In the second half of the 20th century, Mou Zongsan's "Chinese Philosophy" view

Li Shumin

In the first half of the 20th century, Mou Zongsan was mainly engaged in the study of logic and Kant's philosophy, and from the 1950s onwards, he began to compare and integrate Chinese and Western philosophies, and in line with the academic theory of "inner saint opening up the outer king", he tried to dredge the main artery of Chinese philosophy and culture and reconstruct the moral metaphysics of Chinese philosophy. In 1963, the book "Talent and Metaphysics" was published, aiming to examine the study of talent and metaphysics in the Wei and Jin dynasties, which was The first book by Mou Zongsan to dredge the main arteries of Chinese philosophy and culture; In 1966, the first volume of "Mind and Body" was published, aiming to dredge up The Confucianism of the Song Dynasty; From 1969 to 1973, two books were published, "The Intuition of Wisdom and Chinese Philosophy" and "Phenomena and Things Themselves", in which Mou Zongsan introduced and used Kant's theory of knowledge to establish his philosophical model of "inner saint and outer king". Mou Zongsan's dredging of the main arteries of Chinese philosophy and culture was carried out through the comparison and integration of Chinese and Western philosophies, and the construction of a new philosophical system from this period, and his view of "Chinese philosophy" in this period mainly included the following points:

　　Definition of "philosophy" and "Chinese philosophy"

　　Mou Zongsan defined "philosophy" from different angles. In terms of the relationship between philosophy and human practical activity, philosophy is the reflection of human activity and its rational ideas and the system they form, or the wisdom of practice, "Whatever is involved in the activities of human nature and explained by reason and ideas is philosophy" (1), "the explanation of this concept, the system of rational activity, we also call philosophy" (2); In terms of the relationship between philosophy and culture, philosophy is the center of culture and guides the direction of cultural development, "philosophy is a direction or wisdom that guides the development of culture from the perspective of culture"(3), "culture ... Shrink inward to the very core, when it's philosophy. Philosophy can do the idea of the leadership of the vast culture as the center of this complex" (4); In terms of the relationship between philosophy and religion, Mou Zongsan believes that in traditional Chinese philosophy, the ancient meaning of philosophy is "the theory of the highest goodness", that is, the so-called "teaching". In ancient Greek philosophy, the original meaning of philosophy was "love of wisdom", and "love of wisdom" is to yearn for the highest good, to be sincerely interested in it, to love it, to desire it, and to pursue it. Therefore, philosophy cannot be separated from the "highest good", which can also be called "the highest good" (5).

　　The definition of "Chinese philosophy" is closely linked to the question of the legitimacy of Chinese philosophy, which has been hotly discussed in the academic community. On this issue, Mou Zongsan started from the origin and introduction of the word "philosophy" and made a specific and comprehensive analysis of Chinese philosophy. He said: "It is okay to say that China does not have a 'Greek tradition' philosophy, a philosophy without a certain content form. To say that China has no philosophy is absurd" (6). From Mou Zongsan's arguments, we can see his objective and rational attitude towards Chinese philosophy and culture, as well as his deep feelings for Chinese philosophy and culture. Mou Zongsan did not blindly respect Western culture like the Westernizers, believing that Chinese culture had nothing, but adopted a more objective and rational academic attitude. He admitted that in the past, Chinese culture did not prescribe science and democratic politics, but to say that China did not have religion and philosophy was "hegemony and ignorance." From his own definition of "philosophy", he believes that China has philosophy, but it only takes different forms due to the differences in Chinese and Western nations and environments. It should be said that this is an objective way of speaking. He also believed that in today's world, the East and the West should respect each other and be equal to each other, so as to adjust, enrich, and nourish their respective cultural lives.

　　The scope and characteristics of Chinese philosophy

　　On the basis of defining the concept of Chinese philosophy, Mou Zongsan pointed out the scope and characteristics of Chinese philosophy. He said, "Chinese philosophy encompasses a wide range. In general, it is centered on the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism" (7). Before talking about the characteristics of Chinese philosophy, Mou Zongsan talked about the universality and particularity of philosophy. With regard to the universality of philosophy, he pointed out that "all philosophical truths are universal; Philosophy establishes a concept, a principle, usually universal" (8), regarding the particularity of philosophy, he pointed out, "China represents a cultural system, the West represents a cultural system, India also represents a cultural system" (9), "if you understand the particularity of culture, you can understand the particularity of philosophy" (10), "we must talk about both universality and particularity, not only one side".

　　On this basis, Mou Zongsan analyzed the characteristics of Chinese philosophy, pointing out: "Chinese philosophy attaches great importance to 'subjectivity' and 'inner morality'. The three main streams of Chinese thought, namely the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, all emphasize subjectivity, but only Confucianism... The provision of the repetition of subjectivity to the speciality ... That is, it becomes the subjectivity of morality," "it is centered on life, from which they begin their teachings, wisdom, learning, and practice." This "life" belongs to the idea of moral reason, to the question of practice, "the way of practice is mainly to express the ideal of the good in politics in the early stages ... The Holy King emphasizes the practice of ideals, and the process of practice is the activity of politics... So political success... It must begin with one's own introspective cultivation of virtue... The saints of China must be practiced by virtue in order to achieve the practice of political ideals."

　　In summary, in Mou Zongsan's view, Chinese philosophy takes life and virtue as the main research object, "subjectivity" and "inner morality" as the research focus, and moral practice as the research method. In other words, Chinese philosophy is a kind of life study that revolves around the life of human subjectivity through moral practice.

