The history of Qin and Han thought occupies an important position in the history of China's ideological development and is of great significance in carrying forward the work from the top to the bottom. Zhou Guidian's "Study of Qin and Han Thought" comprehensively sorted out and profoundly analyzed Qin and Han thought. Taking the logical order of ideological development as the clue, the whole book analyzes and explores the laws of the internal development of Qin and Han thought and the process of historical evolution in a source, flow, reason, and basis. It includes the politics, economy, philosophy, science and technology, medicine, education, etc. of the Qin and Han dynasties, and can be called a large encyclopedia of the Qin and Han Dynasties.
Zhou Guidian is a professor at Beijing Normal University, a doctoral supervisor, and the vice president of the Chinese Confucius Society. His research interests include traditional Chinese philosophy, Qin and Han philosophy, traditional Chinese science, and traditional Chinese political philosophy. He is the author of "New Exploration of Wang Chong's Philosophical Thought", "Commentary on Wang Chong", "The Discernment of Virtual reality", "Dong Xue's Exploration of Micro" and so on.
The pre-Qin period was a period of great brilliance in Chinese culture, and most of the traditional Chinese culture had taken root or sprouted during the pre-Qin period. The discussion of Qin and Han thought inevitably dates back to the pre-Qin period, so the book "Study of Qin and Han Thought" not only undertakes the pre-Qin, but also discusses the development of thought after the Han Dynasty, almost expounding the origin and development of Chinese culture at the same time, covering the initial brilliance of Sinology, helping people to understand that era, and breaking some misunderstandings about Sinology.
Dong Zhongshu and Zhu Xi misread Kong Meng's thought, which has almost become the consensus of scholars. Fu Peirong wrote a book called "Zhu Xi Is Wrong", and Nan Huaijin said in the "Analects of Discourse" that Kong Meng originally sold genuine things, "but for thousands of years, it was sold by posterity with water and deteriorated." There are also some interpretations that are wrong by later generations, especially the theoreticians of Song Confucianism. This interpretation is wrong, and the entire glorious Kong Meng thought is cast with a very thick shadow, so future generations must push down Kong Meng thought. "Zhou Guidian felt that Dong and Zhu had made an indispensable contribution to the continuation of Confucian culture." Without the elaboration of post-Confucianism, it would be difficult for us to grasp the spiritual essence of Confucianism, and we would not even know that there were Confucius and Confucianism two thousand years ago. "Later Confucianism contributed greatly to the promotion of Confucianism, especially Han Confucianism and Song Confucianism."
"After research, I think that philosophy is mainly divided into three categories: the philosophy of seeking truth, the philosophy of seeking goodness, and the philosophy of seeking beauty. In the West, the philosophy of seeking truth is the mainstream, and in China, the philosophy of seeking goodness is the mainstream. In the philosophy of seeking truth, there is a distinction between materialism and idealism; in the philosophy of seeking good, there is a distinction between good and evil, progress and reaction, but there is no difference between materialism and idealism. "Whether this division is scientific or not, I feel that the author's exploration is beneficial and worthy of respect." We can't always take foreign concepts to set our own things up and make them unclassified. For example, europe has a Renaissance, and we also have to find a Renaissance era. The West divides its history into ancient, medieval, and modern times, and mainland scholars have also taken the history of China.
Chinese and Western cultures have their own strengths. Whether it is blindly admired, or arrogant, it is a bit narrow, it is best to do enough homework. The book rushes to praise or criticize without reading a few pages, which is irresponsible to people and themselves. "Fame should be early", people are always anxious to be famous, eager to be new and famous, so it is easy to cocoon themselves.
Historian Shen Gangbo said: "Learning is endless, ideological insights are constantly evolving, and the evaluation of things is not static. But some people become famous with a certain doctrine when they are young and strong, and in the rest of their lives, they defend the old doctrine with all their might; although they realize that they were not yesterday and are now, they also lack the courage to admit it, and as a result, their learning will never progress. ”
This book interprets the thought of the Qin and Han dynasties through the system of writings, and perhaps also glimpses the spiritual outlook and thoughts of people in each historical period from historical events or historical facts. After all, most of the writings, or more precisely the works that have been handed down, come from the official, or are related to the official, or from thinkers, and folk thought is not necessarily the case. Although the works are indispensable to have the imprint of the times, how widely they are circulated and how much they have influenced the thinking of people at that time is probably a problem.