Yuanjiao and Yuanshan: The Core Ideas of Mou Zongsan's Philosophy

Jinghai Peak

"Yuanjiao" and "Yuanshan" are undoubtedly the most important core concepts in Mou Zongsan's philosophical system. In a sense, they are the ultimate direction and final destination of a complex and profound system of thought. The analysis of such a key central idea can be seen from the perspective of the whole system, following the origin ("free infinite mind" or "intuition of wisdom"), starting from the "self-trapping of conscience", and following the opposing pattern of "non-attachment theory of existence" and "attachment to existence", stripping away the bamboo shoots and approaching layer by layer, revealing the meaning of "Yuanjiao" and the connotation of "Yuanshan". It is also possible to leave aside the field of intellectuality and start only with the physical realm (moral entity and metaphysical entity) referred to by the "intuition of wisdom" to illustrate what "yuanjiao" and "yuanshan" are. It can be deduced by means of logical analysis, focusing on the connection of concepts and the hierarchical context of thought, and it can also be explained by empirical examples of the history of philosophy and ethics. In short, there can be many discourse paths around the problems of "Yuanjiao" and "Yuanshan". Here, we just grasp the two concepts of "Yuanjiao" and "Yuanshan" themselves, make some analysis from the level of moral entity, and put forward explanatory criticisms.

1. What is Yuanjiao?

The concept of "Yuanjiao" originated from the Buddhist family, which is originally a judgmental discourse in which Buddhists dissect the various parts of Buddhism according to the depth of the Buddhist doctrine and the order of Shakya's teachings. In the era of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a distinction between "southern three and northern seven". Among the ten schools, the Western Wei Master Shou Li Dun, Gradual, and Yuan Three Sects made a preliminary explanation of the Yuan Sect of shangda Buddha's realm, "saying that there is no obstacle to liberation from the end", and the Guode Yuanji secret and free. [1] Extending to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the teachings and judgments were great, and all the families of the Kaizong founding sect used the teachings to balance the right to be true, to judge the superiority of the doctrine, and to show the self-respect. Among the various theories of judgment, the Tendai Zhiyan Judgment Five Hours and Eight Teachings, the Four Teachings of Lizang, Tong, Bei, yuan, and Huayan Fazang explain the five teachings of small, beginning, end, dun, and yuan, as well as the ten sects, which are undoubtedly the most influential and theoretically the most regular. Tendai takes the Yuanjiao as the ultimate of the Buddha's teachings, "One teaching circle, two rational circles, three wisdom circles, four broken circles, five element circles, six-digit circles, seven cause circles, and eight fruit circles." The eight circles are attributed to the rational circle, and the so-called rational circle is "the middle way is all the laws, and the reason is not biased." [2] This middle-way reality of non-emptiness and non-existence, that is, truth is conventional, and that is not ambiguous from the Three Noble Truths of Emptiness and Falsehood, is the highest victory of the Circle Illumination of everything, that is, the Yuanjiao of "the person who has become the highest root" in the Tendai Teachings. Although the judgment of the Five Sects of the Xianshou dynasty changed the Yuanjiao of Tendai to the Two Teachings of Dun and Yuan, it was far greater than the innovative righteousness of the theory in terms of the originality of the theory of teaching and judgment and the strength of the interpretation of the concept of the Yuanjiao, it is obvious that the Tendai Sect is the most special. ［3］

Mou Zongsan's citation and interpretation of the concept of "Yuanjiao" was first seen in the article > < buddhist body uses righteousness. This long essay, which is included as an appendix to the first volume of The Mind and the Sexual Body, clearly declares his preference for the rooftop:

As far as the development of righteousness is concerned, the judgment of the tendai is more truthful, sophisticated and transparent. Huayan's judgment and the Yuanjiao he speaks of are the judgment and yuanjiao that transcend the decomposition idea, the judgment teaching of Tiantai and the yuanjiao he speaks of, the judgment and the yuanjiao under the dialectical and harmonious thinking, and the yuanjiao that dissolves dialectically, functionally, and veiledly through those decompositions. ［4］

