Investigations And Discussions On Zisi-school

Zisi-school has been seen as a genre between Confucius and Mencius during the Warring States period. However, someone has doubted the existence of this school for the lack of related material in the past, not to mention the overall research on it. In recent years, it is possible to make a systematic investigation on Zisi-school due to some significant unearthed historical relics, especially for some bamboo slips.My dissertation consists of three chapters, in which the inspection of Zisi-school leaguers discussed in the first chapter. Under the help of the related references, we know that in addition to Zisi himself, there are still other leaguers contributing to the formation of the thought in this school, such as Zishang, Gongsun nizi, Shenxiang, etc. in which Zishang is the son of Zisi, and he was greatly influenced by his father. Gongsun nizi was a student of zisi and both of their thoughts are identical. Shenxiang is a son of Confucius'student, and they had a close relationship with each other. Zisi-school is constituted by all of the above leaguers.The investigations on the articles of Zisi-school are discussed in the second chapter. First of all, an exploration was made on the historical articles written by Zisi-school. In addition, I made a study on some articles relating to this school in"the Book of Rites". Finally, a research was made on the unearthed historical relics, among which several articles were probably written by Zisi-school.In the following chapter, an investigation was made on the thought of Zisi-school. These discussions vary from"the Doctrine of Mean","the Doctrine of Faithfulness","the Five elements philosophy","the Mental Activity theory""the Doctrine of Civilizing"to"the opinions on Monarch and his Subjects"etc."The Doctrine of Mean"has found its origin in a recent discovered bamboo slide, which is influenced directly by Confucius."The Doctrine of Faithfulness"is seen as one of representative thoughts by Zisi-school, which is connected with"caution"and"emotion". There have been various arguments about"The five elements theory"since Tang-Dynasty. Therefore, we investigate"five Elements theory"in"Book of Documents"and the synergism and inter-restriction in it, which are both contrast and controversial to this theory by Zisi-school."The Mental Activity theory"by Zisi-school was both influenced by Confucius and popularized by itself, which mainly emphasizes"nature"and"the Doctrine of Human Nature"."The Doctrine of Civilizing"is illustrated in"The Great Learning"whose content are mainly about refreshing oneself and assisting others, among which the latter one is considered more essential than the former one in accordance with Zisi-school."The opinions on Monarch and his Subjects"constitute the political aspect of thought by Zisi-school, embodying by"Monarch Principles"and"Subjects Principles", in which the former one means modeling and having mercy for his subjects, and the latter one means following the principles but not the Monarch. We are confirmed that the thought by Zisi-school is not only characteristic but also undoubtedly indispensible throughout the whole academia.From the above investigations and discussions on the leagues, articles and thoughts by Zisi-school, we conclude that Zisi-school not only exists but prevails greatly at one time, whose doctrines could find their origins and for sure it could make up the gap between Confucius and Mencius.