ABSTRACT
As has been shown, Neo-Confucianism is understood to be the mainstream thought through the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties; the two major schools were Cheng-Zhu li-xue (理學 learning of principle) and Lu-Wang xin-xue (心學 learning of mind-heart). In the last chapter we studied li-xue, in the present chapter we shall discuss xin-xue. Obviously the difference between the two schools does not lie in that the former emphasizes exclusively on principle, while the latter on mind-heart, as xin occupied a pivotal position in Zhu Xi’s philosophy, while li was also a central idea in Lu Jin-yuan’s thought. To be more precise, Cheng-Zhu’s position is that the mind comprises principles, while Lu-Wang’s position is that the mind is principle. Lu Jiu-yuan’s thought and Wang Yang-ming’s philosophy in particular will be discussed extensively in this chapter, followed by in-depth analysis of the thoughts of Wang Yang-ming’s disciples. When Zhu Xi died, his followers just concentrated their efforts on promoting the grand master’s teachings. But Wang Yang-ming not only taught different things in different areas and different periods of his life, but allowed his disciples to develop their own ideas. Therefore, after he died, his disciples gave very different interpretations of his thought, and were engaged in serious debates without reaching consensus. Eventually the conflicts of thought, meaningless empty talks, and unruly behaviors caused the downfall of the Neo-Confucianist movement. There was also a paradigm shift in the transitional period between the Ming and Qing dynasties.