Hua Yanzong takes the number of ways of transcendent decomposition of the "Theory of Rising Faith" as its righteous reasoning, such as the Tibetan system to take everything, with the pure dyeing method, as far as the pure law is said to be unified and possessed, as far as the dyeing method is said to be unified and not possessed, so it is necessary to decompose with the sentient beings and say that it needs to go through the "one song" of Alaya consciousness, and this "one song" is not "straight", which is very different from the tendai sect's sexual instrument. Therefore, Mou Zongsan believes that only the circle of sexual tools and rational tools that do not depart from the "Jie'er Heart" from the beginning is the real Yuanjiao, and the Yuanjiao that Huayan Sect promotes layer by layer and decomposes cannot be regarded as the real Yuanjiao. Since then, "no one who speaks separately can be round" has become a very important rationale for Mou's construction system and the division of Chinese and Western, from "The Intuition of Wisdom and Chinese Philosophy" to "The Theory of Yuanshan", from "Buddha-nature and Prajnaparamita" to the lectures of later years, whether it is original works or interpretive works, this point is particularly striking.

According to Mou Zongsan's understanding, "the sum expressed under the strange harmony" is the Yuanjiao, which is also the fundamental cardinal who understands the Tiantai Yuanjiao. The Tendai teachings covered by the Ten Teachings of the Lotus Sutra of Yuanmiao, Perfection, Round Foot, Round Dun, Yuanshi, Yuanfu, Yuanxin, Yuanju, Yuanxing, and Yuanshi show the following characteristics: First, "to contemplate the Dharma, for the sake of one mind and three views, thus opening up the Three Eyes, the Three Wisdoms, and the Three Noble Truths." The Ming "emptiness is false is the middle", absorbing Nagarjuna Madhyamaka thought into the Yuanjiao, not only does not betray the basic meaning of dependent voidness, but also eliminates the spirit of the integration of the Void Sect in the Yuanjiao. The second is the "doctrine of liberation," which is a "continuous break," which presupposes that "all laws are established from nothingness," that is, "one thought of the dharma-natured mind possesses three thousand worldly laws." Therefore, "the three thousand worldly laws are all inherent, all are virtuous, none of them have changed, none of them can be abolished, and none of them are made up of intention." The third is "the fruit of the Buddha's words, that is, the permanent residence of the Dharma body, and there is no change", which embodies the consummation. [5] As a result, Mou emphasized that only the Tendai Sect had attained the "circle of existence", which was the true circle religion. This yuan sect is the closest to the void sect, but it is different from the empty system phase of the empty sect, transcending the "magic circle" of Prajnaparamita and forming a system. "Only this system is not established in a decompositive manner, so it is different from those who speak of Alaya dependent arising, and it is also different from those who speak of Rulai Tibetan dependent arising",[6] so it is the round formation of the synthesis and the final consummation of digestion. Regarding the model of the Tendai Yuanjiao, Mou Zongsan summed up five points: "(1) It is not separated from all dyeing methods, and it is not impossible to take all pure laws. (2) Dharma has no dwelling, ignorance has no dwelling. (3) Sexual possession is three thousand, one thought is three thousand, and the Dharma does not change, that is, in the empty leave. (4) Virtuous and virtuous, virtuous and evil in nature, the Dharma does not change, and the Buddha continues to nine. (5) The three causes of buddha-nature are everywhere, wisdom is not two, color mind is not two, cause and effect are not two, and even all kinds of non-duality." [7] These five meanings become the circle, reality, fullness, and omniscience of the Circle Teachings. The circle is unbiased, the real is not false, full of no tilt, and there is no omission. This "witty wisdom of curves" can be said to represent the highest example of Yuanjiao.

Mou Zongsan did not tire of interpreting the Tendai Sect's teachings in a vast chapter, highlighting its nature of the Yuanjiao, with the aim of solving a key problem of "intellectual intuition". Examining the course of his learning and thinking, the influence of logical positivism in his early years has faded slightly in the 1940s, which is due to the inspiration and inspiration of Xiong Shili on the one hand, on the other hand, the logical axiom system is indeed unable to solve the problem of life's confusion, and the "moral subject" of the mind is not related, so the theoretical shift from "cognitive mind" (intellectual subject) to "intellectual intuition" (moral subject) is bound to occur. In the 1950s, Mu called "the time when my cultural consciousness and the sense of sadness of the times were at its highest",[8] and the reality of care interrupted the process of system construction of this turn to a certain extent. So when Mu immersed himself in the pre-Confucian literature in the 1960s, trying to borrow from Western philosophy, especially to digest Kant, and establish a new ontological system for Confucian moral ideals, such a basic question came to his mind: What is the moral subject? What is the basis of the moral subject, and what is the basis? How to recognize, grasp and prove moral subjectivity? After painstaking exploration and comparison of East and West, Mou Zongsan finally grasped the cardinal of "wisdom intuition". He believes that understanding the differences between Chinese and Western philosophies, and recognizing the unique value of Chinese philosophy, especially the glow that shields Confucian moral principles without being completely obscured in modern society, is the elaboration of this idea. He said:

