About the author: Lai Yonghai, male, born in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, graduated from Nanjing University in 1985 with a Ph.D. degree. Now he is a professor in the Philosophy Department of Nanjing University, a doctoral supervisor of Nanjing University, and the dean of the Chinese Culture Research Institute of Nanjing University.
As for the influence of Buddhism on Confucianism, many scholars have talked about it in the past. It should be said that these studies are very helpful for people to understand the relationship between Buddhism and ancient Chinese traditional culture. However, in recent years, when I came into contact with this issue, I always had a feeling that the discussion of Buddhism's influence on Confucianism in the past academic circles often focused on some specific issues, such as which statement of Confucianism was influenced by Buddhism, which term originated from Buddhism, or which Confucian "went in and out of Buddhism" for decades, etc. It can't be denied that this kind of research has its rationality, because any research always starts from specific problems; however, just as any research has a process of continuous in-depth and continuous development, it seems that the discussion on the relationship between Buddhism and Confucianism should not always stay on some superficial phenomena, but should be further explored on the basis of understanding these phenomena Layers, more fundamental things. In my opinion, one of the deeper and more fundamental things is the mode of thinking, or more specifically, the mode of thinking of "ontology".
Why do you say that? Let's first look at the historical evolution of Confucianism in the mode of thinking.
As mentioned in the second section of this chapter, Confucianism has been based on the thinking mode of "the unity of man and nature" since Confucius, but this situation began to change in the Song Dynasty. Although the Confucianists in Song Dynasty still talk about "heaven" and "man", the "heaven" and "man" at this time are not "unity", but "the nature and man have no two" and "the nature and man are one". Although the Confucians in Song Dynasty also said "Tianming", "Tiandao" and "Tianli", the meaning of "Tianli" in Song Dynasty is quite different from that of the Confucians before. If the "destiny" and "Tiandao" mentioned by the Confucians before were more like "legislators" of human morality, then the "Tianli" of the Confucians in the Song Dynasty was quite different from "Xinxing" and "Daoxin" - they were one and two. That is to say, although Confucianism in Song Dynasty is also mainly a kind of political and ethical theory, its philosophical basis is not the unity of heaven and man, but the thinking mode of ontology. This point can be proved by the ethical philosophy of Confucianism in Song Dynasty.
In the history of Chinese philosophy, Zhang Zai is an important thinker who is worthy of a great book. Therefore, it is not because Zhang Zai is a materialist thinker, but more importantly, the "Yuanqi ontology" established by Zhang Zai is an important milestone in the history of ancient Chinese philosophy. It is true that as early as the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Wang Bi and he Yan had come into contact with the ontological problems to varying degrees; however, objectively speaking, the ontological of the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was only a prototype to a certain extent (and the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties itself was also influenced by Buddhism). The ontology in ancient China, if it is expressed clearly, thought consistently and theory systematically, should be first published by Zhang Zai. Zhang Zai's ontology, unlike Wang Bi's, is not only based on nothingness. His thought of "being too empty and invisible, being Qi" (zhengmeng Taihe) is carried out in his whole theory, especially his theory of "nature of heaven and earth", "nature of temperament", his theory of "parents of heaven and earth" and "harmony of the people", more specifically and systematically embodies him Ontology. In the next chapter, we will discuss the contribution of Zhang Zai's "nature of heaven and earth" and "nature of temperament" to the theory of ancient Chinese human nature. Here we just want to point out the ontological character of his "nature of heaven and earth".
Besides Zhang Zai, among the Confucians in Song Dynasty, Ercheng, Zhuzi, Lu Jiuyuan and so on, their thinking methods also have obvious ontological characteristics. For example, two Cheng's theory of "body uses one source, and micro is boundless" (Yi Zhuan Xu) and Zhu Zi's theory of "sage is the same as heaven and earth" (Zhongyong Zhangju) and Lu Jiuyuan's theory of "the universe is my heart, my heart is the universe" (miscellaneous theory) are all ontological thinking patterns or political and ethical philosophy based on ontology. Although these Neo Confucians used many traditional categories to expound their political and ethical thoughts, such as "Tiandao", "Humanitarianism", "Tianli", "Xinxing", etc., at this time, "Tiandao" and "Tianli" were different from the "Tian" of traditional Confucianism as the legislator of social politics and morality, but to a considerable extent, it was a philosophy with ontological color Ethical category. If we say that in the relationship between "heaven", "heaven" and "human nature" and "mind nature", traditional Confucianism mainly talks about how "heaven" legislates for "human", how "human nature" originates from "heaven" and how people should "cultivate their mind and nature" to conform to "heaven", then "New Confucianism" is more inclined to "heaven and man" There is no two, not to mention the combination of words. That is to say, "Heaven's way" and "mind nature" are originally one, which are the embodiment of "reason" (or "heart"). In "heaven" it is called "Heaven's way" and in "man" it is called "mind nature". The difference between them in thinking mode is the theory of "the unity of man and nature" and the ontology. The foothold of the theory of "the unity of heaven and man" is that "the origin of the Tao originates from the heaven" and "humanity" is derived from "the heaven". The basic thought of ontology is that "the heaven" and "the man" are originally one. No matter "the heaven" or "the nature of mind", they are the embodiment of "the reason" (Cheng Zhu Yi system) or "the heart" (Lu Wang Yi system) as the noumenon. There is no one who produces or derives from whom Problem. Although in general, the Neo Confucianism of song and Ming Dynasties has not completely abandoned the "heaven", at that time, the "heaven" is different from the "heaven" of the traditional Confucianism as the master of all things in the world and the legislator of human ethics. It is different from the "reason" and "nature of mind" in name, but the same in reality. It is the noumenon of all things in the world and even human ethics. From the perspective of the development history of human theoretical thinking, the former is closer to the theory of origin or the theory of cosmogenesis, while the latter belongs to the category of ontology in modern philosophy.
