Hu Shi: How to learn Chinese philosophy

I have written in detail these methods of doing the history of philosophy.

First, I hope that the scholars of the Middle School of China will use these methods to judge my books; second, I hope that future scholars will use these methods to make a more complete and accurate "History of Chinese Philosophy".

- Hu Shi

What is philosophy?

The definition of philosophy is never certain. I have now tentatively defined it: "Any study of the essential problems of life, with the fundamental aim of finding a fundamental solution, is called philosophy." ”

For example, the good and evil of behavior is a crucial issue in life. Ordinary people face this problem, or persuade people to do good and eliminate evil, or practice rewarding good and punishing evil, which cannot be regarded as a fundamental solution. When philosophers encounter this problem, they study what is called good and what is evil; how can man still be born with good and evil, or how can he learn it; how can we know the difference between good and evil, or we are born with this idea, or learn from experience; why good should be done, why evil is improper; or whether it should be done because good is beneficial, and evil is harmful, or whether it is only good and evil, regardless of the interests and harms; these are the fundamental aspects of the problem of good and evil. It is important to consider these aspects in order to hope for a fundamental solution.

Because there is more than one problem in life, there are many categories of philosophy. For example:

First, how did all things come from in heaven and earth? (Cosmology)

2. The scope, role and method of knowledge and thought. (Nomenclature and Epistemology)

Third, how life should behave in the world. (Philosophy of Life, formerly known as "Ethics")

Fourth, how can people have knowledge, can think, and do good and evil? (Philosophy of Education)

Fifth, how the social state should be organized and how it should be managed. (Political Philosophy)

Sixth, what is the destination of life? (Religious philosophy) History of philosophy

The place of Chinese philosophy in the history of world philosophy

The philosophy of the world can be roughly divided into two branches: east and west. The East Branch is divided into two families: India and China. The West Branch is also divided into Greek and Jewish families. At the beginning, these four series can be counted as independent occurrences. After arriving in the Han Dynasty, the Jewish department joined the Greek department and became the philosophy of the Middle Ages in Europe. The Indian department joined the Chinese department and became the philosophy of the Middle Ages. In modern times, the power of the Indian system gradually declined, Confucianism revived, and the philosophy of the modern Chinese era was born, which lasted from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties to the present. European thought gradually broke away from the power of the Jewish system, resulting in the modern philosophy of Europe. Today, these two branches of philosophy come into contact with each other and influence each other.

Fifty years from now, a hundred years from now, it is not known whether a philosophy of the world may occur.

Three eras in the history of Chinese philosophy

The history of Chinese philosophy can be divided into three eras:

(1) Ancient philosophy from Lao Tzu to Han Fei is an ancient philosophy. This era is also known as the "philosophy of the sons".

(2) Medieval philosophy from the Han Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, is a Medieval philosophy. This era can be roughly divided into two periods:

(a) The first period of the Middle Ages. From the Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, it was the first period of the Middle Ages. The schools of this period, however different, still began with the philosophy of the ancient sons. For example, "Huainanzi" is an eclectic of ancient families; Dong Zhongshu is a branch of Confucianism; Wang Chong's theory of heaven is due to Taoism, and the theory of sex is compromised by various families; the learning of Lao Zhuang in Wei and Jin, not to mention.

(b) The second period of the Middle Ages. Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, until the Northern Song Dynasty, in the middle of these hundreds of years, indian philosophy was at its peak in China. The classic of India, the second import into China. India's cosmology, outlook on life, epistemology, nomenclature, and religious philosophy can be different from the philosophy of the sons, and they should not shine.

(III) After the Tang Dynasty, Indian philosophy has gradually become a part of China's ideological civilization. Indian philosophy in China, in the era of digestion, combined with China's inherent ideas, the new material that has occurred is the philosophy of the Chinese modern world.

After the Ming Dynasty, modern Chinese philosophy was fully established. Buddhism has declined, and Confucianism has become a statue. Therefore, there was a counter-motivation, and there were sinology and Song studies. Therefore, the study of the sons of the early Qing Dynasty was only an appendage of scripture, a kind of reference book. Unexpectedly, the more later scholars studied the sub-books, the more they felt that the sub-books were valuable. Thus, the study of the sons, which used to be an appendage of scripture, has become a specialized school in this era. Ordinary scholars, who worship sub-books, are often too Confucian.

Looking at the general trend of academic changes in the Qing Dynasty, it can be called the era of ancient learning and Changming. Since those sinologists have examined, proofread, and reprimanded, those scriptures and books have barely been able to read. This era is a bit like the European "Regeneration Era" (Regeneration Era, western name Ponaissance, old translation Renaissance Era).

