https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/22428
標題: | 論述理學之價值根原論 Heavenly Order, Sagehood and Tao-t'ung-- Some Discussions on the Neo-Confucian View of Values |
作者: | 張永? Chang, J.C. |
公開日期: | 一月-1992 | 期: | 15 | 起(迄)頁: | 143-161 | 來源出版物: | 國立臺灣大學哲學論評 | 摘要: | (I) The Aim of Learning and the View of Values of the Neo-Confucianists of the Sung Dynasty. When we investigate the school of Neo-Confucianists of the Sung dynasty, the first vivid impression upon us is its aim at sagehood; i. e., to become sages is the goal in life of the Sung Neo-Confucianists. The Neo-Confucianists all agree that all men can, in principle and in practice, become sages, at least, by learning. But what is the ideal type of a sage? and how to become a sage? These become urgent question to be answered. To the first question the easy and too easy answer is that what the Neo-Confucianists mean by sagehood is nothing but the traditional one of the Confucian sagehood-a perfect personality of the moral world, an "internal sage and external king" who is well versed in music and rites and who can elevate and transform the people and the customs of the whole nation as described in the Analects, the Great Learning, the Dorine of the Mean and the Book of Mencius. However, after some contemplation and deliberation I am of the opinion that this could not be the case. For from Mencius' time till the early Sung dynasty there had one thousand and two hundred years elapsed and in between there were Taoism developed and Buddhism introduced into China and, thus, more or less the Taoistic idea of "true man" and Buddhistic ideas of "Buddha" and "bodhisattva" could exert some influence in the conception of saghehood for the Neo-Confucianists, although the Neo-Confucian sagehood still retains its original moral character. Next, how to become a sage? Although accordance to the Neo-Confucianists each and every person could become a sage, it is in fact hardly so. This is the case mainly because most persons are sooner or later lost in the ocean of human or, worse, animal desires. Here the Neo-Confucianists emphasize very much the crucial distinction between human desires and Heavenly Order of Principle. Hence, how to get rid of human or animal desires and to follow only the Heavenly Order -this is the gate to sagehood-becomes the most urgent problem for the Neo-Confucianists. Here, however, among the Neo-Confucianists they differ quite a los in their methods of how to attain sagehood. Thus, to Chou Lien-his the method is: "Be tranquil and establish the Ultimate", to Shao Kang-chieh the method is: "View things as things viewing themselves", to Chang Heng-ch? the method is: "make acquaintance whit humanity" and "Calm the human nature", to both Cheng Yi-chuan and Chu His the method is: "hold fast to seriousness and exhaust all principles" and "investigate things and entend knowledge" and, lastly, to Lu Hsiang-shan the method is: "cultivate the original mind". Although the Neo-Confucianists differ in their methods of how to attain sagehood, they all agree that the Heavenly Order of Principle is inherent in us and when it manifests in our moral actions it reveals as Humanity (jen), Righteousness (yi), Propriety (li), Wisdom (chih) and Faithfulness (hsing). Anyway, to the Chinese people "Heavenly Order and conscience" has thus become the most universal and popular standard of moral judgements. (II) Sage as the One who Acts in accord with the Heavenly Order and Sage as the One who is a Successor in the Lineage of the Tao Era. According to the Neo-Confucianists the period of Chinese history from Mencius' time till the early Sung dynasty was a dark age where there appeared hardly a single sage and a period only human or animal desires prevailed. They diagnose the period as a time of the popularization of (i) egoistic utilitarianism as well as (ii) Zen Buddhism. (i) Egostic utilitarianism is rejected by the Neo-Confucianists mainly because they consider that it roots on selfishness which is regarded as a drive that would lead to disturbance, disasters and, even, destruction. According to the Neo-Confucianists sages are just those who can get rid of, and would help us to get rid of, such a human desire of selfishness on the one hand and would follow only the Heavenly Order on the other hand. In short, they regard sages as those who are going to build a humanistic kingdom for us by following the Heavenly Order and purifying the human desires. (ii) The Neo-Confucianists reject Zen Buddhism for two reasons. First, the Neo-Confucianists consider that Zen Buddhism does not understand Heavenly Order, for it has a very negative attitude towards life and human civilization. Secondly, Zen Buddhism abandoms moral life, despises or neglects social duty and cares or pursues only personal peace of the mind-this is a typical attitude of selfishness according to the Neo-Confucianists and thus does not go with the Confucian ideal of "jen" or benevolence. Here the Neo-Confucianists responded to the fardistance call of Han Y? (768-824 A.D.) to go back to the original Confucianism as proclaimed in his "An Inquiry on Tao". Thus they coined a new concept of "Tao-t'ung" or "(the lineage of ) the Tao era", which puts in succession Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun, Emperor Y?, Emperor Shang, Emperors Wen and Wu, Duke Chou, Confucius and Mencius as the representatives or sages of "Tao-t'ung" or "the lineage of the Tao era". However, this lineage of the Tao era had been interrupted according to the Neo-Confucianists for, alas, more than one thousand years and, then, it was revived again and succeeded by, perhaps, the Neo-Confucianists. Chu Hsi further interprets "Tao-t'ung" as "the lineage of the sages' transmission of the mind". And in due course Tao-t'ung becomes the orthodox standard of (judging) the cultural, political, historical as well as the social values and exerts profound influence on Chinese thoughts, although in modern time we have to reflect on it again under the Western challenge. |
URI: | http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/281949 |
顯示於: | 哲學系 |
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