Study On Tao Xisheng’s Research On The Chinese Thought History

Tao Xisheng’s early academic research has experienced the transformation process from law to history.Tao Xisheng began studying Hu Peihui’s book, "Yili and justice".This book played an important role on his transformation process.Later, his research finally turned to the history field, which laid a foundation for Tao Xisheng’s later research on Chinese thought history.The input of historical materialism brings a new pattern in the field of Chinese thought history research. Before the input of the historical materialism, the research of the history of Chinese thought mainly be influenced by Ranke and positivism school emphasized the textual research of the historical facts and historical materials, the quest for the ideological evolution. After the input of historical materialism, the history of Chinese thought began to stress the social and economic changes behind the thought. Historical materialism became the main tool of Tao Xisheng to study. His "history of Chinese political thought" has become one of the first books on the history of Chinese thought written by historical materialism.The outstanding characteristic of Tao Xisheng’s research on Chinese ancient thought is the premise and foundation of the social history. He divided the ancient Chinese society into three periods:The Theocratic Age(Shang), The Aristocratic Age(Zhou Dynasty), The Reign Age(during Warring States period to the Qing). At the age of the Theocracy, the Shang Dynasty was a country with strong primitive religious consciousness. It paid more attention to in respect of their ancestors than worshiping the heaven. When the Theocracy was prosperous, the right of religion must subject to the right of kingship. At the age of the Aristocracy, the Western Zhou Dynasty regarded heaven as the supreme spiritual power to defend the regime’s rationality. And its thought of heaven was with an ethical concept. When The Theocracy declined and The Aristocracy rose., the politics increased the ingredient of the morality and punishment, gradually paying more attention to human’s power than over reliance on heaven. The reign age was divided into the reign transition period, reign development period and the reign reconstruction period. Tao Xisheng believed that the separation and unification is the theme of The Reign Age. In the history of the separation and unification, Confucianism adjusted continuously itself to play an important role.Tao Xisheng evaluated the May 4th Movement. He praised that it was an anti-feudal movement and felt dissatisfied with not going deep into the public. He appealed to carry out the movement of the civilian culture for the nation and the country.Tao Xisheng analyzed the thought of 1927-1937. He thought at that time different people in China ideological circle would choose different China’s development path in dealing with the invasion of the western culture and national survival. He divided China ideological circle into two periods as 1931 a limit, when there were three kinds of factions:conservatives, liberals and the Marx doctrine. Tao Xisheng put the hope of realizing national independence on the socialist with national ideology. In analysis of the problems in Chinese and Western culture, Tao Xisheng stood on the standpoint of nationalism, criticizing Hu Shi as the representative of the Westernization faction. He stood for "taking everything for China" and advocated Chinese culture to go in the direction of the independence, fighting back against capitalism and the organization.