. They developed Confucius'theory through studying the other Traditions in order to accommodate the abrupt changes of the social reality. As a result, Confucian experienced persistent renovation. The main component of Fu and Yuan's ideas was traditional Confucian. However, under the influence of the social ideological trend, they not only inherit the MingFa(名法) ideology which was prevalent in three kingdoms period, but also was affected by the Metaphysics. FuXuan's poems disclosed the trace of "Metaphysics". YuanZhun had an intimate association with RuanJi who was the important representative of Metaphysics and took part in the discussions on a subject of the relation between talent and natural instincts.The second type is counter-Confucianism with Taoism. Its representative is RuanJi who lingered between Confucianism and Taoism. RuanJi seemed open-minded, but in fact he was gloomy. As a celebrated metaphysicians, frequently and intentionally, RuanJi deviated from the moral norms and propriety of the Confucian School aiming at rebellion against Confucianism. However, his fears were hidden by the unconventional and unrestrained life, he degraded himself both to protect himself from injury and to address a indirect protest against social reality. On the surface, the foundation of RuanJi'thoughts was also Confucianism. He cared about both individual lives and social reality, and the bidirectional value orientation was the basic reason for his inconsistent thought and mental distress.The third type is the compromise between Confucianism and Taoism. Its representatives are ShanTao, WeiShu,YangHu,ZhangHua,WangRong, WangYan and so on. These intellectuals did not escape from politics, instead, as officials they were conscientious or did nothing. Life caring and social concern harmonize well with each other in them. They did not have works on Metaphysics, but the fact that they went into the society with bohemianism declared they made use of Metaphysics in their lives. In the Wei-Jin Dynasties, many scholar-officials'families belonged to this type. They became the advocates and promoters of Metaphysics on their own initiative. Being Metaphysics is the necessary and effective way to infiltrate into upper social strata and keep their family flourishing.The fourth type is seclusion without becoming an official. The representative is TaoQian. In Wei-Jin Dynasties, the hermits'group appeared on a mass scale, and TaoQian was one of the representatives. The course of their seclusion changed from the strong indignation against current politics to release themselves from social shackles and Tao Qian' lifetimes and the mental course were the epitome of hermits in the Wei-Jin Dynasties. Before, TaoQian connected his life value with Confucian political ideals, but he failed again and again. As a result, his focus changed from Social Concern to life caring. Seclusion turned into a common way of life chosen by losers who worked in officialdom.There exists logical relation among these four types. As for the attitudes toward Confucianism, the trend of the alienation from Confucianism became clearer and clearer. FuXuan and YuanZhun were the successors and innovators of Confucianism and they adhered to the positions and viewpoints of Confucianism. The fact that RuanJi fighted against Confucianism with Taoist could be seen as the corrections of the Confucianism ethical code by means of Nature included in Taoism. RuanJi who lingered between Confucianism and Taoism went against Confucianism seemingly, but he did not deviate from it essentially. The officials, including ShanTao, harmonized the Confucianism and Taoism, and they did not insist on the Confucianism political ideals and value propositions. Compared with RuanJi, they went away from Confucianism further and further, trending towards the Taoism. As for TaoQian's thoughts, Confucianism and Taoism did not form obvious and incisive contradiction. Tao only kept the basic Confucian code of ethics and placed life caring over Social Concern.In his thoughts, Confucian political thoughts were dispelled eminently, while the consciousness of keeping human nature included in Taoism were enhanced.In addition, there exists time relationship among the four types. The first evolved into the next one by one. Although from the standpoint of special historical transection, the four types are parts of the same time, there exists gradual evolution relation in the long run. The different proportions of Confucianism and Taoism elements in the intellectuals'thoughts lead to the differences in the aspects and vigor of the Social Concern and life caring, which resulted in diversification of political mindset of intellectuals.