Whether it is Confucianism or Taoism, it seems that we have affirmed the intuition that we can have wisdom, otherwise it would be impossible to become a saint and become a Buddha, or even a true person. ...... If true human beings could not have intellectual intuition, then all Chinese philosophy would completely collapse, and the painstaking efforts of the past few thousand years would be completely wasted, just delusional. ［9］

Therefore, the interpretation and realization of the "intuition of wisdom" became the basis of all the philosophies of Mou Zong's later period. As a indicative way of proving the possibility of "wisdom intuition", Mou Zongsan devoted special efforts to the explanation of yuanjiao, and the face of yuanjiao was clear, and the "intuition of wisdom" was also proved. "If this typical Yuanjiao is not revealed, the truth of the 'intuition of the intellect' may not be revealed." "Therefore, it is necessary to elaborate on the actual meaning of the "intuition of wisdom" that is typical of the Yuanjiao." [10] This was the root cause of his preference for the Tendai Sect and his great efforts on it.

Of course, the Yuanjiao mentioned by Mou Zongsan is not limited to the rooftop, let alone the rooftop, but only the Tendai Sect is particularly typical, and the pen is more self-facing. In a broad sense, the Chinese philosophical Confucian and Taoist schools belong to the Yuanjiao; the Confucian Yuanjiao, which is on the moral subject, is even higher on the roof. As early as the book "Philosophy of History", Mou used the concepts of "Yuanjiao" and "Yuanjing" to model and clarify Mencius's moral and spiritual subjects, which is called "Fu Sheng, the humanity of the people, the Yuanjiao solidifying its sect." And it is not difficult to be confused and realize this circle. The circle realm is both enlightened, empty and empty, and said that there is nothing, which is also a very easy association." [11] The entire "Mind Body and Sexual Body" can be said to be about the Confucian Yuanjiao, and the "Theory of Yuanshan" pushes the Confucian Yuanjiao to the zongji: "The Yuanjiao all kinds of sayings, the nifu has the truth." It's just that the Confucian Yuanjiao is different from the Buddhist Tao, nor is it the Tendai Sect's way of "strange harmony". It begins with moral consciousness, which is a "free and infinite mind," or "intuition of the intellect." Mou Zongsan calls this Confucian approach "the vertical and vertical discourse of moral creation", that is, "the circle must be established through the omnipresence and creativity of the benevolent body". The Confucian term Yuanjiao is also a teaching because its moral practice "can enlighten people's reason, so that people can act according to the orders of reason to reach the highest ideal state". [12] Similarly, Taoism is a system of Yuanjiao, "which also has the rational realm of Yuanjiao". [13] Compared with the Three Schools of Confucianism and Taoism of Chinese philosophy, Western philosophy does not have such a yuanjiao character, and its mainstream thinking is to take the "way of decomposition", whether it is Anglo-American empirical realism or German-style transcendental idealism. Therefore, Mou Zongsan, in the Fourteen Lectures on the Meeting of Chinese and Western Philosophy, even believes that Anglo-American philosophy has not yet "touched on real philosophical problems" and therefore has "no positive contribution" to philosophy. Behind this shocking judgment is the Yuanjiao theory. According to the Yuanjiao line of thought, in Mou's Protestant judgment, Western philosophy was rightfully beaten into eighteen layers of hell, while Chinese philosophy once again stood in the clouds of the Nine Heavens. This sentence, which is contrary to the theory of the times, comes in a big reversal of one hundred and eighty degrees.

2. The proof of goodness

The interpretation of yuanjiao is to show the intuition of wisdom and prove that the intuition of wisdom is possible; and the establishment of wisdom intuition lays the foundation for explaining yuanshan, so the problem of yuanjiao and yuanshan is closely linked. Mou Zongsan said:

The supreme goodness and the circle religion correspond. If you want to solemnly face up to and discuss the concept of "Yuanshan", and then concretely present this problem and make it meaningful, then only through the concept of Yuanjiao can it be suddenly enlightened. If you really understand the concept of "Yuanjiao", the concept of "Yuanshan" will naturally appear in front of your eyes. ［14］

If the Yuanjiao only affirms the intuition of wisdom from theory, then the actual presentation of the intuition of wisdom must be implemented on the issue of yuanshan.