In this era of ancient learning and Changming, china not only has ancient books to read, but also the era of appropriate import of Western academic ideas, and there are new and old Western theories for our reference and study. Our academic thinking today has two major sources: on the one hand, the ancient books handed down to us by sinologists; on the other hand, the old and new theories of the West. After the confluence of these two major currents, if China cannot produce a new Chinese philosophy, it will really be a failure to live up to this good opportunity.

Study the two historical materials of Chinese philosophy

The historical materials of the history of philosophy can be roughly divided into two types: one is the raw material and the other is the by-material. This is the following:

I. Raw Materials The raw materials of the history of philosophy are the writings of philosophers.

The history of modern philosophy probably has no great difficulty in this layer. But the historical data of the history of philosophy in recent times cannot be completely devoid of doubts. For example, in Xie Liangzuo's "Quotations of Shangcai", is there a book by Jiang Minbiao? For example, is Zhu Xi's "Family Ritual" credible as his own claim? These are all suspicious questions. Since the Song Dynasty, each family has had quotations, all of which are notes taken by disciples. Whether these quotations are correct for misunderstanding is also a question.

In the history of medieval philosophy, there were great difficulties. Books of the Han Dynasty, such as Jia Yi's "New Book" and Dong Zhongshu's "Spring and Autumn Dew", all have traces of increased by later generations. For example, the "New Language of the World" says that there are dozens of Wei and Jin annotations on Zhuangzi, but now there are Guo Xiang notes that completely exist. Therefore, the historical materials of medieval philosophy are the least complete. Our failure to fully restore the philosophical writings of the Wei and Jin dynasties is the most unfortunate thing in the history of Chinese philosophy.

In the history of ancient philosophy, this historical question is even more difficult. On the surface, important materials for the history of ancient philosophy, such as the books of Kong, Lao, Mo, Zhuang, Meng, Xun, and Han Fei, still exist. On closer examination, almost none of these books are entirely reliable. Probably the least fake in Lao Tzu. There are many books called "Zi Yue" or "Confucius Yue", but there are not many that are really reliable.

Even more thinking of the Confucians of the Confucian lineage of Confucius, the books written by them, not only the few articles collected in the Book of Rites? Thinking about it in this way, it can be seen that the historical materials of ancient Chinese philosophy are only one-tenth of what exists today. Eighty-nine-tenths of the rest have never been preserved. The ancients called it "Huishi multi-party, its book five cars". In this day, Huishi's doctrine is only more than a hundred words. If we follow this ratio, I am afraid that the existing ancient historical materials are not yet one-tenth or two!

Since the original books have lost so much, and there is no hope of seeing the ancient books today, a group of scholars has collected the fragments and sentences of each person recorded in the ancient books into books. Such as Wang Jipei or Sun Xingyan's "Corpse", such as Ma Guohan's "Yuhan Shanfang Jiyi Shu". This kind of book can be called "historical hook sinking", and it is also extremely important in the history of philosophy. For example, Huishi's five cart books have all been lost, but thanks to the ten events recorded in the "Zhuangzi Tianxia Chapter", the nature of his teachings can also be examined.

For example, in the biographies of various generations of history, many medieval and modern doctrines are often preserved. For example, the Book of the Later Han Dynasty and the Zhongchang Tongchuan preserved three Changyan texts; the Book of Liang's Fan Jian Biography preserved his Treatise on the Annihilation of God. This is all part of the raw material of the history of philosophy.

Second, in addition to the raw materials, there are also some by-materials, which are also extremely important.

Biographies, anecdotes, reviews, cases, and bibliographies of philosophers written by the ancients are all side materials for the history of philosophy. For example, the Tan Bow in the Book of Rites, the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Chapters in the Analects, the Tianxia Chapter in Zhuangzi, the Zheng analects in Xunzi, the Spring and Autumn of Lü Shi, the Xianxue Chapter of Han Feizi, and the Biographies of Various Philosophers in the Records of History all belong to this category. There are many biographical prefaces in recent anthologies, which are also often available for reference. As for Huang Zongxi's "Ming Confucianism Case" and Huang Zongxi, Huang Baijia, and Quan Zuwang's "Song yuanxue Case", the more important philosophical history side materials.

The important side materials are about three ends:

First, the age, lineage, and deeds of philosophers are not necessarily found in the writings of various philosophers, and they often have to rely on such collateral to be examined.

Second, the system and the source of teaching of various philosophical schools are almost entirely based on this by-material. For example, the "Zhuangzi Tianxia Chapter" and the "Han Feizi Xianxue Chapter" discuss the Mojia school, which is not available in his books.

