I. Introduction
Any original civilization in the world will inevitably come up with its own unique ideological thesis. From the perspective of civilization comparison, Chinese civilization has embarked on a spiritual journey that is different from other civilizations from the beginning. From the perspective of intellectual history, Chinese thought tends to adopt a holistic, continuous, and organic attitude when looking at the world. The Chinese intellectual tradition has succeeded in overcoming the dichotomy between God and man, nature and humanity, and spirit and flesh that lie across Western thought. Regarding this binary division of Western thinking, Julian · Huxley said: "The Western world today is caught in a dilemma of two conflicting modes of thought, one of which is absolutism, in which absolute truth, beauty, justice, and goodness all derive from the absolute absolute, that is, God." The supernatural is above nature, the soul is above the body, and the eternal is above the temporary...... Absolute revelation and absolute pure reason answer all possible questions in between. Man's position in the universe is equivalent to God's creation of the eternal soul, fulfilling its destiny by virtue of its eternal value. [1] [146] This divisive dualism, if not overcome, is bound to lead Western civilization to a deep spiritual crisis. In addition, compared with other major civilizations in the world, the Chinese civilization also has an important feature: it is centered on the care of the people of this world. This is in stark contrast to other civilizations that are based on the center of divinity. From the perspective of the history of the development of Chinese civilization, this characteristic of Chinese civilization can be traced back to its roots, and it is closely related to the unique direction adopted by the Axial Age to break through the tradition. Unlike other civilizations' Axial Age thinking, China's Axial Age ideological breakthroughs are more modest, maintaining a tenacious continuity with tradition.
In recent years, scholars who study the history of Chinese philosophy and the history of thought have noticed that the history of Chinese thought has its own unique awareness of problems and internal development. For example, Taoism, Mind, Realm, and Kung Fu were all the focus of ancient Chinese philosophers and thinkers, but these problems were not highlighted in other civilizations. As far as the theory of mind is concerned, after the Song Dynasty, Taoism responded to the problem of mind highlighted by Zen Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty and combined with the traditional Chinese thought of rebirth with its own theoretical characteristics, thus establishing the unique theoretical characteristics of the study of life. From the perspective of the history of the development of the theory of mind, the transfer from Confucianism and Buddhism's theory of mind to Taoism's theory of life marks the deepening and maturity of the theory of mind, and the establishment of the Taoist theory of life has greatly enriched the content of the entire Chinese theory of mind and injected new blood into the treasure house of ideology and culture.
Zhang Boduan (Ziyang) and Wang Hao (Chongyang), who were active in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty and the early Jin Dynasty, respectively founded the Northern and Southern sects of Neidan Taoism, and pushed the traditional Chinese theory of mind to a new level by establishing the Taoist theory of life to discuss the ultimate liberation of life. In the "Enlightenment of the Truth", Zhang Boduan geniusly used the study of life to unify the core tenets of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism:
The old and the release opened the door to the study of life and taught people to cultivate seeds in order to escape life and death. The Buddha takes emptiness as the sect, and if he has an epiphany, he will go straight beyond the other side; If there is a habit that is not exhausted, it is still a matter of life. The old clan is true of refining and cultivation, and if he gets his key points, he will be established as a saint; If its true nature is not known, it is still stuck in the illusion. Secondly, "Zhou Yi" has the words "exhausting reason to the point of life", and "Lu Yu" has the saying of "no intention must fix me", which is the mystery of Zhongni's life. However, if his words are often omitted and not detailed, why not? Gai wants to be upright and humane, and the teaching of benevolence, righteousness, etiquette and music, so the way of inaction is not revealed. [2]974
Zhang Boduan believes that the life of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism has its own emphasis, and in contrast, only the life science of Neidan Taoism is the ultimate return of life. The reason why Quanzhen Sect was able to catch up and become the largest Taoist sect of Taoism is that it founded the principle of dual cultivation of life, and built various teaching systems and canons of its Taoist school around the study of life. After the Song Dynasty, the study of life advocated by the two sects of Taoism, the north and south, received a positive response in Confucianism.
2. Wang Yangming's thought and the study of the life of Neidan Dao
Wang Yangming's theory of mind took the heart as the ontology and the conscience as the kung fu, and through entering and exiting the three religions, it integrated the mind and thought of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, thus pushing Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty to a new stage of development, and had a profound impact on the ideological circles of China and even East Asia after the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Tingyu commented in "The History of the Ming Dynasty · the Biography of Wang Shouren": "The learning of Yangming has come out, and there are no more people in the world. However, from the perspective of the historical process of the development of the study of life in China, Yangming Xinxue should still be regarded as a new theoretical form of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty to respond to the great discussion of the question of life. Only by basing ourselves on the core issue of the Tao of Life, which underpins the Chinese ideological system, can we deeply understand the innovation of Yangming Xinxue and the internal reasons for its great ideological influence in the Ming Dynasty's ideological circles.
