Ming And Qing Three Thinkers Social Disorder In Thought

The class contradiction and the national conflict between the Han people and the Manchu were very severe during the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, which forced many old scholars to review actively the death of the Ming Dynasty and form their own thoughts on society. On the basis of what the experts have done, this paper mainly studies the thoughts of Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi and Huang Zong Xi, the most noticeable thinkers among them, and compare them briefly.The first three chapters discuss the specific thoughts on society of the three thinkers. In Gu Yanwu's opinion, keeping the custom of a society is the key to make the society stable and prosperous. The old scholars should take the important task and change the bad custom. Huang Zongxi thinks the premier and scholars can greatly influence the society. Furthermore, he put forward a special political system in order to realize his idea. While Wang Fuzhi, as a philosopher, thinks that Li, the moral principles in feudal society, is the essential cause to keep a society stable. In a word, they have their own characteristics each in the angle from which they set up views and they paid attention to different emphasis.Meanwhile, the three thinkers belonged to the same society and the same times, they experienced the same pain together because of the country's being conquered by the Manchus. They all had ever engaged in resisting the Manchus. And after the failure, they all became concentrated on academic research and made great success. Since they had so much common with each other, they also shared many thoughts on society. They all put great emphasis on the same three things such as custom, the old scholars and Li.The unique idea mirrors their own comprehension about the specific reality. And it also shows that the old scholars from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dyansty were always thinking about the society. Their ideas are progressive and important.