Episode 81: Wang Yangming’s Mind Learning
He is a thinker, an educator, a politician, and a legendary figure. His achievements and deeds in his life have been perfectly realized. He embodies the most noble ideals of ancient Chinese scholars - to establish a heart for the world, to establish a destiny for the people, to carry forward the unique knowledge of the past saints, and to create peace for all generations. Later generations of scholars praised him as a saint who established words, established virtues, and performed meritorious services. As a teacher, he practiced good governance at court and good customs at home. He used his inner sage to create kings outside. He cultivated himself, regulated his family, governed the country, and brought peace to the world. He was one of the most active Confucian thinkers. He founded a sect and set off a wave of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty. The climax has had a profound impact on generations of intellectuals. He is Wang Yangming. The Wang Yangming Theory of Mind he pioneered has far-reaching significance in the history of Chinese thought.
Wang Yangming, who is called a saint by his disciples, was once a crazy boy. This madness was revealed when he was fifteen or sixteen years old. When he was young, he hoped to truly understand the true meaning of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. This is the goal that most scholars since the Song Dynasty have pursued throughout their lives. The top priority for the young Wang Yangming was to examine bamboos. Zhu Xi, a great Neo-Confucian master in the Song Dynasty, advocated the theory of examining things and purifying principles, believing that universal truth is contained in specific things. Therefore, in order to find the principles of nature, we must use the method of investigating things. The investigation of things means research. We need to investigate one thing today and another thing tomorrow. We should study the principles of specific things. After accumulating to a certain extent, we will suddenly understand everything. All things are nothing but manifestations of heavenly principles.
The bamboo forest in the backyard of his father's government office became a vehicle for young Wang Yangming to seek heavenly principles. He looked at the bamboo forest in front of him quietly like an old monk in meditation, feeling the wind and grass in the bamboo forest. , observing the changes in the details of the bamboo, he stayed like this for seven whole days, without thinking about food or food, and could not sleep at night, expecting to suddenly realize that the bamboo forest in front of him was no longer the same bamboo forest in the past. However, as the world turned around and he became sick due to overwork, Wang Yangming could not persist and was finally defeated. Obviously, he did not understand the principles of nature through Gezhu.
Du Weiming: He asked the teacher what is the best person in the world. Then the teacher said that he should study hard to pass the exam because his father is the number one scholar. Maybe he should learn from your father. The result was a very direct response. , He said maybe not, maybe he was studying to become a sage. Of course, his father Wang Hua was also happy and shocked after hearing this, saying that you actually want to be a saint. Of course, in Yang Ming's heart, what is a saint? It's hard to say, but it's his ambition to be a first-class person.
Wang Yangming, named Shouren, was born in a typical scholarly family. According to the Wang family tree, his ancestors can be traced back to the aristocratic family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His father Wang Hua was born in the 17th year of Chenghua. Wang Yangming, who was awarded the No. 1 Scholar in the Hanlin Academy and was a literary minister around the emperor. He was born in a family of poets, rituals and hairpins. He showed extraordinary wisdom since childhood. He once improvised the poem "Moon-covered Mountain House". The mountains are close and the moon is far away. I felt the moon was small, so I thought the mountain was bigger than the moon. If someone's eyes are as big as the sky, he should see that the mountains are high and the moon is wider. His free and open poetic realm and eclectic vision demonstrate his agility and level of thinking beyond his years. Wang Yangming created a large number of poems throughout his life. There are more than 600 poems included in "The Complete Works of Wang Yangming". There are more than 40 scattered poems that have been discovered. He is good at poetry and calligraphy, mostly in cursive, and is known throughout the world. The world is eager to collect it. His calligraphy rules and ancient methods are innovative, his poetic style is elegant yet natural and straightforward, his stippling is skillful, and his laws are implicit, which contains his philosophy of life.
From the time he left his hometown of Yuyao at the age of eleven and followed his father Wang Hua, who was an official, to the capital, Wang Yangming had the opportunity to read a large number of Confucian classics. The same thing inspired this young man. He was eager to explore the true meaning contained in things and to discover the outside world. Wang Yangming began to implement the next action.
Du Weiming: Yangming said that I want to be filial, so it is impossible for me not to practice filial piety. My knowledge, the very knowledge of knowing filial piety, means that we must put it into practice. , he believes that this is the original appearance of knowing and doing. Knowing is a kind of awareness and careful observation. If you know what to do, then doing it is to implement your awareness and careful observation itself. Therefore, in the middle, its relationship are inseparable.
Wang Yangming’s new theory that mind is the unity of reason and execution had little influence at first. Wang Yangming’s lectures were only limited to a corner of Guizhou. His theoretical system of mind theory was not yet complete and mature at this time. This group The flame of new ideas still needs some training before it will burn brighter and stronger.
Business Biography: Wang Xue is a development based on Neo-Confucianism, but Wang Xue contains certain things. I personally think that he has some things that are anti-Neo-Confucian, because he promotes individuality and wants to express it. Some personal things and Neo-Confucianism things require self-restraint and self-restraint, and all these should be done by respecting the most traditional rules. Obviously, they are different from each other.
