| Throughout examination of the treatment of the concept of ch'i in the history of Chinese thought, beginning with the earliest references to it in Tso-chuan, this thesis takes issue with the conventional understanding of Sung Neo-Confucianism as being divided into the schools of li, ch'i and mind, in a way which suggests that they are pitted against one another, and also questions the conventional classification of Chu Hsi, along with Ch'eng I, as belonging to the Study of li. The primary source of these mischaracterizations is a misunderstanding of the holistic nature ascribed to ch'i, which encompasses both li and mind in it.; The notion of this holistic nature (which is shown here to derive from Kuan-tzu, which describes ch'i, "that which cannot be spoken of," as the Ultimate reality) made it possible for Chu Hsi to assert that both nature and the mind, and li and ch'i form "duality in unity and unity in duality" (i erh erh, erh erh i) and that the Ultimate reality is "ineffable but still effable" (wu-chi erh t'ai-chi), which required that we take cognizance of a relationship of tension between these two aspects. However, effability or t'ai-chi alone came to be emphasized, with the result that the notion of tension that Chu Hsi had posited was not developed.; A second source of misunderstanding with respect to ch'i is the application of what might be referred to as an Aristotelian notion of substance, which presupposes the bifurcation of mind and matter, to a concept which is essentially holistic and all-embracing. To deal with this issue, this thesis proposes to substitute a definition of ch'i based on its function rather than its substance.; As to the nature of Sung Neo-Confucianism, including the thought of Chang Tsai, the Ch'eng Brothers and Chu Hsi, this thesis, against the discontinuous and mutually adverse picture of it which is conventionally depicted, proposes that it was in fact continuous and progressive, which is illustrated in its appropriation of Taoist-Buddhist concepts such as ch'i-cultivation and wu-wo, no-self, to the Confucian cause, although nominally opposing them in an effort to maintain a Confucian identity.; As to the fundamental nature of Chu Hsi's philosophy, this thesis proposes it be viewed not as a great synthesis but as a great interpretation of Confucian thought. |
