Liu Zongzhou's Philosophical Research On "meaning"

Liu Zongzhou is a master of the late Ming dynasty famous Confucianism.As the last greatest philosopher of “ Wang's thought”,he undertakes the important task of rescuing the shortcomings of later Yangming school.After the middle Ming Dynasty,the disadvantages of Yangming's later learning became increasingly prominent.Due to the extreme praise and distortion of Yangming's "to conscience" in Wang's later studies,Yangming's later studies were lost in mystery,and the mind cultivation effort was in a natural state,which could not be put into practice.The "heart" comes from selfish desires,and the multiple meaning of "heart" becomes the theoretical basis of a straightforward mind.The standard of social moral values can not be implemented,and the whole social atmosphere is caught in a madness,indulgence and emptiness.Liu Zongzhou was born at the right time,and his academic thoughts originated from the learning of Cheng-Zhu and Yang Ming,but separated from them and formed a system.He took "yi" as "the body of heart",reconstructed the moral essence,and then proposed the cultivation effort of Cheng Yi and Shen Du,which could make his theoretical system harmonious and self consistent,and at the same time eliminate the adverse effects caused by the last stream of Wang's thought.Liu Zongzhou's system of mind study is based on his interpretation of "yi",which is the existence of heart,the master of heart and the supreme moral noumenon governing all things.In defining the concept of “yi”,Zongzhou corrected Zhu Zi's and Yang Ming's view that the yi is the emanate of heart,analyzed the meaning of yi,will and mind,and pointed out the differences and connections between them.He established the yi as the existence of the heart,that is,the original existence of the heart,and further extracted the concept of "independence body",indicating the unique position of the yi.As the highest moral essence,yi has the moral character of loving good and hating evil in the earth.According to Zongzhou's understanding of the essence of “Da Xue”,yi is the end of the best,and to reach the state of the best is to be sincere.Liu Zongzhou's philosophical thought system does not go beyond the category of mind study.In terms of theoretical construction,the control of yi to heart and disposition,the unity of mind and body makes the metaphysical moral world connected with the inner subject world.In order to avoid the idea of the supreme good only staying in the inner world of the subject,he proposed the work of Cheng Yi andShen Du,which is the way that the supreme good can be realized through the subject.The unity of heart and nature,the unity of noumenon and work,people can realize the highest moral noumenon through their own internal experience,and can put the formed moral cognition into the real world through the communication of the internal world.The whole process of moral practice from top to bottom and from inside to outside reflects Liu Zongzhou's high requirements for human subjectivity and self-discipline.In his whole life,he was honest,self disciplined and introspective,which was the perfect practice of his own theory.Liu Zongzhou's important contribution lies in that he took the yi as the moral noumenon,rebuilt the mind study system of Wang school,and saved the mysterious and untrue wind caused by the last stream of Wang school.But he was too persistent in saving politics with morality.In the case of the collapse of system and law,he also tried to reorganize the people's mind through moral self-discipline,no matter how well his theory system were constructed,it was out of reality.Of course,Liu Zongzhou's mind theory can still bring profound inspiration to our moral construction in modern times.The cultivation of people's will,honesty and self-confidence,self-cultivation and value realization can all be supported by the study of Zongzhou.