There have been many studies on the ideological relationship between the Yangming School and Taoism and Buddhism, among which Peng Guoxiang's article "Wang Ji and Taoism: Yangming Scholars' Integration of Taoist Inner Danology" [3]255-291 has made a wonderful study on the integration of Taoist Inner Danxue by Wang Ji, a great disciple of Yangming and a representative of Wangmen in central Zhejiang, which can be regarded as a representative work of this topic research. The author's insight lies in the fact that when discussing the relationship between Wang Ji and Taoism, he does not mention Taoism in general, but focuses on the Taoist Neidanxue, which is a topic that really touches the strings of Wang Ji's thought. However, since the author has not yet clearly realized that the ideological discourse of Neidanxue is directed to the science of life, it is inevitable that when discussing the relationship between Wang Ji and Taoism, he will only stay at the metaphysical level of Neidanxue as a kind of health preservation technique. In fact, this is a common drawback in the current academic circles when discussing the relationship between Yangming and Taoism. Regarding the relationship between Wang Yangming and Taoism, Shu Jingnan has verified in "Wang Yang's Next Year's Spectrum Long Compilation" that during the reign of Xiaozong Hongzhi, Wang Yangming studied Neidan Taoism under Yin Pengtou, a master of Inner Dan Studies of Quanzhen Sect, after he fell in the imperial examination. This proves that Yin Jixian's activity trajectory in the Chenghua and Hongzhi periods is consistent. Judging from the existing writings of "The Complete Works of Wang Yangming", before the seventeenth year of Hongzhi of Ming Xiaozong (1504), Wang Yangming was very yearning for the Penglai immortal realm depicted by Taoism in the depths of his spirit.
Yunlixuan's window is half-hooked, and you can see the river for thousands of miles. The sunrise in Gaolin is dawning, and the wind in the valley is more in June and autumn. The immortal bone self-pity is what the day is, and the dust edge is floating in this life. In the middle of the night, Penglai Xing suddenly got up and flew up to the twelfth floor of the blue sky. [4]11
Also, the fourth of the "Five Songs of Mount Tai" written this year:
The dust net is bitter, and the wealth is really exposed! It is better to ride a white deer and swim east into Peng Island. Looking towards Mount Tai, the waves are ethereal; Yang Hui came out of the sea and clouds, and came to be the dawn of heaven. Seeing Bixia Jun from afar, she danced up. The jade girl is purple and sheng, and her eyes are blown into her eyes. Raise your head and look out of sight, bow down to the wind. Throw me "Jade Void Chapter", I haven't read it; There are long-eyebrow Weng on the side, and they can point out one by one. Since then, the alchemy sand has been swept away in the world. [4]14
Also, in "Thirty-five Poems of Guiyue", "Four Songs of Niufeng Temple" Yiyun:
The haunting bird road enters the cloud pine, and the number of Hunan hundred and two peaks is counted. When the rock dog barks at the people, it comes out of the tree, and the mountain monk welcomes the guests and rings the bell. Ling Biaozhi is really sick, and the strange day is the old trace. If you want to detain the spirit pass and ask the Dan Jue, the spring breeze is very separated. [4]9
In the poem, Wang Yangming said that he wanted to "refine the gold sand from now on, and the traces of the world are like sweeping" and "want to detain the spirit and ask the Dan Jue", which is by no means a joke, but a true portrayal of his life engaged in Taoist Inner Dan cultivation during this period. According to the "Annals", as early as the first year of Xiaozong Hongzhi (1488), Wang Yangming practiced Dandao with the Taoist priest of Nanchang Tiezhu Palace on the wedding day:
On the day of the union, even idle into the Iron Pillar Palace, meet the Taoist priest to sit on a couch, and then knock it, because of the hearing of the health of the saying, then sit with the opposite and forget to return. The princes sent people to chase after him, and they returned it the next morning. [4]1388—1389
After that, in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi (1502), he built Yangmyeongdong in his hometown and practiced the art of Neidan:
Tell the sick and return to the Yue, build a room in Yangming Cave, perform the guidance technique, and after a long time, he became a prophet. One day sitting in the cave, friends Wang Siyu and other four people visited, out of the five cloud gate, Mr. immediately ordered the servant to greet it, and the history of its traces. When the servants met all the ways, they were in harmony with the language, and the people were amazed, thinking that they had attained the way. [4]1392
The "Annals" is called "the art of guiding the way" because the author can't distinguish between the art of Taoist teaching and the art of inner Dan cultivation. In fact, if the record in the "Annals" is true, then Wang Yangming's cultivation in the Inner Dan has entered the realm of the Yin God, although this has not yet reached the highest level of the cultivation of the Inner Dan that shatters the void and the Dao is true. However, he has also reached the advanced realm of Inner Dan cultivation. In this regard, his eldest disciple Wang Ji also commented:
(Wang Yangming) focuses on the study of the old and the Buddha, and cultivates diligently day and night, practicing hidden and hidden, and understanding the essentials. The so-called purpose of seeing sex in his family is not only the meaning of it, but also the marrow of it. Self-proclaimed taste in the stillness of the body like a crystal palace, forget oneself and forget things, forget the heavens and the earth, and emptiness in the same body, the light is magical, trance changes, as if you want to say and forget what you say, is the real situation. and its dwelling in the trap, after forbearance, suddenly realized, not separated from the sense of things, but right and wrong, the sky sees itself. [5]33
The "so-called purpose of seeing nature and holding one" mentioned in the article actually refers to the Taoist Inner Dan Technique's refining and transforming gods.
