Western Science And The Construction Of Reform Confucianism In The Late Qing Dynasty

In the late Qing Dynasty,a famous political movement appeared in Chinese history,namely the Reform Movement of 1898.Reform Confucianism is Confucianism that provided theoretical guidance for this reform movement in the late Qing Dynasty.In the process of the formation of Confucianism,Western science played an active role in promoting the reform of Confucianism,which made it an excellent material for studying the relationship between Confucianism and Western science.Based on this understanding,this paper attempts to explore the relationship between Confucianism and Western science by examining the role played by Western science in the process of reforming Confucianism.The reform of Confucianism was formed on the basis of reflecting on the Westernization Movement.The Westernization School insisted on "Chinese body and western use",that is,vigorously introducing Western science on the basis of not changing the original social system in order to achieve the purpose of "beat someone by playing his games only better".The reformists advocated changing the original social system on the basis of the introduction of Western science.Further,whether or not to change the original social system is the biggest difference between the reformists and the Westernization School.Therefore,unlike the Westernization School,the reformists put forward their own reform proposals aimed at changing the existing social system.At the same time,the reformists also considered the issue of why they want to reform,that is,the rationality and necessity of the reform reform.Therefore,the reform of Confucianism includes two dimensions:First,the basic proposition of the reform reform;The second is the theoretical basis of the reform reform.The former is about the question of how to reform,that is,the specific plan of the reform;The latter is about why the reform is necessary,that is,the rationality and necessity of the reform.As a theoretical form of Confucianism,reformism not only has its own problem consciousness,but also has its own relatively fixed category system.The scope of Confucianism in the reform period generally includes two levels:First,it is at the level of reform advocacy,such as understanding,institutional Bureau,prosperity and civil rights,abolition of imperial examinations,construction of schools,and so on;The second is the theoretical basis,such as the concept of evolution,the concept of Yi Xia,the concept of change,the concept of Dao,the reform of Tuogu,and the concept of benevolence.The reform Confucianism of Kang Youwei,Liang Qichao,and Tansi,the representatives of the reformists,was all carried out in the interpretation of the above categories.As a representative of the reform of Confucianism,Kang Youwei read many Western science books and was familiar with many Western scientific knowledge during the period of the reform,such as astronomy knowledge,geology knowledge,physics knowledge,chemistry knowledge,mathematics knowledge,geometry knowledge,and medical knowledge.This is reflected in Kang Youwei's writings.Kang Youwei's understanding of Western scientific knowledge has great theoretical significance for the construction of his reformist Confucianism.Kang Youwei politically demanded the establishment of a constitution,the opening of a parliament,and the establishment of an institutional bureau;Economically,it requires the development of industrial industries,the improvement of the financial system,and the encouragement of free trade;In terms of culture,Li Kongjiao is required to be a state religion,an imperial examination,and a school.These are Kang Youwei's reform proposals.At the same time,Kang Youwei also proposed a set of theoretical bases for his reform reforms,namely the current Confucian classics with the third evolution theory as the core.Kang Youwei's reform of Confucianism is closely related to Western science.From the perspective of the reform proposal,whether it is political,economic or cultural,it contains the appeal for the introduction of Western science.For example,the idea of setting up a system bureau at the political level,and the main responsibility of the school bureau as one of its system bureaus is to introduce Western science;Another example is that it requires the development of industrial industries in the economy,and in Kang Youwei's view,it is necessary to introduce Western science first to develop industrial industries;Another example is that it requires the development of schools in culture,and one of the teaching contents of the school it envisages is Western science.From the theoretical basis of the reform,Kang Youwei's theoretical basis of the reform also has a close relationship with Western science.Kang Youwei's theoretical basis for the reform of the reform is mainly the theory of the evolution of III,and its evolution of III is based on the absorption of Western biological evolution.As a representative of Confucianism in the reform period,Liang Qichao not only read "Talking about Heaven","Shallow Interpretation of Gezhi","Gezhi Compilation" and many other books introducing Western science,but also familiar with many Western scientific knowledge.Such as astronomy knowledge,geology knowledge,physics knowledge,etc.,this is also fully reflected in Liang Qichao's writings.Liang Qichao's understanding of these Western scientific knowledge has played a positive role in promoting the construction of Confucianism.Liang Qichao politically advocated Zhuzhangxing's civil rights and culturally advocated the abolition of imperial examinations and the development of schools.This is Liang Qichao's reform proposal.At the same time,Liang Qichao also provided a theoretical basis for his reform claim,which is