In Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, it has always been the official philosophy of the feudal ruling class, which indicates that the ideology of feudal society is more complete. In the second year of Yuan and Qing Dynasties (13 13), the imperial examination was resumed, and the imperial examination was ordered to be based on Zhu's Notes on Four Books and Sentences. In the second year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1369), Zhu et al. "passed the note as the Sect" in the imperial examination. Zhu Xue became the spiritual pillar to consolidate the ruling order of feudal society. It strengthened the "three cardinal guides and five permanents" and hindered the later changes in feudal society. Zhu's theory also had a far-reaching influence on Wang Yangming's psychology in Ming Dynasty. Wang Yangming's thought of unity of knowledge and action is a breakthrough on the basis of Zhu's philosophy.
Theory of regulating qi
Zhu's philosophical system is based on Cheng Hao's theory, absorbing Zhou Dunyi's Taiji theory, Zhang Zai's Qi theory and Buddhism and Taoism. The core category of this system is "reason", or "Tao" and "Tai Chi". Zhu's so-called rationality has several interrelated meanings
Reason is a metaphysical person who precedes natural phenomena and social phenomena. He believes that reason is more fundamental than qi, and logically reason precedes qi; At the same time, Qi has the initiative to change, and reason cannot be separated from Qi. He believes that everything has its reason, and the reason of everything is one after all, that is, "Tai Chi".
Reason is the law of things.
Rationality is the basic principle of ethics. Zhu, also known as Tai Chi, is the sum of the principles of all things in the world, that is, the principle of total truth. Tai Chi is just a word. Taiji contains the principle of everything, and everything can embody the whole Taiji alone. This is that everyone has the spirit of Artest, and everything has the spirit of Artest. Everyone and things take abstract rationality as the basis of their existence, and everyone and things have a complete rationality, that is, rationality is different.
Rationality is human nature. Zhu, also known as Tai Chi, is the sum total of universal principles, that is, the principle of total truth. Qi is the second category in Zhu's philosophical system after relay theory. It is tangible, affectionate, tangible and traceable; It has the characteristics of cohesion and artificiality. It is the material for casting everything. Everything in the world is the product of the unity of reason and matter. Zhu believes that the relationship between reason and qi has its main and secondary aspects. Anger should be controlled by qi, with qi as the primary, qi as the object and back, and qi as the secondary.
Dynamic and static views
Zhu advocated that creatures were born according to qi. Starting from qi, he launched a biological movement that was divided into two parts and kept moving, that is, qi was divided into two parts, moving yang and calming yin, divided into five elements (gold, wood, water, fire and earth) and dispersed into everything. Split into two is an important movement form in the process of gas differentiation into matter. Zhu believes that the unity of opposites makes things change endlessly. He discussed the causes of things and regarded motion and stillness as an infinite continuous process. The infinity of time and space is manifested in the infinity of motion and static, which are inseparable. This shows the dialectical view of Zhu's thought. Zhu also believes that the dynamic and static are not only mutually exclusive, but also unified. Zhu also discussed two forms of movement: relative stability and significant change, which he called "change" and "transformation". He thinks that sudden change permeates gradual change, and gradual change permeates sudden change. Gradually accumulate and realize mutation.
Theory of knowledge of things
"Knowing from things" comes from a university sentence "Knowing from things", which has no epistemological significance, and basically talks about the understanding of general morality. Cheng Yi was the first person who clearly explained "Wu Ge" from the perspective of epistemology. He said: "Ge is still poor, and things are still reasonable. It's just that I am still poor. " Zhu inherited Cheng's theory and established a systematic theory of "poor things". He expressed his epistemological thought through the explanation of "understanding knowledge by studying things".
For the purpose of understanding, what Zhu said is to be a saint [5]. It is believed that if you can't "deal with a man as he deals with you", you will be human anyway, and only when you reach "deal with a man as he deals with you" can you enter the realm of sages.
The specific content of "learning from the scriptures" is "poor righteousness, understanding human relations, speaking holy words and spreading accidents." The "natural justice" here mainly refers to feudal ethics such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom, while "human relations", "sacred words" and "chance" are the interpretation and application of natural justice. Zhu believes that if you give up the pursuit of justice and only spend your energy on the research of plants and tools, it will be like a wandering soldier who can't return to his hometown. He said, "It's hard to learn, because it's between plants and animals! If you want to get something in this way, it is to cook sand and want to become a meal. " (Selected Works)
On the relationship between "knowing" and "doing", Zhu advocated "knowing first". Zhu's view of knowing and doing refers to the personal moral cultivation and practice of Confucianism. Because moral practice needs the guidance of feudal ethics, it is "knowledge first" Because feudal ethics can't just be empty talk, it is "behavior-oriented". "Prophet acts after his deeds" and "focusing on his deeds" are two aspects of practical morality, which have their inherent logical consistency. From a cognitive point of view, "foresight" reverses the relationship between primary and secondary. Knowledge comes from practice, and "action" should be the first thing between knowledge and action. The idea of "knowing first" is obviously wrong. As for the so-called "emphasizing behavior", although it has its reasonable factors, it only emphasizes the personal moral practice of feudal intellectuals. [6]
Dualism of human nature
On the issue of human nature, Zhu directly inherited the thoughts of Zhang Zai and Er Cheng. Zhang Zai divides human nature into "the nature of heaven and earth" and "the nature of temperament", and thinks that the goodness and evil of human nature are caused by different innate qualities. Zhu praised this, saying that this thought "helps saints and supplements the learning of later generations" and "invented the meaning of eternal saints, which is very meritorious." (Genre) After Zhang Zai, Cheng Er distinguished between "the nature of temperament" and "the nature of temperament". On the basis of Zhang and Cheng's thoughts, Zhu comprehensively demonstrated the dualism of "nature of destiny" and "nature of temperament" of human nature. "Reason" and "Qi" are indispensable to life [7]. "Reason" was in the sky before people were formed. Once a person is formed, he is attached to the human body and becomes a feudal morality endowed by people a priori, such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. It is the innate goodness of everyone, hence the name "the nature of destiny". When the human body was formed, it must have been endowed with this kind of qi. Because the essence, thickness, turbidity and duration of qi are different, there are differences between good and evil, virtue and stupidity, wealth and longevity, and there are also differences in personality. There are good and evil, which is called "temperament". The above two properties coexist in human body, which is Zhu's dual view of human nature.