Wang Yangming not only cultivated a deep psychological experience in Neidan (for which Wang Ji called it the true state of tranquility, which modern Confucian researchers also call religious mystical experience), but also absorbed the core concepts of Neidan Tao to elaborate his theory of conscience. The "Chuan Xi Lu" records a sentence in which he discussed with his disciples the concepts of Inner Dan Dao, Yuan Shen, Yuan Qi, and Yuan Jing:
Ask the immortal family Yuanqi, Yuanshen, and Yuanjing. The gentleman said, "Just one piece." Popularity is qi, condensation is refinement, and magic is used as god. ”[4]25
Wang Yangming's explanation of Yuanqi, Yuanshen, and Yuanjing is still very consistent with Neidandao's emphasis on the transformation and connection between essence, qi, and spirit. However, after Wang Yangming enlightened the Tao in the dragon field in the first year of Zhengde (1506), he began to pay attention to the analysis and separation of the ontology of the mind of the three religions, especially his ideological and creative theory of conscience, and the ultimate realm of his life transcendence was even more inseparable from the life of Jindan Dao. For example, the Biography:
The gentleman asked the friends present, "How is it like to work hard?" "A friend is ill-informed. The gentleman said, "This is the situation. "A friend recounts the similarities and differences between the past and the present. The gentleman said, "This is an effect." "Eryou is confused, please be. The gentleman said: "My generation is working hard today, just to be sincere in his heart for goodness. This heart is real, and it is true to move when it sees goodness, and it is true to change when there is a mistake. In this way, people's desires will disappear day by day, and the reason will be brighter. ”[4]34
Obviously, the ultimate refuge of his life transcendence is still implemented in the Confucian moral ontology. Therefore, after his thinking matured, he also made a lot of profound criticisms of Taoism's inner Dan cultivation technique. In his later years, Wang Yangming, in the sixteenth year of Zhengde (1521), when discussing the cultivation of Taoism with his disciple Lu Cheng, summed up his life's experience of learning Taoism and cultivating immortals, and called himself "the three-fold humerus", revealing a bit of misdirection:
Because of the disease, he will be engaged in health preservation, and he has tried the disadvantages of this in previous years. Later, he knew that he didn't have to be like this, and he began to devote himself to the study of the sages. It is only one thing to cultivate virtue and self-cultivation, and those who are "true self" in the original Jing are able to refrain from seeing and fear, and concentrate on it, then the gods live in the spirit and live in the essence, and the so-called immortal family is also in it. The study of immortals is different from that of saints, but its creation is the beginning, and it only wants to lead people to the Tao, the so-called "Huang Lao is sad and greedy, and it is gradually guided by the art of immortals" in the preface to the "Enlightenment of the Truth". Yuan Jing tried to take it, and its subtle purpose can also be recognized. Since Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, as for Zhou Gong and Confucius, their benevolent people and love things cover everything, and there are people who can live forever, so why not show people? For example, the disciples of Lao Tzu and Peng Xuan, and their endowments are like this, and they cannot be learned. Later generations, such as the white jade toad and Qiu Changchun, are all referred to as the ancestors in their studies, and their longevity is only fifty or sixty, so the so-called immortality must have something to refer to. Yuan Jingqi was weak and sickly, but he abandoned his reputation, had few desires, and was a sage, as the so-called "true self" said. It is not advisable to believe in different ways, to confuse oneself and be clever, to be distracted and to be exhausted, and to waste the years. If you don't return for a long time, it will not be difficult for you to become a person who is sick and heartbroken. In the past, people said that "the three-fold humerus is a good doctor", and those who are not good doctors cover the "three-fold humerus". [4]226—227
Although the text quotes Zhang Boduan's "Later Preface to the Wuzhen Chapter", and mentions that the two patriarchs of the southern and northern sects of Neidan Dao, Bai Yuchan and Qiu Chuji, lived only fifty or sixty, which shows that he did read the Neidan Dao classic "Wuzhen Chapter" and its commentary1. But his understanding of Neidandao is still inaccurate, he said that "the "Enlightenment Chapter" is a false truth, and the origin of the three notes is a note." This is also wrong, because the three notes of Xue Daoguang, Lu Shu, and Chen Zhixu in the "Enlightenment Chapter" are indeed from the hands of three people. It is also said that Bai Yu Toad and Qiu Chuji have a lifespan of no more than fifty or sixty, but in fact, Qiu Chuji (1148-1227) lived to be eighty years old, and there are two theories about Bai Yuchan's lifespan, one is said to be ninety-five, and the other is thirty-six. As for the article calling Taoism a heretic way, and using the practice of Taoist health preservation techniques as "confusing and intelligent, straining the spirit, and wasting the years", it can only show that he returned to Confucianism in his later years after encountering setbacks in his early years in his inner Dan cultivation. However, the article said that "cultivating virtue and cultivating one's body is just one thing", and the tendency to integrate Confucianism and Taoism is worthy of our attention.
In fact, Wang Yangming's shift from Taoism to Confucianism in his later years from Taoism to Taoism has long been clearly pointed out by the Ming people. Wang Yangming's same year Jinshi Sun Xu (1474-1547), the beginning of the reign of Emperor Shizong Jiajing, was sent to the Taifu Siqing, and there were twenty-three volumes of "Shaxi Collection" handed down. He commented on Wang Yangming's Taoist Inner Dan cultivation path and said:
Wang Bo'an and He Cuifu both tasted the old family's learning, and they said that the gods could be established. I am afraid that it will be discussed by the famous religion, and the pure man is silent and calm, not to say that the immortal is right, nor is it wrong, but he is also free to breathe. Bo Anhui is clever and knowledgeable, and he claims that nothing is infamous. I not only want to enjoy the joy of eternal life, but also want to be good at the name of Taoism, and I want to get the name of articles, political affairs, and poems. Chong Qizhi divided Zhou Kong, resisted Yan Meng Han, drove Yi Fu, slave Xiao Cao, and Sun Wu Dong Jia Li Du Taowei went down, no matter what, in fact, Zhong Lu's disciples. How can there be a complete picture of everything in the world, and there is one who has both the details. Nearly left and right to look at the monopoly. In his later years, he wanted to cover up his first traces, and his disciples or knocking on his skills, he used the words of preservation, introspection, respect for virtue, and reassurance, so as to decorate his strength and softness, and the skill of thinking about the tone, which can be seen in its concentration, which can be examined. His disciples retreated and checked, and there were many similarities and differences with the learning of the Holy Gate, but they did not believe it, saying: "My teacher deceived me." "It is confident in learning, and especially imitation. Close your eyes and ears, for ten months, stop the grain and run out of grains, and die of ashes. …… Bo'an is dead, and his disciples are still called immortals. [6]658
In the article, Sun Xu pointed out that Wang Yangming was originally a believer in Zhong and Lu Jindandao, and his mind was just a Confucian theory of preservation, introspection, respect for virtue, and reassurance. This shows that some people at that time thought that Wang Yangming's mind was nothing more than an inner way and an outer Confucianism.
