A Study On Liu Dapeng's Outlook On Life

Liu Dapeng remains obscure all his life. Only with the recently repeated quotation of his documentary manuscript has he drawn the public attention. That he can perform what the ordinary people are. reluctant to do, devoted to the arrangement of literature for a long time, is directly connected with what is called "individual life", his philosophy of life and cultivation practice. Under the influence of traditional education and local culture, Liu Dapeng, a Juren in the late Qing Dynasty, has shaped a philosophy of life named "self-discipline and practise" with a tendancy to internal saint. The rise of New Learning at the turn of the century intensifies such a tendancy, turning the pursuit of it into everyday practice. Liu Dapeng, who has inherited the traditional Confucian idea that the Great Learning concerns the moral, holds that the aim of learning is to set the saint as a model and to cultivate himself, and proposes that one should study for the purpose of application and to the benefit of others and society as well. What's more, he puts emphasis on the significance of application on cultivation. In his view, cultivation is not an easy thing because it requires continuous learning, examination and promotion before one can approach the state of being a saint. We can see that he goes beyond the narrow understanding of being official, recognizing the essence of application. In this sense, there exists in his thoughts a model of personality and cultivation with the accomplication of self-discipline personally as the center. Though built on the basis of thetraditional Confucian idea of regarding self-discipline, this model, free from the constraints, treats practice as an indespensible step to cultivation. This model also treats application as a progress of continuous examination and promotion. Therefore, this model is a gradual, dynamic, and practical model. Liu Dapeng himself is performer of such a model. He closely observed the details and any changes that happened to the lower class around him, faithfully recorded what he saw, he heard and he thought, working on any trivial matters in a well-grounded way. The reason why he engaged himself in what seems to be meaningless to the ordinary people lies in that he takes life seriously and treats such a cultivation of personality as the greatest thing of life while regarding all the others as the supplementary. It is his cautious behaviour in daily life that accomplishes his saint personality. However, these seemingly trifles of life that he devotes all his life to observing and recording reflect true life which is closer to truth because of trivity. Therefore, they are of unique historical significance to the succeessors. In this sense, Liu Dapeng's life accomplishes not only his own personality but our present research. Thanks to his lifelong nonaction, we can do related research. This is indeed of special significance.