The Ontology of Easy Learning
The "ontology of easy learning" I proposed is to define the dynamic reality presented by human beings in the integration of experience and thinking with the difficult body in easy learning, and it can also be said to give human existence a dynamic root and value connotation. This connotation is the existence of the body, because of its nature and the shape of its body, for the creation of endless vitality, also known as Tai Chi. Tai Chi is the ontology, and its biochemical all things are manifested as the way of one yin and one yang, which is the foundation of all things, endless, endless, and all things also have their own bodies, and their bodies also appear as the dynamic combination of yin and yang functions. There is a body to have sex and energy, and there is sex and energy to be useful and actionable. All things have sex and ability, and they are all useful and feasible, so the universe is full of vitality, human beings get its essence, so its life is valuable, and civilization is born spontaneously.
As far as the theory and its application are concerned, we can have the following understanding: based on the understanding of the first meaning of the changes in the natural universe, that is, the direct face, Yi Xueke can be said to first suggest a biochemical ontology and perceptual epistemology that recognize the ontology of the universe, understand the human condition, and reflect on the human self. The hexagram system of the I Ching is actually a set of yin and yang symbolic systems derived from this one-dimensional thinking and perception cognition, which aims to present the ontology, the development level of natural things, and the relationship and interaction between heaven and man. Based on the needs of personnel prediction, it is applied to divination, and through this symbolic system, the current situation of nature, people, self and things is grasped from the aspects of symbolism and righteousness, and on the basis of the understanding and interpretation of the ontology, reasonable predictions and responsible decision-making behaviors and practical plans are made, which is the function of hexagram judgment. Along this basic way of thinking, I have made a profound reflection on the formation of the Zhou Yi Sutra and the development history of Yi Xue.
In addition to traditional divination, I saw the modern application of Yixue, that is, based on Yixue, I first constructed a systematic Chinese management philosophy. As early as the 90s of the 20th century, I noticed that the focus of management should be on the application of the knowledge system of the times to carry out management in line with knowledge, rationality and value cognition, so that it can achieve efficient and sustainable development, and also make it easy to be accepted by participants. The knowledge system mentioned here is related to the question of knowledge (which encompasses the psychological needs of nature, society and man), and is related to the question of value. There is a complementary and interactive resonance relationship between knowledge and value due to the existence of human beings: knowledge drives value, and value is used to improve truth-seeking and truth-seeking knowledge, which is conducive to the sustainable development of human life.
Based on the modern significance of the above theory and application, I strongly advocate easy learning, because easy learning is not only a provider of knowledge, but also a provider of value. At the same time, I also emphasize a basic understanding: Yixue is not only the main body of Chinese philosophy, and its knowledge system is not equivalent to the Western scientific system, but it contains the scientific system. It has the inspiration of a broad universe and nature, and in the process of carrying out worldwide development, it attaches importance to the whole, to change, to the relationship, and also to the life and cultural function of the subject's human innovation and creation. On the other hand, for the subject person, they can pay attention to the value goal ontically, the self-moral cultivation of the subject, the self-practice and self-investment, the development of the group and the strength of the group, the selfless participation and care of the individual, and the pursuit of the individual's great virtue. If a person can do these things, he can become a leader with both virtue and ability, benevolence and wisdom, and can lead the group and organize the group to create the overall value, so as to gradually realize or implement the far-sighted ideal of human development, establish a symbiotic system of human life and destiny, and continue to enjoy wisdom, happiness and prosperity. This new management philosophy is the thrust of Theory C, which I put forward in 1991. The reason why it is called "C theory" is to emphasize its inclusion, continuity and creativity, and its creativity lies in the combination of epistemology and value philosophy to better promote the beneficial development of society. Perhaps, this is a development that meets the requirements of globalization, a development that is both epochal and future, and a necessary condition for mankind to move towards globalization and a community of life.
This article was written by Cheng Zhongying
Twelve years have passed since the book was published in 2006, and during this time, I have gained a deeper understanding of the development of philosophical thought and Yixue thought, and I am more convinced that this new Yixue thinking has three major meanings.
First, the redevelopment of Yixue is of great significance to Yixue itself, which can make Yixue a kind of life-like learning that involves both value and knowledge issues. We should have a deeper grasp of the essence of Yixue and its humanistic value, and establish the driving force and creativity for the development of culture and civilization under this premise. As far as Yixue itself is concerned, looking back on the history of the development of Yixue, while thinking about the specific issues of the scriptures, Yixue scholars only pay attention to the moral norms and practicality of Yixue, and do not really grasp the ontology and knowledge issues in Yixue. Traditional Yixue also emphasizes the study of hexagrams of elephant numbers and righteousness. After Confucius, the mainstream of Yixue changed from the two Han Dynasty's symbolic number Yixue through Wang Bi to the Song and Ming Dynasty's Yili Yixue. However, in this process, there has been a lack of a clear understanding of the integration of the number of objects and the doctrine. The Qing Dynasty scholars of Yixue put a lot of effort into textual exegesis and textual exegesis, but they lacked an ontological understanding of Yixue. Based on this critical reflection, I propose to return to the first meaning of Yi's experience and experience, focusing on its origin, authenticity and theory, and advocating the construction of its connotation or preset ontological connotation from empirical cognition and theoretical analysis, so as to solve the philosophical problem of its connotation, that is, to develop a new way to integrate the number of symbols and the meaning of the principle, so as to explain the original change and the possibility of continuous innovation. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, there has been a trend of re-understanding of traditional cultural systems in the West, and the German philosopher Gadamer has developed a new hermeneutic thought, emphasizing subjectivity and the authority of history, but it still fails to cover the reality of the universe in the first sense. When I propose the study of ontological interpretation, I expand this research and unify the subject of human life and the object of the universe on the basis of the subject's perception and deep thinking, and embody it in the consciousness and understanding of man's overall innovation. As far as my study of Yixue is concerned, we are inevitably faced with the problem of ontological consciousness and understanding of the subject and object, so I advocate that we should think from the perspective of ontological hermeneutics, rather than stop at the historical exegesis of the written language. The transformation of ontological hermeneutics into world philosophy also reveals a source of living water for the development of Chinese philosophy.