The so-called "round goodness" is the perfect goodness, also known as the highest goodness, which is Mou Zongsan's borrowing and transformation of the concept of the "supreme good" in Kant's philosophy. In his Critique of Practical Reason, in order to resolve the tension between morality and happiness, Kant proposed that the ultimate object of practical reason is the "supreme good", that is, "the unconditional totality of the pure practical rational object", the total goodness. The "supreme good" is the perfect union of morality and happiness, and one can attain the supreme good only after "combining virtue with happiness." [15] Kant simultaneously proposed three postulates: freedom of will, immortality of the soul, and the existence of God, the latter two of which were prerequisites for the attainment of the "supreme good." Mou Zongsan believes that Kant only raised the problem and did not solve the problem, because God's guarantee and virtue itself are not harmonious, but a divergent relationship. According to the Tendai judgment, Kant's solution is not a solution in the Yuan sect, but a solution in other religions. Because teaching is not a circle religion, the possibility of goodness is not a true possibility, but a false possibility." [16] He argues that Kant's conception of God has become realized (objectified), materialized, and personified, and that the slippage of the "three transformations" makes the guarantee of God an illusion. Thus, "the concept of God in the personality of God is the imaginary composer of intellect and reason through various slips" has no practical significance for solving the problem of the good.

Rejecting Kant's postulate, Mou zongsan argues that the only starting point for the problem of goodness is the "intuition of the intellect", that is, the original mind (free infinite mind or infinite intellectual mind). Thus, apart from the path of individuation (authenticity, objectification), and personification of transcendent ideas, and in the return to the infinite mind to illustrate the basis of the possibility of goodness, this will be the only necessary path left. This path is the path of the Circle Religion. This is sufficient only in terms of practical reason." [17] Practical reason here means that the possibility of goodness lies only in man himself, not in the outer God; it appears only between the daily uses of life, and does not rely on intellectual analysis to assume. Round goodness is the ultimate achievement of the moral heart, and if there is a moral heart, there will be the emergence of the circle of goodness, so after the moral subject is established, the problem of the circle of goodness will be solved. Mou Zongsan said:

If morality is not an empty idea, but a real manifestation, a real thing, it must be recognized as a moral instinct that can issue definite commands. This moral instinct is not merely a quasi-recognition, but it is itself a manifestation, and it can really be presented in human beings. The instinct of the mind appears, the intuition of the intellect arises, and thus the metaphysics of morality is possible. ［18］

At this point, both yuanjiao and yuanshan are ultimately reduced to a question of moral essence, which is naturally connected with the traditional psychology. Although mu refers to the "infinite mind" and the three schools of Confucianism and Taoism, there is a complete difference between Confucianism and Taoism. The Taoist "Xuanzhi" and "Daoist Mind" start from the consciousness of "nothingness", and the consummation achieved is only the perfection of the realm form and has nothing to do with moral consciousness. The Buddhist "Prajnaparamita" (self-grounded horizontally) and "Rulai Tibetan self-pure mind" (indirectly vertically) are introduced by "karmic consciousness" and have nothing to do with moral creation. Therefore, when it comes to the question of morality, it must ultimately come down to Confucianism.