Third, after Yang Ming, learn the Inner Dan Dao
The integration of the study of life
The Taizhou School is the most creative and socially influential school of mind in the post-Yangming Dynasty, and some scholars call it the first school of thought in Chinese history with real ideological enlightenment significance[7]316. Li Zhen of the Ming Dynasty (1527-1602) commented on the Taizhou School in the Book Burning:
At that time, Mr. Yang Ming's disciples were all over the world, and he was the most heroic spirit. …… After the heart of the fast, for Xu Boshi, for Yan Shannong. The mountain peasants lectured in cloth clothes, and they were framed for their ambitions; Bo Shi invited troops to supervise the battle and died in Quang Nam. Clouds, dragons, winds and tigers, each according to its own kind, then! Gai Xinzhai is a true hero, so his apprentices are also heroes. After Boshi, it was Zhao Dazhou, and after Dazhou, it was Deng Huoqu; After Shannong, Luo Jinxi, why is his heart hidden; After Xinyin, Qian Huaisu is the backstage of Cheng; One generation is as tall as the next. The so-called sea does not sleep with dead corpses, and the dragon gate does not break the forehead, don't you believe it! [8]95—96
The Taizhou school from Wang Xinzhai down, Xu Yue, Yan Jun, Zhao Zhenji, Deng Huoqu, Luo Rufang, He Xinyin, Li Zhen are all straight through the heart, insightful, and their actions are also quite heroic in capturing dragons and tigers, fighting dragons and snakes with their bare hands. Li Zhen called it a true hero, and used the words "the sea does not sleep in dead corpses, and the dragon gate does not break the forehead", describing this school of thought as a theory of talent, not a beautiful word for this school.
The Taizhou School was founded by Wang Gen, a disciple of Wang Yangming. Wang Gen (1483-1541), known as Ruzhi and Xinzhai, was a native of Anfengchang, Taizhou, Jiangsu Province (now Dongtai, Yancheng City, Jiangsu). From the perspective of the study of life in the Ming Dynasty, the reason why the Taizhou school can stand out among the schools of Yangming Xinxue is that it is based on Wang Yangming's theory of conscience, and puts forward two important ideological propositions: "the body and the Tao are the same" and "the people's daily use is the Tao". From the perspective of Yang Ming's psychology, these two major ideological propositions directly expand the scope of use of Yang Ming's doctrine of conscience, so that it runs through the daily world of the common people and even their bodies. The most important innovation of Wang Yangming's theory of mind for Confucianism is to re-enrich the conscience in the mind, and this conscience is the Confucian principle of human ethics, which is a good response to the debate on the life of the three religions that prevailed in the Ming Dynasty from the standpoint of Confucianism. As Huang Zongxi commented on Wang Yangming's contribution to Confucianism, he said: "The reason why Mr. points out that the heart is the heart is not in enlightenment but in heavenly principles. The golden mirror has fallen and recovered, so that the boundaries of Confucianism and Buddhism are as small as mountains and rivers, which is visible to all. [9] [181] However, from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty Taoist Inner Dan Dao's Theory of Life, Wang Yangming's Mind Studies attached too much importance to the discussion of the mind, and lacked a clear ideological awareness of how the mind and body penetrated through the body, which was precisely the theoretical basis of the Taoist Inner Dan Dao Theory of Life. When the Taoist Neidan Dao unfolded the study of life, he directly implemented the study of life into the body through the ideological proposition that "God is nature, and qi is life". What deserves our attention is that the body under the vision of the Taoist Inner Dan Dao life science does not only have physical and metaphysical ideological significance, but through the transformation of essence, qi, spirit, acquired and innate transformation, the small universe of the physical body and the large body of heaven and earth are integrated, and finally return to the Tao with ontological significance by virtue of the retrograde Dan Dao cultivation. Therefore, the body of the Taoist Dan Dao is not just a metaphysical body, but also has an ontological divine meaning, a divine body. This view of the body from the ordinary to the sacred, from the ordinary to the true normal, through the spirit and the body, the metaphysical and the metaphysical, the pursuit of a continuous life existence, this represents the basic ideological tendency of the Chinese spiritual tradition. This view of the body can be described as extremely wise and modest, and its value lies in finding a practical basis for the ultimate transcendence of life. In contrast, Zen Buddhism and Yang Ming Mind's contempt for the body both expose their theoretical weaknesses. Seeing this, Wang Gen put forward the idea of reincarnation from the perspective of mind, and elaborated on it, making it the foundational thought of the Taizhou School. Regarding Wang Gen's psychological experience of cultivation, the "Annals" describes the peak experience of an internal meditation and enlightenment at the age of twenty-nine in the sixth year of Zhengde (1511):
(Zhengde) six years Xin Wei, Mr. 29 years old. Mr. fell into a dream overnight, 10,000 people ran for help, Mr. stood up alone, saw the sun and the moon out of order, and the hands were as good as ever, and 10,000 people danced and thanked. When I wake up, I sweat like rain, and I suddenly feel that my heart and body are penetrating, all things are one, and the universe is in my thoughts, and I really can't tolerate it. Since then, the journey has been silent and silent, all in consciousness. [10]60—61
This kind of peak psychological experience of internal cultivation and enlightenment should be closely related to his daily attention to life and life research and realization, and similar to the sexual skills of Dan Dao cultivation.
