Zhang Liwen’s Research On Chinese Philosophy History

As a historian of philosophy and philosopher,Zhang Liwen put forward many original views in the study of Chinese philosophy history.The view on Chinese philosophy history is Zhang Liwen’s general viewpoints on the historical development of Chinese philosophy.He proposed the definition of philosophy,that is,“philosophy refers to human beings’ systematic reflection and category-system of the universe,society,and the way of life”,concluded that the paradigm shifts of Chinese Philosophy followed three rules,namely,conversion of nuclear topics,transformation of text interpretation,and transition of cultural context.He also summarized the six periods of the evolution of Chinese philosophy,i.e.,the original period,the foundation period,the development period,the deepening period,the acme and the innovation period.He summed up the core spirits of the development and evolution of Chinese philosophy,including consciousness of hardships,contentment of leading a virtuous life,the spirit of harmonious cooperation,the spirit of humanism and perseverance and dedication in work.The original research method that Zhang Liwen follows when he does research on Chinese philosophy history is the logical structure theory of Chinese philosophy,which aims to unfold a comprehensive discussion on the philosophical ideas of philosophers and philosophical schools by revealing philosophy categories and the interrelationships between them.Zhang Liwen’s research on problems and characters in Chinese philosophy history is a detailed-version research on Chinese philosophy history.His researches on Yi-ology,Neo-Confucianism and Modern Xin-ology respectively demonstrate his significant achievements in studies of the Confucian Philosophy of the Pre-Qin period,Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties and modern philosophy.By using the basic principles and methods of historical materialism,he started from analysis of historical data and text in his research on Zhou Yi,and then comprehensively analyzed and summarized the thoughts of Yi-ology.In the research of Neo-Confucianism,Zhang Liwen defined the main connotation of Neo-Confucianism,put forward that Neo-Confucianism should be divided into mainstream and non-mainstream with three more distinctions in the mainstream,and used the logical structure theory of Chinese philosophy to analyze the philosophical logical structure and philosophy propositions of the main representatives of Neo-Confucianism.Modern Xin-ology is Zhang Liwen’s unique title for modern philosophy.He regarded modern philosophy as a continuation of Neo-Confucianism,and found the most critical internal logic for the study of ancient and modern philosophy.In the studies of Zhuxi’s philosophy,Lu Jiuyuan’s philosophy,Wang Fuzhi’s philosophy and Dai Zhen’s philosophy,Zhang Liwen explained their philosophical thoughts respectively from their core philosophical categories and interrelationships between these categories,thus revealing the logical system of their philosophy.Meanwhile,his researches on the above four philosophers are also the continuation and extension of his study of Neo-Confucianism.Zhang Liwen’s significant awareness of problems and original research methods in the history of Chinese philosophy provide a possibility for Chinese philosophy to go global.His academic vision,academic orientation,and pursuing life of academic research appear to be a realistic reference for contemporary philosophers about how to do better in researches on the history of Chinese Philosophy.