Relevance and Differences Between Neo-Confucianism and the Study of Confucian Classics
Sang Bing
Abstract:Chen Yinque’s examination report of Feng Youlan’s History of Chinese Philosophy:Volume II had sparked off a debate on the origin of Neo-Confucianism.This debate failed to reach a consensus,which means the nature of Neo-Confucianism remains unsolved.There are three main pending issues.First,were the Confucian scholars’ criticism of Buddhism and their emphasis on the continuation of Confucian orthodoxy in the Tang and Song dynasties consistent with what they really did or a rhetoric camouflage for a totally opposite practice? Second,was the rationalistic philosophy of these Confucian scholars a new development of traditional Confucianism under the influence (or pressure) of Buddhism,or essentially Buddhism in disguise so as to be applicable to the political and moral practices in China? Third,without the influence of Buddhism and Taoism,could the New Confucianists reinterpret Meng Zi and formulate the rationalistic philosophy? Imperial recognition and the New Confucianists’ self-promoting helped Neo-Confucianism become orthodox after the Song dynasty,which was fundamental for the inheritance of Chinese culture.The ambiguity of the nature of Neo-Confucianism and its relevant problems made it difficult to decide whether Neo-Confucianism was within the category of the study of Confucian Classics.As a result,some scholars regarded them as competing systems.In the Qing dynasty,whether accepting it or not,anyone who participated in the discussion of Neo-Confucianism and the study of Confucian Classics or,in the debate of the Han School and the Song School,had to confine their arguments to the study of Confucian Classics.Consequently,Neo-Confucianism could never be fundamentally objected.Comprehension of the relevance and differences between Neo-Confucianism and the study of Confucian Classics requires both full understanding of the latter and immunity to its limitation.Thus,the nature of Neo-Confucianism still needs to be figured out while the old approach of Neo-Confucianism’s evolution remains to be recognized and developed.
Keywords:Neo-Confucianism;Study of Confucian Classics;Chen Yinque;Zhou Yutong;Hu Shih