Lu Maode, a native of Licheng, Shandong, was a well-known archaeologist and historian during the Republic of China period, but no one cares about it at the moment. When he was a teenager, he studied under the Tongcheng school scholar Yao Yongpu, and in 1911 he was sent from Tsinghua Xuetang to the United States to study pedagogy and political science. He was the first head of the Department of History at Tsinghua University (1926-1928).
Lu Maode
The History of Zhou Qin Philosophy was compiled by Lu Maode in 1922 at tsinghua school and published in 1923 at the Jinghua Printing House. The book's narrative, main text, and appendices are all vertical plates, lead prints, and line bindings, printed on bamboo paper, with sentence reading symbols without punctuation, sandwiched with the author's double-line notes, and each page counts twenty-four lines on both sides, for a total of ninety-six pages. Sandwiched between the narrative and the main text are three pages of coated paper, namely Lao Tzu, Confucius and Guan Zi. The first line of the first line of the book "History of Zhou Qin Philosophy", the second line "Jinan Lu Maode", the third line begins with the content of the first chapter. The book is in the collection of the National Library of China and many universities in China, among which the Library of Beijing Normal University has a copy that Lu Maode gave to the Beijing Women's Higher Normal School (merged into Beijing Normal University in 1931). The History of Zhou Qin Philosophy was born out of a semester's lecture script, and the chapters were neatly organized. The length of the eleven chapters in the whole book is also relatively balanced, with a narrative and an agenda in the front, and a reference book attached to the end. The first chapter, Introduction, describes Lu Maode's basic philosophical outlook and philosophical historical view; chapters 2 and 3 discuss the origin and causes of Zhou Qin philosophy; chapters 4 to 11 discuss the main ideas of the five schools of Taoism, Confucianism, Ink, Fame, and Law, as well as the general situation of other Zhou Qin sons whose works have lost but have philosophical value.
History of Zhou Qin Philosophy, by Lu Maode, first edition of the Commercial Press, September 2019, 49.00 yuan
Lu Maode wrote this book on the occasion of teaching the history of Zhou Qin philosophy at the Tsinghua School, "The Essence of the Moral and Political Doctrine of the Ming Dynasty", and to supplement the shortcomings of the works of the Uno philosophers and Hu Shi in the history of Chinese philosophy. Lu Maode's experience of studying political science in the United States, which originally ruled Confucianism and Taoism, most likely led him to cut into the perspective of ancient Chinese philosophical thought, so it is natural to regard morality and political theory as the most valuable part of ancient Chinese philosophy. This directly determines the problem consciousness and the focus of the theory in the History of Zhou Qin Philosophy, and provides an attempt for the fledgling discipline of modern Chinese philosophy. Of course, this book also takes into account the academic dynamics of China and even the world at that time. He mentioned in his self-description that "when I read the Japanese philosopher Uno's "Speech on the History of Philosophy in China", I did not dislike its conciseness and suffered from its lack of strategy", and also said that "Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" is based on a wider range of materials and has a more rigorous argument, but in addition to ink studies and famous studies, his books have the disease of 'choosing to be refined, and the language is not detailed'." These two books, published in 1914 and 1919 respectively, were both new to Lu Maode, and they were also one of the few works on the history of Chinese philosophy at that time, which naturally became a reference for his teaching and writing. In the main text, Lu Maode put forward more than twenty points of disagreement with Hu Shi's views, mainly criticizing Hu Zhu's misunderstanding, default or lack of arrest, which was quite prudent. However, he does not directly respond to any of the views on the history of Uno's philosophy in the main text, nor does he explain it. Lu Maode also mentions the views of his contemporaries such as Krupakin, Russell, and Bergson several times in the main text, which shows that he also has some understanding of the world's academic trends, rather than behind closed doors.
Corresponding to Lu Maode's philosophical view, the history of philosophy, as a carrier for recording the development process of philosophical thought, should also select ideas that are meaningful to life problems, examine the original appearance, distinguish the genealogy, and measure value, which constitutes the three main tasks of the "History of Philosophy of Zhou Qin". To this end, the method adopted by Lu Maode has three levels: first, with the premise of "Yin yang Confucian ink name law, all do business as the ruler", taking moral and political issues as the main focus, comparing and dialogue with relevant Western ideas, and even pinpointing the actual problems of China and the international community at that time, so that the ultimate concern of this philosophical history is highly consistent with the ancient philosophical genealogy he has sorted out; second, continuing the traditional six structures, from which to select five key expositions of the Tao, Confucianism, ink, name, law and other literature. The material is rigorous and extensive, and it opposes excessive doubts about the ancients and advocates prudent belief in the ancients. Taking moral and political issues as clues, the chronological order is diluted, highlighting the subjectivity and internal genealogy of the various schools of Zhou and Qin, and depicting the overall appearance of the close ties and emphases of each school of Zhou and Qin; third, in the understanding of specific philosophical views, the theories of Han Confucianism and Qing Confucianism are quoted and discussed, and the original meaning is also pointed out, and Hu Shi's mistakes on related issues are also pointed out.
