Study Of Dai Zhen's Anthropology

Dai Zhen was a famous thinker in the 18th of China. Academic circles have paid great attention to his thought, but systemic and integrated research is seldom seen on his anthropology. In fact, Dai Zhen's anthropology has his own characteristics and profound view. The theory of nature is natural philosophy basis of his anthropology, the content of his anthropology concludes the theory of human nature,epistemology and the theory of humanity. On the basis of inheriting former worthy thought and insisting on natural philosophy of Qi ontology, he clearly constructed his monism of human nature and thought the content of human nature concluded desire,feeling,knowing, by which he refuted Chen-Zhu's dualism of human nature. On the basis of inheriting Mencius's good human nature, he gave a unique interpretation to good human nature without innate morality of Mencius's human nature. In view of the above, we can feel Dai Zhen's showing genuine solicitude for human's life. On epistemology, Dai Zhen insisted on the cognitive route from material to sensation and idea, differentiated truth from wrong, exposed the essence of Chen-Zhu Li Xue's killing sb. with so called Li, and laid emphasis on the importance of eradicating wrong in the process of cognition. He called loudly out for human subject consciousness and tried to emancipate people from the state of unenlightened. On the theory of humanity, DaiZhen gave new interpretation to some traditional moral categories, he criticized violently Chen-Zhu's debate between principles and desires of human beings and raised his opinion of principles existing in the desires of human beings. In the end, he raised the social ideal of giving every care to feelings of people and satisfying the desires of people, which reflected the people'spursuing glorious life. Dai Zhen's anthropology aroused the birth of modern Chinese anthropology.