Research On Liu Yuan’s Theory Of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation

Liu Yuan was one of the greatest Confucian scholars in Sichuan in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.This dissertation will take Liu Yuan’s Theory of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation as the research object to explain the characteristics of "Mencius" and analyze Liu Yuan’s Mengxue thought in the book.Liu Yuan’s exposition of Mencius’ s ideas on benevolence and righteousness,his "theory of innate and acquired of human mind and human nature" and "theory of internal(essence)and external(functioning)cultivation" all shows distinct characteristics of the times.This dissertation will analyze the formation process of Liu Yuan’s academic thought from the life of Liu Yuan and the social background of the middle and late Qing Dynasty.I will summarize the characteristics of the book by analyzing the style and citations of Theory of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation,present Liu Yuan’s Mengxue views based on Theory of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation to show his Mengxue thought,analyze the similarities and differences between his views and those of his predecessors,and highlight the original ideas of Liu Yuan’s Mengxue thought.Liu Yuan’s academic reserve is closely related to his life experience.When He was a child,he learned Liu’s innate learning,for at that time,Liu was a famous family in Sichuan province.In Liu Yuan’s youth,he learned Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties and Sinology of the Qing Dynasty;after he returned to his hometown,he followed the old man Ye Yun to practice the study of inner elixir of Taoism;and in his later years,he devoted himself to the practice of moral ethics to help the world and comfort the people.Liu Yuan’s Theory of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation had not been written for a while,but gone through a lifetime,it finished in the fifth year of Xianfeng(1855).There are currently eight versions of Theory of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation,such as Yucheng Hall Edition,Xichong Xianyu Garden Collection Edition and Zhifu Lou Edition,all of which take "the final edition in Liu Yuan’s later years" as the original edition.Liu Yuan’s Theory of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation had the layout of dichotomy of "annotation" and "additional explanation",which was an innovative style.The "annotation" section mainly quotes Zhao Qi and Zhu Xi’s interpretation of Mencius to help with exegesis.The "additional explanation" part is an eclectic discussion,and the quotations are mainly based on Zhu Xi’s Collected Commentaries on the Four Books,Zhao Qi’s The Mencius Chapter,Zhang Zhentao’s Four Books and Wings Annotated Treatises,Yan Ruoqu’s Four Books Interpreting the Land,Zhang Chun’s Four Books Dialectics,and widely quoted scriptures and historical books to assist in the examination and explanation of the general righteousness.Liu Yuan interpreted the classics,deeply was influenced by Neo-Confucianism,Sinology and Taoism.He interpreted classics,which quoted extensively without prejudice,and adopted Sinology and Song academic;explained the classics with the classics,confirmed the classics with history;integrated the two schools of Buddhism and Taoism,and invoked Taoist thought to explain Confucianism;and removed the cumbersomeness and made the language concise.Theory of Mencius’ Constant Interpretation has unique insight into the interpretation of ideas.Liu Yuan interpreted Mencius’ s thought with concepts and propositioned such as "benevolence and righteousness","goodness of human nature","nourishing qi","establishing destiny" and "the learning of the mandate of heaven",forming the unique connotation of Liu Yuan’s interpretation of Mencius.Mencius Thought has always been valued mainly in the areas of benevolent political thought,the theory of mind,and the theory of cultivation.Liu Yuan’s interpretation of Mencius is no exception.First,in terms of the idea of "benevolence and righteousness",Liu Yuan put "benevolence" and "Tao" "humanity" combined,pointed out that "benevolence" was the essence of ethics and morality,developed Zhang Zai,Wang Fuzhi’s "perfect benevolence and righteousness" thought,that "benevolence" is not just a kind of existence,it’s still active.Ontology and application are interrelated."Perfect benevolence and righteousness" are the process of doing kung fu,and the highest goal of moral practice.Liu Yuan’s interpretation of "benevolence and righteousness" was finally implemented into "benevolent government".He emphasized benevolent government with benevolence heart and had both support and education for the people,developed Mencius’ s idea of benevolent government.Secondly,in terms of the "theory of human heart and human nature",Liu Yuan revised Song Confucianism’s "dualism of human heart and human nature",and he opposed the division of "human nature" into "Primitive nature" and "Temperamental nature",and at the same time differed from the "monistic of the human heart and human nature",he creatively put forward the theory of innate and acquired heart.People in the congenital,the whole bylaw by nature,and their hearts are innate heart,the innate heart is human nature.After birth,people are different from yin and yang,emotions and parents’ upbringing,and their hearts are different from good and evil,wise and foolish,talented and incompetent,the acquired heart is not human nature.Third,in terms of "cultivation kung fu theory",Liu Yuan integrated the thoughts of the Inner Dan Longmen School of Taoism and the Taizhou School to explain the theory of cultivation of kung Fu in Mencius,and put forward the general principle of cultivation of kung fu is to preserve the innate mind(qi),restrain and transform the acquired mind(qi).The goal of self-cultivation is "revenge",which returns to nature from nurture.The specific methods are static observation,static and dynamic interaction,internal diplomatic repair,the end of the interaction,the practice of spiritual cultivation lies in daily ethics.On the basis of absorbing and drawing on the views of his predecessors,Liu Yuan further developed the purely theoretical discussion of Mengxue thought into the study of moral practice.Liu Yuan’s interpretation of Mencius enriched the connotation of Confucianism,injected vitality into the thought of Mencius,made Mencius’ s righteous ideas more acceptable to ordinary people,and made outstanding contributions to the downward movement of Confucian ideology.His interpretation on Mencius’ s thought of benevolence and righteousness enriched Mencius’ s ideas of benevolence.His reinterpretation of Mencius’ s "theory of human heart and human nature" corrected to a certain extent the shortcomings of the "theory of human heart and human nature " of Confucians in the Song and Ming Dynasties.The cultivation method proposed by him made Mencius’ s righteous ideas more acceptable to ordinary people,which was conducive to the spread and development of Confucianism among the people.Through the study of Liu Yuan,a historical figure,we can reflect the social reality of Sichuan in the middle and late Qing Dynasty,and provide a concrete and vivid case for exploring the history of Bashu in this period.