Research On Zhang Zai’s Political Ethics Thoughts

As one of the most popular figures in the Northern Song Dynasty,Zhang Zai put forward the concepts of “supreme harmony” and “the vast universe”,which established a solid view of the universe for Confucianism,so as to deal with the thoughts of Buddhism,and laid the foundation for the development of Neo-Confucianism in Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty.He creatively presented the concepts: “the vast universe originated from Qi” and “Qi has two attributes”.In addition to integrating metaphysics and physics,he put forward a way to make two aspects in a contradiction cooperate with each other.In this way,the “the vast universe” in metaphysics will be no longer vague,general or useless.Also,a path and goals of development in the daily life is indicated.In the aspect of human nature,he defined the “nature of temperament” and the “nature of the world”,helping people figure out “good nature” and “evil nature” which had troubled people for a long time.So,more people were willing to believe in “self-cultivation”.“Changing temperament” became the ultimate goal for the Confucian students in later ages.In other words,the “nature of temperament” was included in the “nature of the world”.When people and the world becomes a unity,the Tao way will truly follows nature.Meanwhile,confronting with the social,economic,political and military crises of the Northern Song Dynasty,Zhang Zai did not indulge in metaphysical research.Instead,according to the Rites of Zhou,he advocated to use the political systems of the three dynasties,Xia Dynasty,Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty,namely,the well-field system,the feudal system and the patriarchal system.While explaining the advantages of these systems in detail,he offered some practical methods by combining the actual conditions of the Northern Song Dynasty,which showed that Zhang Zai was pragmatic.Moreover,he carried out feudal ethics and rites,studied the methods of cultivation and completed the rural regulation system,which provided a model for the Confucian students in later ages to carry out primary-level basic construction and implement “integration of knowledge and practice”.