Junmai Philosophy Of Life Research

Zhang Junmai (1887-1969), whose origin is Jiading county, Jiangsu Province, is an influential politician and philosopher active in the fields of culture, politics, philosophy and constitution, and achieved a lot in each field mentioned above. The reason why he was celebrated includes two aspects: 1) he initiated the Debates on Science and Metaphysics Movement, by which he drew outlook on life into the subject of Chinese modern (1840-1949) culture; 2) he gained the reputation of "father of constitutional politics" for he pushed forward the modernization of Chinese culture by a Confucian approach. As a response to the new problems his time was facing, his outlook on life was based on Confucian heart-mind and human innate nature theory and a transcendence and innovation in the level of internal self-cultivation, while his deeds in advocating constitutional politics was a manifestation of his external endeavor. As one of the modern new-Confucianists, Zhang Junmai established a new-Confucian ideological system of "self-empowering multi-form structure" with the "possession of all creatures" and "mind that is capable of knowing everything" as the central categories. In addition, as a politician and social activist, he established a grand cause in the practical level. By his own account, he had been "lingering between an academic state and political state". If we think the academic state refers to his exploration of Confucian internal self-cultivation, then the political state can be considered his expansion of external practice of his ideals. Being assiduous in all his life, he integrated his internal ideal and external cause.Generally speaking, though the academic circle has gradually affirmed Mr. Zhang Junmai's contribution to and influences upon Chinese cultural and constitutional construction as a politician and new-Confucianist who integrated Western and Chinese thoughts into one, seldom have the studies mentioned and commented on his theoretic system. This weakened Zhang's influences imperceptibly and lost some referential significance of the outlook on life upheld by new-Confcianists to present cultural...