Research On Sima Guang's Philosophy

This paper researches the Sima Guang's philosophy from the view of the interpretation about Sima Guang's life wisdom,the meaning of philosophy reflections and the way of writing the history of Chinese philosophy to expand Chinese philosophy research text.Sima Guang carries forward Confucianism,he writes.a lot of books in his life using different literary genres,like Fu,poetry,edict drafting,official document,epitaph,funeral oration and so on.He persists in the Confucian concept of moral standards and pursues the virtuous nature about"Xiu"—cultivating oneself,"Qi"—ordering one's family,"Zhi"—administering the country,"Ping"—prolonging political stability.He is amiable and easy to approach.He is a brilliant man of wide learning.His pragmatic spirit runs through all aspects of life.He focuses on the unique way of interpreting the classics and applying the classics to social life.The Zizhi Tongjian is a good example for the period to in which he lives to evaluative historical events according to criticizing the social realities,selecting information.Sima Guang makes use of the classical to the social life and practices the theoretical knowledge about cultivating oneself,ordering one's family,administering the country and reaching the world of harmony and peace.Sima Guang is not a pure moral preacher,he has his own ambition and tries to make it in his social life.His views and opinions not only writes on paper but also performs in behavior.He practices his philosophy in practice and tries to combine Confucianism with the specific problems in the social situation in order to achieve the country's long-term stability.Sima Guang has a lot of achievements in academic research.It's well known that Sima Guang is famous for the history field due to write the Zizhi Tongjian.As a member of the "six people of Neo-confucianism",Sima Guang doesn't make a great influence on Neo-Confucianism like the others,however,some of the concepts that he interprets become the key term of Neo-Confucianism.This paper is divided into the following sections:The introduction part mainly explains the significance of the thesis,the dynamics of the study,the research ideas and research methods and the innovation of the paper.The first chapter is a summary of Sima Guang's life and thought,as a scholar,Sima Guang's thought and mode of thinking has the same place with the traditional Confucian,but there are some differences,these differences are closely linked with his background and personal life experience,including the Northern Song Dynasty's atmosphere of suspecting classics,deep roots in the family tradition and travel experience in adolescence.Understanding Sima Guang's life and his thoughts can better understand the wisdom of Sima Guang deals with the things.Generally speaking,the research of Sima Guang's philosophical thought has three axes:the pursuit of "honesty",the method of dealing with political affairs and the the middlebrow theory.The second chapter is to expound the Sima Guang's personality.The so-called personality is a person's character,principles and attitude of doing things,people's life has a trace and is reflected by his behavior.In Sima Guang's works we can feel his temperament,Sima Guang says that his life only cares about honesty,he writes a poetry that points out his pursuit of life.As a minister,Sima Guang has his own principles,he believes that if the emperor is not willing to adopt secretary's advice,the secretary can stay away from politics.He builds a house named "Dule yuan" during living in Luoyang for fifteen years,writing a piece of prose and seven poems,this behavior reflects his broad-minded with the spirit of individual happiness.Honesty,bravery,filial Piety and own happinessConstitute are the most shining qualities of Sima Guang's personalityThe third chapter discusses the Sima Guang's political philosophy,at the age of 20,Sima Guang begins his official career after passing the exam.As an ideal Confucian,political philosophy is an important part of his philosophy,he sums up the laws of political life and political behavior,and the political philosophy embodies Sima Guang's exploration of the political system.Sima Guang tries to provide a kind of thinking method and values the standard for the emperor to make decision.The political opinions that he was advocated are not only a concept but a practical utility,he stresses that the political model of the rule of rite and the way of employing talents by virtue.The fourth chapter is an analysis of the characteristics of Sima Guang's philosophical thought.Compared with the same period of Confucianism,Sima Guang's academic research has its unique characteristic,in his essay he explains his view of "Confucianism" and sets forth the pursuit of the goal,he thinks that some people as a Confucian scholar that they retain only the external form of Confucianism instead of Confucian spirit.There is a gap between them and the real spirit of Confucianism which emphasizes both understanding the truth and practicing it in the study of the classics.Sima Guang's pursuit of life is what he believes the spirit of Confucianism,he pursues the practice of the truth in the classics.He applies the truth of the classics to political life and social life in order to achieve the country's long-term stability and security in addition people live and work in peace.It is for this reason that Sima Guang finds a different direction in the study of academic to express his views,his philosophical characteristics are mainly reflected in the following aspects:Firstly,he respects Tsunzi,Yang Xiong and doubts Mencius's thought;Secondly,he uses the pragmatic spirit to interpret the Gewu theory;Thirdly,he explains human disposition according to the original intention of Confucius;Fourthly,he applies the middlebrow theory to the cultivating oneself,ordering one's family,administering the country and reaching the gnat harmony;Fifthly,he uses the historical events to prove the way of the Book of Changes and applies the spirit of the Yi-ology to the people in daily use.In the conclusion part the content includes the summary of Sima Guang's philosophy thought and the answer about several questions in the introduction.The original meaning of philosophy is "a love of wisdom",which refers to an activity of "love" but not only to any particular wisdom or knowledge."Philosophy" does not have an exact meaning,nor should it have,it can refer to specific knowledge and also refer to the pursuit of knowledge behavior,even more can be a way of life.Engaged in philosophical research,we need to think about how to use the expression to study the "Chinese culture" and give new meaning of philosophy in the course of this research.The ancient sages in their thoughts and writings for future generations point out the possibility of seeking truth and goodness,sages transcend the limitations of individuals,grasping life as a whole,thinking and acting in a broad field of vision.Their philosophy is a way of life in the world,the goal is to grasp and scrutinize life in a macro perspective,pursuing infinite values in limited life,enhancing the realm of life by changing themselves,which is a way of guiding people to a better life.The sages with action embody their aim that love wisdom and pursue an ideal based on the reality and transcending ancient and modern times.We need to return the"philosophy" of the intention and to explore the "philosophy" of the significance of activities in order to the development of "Chinese philosophy".