〈復性書〉思想淵源再探──漢唐心性觀念史之一章 = Li Ao's 'Fu-hsing shu' and the intellectual milieu of Medieval China
Resource
中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊,69(3),423-482.
Journal
中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊
Journal Volume
69
Journal Issue
3
Pages
423-482
Date Issued
1998-06
Date
1998-06
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper examines the intellectual origins of Li Ao's (774?-836) Fu-hsing shu, universally recognized as the most creative late-Tang Confucian writing on spiritual cultivation. The sources of Li's outlooks expressed in the Fu-hsing shu have long interested scholars. Unlike most previous research on this topic, the present work does not concern itself with the connections between the Fu-hsing shu and specific texts or individuals. Rather, it tries to identify the intellectual currents in preceding times that are attributable to the formation of the thought of the Fu-hsing shu. It is hoped that this approach can help us not only to gain further insights into an old issue, but also to detect the crucial historical forces behind the late-Tang endeavors in constructing a Confucian philosophy of interior life. The article begins with a close analysis of the text of the Fu-hsrng shu, and argues that three sets of ideas are at the core of this work. The first is the problematik of reaching sagehood through spiritual cultivation, which is the central theme of the Fe-hsing shu. Second, the Fu-hsing shu holds that one's ”nature” (hsing) is good and ”emotions” (hsing) evil. In order to become a sage, one has to extinguish his emotions and return to his true nature. Third, the Fe-hsing shu also takes the view that one's ”nature” is absolutely tranquil. Therefore, extinguishing emotions sad returning to the true nature actually means the ”quieting down” of one's emotions. The paper traces the origins and development of these three sets of ideas separately. It finds that the ideal of questing for sagehood mainly comes from the Buddhist tradition. The idea of extinguishing emotions and returning to the true nature has its distant roots in Han Confucianism and classical Taoist thought. In the Tang context, it resembles most closely a religious Taoist approach to immortality. Furthermore, the notion of one's nature being tranquil was current in classical and medieval Taoist thought, whereas quietude as a method of individual cultivation prevailed in religious Taoism and, to a lesser extent, Buddhism. A general point this paper makes is that the theme of the Fu-hsing shu was formed very much under Buddhist influence, but the substantial ideas Li used to construct his philosophy of spirituality drew mostly from the Taoist tradition. The paper also gives a review of existing theories on the intellectual origins of the Fu-hsing shu.
Subjects
李翱
復性書
唐代思想史
中晚唐儒家復興
中國心性思想儒釋道關係
Type
journal article