Chen Baisha's Study Of Self-satisfaction

Chen Baisha was an important ideologist in the process of the transition from Neo-Confucianism to Xin xue in the early Ming Dynasty.His theory of self-getting absorbed the thought of “self-getting” in Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism,and gave the concept of “self-getting” deeper meaning.He not only took “self-getting” as the most important ability of learning,but also regarded it as the highest pursuit of spiritual plane.Thus,he established a systematic and unique theory of self-getting,which makes the traditional way of spiritual cultivation more refined.The theory of self-getting is the most important feature of Baisha's philosophy.It not only plays a key role in grasping the internal logic of of Baisha's philosophy,but also helpfully understanding the development process of the philosophy of Xin xue in Ming Dynasty.Scholars who studied Baisha's philosophy usually understood “self-getting” as a kind of learning skills like “meditation” and “nature”,and they have not yet explored the deep connotation and important status of “self-getting” in Baisha's words.In fact,Baisha's theory of self-getting has three basic connotations: first,on the question of what is “self-getting”,in Baisha's opinion,it means “self-consciousness” and“self-realization”,which emphasizes grasping the innate character of things through self-reflection;Secondly,on the question of what can be gained from “self-getting”,the purpose of Baisha's theory is to pursue the realm of self-satisfaction,that is,a state of spiritual freedom,perfect virtue,and “real happiness”,which eliminates the opposition between “I” and the other things.Moreover,regarding the question of why“self-getting” is possible and whether “self-getting” is necessary,Baisha put forward the idea of “one principle of nature and man” as an ontological basis for the theory of self-getting.He also demonstrated that the essence of “Tao” can not acquire from experience and is unspeakable,so only through self-getting can we understand Tao,which answers the question of why self-getting is necessary.In addition,on the issue of how to realize the study of self-getting,Baisha put forward the ideas such as “doubt is valued in learning”,“sitting in silence to see the mind and body”,“controlling people's desire for external things”,etc.Obviously,these ideas pay attention to internal pursuits rather than focusing on external things,highlight the cultivation of self-rational spirit and innovative consciousness,and emphasize the cultivation of virtue of honesty and goodness with low desire.Baisha's theory of self-getting had great historical value and practical significance.On the one hand,it broke the framework of Cheng Zhu's Neo Confucianism and tried to reconcile the differences between the theories of Zhu and Lu.It changed the perspective of learning from the difference of Li and Qi,the division of human mind and Tao to the problem of how to integrate human mind and Tao,and opened a new style of learning and promoted the turning of Neo Confucianism to Xinxue in the early Ming Dynasty;On the other hand,Baisha's theory is also of great practical significance.It highlights the subjective spirit of human,emphasizes the moral responsibility to the society,and the poetic transcendence of universal induction and the unity of nature and man,which is very important to people in modern society.Baisha's theory has great enlightenment to solve the people's problems such as the disorder of people's inner spiritual world,lack of moral responsibility,and tension relationship between man and nature.