「理」範疇理論模式的道家詮釋

In our research on the classical Chinese philosophy in which we have focused on its presentation of philosophical concepts, issues as well as propositions, we have discovered some clues to tackle these subjects more effectively. These are as follows: First, the formation of any philosophical idea often goes under the transformation from the general ideas into philosophical ideas or categories. Second, a term of single character comes earlier than a compound term. Third, an idea can be transformed into a proposition in its development. And four, a philosophical issue which has been implicit, manifests itself outwardly in its process of development. Bearing these in mind, this article attempts to reflect our interpretative methods by means of elucidating the process of the development of the philosophical category of li (priniciple).
This article investigates the development of important interpretations from the pre-Qin period to Song dynasty concerning the concept of li. This research has shown that the development of the term can be divided into the following five stages.