Criticism On Pre-qin Philosophers In Yang Xiong Fa Yan And Its Development To Confucianism

Fa Yan is a quotation work written by the Han Dynasty’s thinker Yang Xiong.He imitated the Analects of Confucius and made it.Yang Xiong biography of Hanshu said that Fa Yan was writing because he saw other schools at that time destroyed the path to saint,or the expression of some complex,of thought on the theory naturally and phrase of the situation,Yang Xiong wanted to inherit Confucius and Mencius sage spirit,willing to follow as Mencius,and cleared the ways and imitated the Analects of Confucius for Fa Yan to criticize their theories to the development of Confucianism.The era of Yang Xiong has experienced the early Han Dynasty of the school of Huang Lao and the reign of Emperor Wu of Han,"deposed 100,Confucianism only",the early Han Huang Lao school withdrew from the stage of history,but the fusion of Confucianism and Taoism as a historic necessity,Yang Xiong’s thought has also been impacted by this trend.At the end of Western Han Dynasty,with the increasing development of Dong Zhongshu’s theological teleology and the theory of interaction between heaven and man,all sorts of strange superstition have appeared in the society,Yin and Yang five elements has deep influenced thoughts of Confucian,which have hindered the development of Confucianism.Faced with the complex ideological situation,Yang Xiong criticized other scholars to promote the rational development of Confucianism.This paper is based on the criticism about other scholars of Yang Xiong,and describes the process of Yang Xiong Fa Yan in view of mind cultivation,epistemology,ethics and other aspects of the development of Confucianism comprehensively,to present his inheritance and development of Confucianism.Its characteristic is to criticize other school and absorb and transform Taoism to rebuild his ideological system.In this paper,through the study of Fa Yan,revealing Yang Xiong’s criticism about other scholars and the development of Confucianism in Fa Yan.This paper is divided into four chapters.The first chapter introduces the academic background of Yang Xiong’s thought and Fa Yan,which mainly elaborates the origin of Yang Xiong’s thought and background of his time,and analyze the book of Fa Yan.Yang Xiong’s Confucian education as well as his teacher Yan Junping Taoist thought,had a profound influence on the writing of Fa Yan.The background of chaos in Western Han Dynasty,also made Yang Xiong’s Fa Yan come into being.The second chapter analyzes the criticism of Fa Yan to other schools.Yang Xiong,standing on the position of Confucian,criticized a part of theory of the pre-qin scholars which not conform to Confucianism.He opposed the thought of legalist school which attaches great importance to the punishment but despises music education,and he accused the Mohist which pays attention to thrift but despises etiquette.At the same time,Yang Xiong thought that the theories of the school of Names represented by Gong Sunlong are all sophistry speech and to be criticized,and his criticism of Yin-Yang school is more thorough.But he didn’t criticize only,but absorbed the beneficial Taoism to enrich his own system of Confucianism.The third chapter mainly elaborates the inheritance and development of Confucianism of Fa Yan from three aspects.In the theory of human nature,Yang Xiong compromised Mencius and Xun Zi’s theory of human nature and first proposed"mixed with good and evil".This paper firstly expounds the theory of human nature of the pre-qin Confucian Mencius and Xun Zi,and based on this expands the understanding of Yang Xiong’s theory of human nature and the development of Confucian Humanity Theory.In epistemology,Yang Xiong criticized the prophetic-minded superstition severely and opened the rational thoughts.Yang Xiong maintained a clear understanding about the calamity superstition in Han period,his critique of the superstition can be found everywhere in Fa Yan.Therefore,Yang Xiong advocated the cognitive view of "Shang Zhi",which confirmed the subjective initiative of people,to promote the development of Confucianism.In ethics aspect,Yang Xiong absorbed Taoist ideas and exerted Confucian ethics thought.This paper discusses Yang Xiong’s ethics from the benevolence theory,moral values and reed testimonies three parts.Yang Xiong’s benevolence theory and reed testimonies inherit the pre-qin Confucian ethics,but his moral values absorb Taoist ideas obviously.The fourth chapter discusses the significance and influence of Yang Xiong’s criticism about other schools and its development of Confucianism in Fa Yan.This paper discusses from two aspects.On one hand,Yang Xiong criticizes the theory of other schools and clears the unreasonable factors for the development of Confucianism.On the other hand,Fa Yan promotes the development of Confucianism,and has influenced Huan Tan and Wang Chong,and so on,and provides the reference for Han Yu’s Confucian orthodoxy.