Third, there are many schools of thought whose original writings have been lost, and it is only in this by-product that this scattered school of thought is discussed, so that the general purpose of their doctrine can be examined. For example, the doctrines of Song Ju, Peng Meng, Tian Biao, Shen Zhi, Hui Shi, Gongsun Long, Huan Tuan, and other debaters discussed in the Zhuangzi Tianxia Chapter.

Why review philosophical history?

Chinese history, the least pay attention to historical materials. Mythological official books can be used as historical materials, and it is not necessary to ask whether these materials are reliable. However, it is not known that if the historical data is unreliable, the history made has no value in believing in history. Mencius said, "It is better to believe in books than to have no books." Mencius admired Confucius so much, but he was skeptical of confucius's handwritten book. Besides, if we are born today and have gone to ancient times, how can we blindly believe in ancient books and be willing to be deceived by the counterfeiters of ancient times?

The history of philosophy emphasizes the truth, the order of succession, and the clues of evolution. If those unreliable materials are believed to be true books, they will (i) lose the truth of the doctrines; (ii) they will be confused with the order of the doctrines; and (iii) they will be confused with the system of succession of schools.

Those who read ancient books must know that ancient books have various reasons for falsification.

First, there is a kind of person who really has a proposition, but he is afraid that his own people will be light-hearted and will not see credit, so they often borrow the names of the ancients. The "heavy words" mentioned in Zhuangzi are this kind of proposition that relies on the ancients. Kang Youwei called this kind of "Togu reform", which is very reasonable. The ancients said that they must be called Yao Shun, only because Yao Shun is old, we can arbitrarily push our ideal system to the era of Yao Shun.

Second, there is a kind of person who deliberately forges ancient books for the sake of money. If you look at the Han Dynasty's order to ask for a suicide note and the competitive spirit of the kings and nobles to ask for a suicide note, you know that making a fake book will certainly make you rich at that time. This type of counterfeit book has the same psychology as counterfeit antiques. They are for money, so they pull things around, and the more space they have, the more money they can sell.

5 ways to examine historical materials of philosophy

The examination and approval of historical materials is the first fundamental step for historians. In the past hundred years, the historiography of the West has made great progress, and most of them have been due to the stricter method of examining and approving historical materials. To determine the authenticity of historical materials, there must be evidence in order to convince people. There are probably five kinds of such evidence (this refers specifically to philosophical historical sources):

(1) Whether the historical events in the historical records correspond to the chronology of the person who wrote the books. If it does not match, it can be proved that the book or the one is false. For example, when Zhuangzi saw the Duke of Lu Ai, he was too far ahead; if Guan Zhong said Xi Shi, he was too empress. This is all falsification.

(2) There is a writing of one era and one era of writing, and it will not be used indiscriminately. Many people who make forgeries do not understand this truth, so they often show signs of forgery. For example, the words used in "Guan Yinzi": "magic spell", "chanting mantra", "serving the god", "shooting ghosts in beans, fishing in cups, painting doors can be opened, earth ghosts can speak", "baby girl, Golden Lou Palace, frog white tiger, Baoding red furnace", are the words of Taoists. "Stone fire", "thinking", "consciousness", "five senses at the same time", "I still don't see me, what will be what I am", are the words of the Buddhists. This is all falsification.

(3) Stylistic writing can testify not only in words, but also in style. The long-winded style of "Pipe" is by no means something that Confucius could have done more than a hundred years ago. Although future generations are antique, the ancients will never imitate the present. For example, in "Zhuangzi", "Speaking of Swords", "Let the King", "Fisher Father", "Thief", etc., are by no means Zhuang Zhou's style.

(4) Anyone who can write a book and speak a family's speech will always have a system to find in his ideological doctrine, and there will never be any contradictions and conflicts. Therefore, whether the doctrine in a book can be connected and connected can also help prove whether the book is true. The most superficial, for example, the first part of "Han Feizi" persuades the King of Qin to attack Han, and the second part persuades the King of Qin to save Han. This is absolutely incompatible. Sima Guang did not examine it carefully, so he scolded Han Fei for asking someone to destroy his own motherland, and if he died for more than a lifetime, wouldn't he have wronged Han Fei!

(5) Circumstantial evidence The four kinds of evidence mentioned above, historical events, writing, style, and thought, may be called internal evidence. For all four are found in this book. There is also some evidence that was found in other books, so it is called circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is sometimes as important as internal evidence.

