Study On The Thoutht Of Gongyang Commentary In Song Dynasty

Limited by the research perspective i.e.specialized study,the studies on academical history of Gongyang Study have mostly been focused on the discussion of the accomplishments of Gongyang Study during Han and Qing Dynasties since late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China,and the development of Gongyang Study during the period from Wei and Jin Dynasties to early Qing Dynasty are rarely mentioned.Consequently,the rich forms of the development of Gongyang Study that have been emerged across all previous dynasties have been a neglected corner,which,thereby,evokes the phenomenon of the present studies on Gongyang Study for being simplex.For this paper,a study angle of “the thoughts of Gong Yang” has been suggested,taking the Song Dynasty as an object to explore the continuation and development of the thoughts of Gongyang,aiming to demonstrate the particular developmental pattern of Gongyang Study in Song Dynasty objectively based on facts,fill in the blanks of the academical history study of Gongyang Study,enrich the perspectives of the history of Gongyang Study.The Spring and Autumn Annals has been seen as the rule of the new emperor by Gongyang Study,for the transmission of serval great thoughts,including “Grand Unification”,“Honoring the Emperor”,“Driving Off the Barbarians”,“Revenge”,and “Confucian Moral Standards and Practice”,through the “Nine Ideas in Three Disciplines” and other exegetical principles and methods.Upon the academic atmosphere of integrative studying on The Spring and Autumn Annals,Confucianist in Song Dynasty abandoned their sectarianism,learned from The Spring and Autumn Annals(which can be subdivided into Zuo's Commentary,Gongyang's Commentary,and Guliang's Commentary),and initiated the meaning-centered interpretation of classics.In addition,they interpreted The Spring and Autumn Annals with the thoughts of Gongyang and provided the ideological basis for the political unification of the time upon various practical demands,i.e.,the political reinforcement of imperial power,the resistance of outsiders,and the Kangkin revenge.Song's Confucian scholars inherited and developed the thought of “Grand Unification” of Gongyang,which denotes not only the unification of time but also at spatial level.Such grand unification honors the emperor based on the achievements of “the concurrent of two emperors” and “Confucian's three political ideologies." For the time's demand for strengthening the centralization of authority,Song's Confucian scholars loved the “Grand Unification”,their comprehension,however,of the “Grand Unification” had the intentions of “the concurrent of two emperors” and “Confucian's three political ideologies” as the studies of Han and Tang's Gongyang Study no longer instead of persisting and enhan cing the “honoring the emperor” concept spatially.As for the annotations of The Spring and Autumn Annals by Song's Confucian scholars,the particular thought of “Grand Unification” sees “the emperor's orders” as the core,emphasizes the absolute power of the emperor.Thereby weakening,whereas,the due criticalness and inclusiveness in Gongyang's connotation of “Grand Unification."The thought of “Grand Orthodoxy(i.e.,advocating comply with the supposed right way)” of Gongyang has been rolling out in the Song Dynasty as well.On the third year of Duke Yin of Lu,the abdication event between Duke Song Xuan and Song Mu(Xuan's brother)has explicated the notion of “a man of noble's grand orthodoxy”;more specifically,“Keep Rightness” indicates the succession and nomination of a nation's king have to meet the principle of “the successor shall be the oldest son of first wife instead of the wisest one of the noblest son of concubines if all the sons of the first wife died instead of the oldest one ";broadly,t he morality and behavior of a king,the law and ritual of a nation shall be orthodox.Gongyang's thought of " Orthodoxy” has generated the influences and applications close to the political change of the Song Dynasty.Internally,as for the regime change,a fter the death of Emperor Taizu,his brother,Emperor Taizong,continued the power,the political power of the Northern Song Dynasty(or say Earlier Song Dynasty(960-1127)),thereby,laid on the lineage of Taizong.Thereupon,Confucian scholars in Northern Song Dynasty interpreted the agnatic seniority between Duke Xuan and Mu recorded in The Spring and Autumn Annals in a relatively sensitive and tortuous way;they had a preference for the maintenance the legitimacy of agnatic seniority system and proposed a renewed understanding on “Orthodoxy." While for the Southern Song Dynasty(1127-1279),the Confucian scholars at that time preferred the " Grand Orthodoxy” of Gongyang,which partly involved the event where the throne been back to the lineage of Taizu after the death of Emperor Gaozong.Externally,for defining the legitimacy(orthodoxy)of Zhao-dominated Song Dynasty in Central Plains from the perspectives of blood and morality,the Confucian scholars had token “Orthodoxy” as the footnote of the orthodoxy theory,seen Gongyang' thought of “Orthodoxy” as the succession principle of a nation,even as one of the standards for judging the orthodoxy between former and later,even two equal political powers.Gongyang's though of “Driving Off the Barbarians” had come to another reinforcement in the Song Dynasty.The Yi-Xia thought of Gongyang Study has a close relationship with serval concepts such as “Three Generations Social History Theory” and “In-Out Theory”;it distinguishes Yi and Xia upon a dynamic,gradual system,with distinct gradations and rich implications.The ethnic contradictions in Song Dynasty can be considered as sharp,the Confucian