From the perspective of the science of life, Wang Gen's idea of doppelgänger is worth paying attention to. In the first volume of the "Collected Works of Xinzhai", "Addendum to Questions and Answers", he regards the settlement as Confucius's solitary and unique ideological creation with profound and profound significance:
The essence of Confucius is extreme, and the righteousness of settling down alone is here. The legend of Yao Shun and even Confucius, are nothing more than the learning of Ming Ming and virtue, close to the people, and there is no one who can stop the good. Therefore, Confucius understood this truth, but he set up a pole in Mingmingde and pro-people. Therefore, it is said that "in the end of the best". Those who stop at the best will also settle down; Those who settle down are the foundation of the world. The root rule and the end rule, the right self and the right thing, the learning of adults. [10]131
Here, Wang Gen regards the settlement as the foundation of the world, and expounds the essence of the establishment of the holy king's Taoism since Yao and Shun for Confucius. This raises the idea of reincarnation and reincarnation to an unprecedented level. He also wrote the "Theory of Self-Preservation in Wisdom", which theoretically expounded the Confucian ideas of self-preservation and self-love:
Those who know how to protect themselves will love their bodies like treasures. If you can love your body, you dare not love others. If I can love others, they will love me, and I will be protected. If you can love others, you will not dare to be evil. If you are not evil, then you are not evil. If people don't hate me, then I will be safe. Those who can love the body will respect the body as a treasure. If you can respect yourself, you don't dare to be disrespectful. If you can respect others, they will respect me. If people respect me, I will be protected. If you can respect yourself, you don't dare to slow people, and if you don't slow people, people don't slow me. If people don't slow me, then I will be protected. This benevolence is also the way of the unity of all things. [10]126
Based on this, he further put forward the theoretical proposition that "the body and the Tao are one", thus supplementing the weak link in the Confucian tradition of thinking about the body:
Mr. Xu Zizhi said: "What is the best? He said, "The highest goodness is the goodness of nature." He said, "Sex is the way?" He said, "Yes." He said, "Who is the Tao and the body?" What is the difference between the body and the Tao? He said, "One also." He said, "Can the body of this son be respected?" Zizhi avoided the seat, and asked, "What?" The so-called dignity of the lady? The gentleman said: "The body and the Tao are one and the same." The saint helps the world with the Tao, and he is the supreme Tao. People can be magnificent, and they are the body of the Supreme One. Respect the body is not respectful, it is not called respectful of the body; Respect the Tao is not respect for the body, and it is not called the respect for the Tao. The supreme goodness is the supreme goodness. ”[10]136
Here, Wang Gen raised the status of the deity to the same status as the respect for the Tao, and believed that only the respect of the Tao and the body can reach the state of perfection. It is rare in the Confucian tradition to raise the dignity to such a height. As we all know, pre-Qin Confucianism, for example, had the idea of self-cultivation in the "University"3, but it was only based on the perspective of moral cultivation, and did not equate respect for the body with respect for the Tao. This should be closely related to the Taoist Inner Dan Dao life science that focuses on the nature and life of the body. From the perspective of the historical development of the Taizhou School's view of the body, it was only in the hands of Luo Rufang (1515-1588) that he focused on the body, affirmed the ideological significance of the body from the front, and consciously expounded his body view of the body through the form and spirit, body and mind. In the "Consistent Edition", Jinxi interprets Mencius's creative thought of "form and nature", and then expounds the meaning of life of the form from the front:
There is no difference in his statement, but this language should have the tone of Mencius, and if it is about tone, it seems to be a little heavier. Now the speaker is more detailed and slightly shaped, and he feels even more meaningless. The great thing is also from the world's sympathy, all clouds: this body is flesh and blood, and it is not important. and Tan's life, so he thought it was strange. Ke cherished it, so he said: How can I despise this shape? That is, so it is also nature! Only those who are born and know how to act safely and create heavenly virtues, such as saints, can be practiced in this form. Those who practice the cloud are said to be able to do what they can to the end...... With only one complete body, one is a saint's heart, and if one is a saint, it can be all. [11]455—4564
Luo Rufang's positive exposition of the meaning of the human body and mind is conducive to correcting the erroneous ideological tendency of Buddhism and Song and Ming Dynasty science to despise and hate the body, and should be regarded as the ideological effort of the Taizhou School to return to the Chinese spiritual tradition of mind-body unity and rebirth. This is similar to the Taoist view of the body of the Taoist Inner Dan Dao of life.
