On Zhang Zai's View Of "Taixu Ji Qi" And Its Influences On Qi Philosophy

The purpose of Zhang Zai's philosophical thought is to establish the basis of heaven and human.The key to the understanding of Zhang Zai's Taixu-Qi thought lies in the understanding of Zhang Zai's thought of basis.This ontological thinking has been going round and round with constantly changing and creating.Zhang Zai's ontological thinking also has this kind of fluidity.Both of “Qi” or “Taixu” have the characteristics of “creative” and transcendence at the same time.With the introduction of Western philosophical thoughts to the impact of Chinese philosophy,many scholars used ontology and cosmology to explain Zhang Zai's proposition of “Taixu Ji Qi”.At the same time,there have been natural disputes on whether to interpret the word “Ji” as “is” or “keeping apart but not afar”.It is not difficult to see that Zhang Zai's thought laid equal stress on ontology and cosmology,and the emergence of this situation was caused by the development and perfection of traditional culture of Confucianism and Qi philosophy.The thesis first gave a brief account of Zhang Zai's life and the theoretical background of the birth of his thought of “Taixu Ji Qi”.From the aspects of basic characteristics and value implication,it investigated the ideological connotation of “Taixu Ji Qi”,and analyzed and summarized the research and development orientation of “Taixu Ji Qi” before and after modern times.Finally,it strived to respond to the heated debate of “what the basis of Zhang Zai's philosophy was” in modern times with a “creative” view of Qi Philosophy.During the Han and Tang Dynasties,with the rise of the Buddhism and Taoism,the theoretical pursuit of the birth of Buddhism and Taoism made the world escape from the secular fetters of the present world,and the attitude of pursuing transcendence,seclusion and avoidance of the world had become popular.At that time,Confucianism's status was challenged,which eventually reduced it from “expelling all other factions” to “decline of learning and morality”,so it was particularly important to reconstruct Confucianism on the ontological level.As one of the founders of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianis,Zhang Zai inherited and absorbed the thoughts of the Book of Changes,Yin-Yang,and “creative” heaven and earth,thus establishing an ontology-cosmology interrelated,changeable and popular philosophy of Qi.He put forward an important philosophical proposition —“Taixu Ji Qi”,in response to Buddhism and Taoism.In Zhang Zai's philosophy,“Taixu” had three characteristics: space reality,complete value,and the unity of ontology and cosmology.While Qi was inseparable from time,space and movement,like “Qi has both existence and absence”,“Qi is different”,“Qi has Yin and Yang”,and its basic characteristics also contained the cultivation of value character and sanctification.“Taixu Zhi Qi” was not only the source of human value,but also the value blueprint of “complete sincerity”,“supreme goodness” and “utmost sanctity”.Before modern times,the relationship between “Taixu” and “Qi” had always been concerned.The development of “Qi” had undergone the transformation of the dimension of ontology,reality and scientificalization,thus making “Qi” gradually become the most basic and inclusive philosophical category in Chinese philosophy.After modern times,with the influx of thoughts of the May 4th New Culture Movement,scholars began to examine “Taixu” and “Qi” in Zhangzai's philosophy in combination with Western learning.In the exploration of the “basis” of Zhang Zai's philosophy,there were three academic camps according to the understanding of the word “Ji” in “Taixu Ji Qi”:(1)“is” school;(2)“to be” school;(3)“is going to be” school.Different understandings also implied different attitudes and definitions of Chinese philosophical thought system.By thinking and grasping Zhang Zai's philosophical thought as a whole,the thesis aimed to find out the root of scholars debate on what the basis of Zhang Zai's philosophy was.How to grasp the excessive emptiness of Qi is not outdated,just different from the world outlook(space-time outlook or cosmology outlook).The key to the problem is how to face the world philosophy with a Chinese characteristic of Qi philosophy.Therefore,a new research paradigm and philosophical perspective are urgently needed to examine the research of Qi philosophy.Chinese philosophy emphasized that the world was the existence of endless life and the existence of harmony.Therefore,we call for a “creative” view of Qi philosophy as the core that the relationship between Taixu and Qi was a process of creating and changing.Zhang Zai's thought of giving equal weight to ontology and cosmology was discussed in the way of Chinese traditional thinking,and what Zhang Zai wanted to highlight was not the importance and independence of “Taixu” or “Qi” as ontology,but the Qi philosophy that combined ontology independence and ontology creativity.