Wang Fuzhi's Reconstruction of Confucianism

Crisis and Reflection
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-030-80262-2
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 265 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 478 g

Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), a Ming loyalist, was forced to find solutions for both cultural and political crises of his time. In this book Mingran Tan provides a comprehensive review of Wang Fuzhi’s understanding of historical events and his interpretation of the Confucian classics. Tan explains what kind of Confucian system Wang Fuzhi was trying to construct according to his motto, “The Six Classics require me to create something new”. He sought a basis for Confucian values such as filial piety, humanity and ritual propriety from political, moral and cosmological perspectives, arguing that they could cultivate a noble personality, beatify political governance, and improve social and cosmological harmony. This inspired Wang Fuzhi’s attempt to establish a syncretic blend of the three branches of Neo-Confucianism, i.e., Zhu Xi’s (1130-1200) philosophy of principle , Wang Yangming’s (1472-1529)   philosophy of mind and Zhang Zai’s (1020-1077) philosophy of qi (material force). 
The most thorough work on Wang Fuzhi available in English, this study corrects some general misunderstanding of the nature of Wang Fuzhi’s philosophy and helps readers to understand Wang Fuzhi from an organic perspective. Building upon previous scholars’ research on Wang Fuzhi’s notion of moral cultivation, Tan gives a comprehensive understanding of how Wang Fuzhi improves social and cosmological harmony through compliance with Confucian rituals.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tan, Mingran

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie: Allgemeines, Methoden
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Wang Fuzhi’s Life and Dreams.- Chapter 3: Political Reconstruction.- Chapter 4: Moral Reconstruction.- Chapter 5: Cosmological Reconstruction.- Chapter 6: Heresies: the Causes of the Fall of the Ming and the Obstacles to Implementing the Kingly Way.- Chapter 7: Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Mingran Tan teaches at Nankai University, China.