Here, we begin to clearly see the true essence of Mou Zongsan's philosophy of "New Land King". Kant's desire to practice reason for the "supreme good" only provided him with a path of ideological enlightenment and modern discourse, and the grand and mellow doctrine of the Tendai Sect could only open up space and lay the groundwork for deepening Confucian propositions, and its ultimate theoretical interest was still Confucian moral idealism. This moral idealism is based on the Confucianism of the Heart, and is carried forward by Mencius and Lu Wang, and Xiong Shili, and it is this tradition that Mou Zongsan interprets, deepens, and gives it a modern new meaning. In three chapters, nearly half of the book, the "Treatise on The Circle of Goodness" explains in detail, word by word, the two parts of the < Confession>, and < dedication >, focusing on the meanings of "sexual goodness", "conscience and conscience", "dedication", and "knowing the destiny of heaven and heaven", and interpreting the Mengxue of "opening the cross and making no hidden" in the form of Chinese and Western references. At the same time, following the new simplification of the Song Ming Confucian faction in "Mind Body and Sexual Body", emphasis is placed on the righteousness of Xiangshan and Yangming systems, especially Wang Longxi's "four noes" sentence: "The heartless heart is hidden, the unintentional meaning should be round, the ignorant knowledge is silent, and the nothing is used by God." Mou Zongsan believes that at this point, the Confucian spirit of Yuanjiao is beyond measure, "the microscopic use of the body is only an opportunity, and the knowledge of the mind is only one thing" ("Tianquan Sermon"), "this side is the real Yuanshi teaching", "so far it can be described as extreme". [19] As far as the concept of the "original mind" is concerned, Mou also directly inherited the ideas of Master Xiong Shili. Xiong's saying: "Learning is interesting, only in the restoration of its original heart." [20] His view of the body also ends with "that is, the manifestation of the mind", and regards the "breaking of the momentum" representing the mind as the active and ascending party, which is actually the master of man's moral spirit (GangZai). The difference is that in order to emphasize the complexity of the ontology, Xiong Shili also talks about "building together" and "having the same mind and matter", etc., showing a certain dualistic tendency. In particular, in his later years, he focused on giving full play to the endless, robust and promising ideas of "Zhou Yi", and the biochemical theory of the universe of his system became increasingly colorful, such as the "manifestation of the original and hidden" of "Yuan Confucianism". These were all disliked by Mou Zongsan, and even criticized. However, on the whole, Xiong and Mu both belong to the "New Land King" family, and this large ideological flow is still clear. Therefore, the final rationale for Mou Zongsan's discussion of the question of Yuanshan is still mental Confucianism, especially the ideas of Wang Yangming and his descendants, which has not changed in the slightest by his great talk of Kant and Tendai Buddhism.

According to the line of thought of Mou Zongsan's moral metaphysics, the round goodness is only an inevitable manifestation of the infinite original mind, and it must not be separated from the original mind to speak of the yuan-goodness. Because the original mind covers everything, "moisturizes everything, adjusts everything", any moral practice is associated with the original mind, any possibility of goodness is based on the original mind, and this fundamental meaning of the original mind (infinite intellectual mind) is its "omnipresence of existentialism". The reason why this pervasiveness is existential is that the infinite mind is therefore the basis of all things. Wang Yangming said according to this meaning, 'Having a heart is real, and not having a heart is an illusion'. This means that if there is this infinite luster of the mind, then everything is real; without the run of this mind, everything is illusory." [21] The good is possible and true, and for a reason. In this way, the original mind actually replaces the role of "God" in Kant's moral philosophy and becomes another guarantee of "supreme goodness.". Mou Zongsan also clearly stated that he "replaced God with an infinite intellectual mind", but the original mind is not objectified and personified like God, but is embodied in man himself. He said:

The infinite mind can be implemented and embodied by man, and as far as the circle pole is embodied, it is a circle saint. In the realm of the Circle of Divine Principles, the essence of reality is fully realized: we can determine our heavenly principles according to their self-discipline, and we can make all things (nature) exist according to their creation and omnipotence. Therefore, the true meaning of the unity of Defu can also be seen: the Yuansheng is based on the self-discipline of the infinite intellectual mind, the heavenly reason is virtue, and the infinite intellectual mind is nourished and biological in the divine sense of God, so that the existence of the object rotates with the heart, which is the blessing. The two are 'homogeneous', that is, the circle of goodness. ［22］

At this point, the goodness has become not only possible, but also a real possibility, and the contradiction between virtue and happiness has been fundamentally resolved.

Third, the analysis and criticism of the theory of the circle of goodness

Mou Zongsan's theory of the Circle of Goodness is undoubtedly a highly abstract moral metaphysics, and its pure speculative form fills almost any ethical question, but at the same time it removes all the concreteness and reality of these problems. Compared with Kant's "practical reason", Mou Zongsan's "infinite intellectual mind" obviously has greater inclusiveness, and its scope is much broader. In Kant's philosophical system, although practical reason is higher than theoretical reason and occupies a certain priority, the distinction between the two kinds of reason is still very clear, and practical reason mainly refers to the norms of human behavior and explores how to realize what is needed for man's free will. Mou Zongsan's "infinite mind" is an all-encompassing encyclopedia that encompasses all the possibilities of existence and belongs to the highest ontological category. It is both a moral entity, from which it opens up the moral realm; it is also a metaphysical entity that opens up the realm of existence (the existence theory of non-attachment); and at the same time it "sinks" into a cognitive subject and opens up intellectuality (the existence theory of attachment). In Kant's view, the principles governing the natural world and the principles governing the moral world are completely different, and the concepts of purpose and value apply only to the moral world, and have nothing to do with the natural world, and the world of knowledge is subordinate to the world of will, and the natural world acquires meaning because of the moral world. Although Kant also tried to reconcile the two from a teleological point of view, seeking some kind of completeness and unity, it was not successful, and these tasks were done by Fichte and others. In fact, the inclusiveness of Mou Zongsan's "infinite intellectual mind" has long transcended these boundaries, and the heavenly path and humanity are one and the same, and there is no dilemma of the rare unity of the natural world and the moral world. Therefore, the problems of "two rationalities" and "two realms" of the Kant system may not necessarily constitute the core of a debate for Mou Zongsan's system. In this difference, we cannot simply regard the Theory of the Circle of Goodness as a simple ethical problem or a problem of the paradigm of practical reason; still less can we judge that the book "TheOry of the Circle of Goodness" is only Mou's "critique of practical reason" because of its superficial correspondence and imitation. For the circle of goodness is the highest manifestation of ontology, the whole, not the part; it belongs more to the philosophical ontology than to the narrow moral practice.

For this reason, the question we are concerned with is not whether Mou Zongsan has satisfactorily solved the problem faced by Kant's "Second Critique"; but the utility of Mou's painstaking response, that is, whether he has actually found the interface between Chinese and Western philosophical dialogue and communication in terms of moral doctrine, and whether he has provoked new moral wisdom for contemporary Chinese philosophy (or the modern transformation of traditional Chinese philosophy) in the process of comparison and identification.

As A. MacIntyre put it: "As a historical fact, the morality of the 18th century was indeed preconditioned by some teleological system of God, liberty, and happiness." [23] On the one hand, Kant criticized the empiricist theory of happiness, opposed the principle of individual happiness as the motive of the will, and emphasized that morality is not limited to happiness; on the other hand, he affirmed that the pursuit of happiness is human nature, and that the virtuous must be blessed. On the one hand, it rejects the "command of God" and boldly rejects the moral and ethical views of Christian theology; on the other hand, it reserves territory for God's authority in three public designs. The opposition to the traditional, sensual view of happiness, against the religious ethic of begging for God, is to strengthen the power of reason and to show the characteristics of the 18th-century era of rationalism; and the preservation and compromise of its parts are the condiments that have to be added to the argument of moral rationality. What Macintyer called "the movement that provides reasonable proofs of morality" had three structural elements: an uneducated human nature (sexual evil), a teleology of transformation into good, and a guarantee of moral discipline (normative ethics). Kant, Hume, Diderot, "all these thinkers joined in the campaign to construct morally valid arguments, that is, to draw authoritative conclusions about moral rules and precepts from the premise of human nature as they understood them." [24] However, from the perspective of the history of Western ethics, this movement has been a complete failure, and has long been ruthlessly left behind by history, followed by the main wave of utilitarian morality in the 19th century and the emotional ethics of irrationalism in the 20th century. Regrettably, in Mou Zongsan's Xizhe frame of reference, we do not see the panorama of the problem, and consciously or unconsciously, he blocks these clues to historical developments and the contexts that can provide effective understanding. Merely emphasizing the collective significance of Kant's philosophy, it seems that Kant has exhausted all the metaphysical problems of Western philosophy, including the question of moral substance. While Kant's philosophy is an incomparably important pivot, for the present day it is a hub of divergence, not a pivot of finality. The problem that Kant is trying to solve has undoubtedly been surpassed by the times in part, and it is difficult to make a clear and accurate account of its significance without facing up to the problem of its subsequent development and the problem of being surpassed by history. It is difficult to be convincing that Mou Zongsan made the digestion of Kant's philosophy the only possible option, and thus drew some universal judgments on the question of moral values.

Mou Zongsan's almost arbitrary condensed simplification of Western moral doctrine also lurks a great danger, that is, it is not easy for us to see the flaws of rationalism, and to ignore the profound reflection and forceful criticism of the shortcomings of Kant's moral philosophy in the past two centuries, so that some blind spots appear under haste to cover up the problems of Chinese philosophy itself, thus losing the great opportunity to learn from the mirror of Western philosophy.