Later generations erected this stone tablet in Longgang Academy to commemorate Wang Yangming. On it are engraved the poems Wang Yangming wrote in Longgang. The news of Wolong's death has made Longgang famous throughout the ages. Whose thatched cottage is? There are wind and pipe music, there are no ears listening to Xianying among the mulberry trees, clouds and birds are left in the desert in the rivers and deserts, the grass and trees are rustling, and the armored soldiers are moving, and Pang, a good scholar from Lumen, gathers herbs in Qingming. This poem describes the desolation in Wang Yangming's heart. In a remote place, he cannot realize his ambitions and ideals. The leisurely seclusion life is not what Wang Yangming longs for. Fortunately, Wang Yangming did not stay in Longchang for too long. Wang Yangming was promoted to three levels in a row. In the eleventh year of Zhengde, due to frequent bandits in Jiangxi, the 45-year-old Wang Yangming was recommended to serve as Zuo Jiandu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. , patrolled Nan'an, Ganzhou in Jiangxi, Tingzhou, Zhangzhou and other places in Fujian, and gave an overview of military affairs in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian. From February of the twelfth year of Zhengde to March of the following year, Wang Yangming successively commanded three battles: the Battle of Zhangnan, the Battle of Hengshui Tonggang and the Battle of Litou. It took just over a year to pacify Jiangxi, Fujian and other places. Thieves, he realized that if you want to rule the world, you must first rule your heart. It is easy to break the mountain, but it is difficult to break the heart. Those bandits and the murdered mountain people were once close brothers, fellow villagers, or childhood playmates. Why? From a kind and honest man to a vicious thief overnight. Do the bandits still have conscience in their hearts? Can the thieves return to their true nature and return to the people?
Business Biography: The Baojia Law was originally the earliest management of the Ming Dynasty. Lijia was more important than taxation, while Baojia was more important than public security. He used this form to The entire grassroots society was managed, and then he used this form of township agreement to change people's thinking. It is better to destroy thieves in the heart than to destroy thieves in the mountains. His set of ideas can be implemented in all his policies. Go between work and activities.
Jiangxi can be called Wang Yangming’s second hometown. She married her lifelong partner in Nanchang, met her spiritual mentor Lou Liang in Shangrao, and determined the direction of her life. More importantly, she , Jiangxi is also the mature place of Yangming’s philosophy. On June 14, the 14th year of Zhengde, shortly after Wang Yangming quelled the Jiangxi bandit rebellion, a rebellion broke out in Jiangxi by Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao. Zhu Chenhao raised troops in Nanchang and rebelled until Nanjing. Zhu Chenhao is the great-great-grandson of Zhu Quan, the 17th son of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. He was crowned Si Ning in the tenth year of Hongzhi. Faced with this chaos, Wang Yangming fully demonstrated his military talents. With the help of a temporary army of 20,000 to 30,000 people, it only took 35 days. The rebellion was put down. Regarding this military victory, Wang Yangming was thinking a lot about it. The wife of Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, Concubine Lou, was actually the granddaughter of Lou Liang, the spiritual mentor he paid homage to when he was seventeen years old. The Nanchang Painting Academy, formerly known as Shuiguanyin Pavilion, has experienced hundreds of years of changes, but its layout, style and even architectural artifacts are well preserved. It was also the palace of Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, and Concubine Lou lived here at that time. Today in Nanchang The Painting Academy also retains Concubine Lou's well, stone tablets and other cultural relics related to Concubine Lou.
It is said that the characters on the screen on this huge stone tablet were written by Concubine Lou with black silk for King Ning. Before King Ning started his army, Concubine Lou tried hard to persuade him. When King Ning was defeated, Concubine Lou said: Wrapped in white brocade, he threw himself into the water. After Zhu Chenhao was captured alive, he also regretted that he had not listened to Concubine Lou and begged Wang Yangming to bury Concubine Lou. After putting down Zhu Chenhao's rebellion, Wang Mingming had a deeper understanding of good and evil. Thinking about it, no matter whether they are winners, losers or disappointed people, they all have the same thing in their hearts, which is conscience, but the presentation of conscience must be practiced, otherwise conscience is just an implicit moral existence. Wang Yangming proposed that conscience In order to enrich his system of mind science, he realized that the previous theories invented the original mind and emphasized the unity of knowledge and action, but the knowledge of the original mind and the external action were still divided into two parts. Conscience is easy to understand and straightforward. He claimed that the three words "Conscience" were derived from his consideration after suffering hundreds of deaths and thousands of difficulties. Only by awakening the conscience in everyone's hearts and making everyone become a sage can we build a beautiful and harmonious society.
Du Weiming: It is difficult to understand the conscience. The liangzhi and liangneng mentioned in Mencius means knowing without learning and being able without learning. They are the four ends of our own good nature. Acceptance, right and wrong, we all have these things. But Yangming's major contribution was to turn what is generally called moral practice, a category in moral philosophy, into the core value and concept of the entire epistemology and ontology. How should I put it? Everything in the heaven and earth is Qi. This is an old Chinese tradition. This Qi is a phenomenon of conscience and good energy. Therefore, this conscience and good energy are not limited to humans, but can be found in animals, plants, and inanimate things.
