The Confucian Attitude Of "the Discipie Of The Saint"

Chang Chi-yun as one famous scholar in modern China, not only inherited the pragmatic style of Zhedong scholars, but also made outstanding contribution to History and Geography, education, national defense strategy, the Sino-foreign cultural exchanges and so on, actively absorbed in new knowledge.Chang’s color of "Confucian scholar" was mainly reflected in paying close attention to the fate of the country, concentrating on research, and constantly exploring the way forward through the era of predicament before1949. With making the modern interpretation of Confucianism, he has made great efforts to inheriting the tradition, promoting the national culture in Taiwan, meanwhile the core of his research tilted from geography to history and culture. Research on Chang and his academic work, has special significance to the history of Chinese academic thought in the twentieth Century.He not only carried a heavy burden of inheritance in the twentieth century, but made a positive, significant effort to promote the development of the modern neo-Confucianism in the convergence of Chinese and Western culture. As we know, the traditional Confucianism has faced a great challenge in twentieth Century, and changed from the content to the social influence. Chang with his academic work became a typical sample to show how the abstract change was vividly reflected at individual.This paper creatively combinated the Confucian complex with the academic activities, the internal power with the external efforts, to comprehensively interpret Chang’s character and study."Confucian" and "academic" as key words, the former ran through the first to the sixth chapter, the latter through the first to the fifth chapter. Chapter I was focused on the family education, teachers and the industrious and frugal spirit, making up the previous studies with a wealth of information. The relavent researches mainly discussed about Liu Yi-zheng and Liu Bo-ming, rarely to mention Zhu Ke-zhen. This chapter not only aggregated, enriched, and deepened the educational impact of three teachers as Chang’s academic origins, but put forward that the influence from Wang Bo-hang to Chang’s charater and the Confucian sense can not be ignored. Previous researches on Chang’s life details extremely scattered, the chapter aggregating a large number of data, extracted "diligence and frugality" as the core of Chang’s character, which was the important factor to Chang’s achievements in research and education, also reflected on inheriting the spirit of traditional Chinese scholars.Chapter II mainly discussed Chang’s writings, and the contribution to develop researches, culture and education. The chapter combined his life and writings closely, highlighting his focus in different periods, as well as interaction between his life and focus, while combing the writings. In addition, Chang made remarkable achievements in Geography, Chorography, and Contemporary History and so on, which not the focus of paper, only be appropriately presented for structure. Chang experiencing the transformation from the traditional to the modern studies, had been organized large-scale academic activities, played the special role of academic leaders which becoming more and more prominent in the modern academic career, was highlighted in this chapter. Chapter Ⅲ mainly traced Chang’s idea of "the combination of History Geography", and abstracted the theoretical system, then combinating with the concrete academic practice, elaborated on the flexible application to highlight its strengths. Besides, the chapter detailedly analysed the interaction between the idea and the department of History and Geography in Zhejiang University. Chang founded it according to the academic idea, which had become into the first-class department of History and Geography in the Republican period.Chapter IV mainly abstracted the theoretical system of "thoughts create history", and discussed how Chang understood the idea of creating Chinese history and culture under the guidance of that. Chang advocated "thoughts create history", which brought historical elitism for thoughts as human characteristics. Notably, Chang considered "big man" as the dominant force in history, whose influence on the process of history can not be ignored, meanwhile proposed the elite can not be deified. The chapter discussed the attempts and efforts of Chang to explore new ideas as new cultural power for practical utility. Chapter V investigated why Chang deliberately cut historical materials to synthesize the essences of Chinese history and culture by the means of compiling a general history, and discussed the special cultural and aesthetic perspective of research on national history, finally probed into its gains and losses. Chapter VI chiefly interpreted the cultural reason for Chang to worship Sun Yat-sen as well as follow Chiang Kai-shek. National traditional culture as a bridge connects with all of Chinese together. The full respect for the traditional culture can win the identity of the cultural conservatives such as Chang etc., thus conveniently identified by the broadest masses of Chinese.Longing for Confucianism, Chang Chi-yun determined "to inherit the sage’s knowledge", with a will to be Confucius’ disciple in the twentieth Century. Adept at interdisciplinary approach all his academic life, he combined all of cultural concept, History, Geography, Military, and Economics etc. to analyse problems. Keeping the dream and efforts of "academics strengthening the nation", he carried out Confucian thoughts of "country management" and "world peace". He advocated the cultural revival in Taiwan, namely compromising the modern and the traditional, the old and the new, content and form, and differentiating as well ae cohering Chinese and western culture. On one hand,"to consider the oriental culture as the basis, rejecting the worthless, and keeping the valuable", on the other hand, to study the morden science,"learning advantages of western culture" as new blood to creat the new ideas for modern China, which as new cultural force will contribute to the national rejuvenation. That echoes the mainstream ideology of "achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", even "China Dream" in current. Through all time and places, Chinese people’s patriotic feeling and their "heart of the nation" has always been connected.