In fact, the rationalism on which the "movement of justification for morality" is based has from the outset some inextricable constraints: rationalism emerged as the antithesis of divinism, emphasizing human dignity and emphasizing the self-consciousness of the individual (the self-discipline of moral pursuits), which is the biggest feature that distinguishes it from traditional religious ethics; and these coincide with the authoritative conclusions on moral rules and moral precepts. Kant's proof of the absoluteness of the laws of practice and moral law is that he had to turn back to God. In addition, the trend toward moral secularization caused by the Enlightenment led to scoff at any expression of moral judgment in the form of divine law. The absoluteness and supreme dignity of morality have actually been broken with the rise of enlightenment ideas and the fading of the monopoly of religious ethics. The efforts of rationalist masters such as Kant can only postpone the lamentations of moral idealism, and the maintenance of metaphysical concepts such as "supreme goodness" is already left and right, and it is too poor to cope. As early as 1842, Kierkegaard, the forerunner of existential philosophy, published what McIntyre called "the epitaph of proof of moral rationality", "Either-Or", which launched the first attack on the moral philosophy of the rationalist era. Around the same time, Schopenhauer also wrote The Foundations of Morality, the main part of which was used to criticize Kant's Critique of Practical Reason. Schopenhauer mercilessly mocked Kant's basic concepts of "duty," "responsibility," and "conscience," arguing that these were "nothing more than theological morals in disguise," that "there was no reliable basis," that "moral preaching was frank, morally upright, and chattering," and so on. He wrote sarcastically: "What we see is a patchwork of incomprehensible concepts; rules invented for an end; formulas that maintain balance on the tip of a needle; and exaggerated and contrived grammars from which all the turmoil and chaos of actual life can no longer be seen." [25] Following in Schopenhauer's footsteps, Nietzsche made a harsher critique of Kant's moral philosophy, completely subverting the ideological basis of rationalist ethics. In On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche takes down the veil of moral idealism:

In this realm of duties and rights began to emerge a number of moral concepts, such as "guilt", "conscience", "duty", "sacredness of obligation", etc., and their germination, like the germination of all the great things on earth, was basically watered with blood for a long time. ...... Even Kant Sr. was no exception, and his "absolute command" smelled of cruelty. ［26］

Nietzsche's voluntarist philosophy ushered in the era of irrationalism, and his individual emotional ethics became one of the main themes of ethics throughout the 20th century, "Weber and Nietzsche provide us with a key theoretical link to the contemporary social order." [27] In addition to Nietzsche, British utilitarianism, represented by Bentham, and Marx's materialist view of history undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to Kant's moral philosophy. All this introspection, criticism and blowing, and even subversion, has already brought the ethical questions of Kant's thinking into the context of modern reflection, and constantly derived new questions and discourses. In contemporary times, just talking about Kant about Kant can only be regarded as a work of philosophical history, and it is really difficult to receive a supplementary effect on the creation of moral philosophy and the construction of ethics at present.

Mou Zongsan's interpretation and digestion of Kant's moral doctrine aims to absorb a reference resource for the reconstruction of Confucian moral metaphysics, and to seek a way into the contemporary ethical situation, thus resurrecting the traditional Confucian moral ideal. But we see that Mou's efforts, far from avoiding Kant's shortcomings, deliberately exaggerate and aggravate these aspects, such as the arbitrariness of the definite law, the extremely abstract fantasies, and the mysterious moral destiny. As Schopenhauer described it when he criticized Fichte, the system became "an ethics as a magnifying glass of Kant's moral errors." [28] As a result, the lack of rationalism was not overcome, and even the problem slipped away. This makes it impossible for us to deeply reflect on the real situation of Confucian moral idealism, and the mirror and reference significance of Kant's philosophy has also diminished sharply. More importantly, Mou Zongsan's theory of the Circle of Goodness purifies Kant's "rational animals" and degenerates into a kind of conceptual purification operation, without historical reality, without the current situation, leaving only a large number of abstract concepts of the game and "slippage". In this way, the more elaborate the system architecture, the more likely it is to be far away from reality, and how far away is there between the concept of "the highest good" and "the pole of man" and the moral situation of contemporary Chinese? And what kind of connection can there be? Isn't that clearer! Since May Fourth, traditions have collapsed, Taoism has been lost, and Confucian ethics centered on the Ancient Precepts of the Three Principles and Five Constants and the Tianli-Human Desire Model have also suffered a devastating blow. The old moral system collapsed, and new ideas and ideas poured in like a tide, which made people dizzy and had no time to give. To this day, Chinese ethics are still drifting, in a new process of exploration and reinvention; the theoretical challenges posed by the real crisis remain the same, and we are still faced with a variety of choices. McIntyre calls for the end of the age of irrationality, revealing the "Nietzsche or Aristotle" policy, and we are faced with a much more complex situation and a much more difficult choice. But no matter what kind of exploration is made, the actual situation will eventually be the basis of theoretical concern, completely returning to the world of ideas, using mysticism to presuppose the fate of a rich and changeable moral life, and in any case, it will not open up a new world, which is the enlightenment given to us by Mou Zongsan's theory of yuanshan from the opposite side.