When Lu Maode pondered the moral and political issues throughout ancient and modern times in the framework of ancient Chinese philosophy, he would spontaneously establish a comparative consciousness. He said in the Outline of the Methods of Historiography: "The purpose of our approach is (i) to govern the present, and (ii) to anticipate the future. We are very different from the beasts and the barbarians, that is, those who can dominate the present. And in addition to dominating the present, it is necessary to anticipate the future, which is the map of human proximity. It can be seen that Lu Maode believes that the value of history lies in the understanding of human beings' own destiny. In the special era of modern China, this view of history is projected into the study of the history of philosophy, which is manifested as paying more attention to the similarities and differences between Western civilization and thought and China, so as to get close to the development of Chinese society. Lu Maode only briefly compares the nature and development of ancient Chinese philosophy and ancient Greek philosophy in the first chapter, and does not specifically discuss the meaning and method of comparing Chinese and Western philosophies, but in his discussion of the five schools of Taoism, Confucianism, Ink, Ming, and Law, he reveals his intention to find ideological resources from the traditional six genealogies through the comparison between China and the West. There are three comparative methods used: First, the review form. Directly compare the ideas of Similar Topics or Positions in China and the West, judge their superiority and precedence, such as proposing that Mencius's people-oriented ideas can compete with Rousseau's social contract theory, and will also use expressions such as "implicit union", "comparable", and "similarity"; second, the Geyi style. Directly use the framework of Western thought to explain the concepts and viewpoints of Chinese philosophy. The most typical is the use of good and evil to explain Meng Xun's theories of sexual good and sexual evil through historical inheritance and accumulation, so as to take Meng Xun and Xun as representatives of two different orientations of intuition and experience, and construct the ideological context within pre-Qin Confucianism. This may have been influenced by Darwin, Spencer, Bergson, and others; third, fusion. To elaborate on the praise and adoption of ancient Chinese thought by Western thinkers, such as specifically quoting Russell's positive evaluation of Laozi. These three methods express Lu Maode's urgent desire for Dialogue with the West and even recognition in the form and from the inside, and of course, they also have the effect of caring for the general situation of the times. Although his Comparison of China and the West is still in the exploratory stage, his problem awareness and research methods are not fundamentally different from today's comparative philosophy.
It should be noted that the main body of the moral and political issues that Lu Maode pays attention to is the entire human society and abstract and impersonal members of society, and rarely pays attention to specific and unique individuals. When he speaks of the problem of life, he also refers to society and the individual in society, which is different from the field of today's philosophy of life. What he wants to get close to is the prospect of human social development, not the transformation of the individual spiritual world. When discussing Taoism, Confucianism, and Mojia, he mentioned Chinese "quiet and self-disciplined, content and content", "not extreme", "diligent and hard-working", etc., referring to the national nature of the Chinese nation as a whole under the influence of the Sons of Zhou Qin. In his book review of the History of Zhou Qin Philosophy, Liu Yizheng questioned whether Lu Maode's interpretation of Confucianism and Taoism was superficial and not re-implemented, and it was fair. It is true that he does not independently regard the theory of work as the object of philosophical study in his book, and the morality he talks about is also biased towards discussion within the scope of social relations and social customs, which is closely related to his theoretical preference for valuing society and neglecting the individual. Externally, this preference can be described as Lu Maode's mistake; internally, it can also be regarded as his historical feature. The reader is free to discern and judge this.
The above is a brief introduction to the book "History of Philosophy of Zhou Qin" and Lu Maode's view of philosophical history. Today, although the book is little known, heavyweight scholars such as Liu Yizheng and Feng Youlan have responded to it; Professor Chen Weiping of the Department of Philosophy of East China Normal University said that the book "constituted an intermediate link from Hu Shi to Feng Youlan in academic history", and its value can also be glimpsed. Lu Maode lived in an era full of wars and turmoil, and his life is difficult to examine, which may be an important reason why he has been forgotten. However, he is indeed a relic in china's modern academic history, his works are short but weightless, have high academic historical value, and his methods of governing history still have inspirational and reference significance. Beijing Normal University is the longest-serving institution where Lu Maode has taught for more than 20 years. At the suggestion of the Library of Beijing Normal University, the Commercial Press will edit and publish several of Lu Maode's major works, solemnly recommending this long-lost scholar of literature and history to the academic community and the whole society, in order to arouse more people to think deeply about Chinese civilization and the future destiny of Chinese society.