Research On Li Ao’s Inheritance And Development Of Han Yu’s Theory Of Human Nature

Since the pre-Qin Dynasty,scholars have contemplated the issue of human nature.During the Tang Dynasty,the status of Confucianism was challenged by the prevalence of Buddhism and Taoism.Confucian scholars represented by Han,Li,etc.,through promoting Confucianism to oppose Buddhism and Taoism,hoped to restore the centrality of Confucianism to reverse the state ’ s decline.They absorbed the essence of Confucian predecessors and also integrated the cultural thoughts of the time,constructing a unique theory of human nature with the characteristics of the times under a specific historical background.This article combs through Confucian theory on human nature before the Sui and Tang Dynasties,starting from Confucius,Mencius,Xunzi,Zisi,Dong Zhongshu,etc.,to understand the content and evolution of Confucian human nature theory.On this basis,it explores Han Yu and Li Ao’s reconstruction of human nature theory in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.Combined with the concerns of Han Yu and Li Ao’s times,this paper strives to find a common thread between the two’s theories on human nature through the social and cultural background of the Tang Dynasty.In Confucianism,xing is heaven-given,and the virtues of heaven are the ontological basis of human existence and long-standing Confucian pursuit.The development of Han Yu and Li Ao ’ s human nature theory inherited this idea,regarding xing as innate nature.Because the two inherited different emphases of thought,they explained different views on the essence of xing.Han Yu mainly inherited Confucius,Mencius,Xunzi,and Dong Zhongshu’s theory of nature,and proposed the tripartite classification theory of nature,in which the upper and the lower classes of nature are immovable.At the same time,he pointed out that the cultivation of human nature requires external education and internal training to reach the state of Confucian sainthood.Li Ao also absorbed the thoughts of human nature from the Confucianists before the Tang Dynasty,among which the thinking of "The Doctrine of the Mean" was the main one.Like Han Yu,he pointed out that the human nature is endowed with nature,but he did not agree with Han Yu’s theory that the nature is divided into three grades.The proposition that all people are one person,and that sex is good,emphasizes that "emotion" is the root cause of the gap between people.Like Han Yu,he analyzed sex from the perspective of "emotion" and inherited Han Yu’s idea that "emotion" is divided into good and evil.He believes that people’s affection is due to evil factors that lead to the blinding of nature.At the same time,he pays more attention to his own introspection and internal cultivation in terms of humanity cultivation than Han Yu,and he has a metaphysical concept.He puts forward the cultivation method of "extinguishing emotions",hoping that people can reach the ideal state of "sincere".Han Yu and Li Ao’s human nature theory inherited the essence of Confucian predecessors,absorbed Buddhist and Taoist thought,and through mutual exchange,formed unique theories on human nature,especially Li Ao’s theory of dual nature,which influenced the formation of the theory of dualism in Neo-Confucian thought,laying the foundation for the development of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties.