A Study On The Philosophy Thoughts Of Xu Ai

Xu ai was one of the earliest disciples of Wang yangming, he was called really understanding Wang yangming’s theory by Huang zongxi. While Xu ai was dead when he was so young. Thus, his theory is immature and the system is incomplete. Most of his theory is from his master’s. So, if we can understand Xu ai’s thoughts, we can get some help to understand Wang yangming’s theory, especially to understand his early thoughts.The paper has proposed the philosophy thoughts of Xu ai, such as "mind is principle","the highest good is found on mind", and "the unity of knowledge and action" bases on the frame of ontology and Kong Fu Lun. Xu ai thought that "mind" is one kind of spiritual substance, which can dominate the activities of human."Mind" possesses moral value, and it can guide activities of human."Principle" means heavenly principle, and it means ethics and morality. So Xu ai said "mind is principle". Xu ai believed that efforts should be done on mind, so he said "the highest good is found on mind". Xu ai agreed with Wang yangming’s theory of "the unity of knowledge and action". He thought knowledge and action cannot be separated. The article also has proposed the political philosophy thoughts of Xu ai, which bases on the theory of "human goodness by nature". And it also has proposed the thoughts of "weixue", and Xu ai’s realm of life through reading the poems of Xu ai. The purpose of this paper is to show the philosophy thoughts of Xu ai completely.