On Wang Yangming's Heart Rectification To Things Investigation

Wang Yangming, (1472-1529 ), the integrator of Heart School thoughts in Ming dynasty and one of the most important thinkers having influenced on later Neo-Confucianists, discusses a lot on "Investigation of Things" (Ge-Wu), the term suggested initially in Great Learning and being recommended to be primary to reach the goal of self-cultivation, and contributes his doctrine known as "Heart Rectification to Things Investigation" by interpreting the "Investigation of Things" to be a process to rectify man's heart via examinations on things in his books of masterpieces, such as Inquiry on the Great Learning and Instructions for Practical Living. The forming of his doctrine fruited greatly from his theoretical meditation on the moral practice to Confucian Sage programming under the notion of "To Investigate Things", concretely, under the authoritative commentary of the "Principles Recognition to Things Investigation" in his time, which refers this notion to a semi-epistemological practice "To Recognize Principles" in investigations of various things. In consulting with the like practice he himself had done in vain to the moral purpose, he paid an examination on then criticized this authoritative commentary and finally pointed an essential paralogism it has. That is, since it grounds upon the experiential perspective to hold such a disjunctive viewing Heart and Principle/Thing and, correspondingly, proposes handling cultivation of the mind (heart) for the handling investigation of things' qualities, it is inevitable to cause practical puzzles in considering the hard logical possibility that an epistemological path of thing's quality leads to the end of the moral one of personality cultivation. In a word, this is far from the fundamental meaning of Great Learning that argues the self-cultivation purpose the alleged "Investigation of Things" aims at. So Wang firstly discusses the relations betweenheart&things, heart&principles, and thinks that "Investigation of Things" belongs to the category of self-cultivation. Then he puts forward some well-known propositions such as "There is no principle outside of the heart";"There is no thing outside of the heart". Following this train of thought, he analyzes the relative categories, such as "body", "mind", "sense" , "knowledge", "things", and, at last, concludes that "Investigation of Things is just Rectification of Heart". This conclusion roots at a basal idea to look "Investigation of Things" as the activities of checking heart, thereupon makes Great Learning's terms of personality improvement, such as "Investigation of Things";"Extension of knowledge";"Sincerity of thoughts";"Rectification of Heart";"Cultivation of persons", became a same and direct reasoning process of dynamic heart. Thus, on the one hand, Wang, by means of his conclusion or annotation, virtually gives a remedy both to the theoretical and practical problems the authoritative doctrine builds in its theories when is viewing heart&principles separately therefore wishes an epistemological path to meet the end of the moral one the Great Learning suggests for "Investigation of Things". The remedy is, now that "there is no thing nor principle outside of man's heart (mind)", a practice to handle the "Rectification of Heart" is about the handling "Investigation of Things" in order to check then rectify man's everyday opinions ideas embodied in the "Things". That is to say, the path of "Investigation of Things" is the same one the "Rectification of Heart" goes on;Accordingly, on the other hand, in terms of his contribution to Confucianism philosophy per se, Wang has the philosophical theme reverted to the moral one the classical Confucianism or the Great Learning focus on, as makes his system established on what the Great Learning stands on, i.e., the basis of moral self-cultivation theories, and put the same emphasis on individual moral practice the Great Learning particularly emphasizes when is dealing with "Investigation of Things".