The Ontology Of Chi Versus The Ontology Of Li-Comparative Studies On Chang Tsai And Ch’eng Yi’s Philosophy Of Zhouyi

During the earlier period of the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to response tothe ontological challenges from Buddhism and Taoism, Confucianism chose theancient classic ’The Book of Changes’ and reinterpreted the Dao of Heaven, trying toreestablish the ontology of Confucianism. Among those great confucians in theNorthern Song Dynasty, the accomplishments of Chang Tsai and Ch’eng Yi werepretty outstanding. They inherited Confucius’s study on Zhou Yi, proposed themodels of the ontological Chi and the ontological Li to interpret Zhou Yi, both ofthem reestablished Confucian’s ontology successfully. They became the pioneers andfounders of Neo-Confucianism, offered two directions for the development ofConfucian’s ontology for the later Confucianism.As to the approach of interpretation, Chang Tsai focused on the implications of’Heaven and earth born the yin and yang forces’ and ’keeping the Great Harmony’ inthe Book of Changes, established his ontology of Chi with theories of ’One originhas two forms’,’ Forms come from Chi’,’Nature comes from the unity of the Void andthe emanative material force’ etc. And then argued for his ontology of Chi bytheories of ’Knowing all by feeling’,’comprehension the subtle and knowing theprocess of transformation’ and ’To follow goodness becomes the nature’. However,Ch’eng Yi argued for ’the one Li in Heaven’ by ’Yi is equal to Heaven which includesall the changes in the Heaven’, and established his ontology of Li. Ch’eng Yidiscussed the relation between the ontology of Li in Heaven and the world throughthe theories of ’One origin with various manifestations ’ and ’ontology and functioncome from the same origin’. Finally, inspired by qian trigram ’kowning byaccumulating knowledge’ kun trigram ’Holding attentiveness inside, then one canbehave himself according to righteousness’, Ch’eng Yi proposed the cultivationmethod that ’In cultivation one needs attentiveness; in the advancement of learning,one needs the extension of knowledge’.Chang Tsai and Ch’eng Yi ’s Philosophy of Zhou Yi responsed to the ontological challenges successfully from the perspective of Metaphysic,accomplished the historical mission of ’Clarifying the implications according to theclassic’ and ’Clarifying the origin so as to use it’. They created a new period ofConfucianism. There were two forms of Confucianism during the earlier period ofSong Dynasty. The constructive model of Chang Tsai combined cosmology withontology, while Ch’eng Yi ’s constructive model was purely ontology. Chang Tsaiemphasised on ’Forms come from Chi’, while Ch’eng Yi emphasised on ’Chi comesfrom Li’. Ch’eng Yi criticized that the weakness of Chang Tsai ’s doctrine was’regarding the Great Void as the origin’, but his own theory fell into the dilemma of’the dualism of Li and Chi’.The ontology of Zhou Yi was a successful one in the history of Confucianism.Although their followers made some progress and revisions, they basically followedChang Tsai and Ch’eng Yi ’s approaches of Neo-confucianism ontology. Theirinterpretations of Zhou Yi also represented the tradition of Neo-confucianism’sHermeneutic, which had a great influences on the studies of Confucian Classics andphilosophy during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Nowadays, we are restoringConfucianism, carring forward the tradition, the excellent parts of Chang Tsai andCh’eng Yi ’s thoughts will play a constructive role in this process.