If Wang Gen mainly developed Yangming Mind by putting forward the theory of respecting the body and establishing the foundation, and participated in the great discussion of the life of the Ming Dynasty, then his disciple Yan Jun mainly integrated the Dao Dan Dao Gongfu theory from the aspect of Kung Fu theory, and created the seven-day retreat practice method with the characteristics of Mind Studies. Yan Jun (1504-1596), Zihe, known as Shannong and woodcutter, was a newcomer in Ji'anyong, Jiangxi, and studied under Wang Gen and Xu Yue of the Taizhou School. Theoretically, Yan Jun developed Yangming Mind by founding the "Big Middle School". However, from the perspective of the interaction between the study of mind and the study of life in the Ming Dynasty, the most innovative aspect of Yan Jun's study of mind is the establishment of the seven-day retreat theory. As we all know, the study of life, as the most characteristic theory of life transcendence, is a set of self-cutting theories of life that connects ontology and work, and integrates knowledge and action, so the ontology of the study of life must be implemented in its theory of work. The reason why the Taoist Inner Dan Dao Life Science enjoyed the ideological status of the bull's ear in the Ming Dynasty was closely related to the subtlety of its body theory and ontology, and the extremely strict and meticulous cultivation method of sitting on the bowl was also an important factor. Yan Jun's seven-day retreat method absorbed some elements of the Taoist Dan Dao cultivation method, and integrated it with the Confucian idea of righteousness and sincerity, forming a theory of gongfu with the characteristics of mind. In his article "The Purpose of the Nine Articles", he described the time of his work, saying:
Whoever has the ambition to set up martial arts, or two days and nights, or three days and nights, must choose to sweep the building and live in one. Spread out the couch, and then supervise a few people who are willing to sit, each on the couch to sit, no bias, let me instruct: clean up each person's body, bind his eyes with silk, day and night; Plug your ears and don't listen to them; Close your lips and teeth tightly, and not say a word; Fist with both hands, do not move one finger; Stand on both legs, not longitudinally telescopic; Straight shoulders and backs, not lazy and slow; Hang your head and look for it, and return to the light. In this way, each of them is tightened, and this is called retreat.
The husband then caused the work of each of the internal illuminations, absorbed the full mouth of yang qi in the nose, gargled the jin liquid, swallowed it directly, poured the dantian, and swirled a few times, that is, inhaled the vi jin liquid, swallowed and poured like this, and hundreds of thousands of rounds did not stop, two or three days, not self-contained. …… Calvary is so, swallowing and swallowing, and cannot be used, so he is allowed to tell him to release this entanglement, and fall asleep upside down, and wake up at will, or until he falls asleep, and it is especially good day and night. …… After waking up, you are not allowed to speak or laugh, lie down for seven days at will, listen to me when you go to the whispers in everyone's ear, and say: Everyone at this time in this period of spirit, is called Qingming in the bow, the shape is refreshing, all of them have been hard work for days to come, that is, the Taoist body is desolate, reborn scene. It must be tossed and turned, single-mindedly inward-looking, deeply used, taste the spirit, tacitly understand the nature, make the times without violating or messing, and will do the seven days of quiet sleep, without thinking, if you don't know, if you don't know, if you don't know, if you don't know the use of March, you can't bear to be distracted. After seven days, he got up, combed his clothes, and prayed to the fertility and preaching of heaven and earth, the emperor, his parents, Confucius and Mencius, and the teacher, and recreated this life.
Here, the left and right masters, listen to the March, oral acquiescence, wisdom and benevolence, the invention of "University" and "The Mean", the harmony of the heart, this is called the sincerity of the heart, the knowledge of the grid is almost the cultivation of the net worth, the song into the unspared. Therefore, it is said: March is successful, and the Kong Zhao of the heart is clear; Seven days of lying taste, through the spirit of the spirit often bow. Converted to church in March, full of luck. That is, the "University" of the study and pondering, the hole is also the one who is noisy. [12]37
Pifu likes to excite Dan Ling, that is, bowing his head and thinking clearly, sitting with his eyes open, retreating for seven days, his mind is suddenly awakened, the center is clear, open-minded, he is enlightened, he is wise, he has the potential to break the river, and the shape is like the mouth of the source of the left and right. [12]24
The seven-day retreat method created by Yan Jun draws on the Taoist Neidan practice method in many places, such as the collective cultivation of paving and joint beds, which is close to the collective bowl of the Quanzhen Sect in the Ming Dynasty; In the retreat practice, "absorb the full mouth of yang qi in the nose, gargle the jin liquid, swallow it directly, pour the dantian down, spin and roll a few times, and then suck the jin liquid in the same way, and swallow it like this, hundreds of thousands of rounds without stopping, two or three days, no help yourself", which is also the method of swallowing jin cough liquid in the process of inner dan practice. It's just that in the practice of Neidan, this is only an auxiliary link, and what is more important is the operation of the river cart and the transformation of the spirit and spirit. Finally, the effect of his retreat practice is "seven days of retreat, the mind is suddenly awakened, the center is clear, the open-mindedness is open, the heavenly machine is seer, the spirit is radiant, the wisdom is skillful, and the shape and qi are like the mouth of the left and right sources" Yunyun, which can also be invented with the foundation building stage of Taoist Neidan practice. As for the Taoist Inner Dan practice, such as the knot of the Holy Fetus, the Yang God, and the smashing of the void, Yan Jun's seven-day retreat cultivation method was not mentioned, and it may be that the cultivation goals pursued by each other are different. In addition, the retreat cycle of Taoist Neidan practice is generally a 100-day retreat, which is much longer than Yan Jun's seven-day retreat, and the number of sessions is of course more complicated. However, the spiritual foothold of Yan Jun's seven-day retreat cultivation method is finally pointed to, from the text "Here, left and right the teacher's seat, listened to the March, oral acquiescence, wisdom and benevolence, invention of "University" and "The Mean", and the harmony of the mind, this is called the sincerity of the heart, the knowledge of the Ge Gong Gong is almost the cultivation of the net worth, and the song is not left behind", which is obviously the life realm of Confucianism. According to Luo Jinxi's disciple and the later scholar of the Taizhou School, Yan Jun's seven-day retreat practice method was not just taught orally, but had a long-term meditation experience:
(Yan Jun) sat upright and Han. When it was near, I saw Mr. jumping up, and he was reminded that if the thing was lost and regained. …… Russia consciously is as hard as a stone, black as ink, white air runs through the top and sweats, until seven days as if there is a gain, its so-called seven days of return, not with? [12]79
It is said that when he was young, his wisdom was not open, and the villagers regarded him as an idiot, and after a long period of retreat and practice, after studying the theory of conscience, he became enlightened and wise.
