"Human As The Heart-mind Of Heaven And Earth":On The Relationship Between Human And Cosmos In Zhu Xi’s Philosophy

This thesis aims to research the relationship between human and cosmos from the idea of“Human as the Heart-mind of Heaven and Earth”in Zhu Xi’s philosophy.There is actually no heart-mind(like human)between Heaven and Earth.As for Zhu Xi,we can praise there is a heart-mind between Heaven and Earth for it’s virtue of bringing the life into being,and it can be described as "Heaven and earth’s heart-mind which brings myriad things into coming"(tiandiyishengwuweixin天地以生物为心)and Wuxinzhixin(无心之心).Wuxinzhixin is represented through li(理)and qi(气).Due to li or order of its self-so in the process of creation by Heaven and Earth,we can say that Heaven and Earth have a heart-mind.As qi takes the responsibility for creating things,we can say that heart-mind of Heaven and Earth manifest itself with the feature of heartlessness.Zhu Xi’s idea of "Benevolence(ren 仁)as the heartmind of Heaven and Earth" expresses that Heaven and Earth create everything,and the idea of " All creatures share the heart-mind of Heaven and Earth as there own heart-mind"(renwugedeqixinyiweixin 人物各得其心以为心)means that all creatures get their own li or life.In view of Zhuxi’s philosophy,heart-mind of Heaven and Earth could be understood as human extremity(renzhiji 人之极).The idea of "Benevolence as the heart-mind of Heaven and Earth" originates from human’s experience in reality,and explains the ultimate reason of things.Only humans have this kind of experience because of their unique position in the cosmos.The idea of "Human as the heart-mind of Heaven and Earth" can be divided into two aspects to understand:perception and virtue.From the perspective of perception,humans can be considered as sensorium of cosmos.From the perspective of virtue,humans possesses the li of all things and have the ability to support Heaven and Earth.Due to differences in essence between human beings,only Saint can be viewed as "the heart-mind of Heaven and Earth" absolutely.Human is parallel to cosmos.Heart-mind order is parallel to cosmos order,and the virtue of“Benevolence,righteousness,propriety,and knowledge"(renyilizhi仁义礼智)is the same as the virtue of " great and originating,penetrating,advantageous,correct and firm"(yuanhenglizhen 元亨利贞).Since humans have a heart-mind and Heaven and Earth don’t have one,humans’ qi is the same as Heaven and Earth’s qi,and humans possess the li of everything,the heart-mind of humans can be viewed as "the heart-mind of Heaven and Earth".As a result of human’s innate defects and desire for material,humans should adjust himself to propriety(li 礼),which is the medium of heart-mind order and cosmos order,and in this way their heart-mind order can be harmonious with cosmos order.It is a process of confirming a real heart-mind to Heaven and Earth.