This is the former residence of Wang Yangming at the northern foot of Longquan Mountain in Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province. The former residence is large in scale and complete in layout, giving people the feeling of a deep courtyard without losing its dignity and elegance. Inside the Shoushan Hall in the lobby of the former residence Hanging is the "True Three Immortal Plaques" written by contemporary calligrapher Jiang Dongshu, which has always been an accurate evaluation of Wang Yangming's outstanding achievements in meritorious service, morality and reputation throughout his life. In November of the 16th year of Zhengde, Wang Yangming was awarded the title of Xinjian Bo for his contribution in quelling the rebellion of King Ning. Just when his career was at its peak, he decided to give up his official career and returned to his hometown of Shaoxing in August. During Wang Yangming's six years in Shaoxing, he specialized in lectures and reached the pinnacle of his life's thinking. Scholars from all over the country came to study in an endless stream. They treated Wang Yangming as a disciple and as a teacher. Even the elderly in their seventies used their canes on their shoulders. Carrying ladles and scrolls of poetry, he prostrated himself at Yangming's door. These students surrounded his residence, and the sound of string singing could be heard from morning to night.
?Du Weiming: In the Ming Dynasty, and later on, the idea of ??caring about family affairs, national affairs, and everything in the world was of course closely related to Yangming’s Xinxue. The sound of wind and rain and the sound of reading could be heard. That kind of thinking, that is to say, everyone should be independent, so it is based on the basic principle of not doing to others what you don’t want others to do to you, and it becomes self-reliance and self-reliance for others, and self-reliance for others. If this society establishes self-reliance for others, When there are many people who have achieved success, the society will be peaceful and benevolent.
The Tao is like the human heart and has not changed forever. Wang Yangming proposed the theory of conscience, which fundamentally reshaped the structure of Confucianism. From the 16th to the late 17th century, his philosophy spread throughout China and dominated Among the Chinese intelligentsia, modern scholars such as Gong Zizhen, Wei Yuan, Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong, Liang Qichao, Liang Shuming, Xiong Shili, He Lin, and Zhang Junmai all respected his theory. The influence of Yangming's philosophy of mind has reached as far as Europe and the Americas, and has had a significant impact on the field of global philosophical research, especially in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Zhang Taiyan, a famous scholar in modern my country, said that the Japanese Reform was also led by Wang Xue As a precursor,
Liang Qichao also said that the study of mind was used in the governance of Japan’s reform.
Du Weiming: The Japanese academic tradition dominated by Zhu Xi since the shogunate was an important impact on Japan’s academic tradition. The reason why Japan’s modernization developed was because the system represented by Zhu Xi was very strict. , a very comprehensive framework of etiquette and customs, and developed his creative power. This is what Yangming Studies represents.
Wang Yangming’s philosophy of mind not only had a significant impact on the field of Confucian thought, but also the cultural trend of respecting human nature, advocating individual liberation, and having the courage to express oneself in the middle and late Ming Dynasty also began with the philosophy of mind. With the expansion and popularization of Wang Yangming’s philosophy of mind , Xinxue thought directly influenced the artistic creation trends in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, forming a colorful artistic development trend with different styles. This "Gathering of Sages and Listening to the Qin" collected in the Minneapolis Museum of Art in the United States is a work by Dong Qichang, a famous painter in the late Ming Dynasty. The characters in the painting look peaceful, comfortable, free and full of vitality, and their thoughts and ideas directly affect the author's views on the piano. artistic expression. "Ink Flowers" Xu Wei perfectly integrated his artistic expression with the individual liberation advocated by Xinxue, forming an artistic style that unites knowledge and action.
Business Biography: I think he is a very typical Confucian, because he is a great Confucian, a great Confucian of his generation, and he is a New Confucian. However, Confucianism is not about bookworms, and it does not mean that people sit in a study and study. As a person, I want to apply what I have learned to society and the country. He is such a talent.
Wang Yangming finally used his life to practice the theory of mind. When Wang Yangming thought he could teach until he died, the imperial court sent him to Guangxi to put down the rebellion. At the age of 56, he had no choice but to go there sick. Before leaving, , students asked him for advice as the purpose of learning, and Yangming left four teachings: the absence of good and evil is the body of the heart, the presence of good and evil is the movement of the mind, knowing good and evil is conscience, doing good and eliminating evil is the investigation of things, four Jujiao integrates the wisdom of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It represents Confucian social care and moral obligations. Wu represents inner peace and transcendence. The fusion of existence and non-being is seeking freedom and ease with awe, embodying Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind. spiritual temperament and realm. On November 29, the seventh year of Jiajing, and January 9, 1529 AD, the 57-year-old Wang Yangming died of illness in Qinglongpu, Nan'an Prefecture, Jiangxi on his way back after putting down a rebellion. Before his death, his disciples asked him what his last words were. Yangming said: This heart is so bright, what else can I say? Indeed, only when the heart is clear and bright, and full of vitality, can we have this realm of life and death, this inner light. This light is like Mencius's great and strong righteousness that inspires future generations. A Confucian scholar passed away here, and a saint was born.