Dong Zhongshu's Theory Of Human Nature From The Perspective Of Heaven And Man

In the process of the development of the history of Chinese philosophy,the problem of human nature has been deeply attracted us.As early as the Pre-Qin period,Confucianists began to think about the connotation of human nature,Dong Zhongshu,as a great Confucianist in Han Dynasty,had a comprehensive and in-depth discussion on the issue of human nature.His thoughts on human nature were mainly found in the "Famous Inspection Names" and "Reality" in "Spring and Autumn Fanlu".Dong Zhongshu occupies an important position in the history of Chinese theory of human nature,he completed the transition from the pre-Qin to the Han Dynasty Confucian theory of human nature.Dong Zhongshu's view of human nature is formed on the basis of synthesizing the sages' theory of human nature.Therefore,to study the connotation of Dong Zhongshu's theory of human nature,the first thing is to sort out the ideological origin of its formation.Dong Zhongshu established a set of philosophy of heaven,and explored human nature from the perspective of the interaction between man and nature.First of all,he introduced the idea of "rectifying the name",and defined human nature as the "natural capital of life." He saw both the natural side of human nature and the social side,proposing that "there is some good in human nature,but it is not all good",and "human nature needs to be civilized".Secondly,Dong Zhongshu explained that there are good and evil in nature according to Yin and Yang in heaven,which found the metaphysical basis for evil in human nature,fundamentally solved the problem of the source of good and evil,and realized the real connection between human nature and heaven.Finally,he put forward the famous theory of "Three qualities of Human natures",which had an extremely important impact on the development of Chinese feudal society.Dong Zhongshu's theory of human nature is of great significance,which not only inherits and develops the theory of human nature in the pre-Qin period,but also has a far-reaching influence on the later theories of human nature in the Han and Tang Dynasties and the Neo-Confucianism in the song and Ming Dynasties.