mainly reflected in his interpretation of the concept of change,the concept of yia,and the concept of evolution.Liang Qichao's reform of Confucianism is also closely related to Western science.From the perspective of the reform proposal,Liang Qichao's reform proposal contains the appeal for the introduction of Western science.For example,if it proposes the promotion of civil rights in politics,the specific measures for the promotion of civil rights are the people's wisdom,the opening of wisdom,and the opening of official wisdom.In Liang Qichao's idea,one of the means to open the people's wisdom,open the wisdom,and open the official wisdom is to study Western science.From the theoretical basis of the reform,Liang Qichao's interpretation of the concept of change,Yi Xia concept,and evolution concept is also closely related to Western science.Liang Qichao's argument on the concept of change was completed on the basis of absorbing Western science,especially astrophysics.Liang Qichao's argument on the concept of Yi Xia is based on the difference between Western science and traditional Confucianism.Liang Qichao's argument on the concept of evolution is based on the absorption of Western science,especially the achievements of biological evolution.Tan Sitong also has a full understanding of Western science.From the existing works,it can be seen that Tan Sitong is not only familiar with Western science,such as algebra,geometry,physics,chemistry,biology,medicine,etc.,but also has made a lot of publicity for Western science.It has made a positive contribution to the spread of Western science in China.Tan Sitong's understanding of Western science has not only greatly broadened his academic vision,but also played a huge role in promoting the construction of Confucianism.Tan Sitong advocated politically imitating the Western parliamentary system to learn to represent the parliament,advocating free trade in the economy and encouraging machine production;Culturally,it advocates the abolition of imperial examinations and the development of schools.This is the basic idea of Tansitongweixin's reform.At the same time,Tan Sitong also provided a theoretical basis for his reform.This is mainly reflected in its interpretation of the concept of Yixia,the concept of evolution,the concept of benevolence,and the new concept of Japan.Tan Sitong's reform of Confucianism is also closely related to Western science.From the perspective of the reform proposal,Tan Sitong's reform proposal contains the appeal for the introduction of Western science.For example,it advocates that learning the Western parliamentary system is accomplished through the development of the society,and one of the important functions of the envisaged society is to introduce Western science;For example,it advocates free trade in the economy,and one of its important strategies for revitalizing business is to introduce Western science.Another example is that it advocates the abolition of the imperial examination,and one of the motives for its abolition is to see the great advantages of Western science compared with traditional Confucianism.From the theoretical basis of the reform,Tan Sitong's arguments on the concept of Yixia,the concept of evolution,the concept of benevolence,and the new concept of Japan are also closely related to Western science.For example,its argument for the concept of Yi-Xia was put forward on the basis of absorbing Western geography knowledge,and its argument for the concept of evolution was put forward on the basis of absorbing Western knowledge of biological evolution.His arguments on the concept of benevolence and new ideas are based on the knowledge of Western physics.It is an indisputable fact that Western science participated in the construction of Confucianism during the late Qing Dynasty.The specific Zhuzhangzhong of the Reform Movement naturally contains the appeal for the introduction of Western science,and the theoretical basis of the Reform Movement also contains a large number of Western scientific factors.This fully shows that in the late Qing Dynasty,Confucianism did not exclude Western science,and it did not hinder Western science.It should be pointed out that there is a certain degree of misuse of Confucianism in the process of absorbing Western science.For example,Kang Youwei tried to use the results of Western geometry to prove his reform claim in his "Practical Public Law Book".Tan Sitong tried to use Western algebra to prove his concept of benevolence in "Ren Xue".These arguments seem to increase the universal inevitability of their conclusions.In fact,there are large logical loopholes that are the result of misuse of Western science.The reason why this is happening is that they ignore the boundary between Confucianism and science.The boundary is that Western natural sciences can only make factual judgments and can not make value judgments.Therefore,when the reformists use Western science to enrich their own reform claims and demonstrate their own reform basis,they will increase the persuasion of their reformist Confucianism.This is no problem.However,when reformists try to use Western science directly to make some kind of value judgment,misuse is inevitable.Further,Western science can provide a strong basis for Confucianism's value judgment,but it can not replace Confucianism to make value judgment.In short,as a new form of Confucianism that emerged in the late Qing Dynasty,the construction process of the reform Confucianism embodies the inclusiveness and openness of Confucianism.Such inclusiveness and openness show that Confucianism does not exclude Western science,and it does not hinder Western science.At the same time,it should also be noted that there is a certain boundary between Confucianism and Western science.