scholars highlighted the distinction between Yi and Xia in particular and thereby abandoned the dynamic form of the “Three Generations Theory” of the barbarians flowed into Central Plains from generation to generation;instead,they preferentially recognized the concept of “seeing the emperor's scope of power as insider while seeing dukes as outsider” and “seeing dukes as insider while seeing barbarians as outsider”.The Confucian scholars' discussions against both “Driving Off the Barbarians” or “Honoring the Emperor," or about their emphasis on the boundary between Huaxia and Yidi(namely alleged barbarians),have both represented the influences of Gongyang Study on them significantly.Correspondingly,Song's Confucians rarely approved the theory of “Acceptance of Barbarians” by Gongyang and considered the possibility only if the barbarians would risk Central Plains or assist Central Plains.Also,the revenge thought of Gongyang is believed to be popular in the Song Dynasty.For the purpose of killing and punishing treacherous courtiers and traitors and maintaining the absolute preeminence of emperor and courtiers,G ongyang Study considers courtiers(sons)shall revenge for their emperor(father),even suggested that an act of revenge could be done after nine generations or hundreds of generations.For the internal cause of why Song's Confucians emphasized revenge thought,it might because their due attention on feudal ethics for an emperor and his courtiers are just like father and sons.To restrict “Approach the Approachable” with “Respect the Respectable," namely claiming the sanctity of emperor where discrepancies occur between father and sons,emperor and courtiers during the revenge.As for the Gongyang's thought of nine-generation revenge,scholars in the Northern Song were mostly holding the exclusion attitude instead of starting from their own insights on the classics to oppose the nine-generation revenge theory with their criticisms on the theoretical system of Gongyang's Commentary.And since the Southern Song Dynasty,due to the realistic reasons of the feud between Song and J in Dynasties,the nine-generation revenge thought by Gongyang has been rolled out across the court and the commonalty,philistines were either calling for revenging Jin Dynasty to wipe the national humiliation in the name of the so-called nine-generation revenge theory,or criticizing the revenge theory for advocating a rest and stability for the future development.Overall,Gongyang's nine-generation revenge had become a big topic within Southern Song's Spring and Autumn Study and political field,or even the spiritual sustenance on people's lives and ideals.Nonetheless,Song's Confucian scholars' inheritance and development of the Confucian moral standards and practice by Gongyang cannot be neglected.The Confucian moral standards and practice approved by Gongyang has a preference of the behavior-level standards,that has been called “practice disobeys the moral standards” can be divided into two layers,namely the power's practice is “non-conformance” with the moral standards,but the principle is “in conformance” with,or say “return to”,the moral standards.Song's Confucian scholars' discussions on the thought of Confucian moral standards and practice start not only from the perspective of Spring and Autumn Study but also center around the various concepts by Gongyang.Scholars like Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi had questioned the theory of “disobeying the moral standards” by Gongyang and considered the “practice disobeys the moral standards” theory would help treacherous courtiers and traitors to use “practice” as a cover;thus,Cheng limited “practice” with “justice” and considered “moral standards” shall be the combination of “practice” and “justice”,and Zhu sublimed “justice” into another level by limiting “moral standards” and “practice”,which emphasizes the highest ontology of “justice” in principle sense and avoids the potential defect of “moral standards” and “justice” from being obfuscated.Zhu's theoretical framework,practically,is virtually the same as Gongyang Study.Based on Song's Confucian scholars' attitudes on the “Confucian moral standards and practice” when interpreting The Spring and Autumn Annals,it can be seen that the key feature is considered to be defining “moral standards” and “practice” with “justice”,i.e.taking the emperor or courtiers' “justice” as the standard to refute the covers for behavior defending such as insubordination,regicide or banishment,and the disobedience of an emperor's orders,and disavow such practice from being within the scope of “practice power”.However,when discussing national rights,e.g.,matters of national survival and ancestral shrine sacrifice,the Confucian scholars would acquiesce or offer “practice power” for such disobedience(including to the “justice” of the emperor or courtiers).By exploring Song's Confucian scholars' inheritance and development of the thoughts of Gongyang,it has been proven that Gongyang theories had a strong effect on the Song Dynasty.Upon the academic atmosphere of integrative studying on the three commentaries of The Spring and Autumn Annals,the thoughts of Gongyang had offered a vital proposition and vocabularies for the interpretation of The Spring and Autumn Annals;based on the serval alterations and tradeoffs by Song's scholars,a unique thought of “Spring and Autumn Study” had been internalized by Song's scholars.As for the exploration of the thoughts of Song's Gongyang Study,which contributes to not only have an in-depth understanding of the Spring and Autumn Study in the Song Dynasty but also is of enlightening significance to enrich the history of Gongyang Study and the writing of Confucian classics.