Aphilosophical Study Of Cultivation In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Early Republic Of China

"The Great Learning" educates scholars with the concept of "Self-cultivating,Family-regulating,Country-governing and World-ruling",and emphasizes "cultivating one’s moral character" as its foundation.By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,during the period of social and academic transformation,it was transformed into a comprehensive cultivation education of "virtue","intelligence",and "physique".In the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China,under the collision of various ideas from ancient and modern times,China and the West,Confucianism and Buddhism,great masters emerged in large numbers.Among them,Cai Yuanpei and Liang Qichao in education and academia,as well as Hong Yi and Tai Xu in Buddhism,are representatives of the philosophy of self-cultivation.They have a broad mind of looking at the world,embracing new knowledge and new changes,as well as the self-confidence of facing up to the essence of Chinese traditional self-cultivation thought and collecting the best from the best.Through reasonable choices and integration,they creatively establish the self-cultivation philosophy theory and practice system required by both the Buddhist and the secular world.The integration of Chinese and Western Confucians and Buddhists is the two outstanding characteristics of the times and individuals in their self-cultivation philosophy.Select the cultivation philosophy of these four masters as the research object,first conduct a individual case study,and then conduct a comprehensive comparative study,showing similarities,differences,and complementarities.Cai Yuanpei,the pioneer of spiritual cultivation philosophy,integrates both Chinese and Western cultures.His spiritual cultivation philosophy is the most forward-looking,and as the founder of the current education and academic system and research methods in China,he attaches special importance to sports and spiritual cultivation;Liang Qichao,an enlightening thinker and political activist,changed his life in response to the times and corrected deviations in a timely manner.His philosophy of self-cultivation is reflected in the return to tradition after integrating China and the West,and his mission is to forge new people,new personalities,and cultivate young elites.In this period of historical transformation,the Buddhist community,which is far away from the mundane world,also faced challenges and made efforts to innovate.Master Hong Yi,who revived the Buddhist law,and Master Tai Xu,who created what he called “Humanistic Buddhism”,They have made contributions to the construction of spiritual cultivation philosophy and the cultivation education of monks.Hong Yi strictly abides by precepts and self-discipline,combines words,deeds,and teachings,and invokes Confucianism to promote practical and concrete learning of reform;Tai Xu regards world peace and human happiness as its ultimate vision,understands Indian Buddhist scriptures and Confucian traditions,and advocates “Humanistic Buddhism”,which advocates learning from Buddha and starting from cultivating one’s personality.Compare the four masters horizontally.They were influenced by traditional Confucianism in their early years,and later had many years of overseas experience.They also paid special attention to the reform of Buddhism.They were revolutionary,forward-looking,educational,and practical in the theory and practice of self-cultivation.From a longitudinal perspective,there are different emphasis on integrating Chinese and Western,Confucianism and Buddhism,and there are also many differences in philosophical theory and educational practice,writing forms,and educational objects,thus jointly constructing a three-dimensional and comprehensive ideological system of that era.The study of the philosophy of self-cultivation in the late Qing and Early Republic of China can provide us with theoretical weapons to solve current social problems,and innovate and develop through inheritance and promotion.