In the Yangming Later Studies, Wang Ji, the representative of the Wangmen in central Zhejiang, was a theoretically creative thinker who consciously taught the Jindan Dao of Life with the Yangming Mind and the Fusion Channel. Wang Yi (1498-1583), the name Ruzhong, the name Longxi, was a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and a disciple of Wang Yangming. Wang Ji melted the theory of the old man and the release of life, revised Wang Yangming's theory of conscience, advocated that conscience is ready-made, and is called the ready-made school of conscience, and he himself believes that his study is the innate science of mind. From the perspective of the understanding of the three religions, the driving force for Wang Ji's creation of Xinxue mainly comes from the study of the life of the Taoist Dan Dao. Judging from his writings, Wang Ji Jingdao taught the study of the life of the Dan Dao, and consciously incorporated the theory of conscience into the study of the life of the Dan Dao. In the article "Dealing with Taber", he says:
The reason why Mrs. is a human being is just a god and a spirit. God is the master of qi, and qi is the popularity of God. God is sex, and qi is life. The one who has a conscience is the mystery of the spirit, and the soul of life. Conscience, then the spirit is full of energy and life, and its opportunity is nothing more than a thought. [5]508
Wang Ji's distinction between sexuality, life, spirit, qi and their inner relations here is entirely a paraphrase of the Inner Dan Dao's theory of life. It's just that he incorporated the conscience of the mind into the Taoist study of life, and regarded conscience as the mystery of divine energy and the soul of life, which is actually equivalent to the sincerity and sincerity of Dan Dao's life science. This is tantamount to expanding the scope of the theoretical explanation of the Dan Dao Theory of Life. Wang Ji sometimes refers to conscience as "the primordial god who is invincible". In the article "With Wei Shuizhou", he said:
It's about the two words of conscience of my teacher, the primordial god who is not bad for all calamities, and the general manager of the three religions in the range. Conscience is the spirit of sexuality, and all the functions of the life sect are only to collect this piece, make it strong, and make it leak and dissipate, which is the way of longevity. The ancients used the sun and the moon as medicine, and the light of the sun soul was conscience; The moon is the true image of the daylight, the so-called glaive furnace. [5]202
Referring to conscience as the primordial spirit, the spirit body of sex, is still an explanation of the concept of conscience within the theoretical framework of the theory of life in the Inner Dan Dao. This remark is not so much the words of a psychologist as it is more like the opinion of a scholar of the Inner Dan Dao.
For example, in the article "The Words of Xu Ziya", he distinguishes the difference between Confucianism and Taoism and says:
The study of the saints is to pay attention to the temperament. sexuality, the physiology of the heart; Affection is multiplied by the opportunity of life, and the genus of life is also. Therefore, it is said: "Joy, anger, sorrow and happiness are not in the middle, and they are all in the middle of the section." "Those who neutralize are also the ones of temperament. Be cautious and fearful and be cautious, establish the foundation to reach its few, and neutralize the reason for the outrage. There is not a hair, and then there is a sum of the middle sections, and the neutralization is also a part. Yu Ting is said to be the heart of the Tao, Confucius is said to be silent, and this holy school is also. The old man said: "There is often no desire to observe its wonder, and there is often a desire to observe it." "From now on, the view of wonder is the so-called micro, the so-called silence, the so-called human heart of the machine, the life of the word. [5]461
Here he interprets emotion as life, as the opportunity multiplied by qi, which obviously deviates from the ideological context of the Confucian theory of temperament, and accepts the theory of temperament under the Taoist theory of life. As for invoking the concepts of neutralization, harmony, hastenedness, and undeveloped to elucidate the theory of life, Li Daochun, a theorist of Quanzhenjiao in the Yuan Dynasty, has discussed it in detail in the "Zhonghe Collection".
Based on Wang Ji's explanation of the theory of life, in fact, he has deviated from Wang Yangming's camp of mind and turned into the Taoist study of life in the Inner Dan Dao, generally inclined to the Wuwei Dan method of the Northern School of the Inner Dan Dao to control life with sex. For example, in the article "The Life of Xia in the Summer", he expounded the purpose of Confucius's unity of life and said:
Yu Wei should be in the middle of the middle school, that is, the "Mandate of Heaven" in the "Mean" is the question, the holy school is the unity of life, and the health family has the purpose of double cultivation, where to live? …… The husband's life is one, and the corporal has said that his life is gradually inferior to Yun'er because of his greed. If it is a sergeant, then the sex is exhausted and the life is really in it, and there are no two. Caution and fear are the true fire of Confucius; Ignorance is an innate true medicine. The so-called divine dwelling of the ancestor is qi dwelling and fine dwelling, and the so-called immortal family is long-lived. This is the opportunity for the unity of life, the secret of the essence and the emptiness of the moment. [5]510
In the text, "the sergeant's theory of destiny is gradually led by his greed", which is based on the words of Zhang Boduan's "Preface to the Enlightenment of Truth", and his idea of life cultivation with sex to unify life is also common in the Yuan and Ming Quanzhen Sect5.
