Wang Fuzhi’s Reconstruction of Confucianism: Crisis and Reflection

Tan, Mingran

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). 

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2022-09-18

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9783030802653

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-80263-9

Dimensions: 210.0cm x148.0cm

Pages: 265.0