The Research Of Liu Yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology Thought

Liu Yi-ming(1734-1821)was a famous taoist of the Longmen school,a scholar of Taoist Yiology and a master of inner alchemy in the northwest region during the Qianjia Years of the Qing Dynasty.Liu yi-ming incorporated his Yi-ology with the inner alchemy theory,and made an in-depth research of the “yi-xiang”(images of Yijing),“yi-shu”(numbers of Yjing),and “yili”(meanings of Yijing),with systematic interpretation from a perspective of the xing-ming(nature and life)theory of Taoist immortal study,based on which he developed his unique thought of Taoist Yi-ology.Liu Yi-ming's thought of Taoist Yi-ology is indeed the theory constructed and explained with the philosophical concepts and ideas of Yi-ology and aimed at discussing the metaphyisical purpose of inner alchemy.Based on the developments of the combination of Yi-ology and Taoist thought as well as the development of Taoist Qi theory and Xing-ming(nature and life)theory,this paper examines the theoretical characteristic and significance of Liu yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology,analyzing the role of which on developing the combination of Confucian and Taoist thought.This paper is composed of two parts,the introduction and main body.The introduction explains the significance of the topic,the research status and the innovative viewpoints.The main body is divided into five chapters.The first chapter examined the theoretical origin and revealed historical background of Liu yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology thought.The second chapter examined the correlative textual issues of Liu yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology works which had been omitted by the current research,presenting the real textual situation of Liu yi-ming's Taoist Yiology works.The second chapter also examined Liu yi-ming's mental experience of learning and interpreting Zhouyi(the book of Changes),clarifying his basic understandings of the nature of Yi-ology,the relationship among the “yi-xiang”(images of Yi-ology),“yi-shu”(numbers of Yiology),and “yi-li”(meanings of Yi-ology)of Yi-ology,and his principal purport of interpreting Zhouyi(the book of Changes).The third chapter discussed the “Sanyi zhulue”(Brief Interpretation of Three Yi),one of the Liu Yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology works which had not caused the attention of the research academia.Based on this text,the third chapter elaborated the characteristics of Qi ontology and Qi cosmology of Liu's Taoist Yi-ology thought from three perspectives of his philosophical concepts and propositions of “Xiantian yiqi”(primordial Qi),“Yin-Yang creation and transformation of Qi” and “Wuxing creation and transformation of Qi”.Liu Yi-ming illuminated the course of creation and transformation of Wuxing of Qi and their functional mechanism of combination and variation driven by the developing and returning forces by interpreting the symbolic-mathematics structure of Hetu(the yellow river chart)and Luoshu(the luo river diagram),explaining the cosmic changes and transformation driven by wuxing of qi from a new perspective.Liu Yi-ming also employed the concept of “hetu zhongyi”(the priori central cycle of the yellow river chart)to illuminate essence of “xiantian zhenyi zhi qi”(primordial Qi)being an infinite developing noumenon and use the concept of “shen”(spirit)from Yizhuan(commentaries of Yijing)to explain its internal creativity.Based on the study of priori Yi-ology,Liu Yi-ming put forward the proposition of “Yin-Yang creation and transformation of Qi” explaining the functional rule of the cyclic transformation of yin-yang states of “Xiantian zhenyi zhi qi”(primordial Qi).He explained the relationship of “substance and function” between “xiantian zhenyi zhi qi”(primordial Qi)and “houtian yin-yang erqi”(the yin qi and yang qi of post-created world)from a new perspective by interpreting the philosophical proposition of Yi-ology of “yishen lianghua”(one spirit,two transformations).The fourth chapter examined the xing-ming(nature and life)theory of Liu Yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology thought,analyzing primarily his innovative approach of interpretation of reconciling the Qi theory and the Xin-xing(mind and nature)theory based on Yi-ology thinking model.This chapter also explored the innovative ideas of the reconciling the doctrines of xing-ming of Taoism and Neo-Confucianism.Liu Yi-ming proposed the concept of “zhenling zhi xing”of mind and life noumenon,by interpreting the meanings of yi-tu(images of Yi-ology)such as “taizhongmianmu tu”(image of fetus status),“shuzhu tu”(image of bead)which were drawn by remodeling “wuji tu”.He used the concept of “taiji zhi zhong”(priori center of taiji)to elucidate that “zhenling zhi xing”(mind noumenon of true spirit)was the substance of combination of xing(nature)and ming(life)and “xinshen”(consciousness and subjective state of mind)was essentially the function of this substance of controlling the one's life activities.Liu Yi-ming also gave the concept of “zhenling zhi xing”(mind noumenon of true spirit)a philosophical interpretation of ren(benevolence)noumenon by interpreting the concept of “tiandi zhi xin”(the heart of the world).He reconciled the concept of “zhenling zhi xing”(mind noumenon of true spirit)and “liangzhi liangneng”(priori moral consciousness and ability)by interpreting “liangzhi liangneng”(priori moral consciousness and ability)of Wang Yang-ming's school with the use of the notion of “qiankun jianyi”(primary and simplicity of Yijing's qian-kun).He proposed a holism of life with the concept of “hunyuanti”(the primordial substance of unity of life)by reconciling the Taoist concept of “hunyuan”(the primordial chaos)and the Yi-ology concept of “qian yuan”.His holism of life reconciled the Taoism and Confucianism by incorporating the Confucian concept of “wude”(five virtues)with the Taoist concept of “wuyuan”(five life elements)in the approach of dynamic model of “hetu wuxing”(the concept of five elements qi interpreted by the yellow river chart).Liu Yi-ming discussed his inner alchemy's “gongfu”(exercise of mental exertion and bodily training)method and its practical theory and skill of the unity of xing(nature)and ming(life)by the interpretation of the proposition of “qiongli jinxing yi zhiyuming”(exhausting the principle and exerting the human nature to the utmost)and the notions of “qukan tianli,jinyang tuiyin”(metaphor of integrating the mind and the body,cultivating the yang qi while eliminating yin qi)in an effort to cohere the Taoist theory of cultivating nature with the Confucian theory of self-cultivation of one's inner priori moral noumenon of being sage.The fifth chapter drew a conclusion about the theoretical characteristics,significance and limits of Liu Yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology thought.The purport of Liu Yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology thought is “inner alchemy is Yi-ology,the method of being sage is the approach of being immortal”.Based on this purport,the characteristics of his theory construction methodology is “interpreting the primordial qi in the image-number-philosophical approach”.Liu Yi-ming's Taoist Yi-ology thought proposed a new thinking method of cohering cosmology and ontology from multiple perspectives,with stronger theoretical explanation and logically consistent argument,which promoted the development of the Taoist Qi onto-cosmology in Qing Dynasty.He proposed a more logical and systematic “xing-ming”(nature and life)theory by using “xiantian zhenyi zhi qi”(primordial qi)to interpret and integrate the concepts of “xin-xing”(mind and nature),“xing-ming”(nature and life),“jing qi and shen”.His xing-ming(nature and life)theory provided a new approach of interpretation and combination of xin-xing(mind and nature)cultivation and the “jing,qi and shen” transformation,which developed the Taoist xingming(nature and life)theory.He also developed the combination of Taoist and Confucian thought by giving the notions and ideas of integrating xing-ming theory of Taoism and Confucianism by the method of Yi-ology study and interpretation.There were some selfcontradiction in Liu Yi-ming's explanation of Yi-ology and theoretical limits in his Qi theory illuminated by the concepts of Yi-ology.