2. The redevelopment of Yixue is of great significance to the development of Chinese philosophy. Since the twentieth century, Chinese philosophy has faced a crisis in which it is either considered not to be philosophy, or it is considered to lack theoretical resources (as philosophy). Therefore, we must strive to provide a new orientation for Chinese philosophy. In my opinion, the study of Yixue is of great significance here, because it provides the historical starting point and philosophical foundation for the development of Chinese philosophy, and therefore, as I have repeatedly emphasized, it has the role of providing a positioning and definition of the origin of Chinese philosophy. If we examine the history of Chinese philosophy, we can find that the development of Chinese philosophical innovation is based on the return to Yixue. Yixue is first of all a kind of ontological universe, which can help us understand the real universe in which we live, and at the same time help us to understand the relationship between the value in the real universe and us, that is, it is related to both knowledge and value issues, and is related to human existence itself in the process of thinking about these problems. This is the key to the positioning and development of Chinese philosophy. With the understanding of Xinyixue, the significance of Yixue as the source of Chinese philosophy and culture will be clear. Because it provides a framework for thinking about the universe and the world, in which all beings have elements of heaven, earth and man, and human beings have cosmic significance from the beginning of their lives, this has achieved the ontological outlook on life of Chinese culture. Confucius also advocated that "people can promote the Tao, but not the Tao", which developed into the ontological morality of Chinese culture. In the Han Dynasty, the Wei and Jin dynasties, the Sui and Tang dynasties, and even the Song and Ming dynasties, every development of Chinese philosophy is a return to easy learning and establishing one's heart, virtue and reason. Even after Buddhism was introduced to China, the process of its localization naturally began in combination with the integration of Yixue's understanding of change and life. In modern times, early Neo-Confucianists such as Xiong Shili and Liang Shuming used the consciousness of Enlightenment to explain the changes in the universe; Now, we can also explain how human consciousness arises and how the mind develops. Yixue is not only the basis for combining Confucianism and Taoism, but also the basis for Sinicizing Buddhism, so it is very important for the development of traditional Chinese philosophy.
3. The redevelopment of Yixue is of great significance to world philosophy. The so-called world philosophy refers to a number of philosophical traditions that have taken the world as its object and have had a significant impact on the world, and they are rooted in different cultural traditions, including Chinese philosophy, Greek philosophy, Jewish philosophy, modern and contemporary European philosophy, and American philosophy. The problems they deal with can be related to the problems faced by mankind since the 20th century, and they are both universal and specific. Since Yixue attaches great importance to cosmology and ontology, and attaches importance to the relationship between human ontology and the ontology of the universe, and wants to promote the way of the world with human beings, of course, it also has both universality and particularity. People must participate in the world, practice, build and improve themselves in order to solve the problems of the world and seek the perfection of values. In contemporary times, if we want to discuss the philosophy of life and think about the state of existence, we must involve the philosophy of the I Ching.
All in all, the development of Xinyi learning has its significance and importance. The so-called new Yixue refers to my above-mentioned in-depth understanding of the ontology, symbolic theory, epistemology, axiology and hermeneutics of the I Ching, and the exploration and understanding of the whole proposed by Yixue, which regards Yixue as an open ontological universe system. It involves the theory of the origin of Chinese civilization (the perception and perception of heaven and earth and man), the Taiji creation theory (the cosmic creation theory of the unity of heaven and earth), the theory of the unity of the meaning of the number of images, the theory of the unity of heaven, earth and man (the theory of virtue that people can promote the Tao), the theory of ontological hermeneutics of knowledge, the philosophy of ontological value and the ontological aesthetics, etc., and also includes the research of "multiple Yi" based on the ontological interpretation of the representative symbols and righteous ideas in the history of Yixue.
On the basis of the above understanding, this book is my continued reflection on the new easy to learn. In this reprint, I have added three of my easy-to-learn papers, originally written in English, but now translated into Chinese to include them in the reprint. The issues involved include the Tao of One Yin and One Yang and the cosmology of Yixue, as well as the question of the origin of "view", "feeling" and Yixue, and even the "essence" and "body" of Yixue ontology—"essence" refers to the root and original creative force, and "body" refers to the entity and system embodied in experience. The specific content is detailed in the main text of the book, and will not be repeated here.
[This article is excerpted from the preface of "The Ontology of Easy Learning" (Expanded Edition)]