The Study Of The Finiteness Of Zhang Xuecheng’s"Learning"

This thesis elaborates the uniqueness of Zhang Xuecheng’s thoughts through a sight of moralizing which closely related Zhang Xuecheng’s learning with Confucian orthodoxy, while "learning" is the important and critical part of Zhang Xuecheng’s thoughts. Zhang Xuecheng studied the "learning", a special activity, from the view of its finiteness, by which he put the philosophical problems between human being and Tao back to the initially issue relevant to human being through the his understanding of the finiteness of "learning". Zhang Xuecheng also took the human being back to the most nature meaning from abstract concept in Song&Ming philosophy, which understanding on human being is neither the general understanding in abstract symbolic way, nor the individual wholly without universality. Zhang Xuecheng’s understanding on human being is the commonness different from abstraction and the uniqueness sloughing universality. The human being Zhang Xuecheng mentioned was the person as an individual one; however, this individual one is the single member of a group but not a pure single. Zhang Xuecheng’s understanding of human nature is the discovery of individual’s commonness, which is the common uniqueness. So in terms of the new understanding of human nature, Zhang Xuecheng had the same views with Mencius.The complexity between public and private, Tao and "learning" as well as human being and heaven were profoundly illustrated in Zhang Xuecheng’s thoughts, in which he had the detailed analysis and unique opinions on the possibility and methods for human being to achieve the public (Tao) from private (individual with finiteness). This thesis systemizes the philosophical opinions raised by Zhang Xuecheng and analysis its deep reason and rationality. The contents of this thesis are mainly divided into:Zhang Xuecheng’s unique understanding of "learning"(i.e. his understanding on the finiteness of "learning"); how did him build the understanding; his unique view of human nature and how did him deal with the seemingly conflict between the limitedness ("learning" as a limited individual’s activity) and finiteness (Tao) during his understanding.