exegesis:

[1] See Buddhist Buddhism in China (IV), ed. Buddhist Association of China, 298 pp., Shanghai: Knowledge Press, 1989. In addition, when Tang Yongtong discusses the "Origin of the Gradual Separation" in the sixteenth chapter of Tang Yongtong's "History of Buddhism in the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Han and Wei Dynasties", he also analyzes the "three yanas of position" and the "great epiphany" of Zhu Daosheng. The "Great Epiphany" is obviously different from the so-called "Dun" meaning of the current flow, but is close to the Yuanjiao that illuminates everything.

[2] Zhi Yan: The Four Teachings, Vol. 1.

[3] This is not an overall criterion for the purposes of teaching and judgment alone. The different ways in which modern Neo-Confucian philosophers have absorbed Buddhism, and the particular preferences in the process of taking it as food, are indeed a question that can be explored and interesting. See the relevant discussions in Chapters 1-1, 2-1, and 5.3 of this book.

[4] Mou Zongsan: Mind Body and Sexual Body (I), 640 pp., Taipei: Zhengzhong Bookstore, 1968.

[5] Above, see Buddha-nature and Prajnaparamita (vol. 2), pp. 645-647, Taiwan Student Bookstore, 1977.

[6] Mou Zongsan: Buddha-nature and Prajnaparamita (vol. 1), p. 79.

[7] Mou Zongsan, The Intuition of Wisdom and Chinese Philosophy, 322 pp., Taiwan Commercial Press, 1971.

[8] Mou Zongsan, "Moral Idealism: Preface to the Revised Edition", Taiwan Student Bookstore, 1978.

[9] Mou Zongsan: "Phenomena and Objects Themselves: Preamble", Taiwan Student Bookstore, 1975.

[10] The Intuition of Wisdom and Chinese Philosophy, p. 325.

[11] Mou Zongsan: Philosophy of History, Revised Edition, 116 pp., Taiwan Student Bookstore, 1984.

[12] Mou Zongsan: On The Yuanshan, 306 pp., Taiwan Student Bookstore, 1985.

[13] For the Taoist Conception of Yuanjiao, see the following documents: The Intuition of Wisdom and Chinese Philosophy, No. 19, "The Intuition of Wisdom in Taoism and Buddhism" (pp. 203-211), Chapter 7-11, "The Taoist Theory of Non-Attachment Existence" (pp. 430-435), Chapter 6-4 of the Treatise on the Yuanshan, "The Yuanjiao and the Yuanshanism of the Taoists" (pp. 280-305), and Lecture VI of the Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy, "The Character of the Metaphysical System: A Longitudinal and Horizontal Lecture" (pp. 111-126).

[14] Mou Zongsan, Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy, 370 pp., Taiwan Student Bookstore, 1983.

[15] Kant, Critique of Practical Reason (translated by Guan Wenyun), 113 pp., Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1960.

[16] Preface to the Treatise on the Circle of Goodness.

[17] The Theory of The Circle of Goodness, p. 255.

[18] The Intuition of Wisdom and Chinese Philosophy, p. 346.

[19] The Theory of The Circle of Goodness, p. 323.

[20] Xiong Shili: The New Theory of Knowledge (Abridged Edition), 1953 self-printed edition, vol. 21.

[21] [22] The Theory of The Circle of Goodness, pp. 307, 333.

[23] [24] McIntyre: After Virtue (translated by Gong Qun et al.), pp. 72, 67, China Social Sciences Press, 1995.

[25] Schopenhauer, Two Fundamental Questions of Ethics (translated by Ren Li et al.), 209 pp., Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1996.

[26] Nietzsche: On the Genealogy of Morality (translated by Zhou Hong), 45 pp., Beijing: Sanlian Bookstore, 1992.

[27] After Virtue, p. 144.

[28] Two Fundamental Questions of Ethics, p. 204.