A Study Of Wang Zongmu’s Statecraft As A Scholar In Late Ming Dynasty

Wang Zongmu(1523-1591), a famous Confucian scholar and statesman in late Ming Dynasty, is the only politician to manage transporting food by sea since the allowance of transportation by sea. Based on his only book available entitled History on Navigation and other historical researches, Wang Zongmu’s framework of navigation principles and his way of administrating locality are reviewed, in order to explore the connotation, origin, and influence of his thought. The first chapter focuses on what school he belongs to, because the statement put forward by Huang Zongxi that Wang Zongmu belongs to the Wang Yangming’s school of ZheJiang Province is not convincing. However, this paper holds that Wang Zongmu belongs to the school of Imperial Wang.Wang Zongmu advocates moral standard, reflection and independent thinking, He also puts forward that one can’t learn for the sake of learning, but to put theory into use, and to experience more. His thought of managing country is revealed by his experience, and his dream of making Ming Dynasty peaceful is achieved by his revolution.