3 ways to organize philosophical historical materials

Philosophical historical materials have been examined and approved, and must also be sorted out. Whether it is ancient or modern philosophical historical materials, there are places that need to be sorted out. But ancient philosophical books cannot be left untied. Today, there are about three ends to the method of sorting out historical materials:

(1) Collation survey

How many times the ancient books have been written and how many wars, insects, and fish have been robbed, and there are often various shortcomings such as errors and damage. The study of proofreading is the remedy for these shortcomings. Since ancient times, many people have studied this kind of learning, but it is always inferior to the Qing Dynasty's Wang Niansun, Wang Yinzhi, Lu Wenbi, Sun Xingyan, Gu Guangxi, Yu Fan, and Sun Yi to let everyone be complete and rigorous, and the scientific method. There are three kinds of basis for the school book: (1) It is an ancient copy of the old periodical fine school. (2) It is a book or a book of his kind. (3) It is a common example of righteousness in this book.

(2) Reprimand

The ancient books are old, and the meaning of the words in the books is different from ancient to modern. For three hundred years, the ancient books of the Zhou, Qin, and Han Dynasties have been readable, not only by the fineness of proofreading, but also by the rigor of the exhortation.

The main points of exegesis are present at about three ends:

(1) Based on ancient meanings or in ancient dictionaries (such as Erya, Shuowen, Guangya, etc.), or with ancient notes (such as Mao and Zheng of the Poems, such as Xu Gao of huainanzi), or with the same words and phrases in ancient books.

(2) The truth of borrowing according to the text and the transmission of sound classes. Ancient characters are universal, all by sound. However, there are differences in ancient and modern sound rhymes, and if you do not understand the principle of phonological changes, you cannot understand the meaning of ancient characters.

(3) Study according to grammar. The ancients did not pay attention to the grammatical structure of the book, often interpreting auxiliary characters, prepositions, ligatures, and shape characters as real characters such as name pronouns. The Qing Dynasty exegeticians paid the most attention to grammar, Wang Niansun and Wang Yinzhi's father and son.

The three bases mentioned above are the fundamental methods of hermeneutics.

(3) Penetration

The above-mentioned method of sorting out philosophical historical materials has been said in two ways. Proofreading is the collation of the book, and the exhortation is the collation of the meaning of the book. Without proofreading, we are bound to misread the book; without exhortation, we cannot understand the true meaning of the book.

Although these two layers are extremely important, there must be a third layer of methods for organizing the history of philosophy.

This third layer can be called "through-through." To be coherent is to integrate the main thrust of each book, find out a context, and evolve it into a theory with a clue and a structure. Song Ru paid attention to penetration, and sinologists paid attention to proofreading and exegesis. However, Song Ru did not know the study of the school's survey and exegesis (Zhu Zi knew a little and was not very refined), so it flowed into emptiness and speculation. The sinologists of the Qing Dynasty were the most refined in their surveys and exhortations, but most of them refused to do the work of penetration, so they were fragmented and trivial.

The third step in sorting out philosophical historical materials must be to have comparative reference philosophical materials in addition to proofreading and exhortation. My greatest luxury in making this history of philosophy is to integrate the philosophies of each family, so that they can become well-organized doctrines. The comparative reference I have used is Western philosophy. However, although I use Western philosophy as a reference material, I do not think that there is also some kind of doctrine in ancient China, so I can boast of myself. If we want to sort out the historical materials of the history of Chinese philosophy, we must borrow the philosophy of other departments as a tool for explaining the speech. In addition, there is no other kind of heart that wears chisels, carries forward the glory of the country, and boasts of oneself.

My Ideal History of Chinese Philosophy

In my ideal, I thought that to make a reliable history of Chinese philosophy, I must use these methods.

The first step is to collect historical materials. The second step is to verify the authenticity of the historical data. The third step is to remove all the untrustworthy historical materials. The fourth step is to carefully sort out the reliable historical materials: first proofread the book well, then explain the words and sentences clearly, and finally comprehend the books of each family, so that the doctrines of each family will become a philosophy with a coherent system. Only by achieving this position can we achieve the two words of "study and study".

Then we must also study the doctrines of each school in general, according to the order of the times, to see the origin of their teachings, the influence of interaction, and the order of change, which is called "bright change." Then study the reasons for the rise and fall of various schools of thought, which is called "seeking causes." Then, with a completely neutral vision, the concept of history, we will seek the effect influence of each school of doctrine one by one, and then use this kind of influence effect to criticize the value of each school of doctrine, which is called "judgment."

This is my ideal History of Chinese Philosophy, and I myself know very well that in this era of first attempts, there must be many failures in this book to achieve this purpose and failure to adhere to these methods. So I have written in detail these methods of doing the history of philosophy. First, I hope that the scholars of the Middle School of China will use these methods to judge my books; second, I hope that future scholars will use these methods to make a more complete and accurate "History of Chinese Philosophy".

(Excerpt from Hu Shi's "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy", paragraphs and subtitles have been adjusted)