　　The values and shortcomings of Chinese philosophy

　　Mou Zongsan pointed out that the value of traditional Chinese philosophy lies in its humanism, and pointed out that humanism must continue the Confucian theory of the subject of moral practice if it is to develop. Western philosophy has epistemology, ontology, cosmology, and good logical speculation and structure, but there is no complete philosophy of life. "Chinese philosophy does not have a Western-style independent philosophy characterized by knowledge-centered, intellectually played, nor a Western-style god-centered religion of revelation. It is centered on 'life' and from which they unfold their teachings, wisdom, learning, and practice." Therefore, when talking about Chinese philosophy, we must first pay attention to the characteristics of its philosophy of life and the value orientation of humanism, "the development of more than two thousand years, the highest level of Chinese cultural life, is concentrated here." ...... There is no corresponding mind for the study centered on 'life', and certainly no understanding of Chinese philosophy. To take Western philosophy as the standard, to choose subjects and problems that are in line with Western philosophy in Chinese philosophy, it will be very disappointing, and it will be a great stupidity and the greatest disrespect."

　　At the same time, Mou Zongsan also pointed out the shortcomings of Chinese philosophy, that is, the emphasis on moral culture and the lack of intellectual culture, "In Chinese cultural life, only in the benevolent study of manifest virtue, the solid side has never only proposed wisdom and examination, and the other side has no concepts of formal conditions, and at the same time, there is no logical mathematics and science on the other side, and there is no epistemology in Western philosophy on the other." The lack of this link is actually a major regret in the development of Chinese cultural life. ”

　　The future direction of Chinese philosophy

　　Based on an analysis of the characteristics of Chinese philosophy, Mou Zongsan talked about the future of Chinese philosophy. He believes that the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, the center of Chinese philosophy, are all "the study of life", focusing on the direction of life, and the center of this "study of life" is "heart" and "sex", which can be called the study of heart nature. Mou Zongsan refuted the assertion of some Western scholars that Chinese philosophy had stagnated by the Han Dynasty, arguing: "The cultural life represented by the three religions in China for more than two thousand years before the end of the Ming Dynasty not only did not pause in the process of development, but also climaxed. From this, he deduced the future direction of Chinese philosophy: "(1) According to the traditional Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and taoism, the cultural life is in conflict with the Christian religion, and the 'learning of life' is resurrected." (2) Absorb Western science, philosophy and democratic politics and expand the field of intellectualism. From this point of view, regarding the future of Chinese philosophy, Mou Zongsan believes that it is necessary to continue to carry forward the study of his own "life" while absorbing the excellent achievements of Western philosophy. It should be said that he adhered to the fundamentals of Chinese philosophy, and at the same time saw the inadequacies of Chinese philosophy compared to Western philosophy, and it is clear that Mou Zongsan held a more objective attitude than that of Westernizers.

　　Objectively speaking, Mou Zongsan's study of Chinese philosophy has its own limitations of the times, such as exaggerating the power of the subject of conscience in the construction of his moral metaphysical system, and using the moral subject to open up the Intellectual Subject (science) and the political subject (democracy) of the West, which will affect the absorption of Western philosophy by Chinese philosophy to some extent; For example, in the comparison and integration of Chinese and Western philosophies, the position of cultural conservatism makes it adhere to the position of Chinese philosophy, oppose the "post-colonialism" mentality of Western philosophy to Chinese philosophy, and have to study Western philosophy in academic theory, resulting in the application of the framework of Western philosophy in the communication and integration of Chinese and Western philosophy. However, on the other hand, Mou Zongsan's definition of the concepts of "philosophy" and "Chinese philosophy" highlights the universality and particularity of philosophy in his answers to the question of the legitimacy of Chinese philosophy, and takes this as the basis to constitute a theoretical paradigm for the communication between Chinese and Western philosophies, and thus further points out the characteristics of Chinese philosophy, which undoubtedly greatly enriches the theoretical connotation of "Chinese philosophy" and also affects the study of Chinese philosophy by later generations such as later overseas neo-Confucians. In addition, Mou Zongsan constructed the moral metaphysics of Chinese philosophy through the convergence and integration of Chinese and Western philosophies on the basis of mental ontology, which not only greatly influenced later scholars, but also objectively provided a huge resource reference for the construction and development model of modern Chinese philosophy. Based on this, Mou Zongsan's research on Chinese philosophy surpassed his predecessors in depth and breadth, which undoubtedly made him one of the most important Chinese philosophers of the 20th century with modern significance.

　　(Author Affilications:Department of Politics, Xi'an Technological University; This paper is the research result of the 2011 President's Fund project of Xi'an Technological University, project number: XAGDXJJ1040)

　　【Notes】

　　(1) (2) (6) (7) Mou Zongsan: The Characteristics of Chinese Philosophy, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1997, pp. 4, 5, 1-2, 4-5, 6, 10-11, 6, 6-7, 91.

　　(3) (4) Mou Zongsan: "Fourteen Lectures of the Chinese Philosophical Society", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1997, pp. 2, 3.

　　(5) Mou Zongsan: "The Theory of Original Goodness", Preface, Taipei: Taiwan Student Bookstore, 1985.

　　(8) (9) (10) Mou Zongsan: Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2005, p. 2.

　　Mou Zongsan: Philosophy of History, Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2007, p. 163.