When Confucianism developed to Wang Yangming in Ming Dynasty, it entered a new stage, or a new realm. One of the most outstanding characteristics of Wang Xue is to integrate "heart", "nature", "reason" and even all things in the world. In Wang Yangming's words, this "body" is "conscience".
In Wang Yangming's theory, "conscience" is a universe noumenon born and created. As he said in his biography: "conscience is the spirit of creation. These spirits, born naturally, become ghosts and emperors, all come out from then on. It's really not right with things." (biography 2) "all things in the world are in the popularity of my conscience. There is another thing beyond my conscience." There are two sentences in Wang Yangming's two paragraphs that can be regarded as the finishing touch, that is, "conscience" is not only "against things", but also beyond them. In other words, "conscience" is not a specific thing, but all things in the world are its embodiment. In the language of modern philosophy, it is "noumenon". In fact, Wang Yangming himself used the word "noumenon" repeatedly:
Conscience is the essence of mind, that is, the former so-called constant illumination. (answer Lu Yuanjing)
The noumenon of the mind is just a reason. (Part I of biography)
I'm here to receive people. There are two kinds of people. The people who are good at root directly understand the essence. The essence of human heart is bright and clear. The people who are good at root are good at both inside and outside of themselves. (Part 2 of biography)
Conscience is the body that has not yet been developed, that is to say, the Great Duke of Kuran is still. (in the biography)
Wang Yangming's "noumenon" here is very close to the meaning of "noumenon" in modern philosophy. The only difference is that Wang Xuezhong's "noumenon" is not only the origin of all things in the universe, but also the root of human morality. Wang Xuezhi's profound and meticulous, to a certain extent, is rooted in his ontology theory.
If the philosophical basis of the political and ethical theories of the new Confucians in song and Ming Dynasties is mainly a kind of thinking mode of "ontology", or at least has a strong tendency of "ontology", then the question now is, how does this thinking mode of "ontology" come into being?
In order to understand this problem, it is necessary to look at some characteristics of Buddhist theory in Sui and Tang Dynasties and its relationship with traditional Confucianism.
As mentioned in the first section of this chapter, Buddhism pays attention to abstract noumenon. But the noumenon of Buddhism, whether it is called "truth", or "reality" or "Dharma Realm", is different from the terms and implications in traditional Chinese culture. This noumenon is difficult for ancient Chinese scholars to accept directly. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, influenced by the traditional Chinese ideology and culture, the Eastern Buddhism had great changes in its ideological content and terminology, among which the most prominent one was to use the traditional Chinese "human nature" and "heart nature" to talk about Buddha nature. However, when Buddhism talks about "human nature" and "mind nature", it does not give up its original thinking mode, that is, its inherent ontology method, but uses the ontology method to talk about "human nature" and "mind nature". There is a phenomenon that the Buddhist theory of Buddha nature in Sui and Tang Dynasties has become a theory of "human nature" or "mind nature", but this kind of "human nature" and "mind nature" are different from the traditional Chinese "human nature" and "mind nature", but a kind of ontological "human nature" and "mind nature" (which we will make a specific analysis and discussion in the next chapter).
Secondly, in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially the Li and Tang Dynasties, due to their political openness and national strength, they adopted an open policy in terms of ideology and culture and an inclusive attitude towards Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, which created very favorable conditions for the mutual integration and absorption of various ideological and cultural systems. Buddhism is not ashamed to absorb the thoughts of Confucianism or Taoism. Although Confucianism has not relaxed its attack on Buddhism and Taoism, it has even absorbed many thoughts of Buddhism in secret or in public. In addition, because the Buddhism theory of Sui and Tang Dynasties has been Confucianism to a certain extent, it is more convenient for Confucianism to absorb Buddhism.
Thirdly, from the perspective of the development law of theoretical thinking, the thinking method of "ontology" is higher than that of "primordial theory" or "unity of man and nature". It is the general law of Ideological and theoretical development to enrich and improve oneself by absorbing higher-level theoretical speculation. In this sense, the thinking mode of Confucianism's absorption of Buddhism's "ontology" conforms to the development law of ideological theory.
Fourth, from the specific ideological content, the Neo Confucianism of song and Ming Dynasties is also called "the theory of mind, nature, justice and reason". This "mind" is not the realistic and concrete mind of the traditional Confucianism as a concrete person, which is very obvious in the Neo Confucianism of song and Ming Dynasties. For example, whether it's Zhang Zai's "nature of heaven and earth" or Cheng Zhu's "nature", whether it's Lu Jiuyuan's "heart"