Dai Zhen’s Yi-ology And Philosophy Construction

Dai Zhen was a famous classicist and philosopher in the middle period of Qing Dynasty, who was also a major figure of the "School-Wan" in Qian-jia. Almost all scholars follow the traditional method of textual exegesis which is very popular in academia of Han Dynasty, while Dai Zhen transcends the differences between the scholarship of Han and Song, and puts forward a different principle that chooses textual exegesis as the means and philosophical study as the ultimate goal. In view of his ultimate academic goal, Dai Zhen systematically researches the Confucian classics including Zhouyi. Based on the textual examination on basic question of Yi-ology, he elucidates "Nature and TianDao" in Zhouyi, and establishes his unique philosophical system. Although Dai Zhen has no particular works about Yi-ology, his philosophical writings express the comprehension of Yi-Dao. His Yi-ology is a part of his philosophical theory, and lays a solid foundation for his philosophic system construction. The thesis mainly discusses Dai Zhen’s Yi-ology and philosophy system construction from the following several aspects:The introduction synthetically expounds previous scholars’researching of Dai Zhen’s Confucian classics and philosophy, and briefly explicates the significance of this topic.The first chapter sketches his thought background—the academic trend of "Application of Classics" in early Qing and Dai Zhen’s mentor-disciple relationship—and researching course of Zhouyi, then gives a quick overview of his works which embodies his Yi-ology.Dai Zhen’s textual criticism and philosophic study of Zhouyi is based on his research of Confucian classics. Therefore, if we intend to understand his Yi-ology, it is necessary to know his integral principle of Confucian classics researching. The second chapter discusses his criticism of Han Song learning—the former sticks to the exegesis of Confucian classics and ignores its philosophic spirit, while the latter is just the opposite. Based on the criticism, Dai Zhen transcends both of them and presents the principle of "being erudite, reaching definitive conclusions and providing creative viewpoints". In the last part of this section, we discourse upon the other character of his classics researching—o link up the philosophical connotations of the representative Confucian classics, and build his own theoretical system.The third to fifth chapter constitute the main body of this paper. The third chapter expounds his textual research on basic questions of Zhouyi. In terms of historical materials and phonetic loan theory, Dai Zhen interprets "Zhou" as Zhou Dynasty, "Yi" as changing, and opposes forced interpretation which is not objective. For the problem as to why the scripture of Zhouyi is divided into two parts, Dai Zhen argues that we should suspend judgement when the question is not concerned with the philosopical spirit of Zhouyi. In addition, Dai Zhen puts forward that the author of Shuogua, Xugua and Zagua is not Confucius, but classicists in Han Dynasty who collect the points of Confucius’successors. Overall, Dai Zhen prefers to elucidate philosophical connotations of Zhouyi because it contains the essence of Confucian philosophy—"Nature and TianDao".The fourth chapter systematically analyzes his philosophy system which is based on the exegesis of Confucian classics. Dai Zhen provides a creative interpretation to Yizhuan, which says "The interaction between Yin and Yang is called the Dao, which ensues as the result is goodness, and which shows it in its completeness is the nature." Dai Zhen interprets "production and reproduction" as unceasing changing of Qi (in his view, the nature of Yin-Yang and Five Elements is Qi), and regards Dao as the process of Qi’s constant changing; he interprets "goodness" as the principle of Tian and human being, and expounds that Ren-Yi-Li-Zhi (four cardinal virtues of Confucian usually translate as humanity, justice, propriety and wisdom) is the inevitable logic result of human nature; he interprets "nature" as the production of Qi, and presents that "Li"(order or law, not the virtue) is contained in human nature (its fundamental content is desire, sentiment and apperception). In this way, Dai Zhen establishes the "unity of Tian and human" theory, in which "Dao", "goodness" and "nature" are integrated, and criticizes ChengZhu who separates human from Tian and then combines them into a unity.The last chapter is a comprehensive comment on Dai Zhen’s Yi-ology and his philosophy construction. Based on the rectifying deviation from Yi-ology in Han and subjective criticism of Yi-ology in Song Dynasty, Dai Zhen consciously illustrates the "Tian Dao and human nature" theory via textual exegesis of Zhouyi. However, his interpretation method is not the only way to understand Yi-Dao. Therefore, the criticism of Song-learning is just his personal view. Although his mission is to inherit "Confucian orthodoxy", his philosophical interpretation does not entirely come back to the original ideals of Confucius and Mencius, but embodies the distinctive characteristics of the times. All in all, Dai Zhen’s Yi-ology contributes significantly to the logical construction and content extension of his philosophical system, and his principle of Confucian classics research has a profound effect on the academic direction of the subsequent scholars including Jiao Xun, a great Yi-ologist in Qing Dynasty.