IV. Conclusion
The study of life was the core issue of concern in the Chinese intellectual circles in the Ming Dynasty, and the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism all engaged in fierce debates around this issue. We say that since the Song Dynasty, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism have been searching for mutually referential ideological topics through ideological dialogues, and finally converged on the core issue of the Chinese ideological system, which is the way of life. The reason why the cultivation of Neidan in the Ming Dynasty was able to go out of Taoism and get the general attention of all social strata and become a hot topic of discussion in the ideological circles is actually because the study of life is not just a set of conceptual games or a set of external ideological systems, but is closely related to the ultimate transcendence of life, and is a set of self-cutting learning of life. As for the reason why the study of life of the Inner Dan Dao has become the destination of the life science of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, it is because the life science of the Inner Dan Dao advocates the dual cultivation of life and life, breaking through the suffocation of the spirit and the body, the metaphysical and the metaphysical, and pursuing an ultimate continuous existence through a set of gradually refined and purified conceptual systems such as essence, qi, and spirit. This is intrinsically consistent with the ultimate ideological appeal of Chinese civilization. The theory of mind founded by Wang Yangming should be regarded as a new theoretical form of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty in response to the great debate on the question of life. Yangming Xinxue absorbs the relevant concepts and ideas of Neidan Dao's study of life, and gives an innovative interpretation of the traditional Confucian theory of mind from the perspective of Confucianism, thus pushing Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty to a new stage of development.
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exegesis
1 From Wang Yangming in the article "Shu Wu Zhen Chapter Answer Zhang Taichang", it can be known that he also read the "Wu Zhen Chapter Three Notes", the original title "Wu Zhen Chapter" Xue Daoguang, Lu Shu, Chen Zhixu three family notes, the current "Daozang" Dong Zhen jade recipe class, among which Song Xue Daoguang, Yuan Chen Zhixu's "Wu Zhen Notes" and their "Jindan Da Yao" had a great influence in the Ming Dynasty: ""Wu Zhen Chapter" is a false true article, and the origin of the three notes is a one-hand note. hated and killed demons for profit, so that the confusion spread. It is inevitable that Uncle Zhang Ping will be the first to blame Xue Zixian. Say the only word with Jun, and look at the wild fox Zen from the beginning. See Wang Yangming, "The Complete Works of Wang Yangming", "Chuan Xi Lu· Letters", annotated by Chen Ming, Wang Zheng, Gu Jiming, et al., edited by Chen Ming, Wuhan: Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press, 2014, p. 82.
2 "The Fifteenth Treatise on the Establishment of the Chongyang Religion": "The eleventh treatise on mixed life: 'The one who is sexual, the god is also.'" The one who lives is also angry. See Daozang, vol. 32, Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1988, p. 154.
3 In addition to the "University", the pre-Qin Confucian classics "Zhou Yi" and "Book of Songs" all mention respecting the body and securing the body, both of which are the ideological logic of political ethics. For example, "Zhou Yi · Department Biography": "The gentleman settles down and then moves." "The body is safe and the country can be protected." "Take advantage of the shelter." Another example is "The Book of Songs· Daya · Haomin": "Both clear and philosophical, in order to protect his body." ”
4 In the same book, based on the affirmation of the form, he also spoke highly of the ideological proposition of "the predicate of life" of Gaozi, which is full of ideological insight, and has clearly demonstrated the consistent spirit of rebirth in the Chinese ideological tradition: "And the Tao is born as a word, in ancient times, it was said that 'Taishang is virtuous and good to live', 'the great virtue of heaven and earth is born', and 'life is easy', and 'dry is great, Kun is widespread', and 'human life is also straight'. When Mencius said from himself, he said, 'Day and night, the nourishment of rain and dew, is there no sprouting tiller?' Happiness is fun, but life is evil? It's all about words. ......'The eyes are in color, the mouth is in taste, and sex is also life-threatening', which is also to eat and talk about sex. How can life be born as sex, which was the way in ancient times, but not the way in today? Life and food can be spoken in oneself, but not in people? To be sure, the color is not bad, but the difference is inside and outside the distinction between benevolence and righteousness, so the distinction is also limited to distinguishing its meaning, and it is not distinguishing the food color. If he is born, he will tell him the most thorough, and Mencius will be happy with it, but he may not be thorough. See Luo Rufang, "The Complete Works of Jinxi Luozi· Mr. Jinxi Luo's Consistent Ed. ·Mencius", in Confucian Collection, Essence Edition, Volume 261, edited by the Compilation and Research Center of Confucianism, Peking University, Beijing: Peking University Press, 2013, p. 440.
5 In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Danjing "True Interpretation" said: "There are two ways to cultivate: the "Wen Shi Jing" says: "You can see the spirit and live for a long time, and you can forget the spirit and transcend life." 'Those who forget the spirit will be extremely quiet, the essence will naturally turn into qi, the qi will naturally turn into god, and the god will naturally return to nothingness. The study of this avenue of nothingness also; Those who see the spirit, the void is quiet, the fire talisman is used, the refining becomes the Qi, the refining becomes the god, the refining of the god is also empty, and the study of the god is also controlled. See Tibetan Wai Daoshu, vol. 10, Chengdu: Bashu Publishing House, 1994, p. 840.
About author:ZHANG Guangbao (1964—), male, from Dongxiang, Jiangxi, professor, doctoral supervisor, doctor of philosophy, engaged in the research of Chinese philosophy.
Fund: "General History of Chinese Thought" (20@ZH026) of the National Social Science Foundation of China.
· The original article was published in Journal of Nanchang University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), No. 4, 2023.