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50-566: Nearly all of the representatives of the kaozheng movement were Ming loyalists, refusing to accept offers of government positions from the Qing dynasty. The Kaozheng school began in the late Ming, criticizing the subjectivism of Yangmingism . After the fall of the Ming, kaozheng scholars blamed this subjectivism for the collapse of the state and thus called for practical study of objective realities to replace subjectivism, directly leading to critical studies of

100-482: A Classical Confucian who became the focus of later interpretation, that unified knowledge with action. Their rival school, the School of Principle ( Li ) treated gaining knowledge as a kind of preparation or cultivation that, when completed, could guide action. Out of Cheng-Zhu's Neo-Confucianism that was mainstream at the time, Wang Yangming developed the idea of innate knowing , arguing that every person knows from birth

150-470: A eunuch. Wang earned the juren degree in 1492 and the jinshi degree in 1499. He later served as an executive assistant in various government departments until banishment for offending a eunuch in 1506. However, his professional career resumed when he became the Governor of Jiangxi . Wang became a successful general and was known for the strict discipline he imposed on his troops. In 1517 and 1518, he

200-557: A major opponent to the Cheng-Zhu's Rationalistic School. Though Yangming had lost his faith in the imperial examination, he still signed up for the exam for the sake of his father. He passed the exam and was later assigned to work in the construction department in the central government. In 1506, Yangming was caught in political conflicts, and soon was demoted to Guizhou , the most deserted place in China at that time. Yangming soon recovered from

250-435: A way. This means that one must conduct appropriate behaviors under certain circumstances. For instance, everyone knows they should care about their families' wellbeing. But if one only asks whether his families are feeling good or bad and does nothing when he receives the answer "feeling bad", this cannot count as the ultimate consciousness. Only does one actually do things to take care of his families can be considered as knowing

300-480: Is evil. 'Pure knowing' is knowing good and knowing evil. 'Getting a handle on things' is to do good and eliminate evil." Yangming regards education as the most efficient way to inspire people to find the Supreme Principle in their minds; it means that not only do education institutions need to teach students academic knowledge, but they also need to teach students moral and ethical principles. He again emphasized

350-717: Is known in Japanese as "Yōmeigakusha" (Japanese: 陽明学者 ) came from Wang Yangming's school ( Ōyōmei-gaku ) in history, including Kumazawa Banzan , Saigō Takamori , Takasugi Shinsaku and Nakae Tōju . Toju Nakae is regarded as the founder of Japanese Ōyōmei-gaku . Chiang Kai-shek named a national attraction in Taiwan , Yangmingshan , after Wang; and a road in Nanchang is also named Yangming Road after Wang by Chiang-influenced local officials. Additionally, National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan

400-503: Is no good or bad exist in both the world and people's minds. He also argued that 知行合一, the unity of inner knowledge and actions had made people can no longer separate theories and actual matter apart. 陽明學 , or ようめいがく , is the branch of Yangmingism in Japan. Yangmingism was spread to Japan in the later periods of the Ming Dynasty by a traveling Japanese monk. From 1568 to 1603, Yangmingism

450-530: Is one of the major philosophical schools of Neo-Confucianism , based on the ideas of the idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher Wang Shouren (whose pseudonym was Yangming Zi and thus is often referred as Wang Yangming ). Throughout the whole Yuan dynasty , as well as in the beginning of the Ming dynasty , the magistral philosophy in China was the Rationalistic School, another Neo-Confucianism school emphasizing

500-510: Is rebellious against both the traditional and the Neo-Confucianism. Chinese historian and philosopher, Wang Fuzhi , criticized that Yangming is more of a Buddhism follower than a Neo-Confucianism philosopher. Yangming's excessive concentration on minds had made his teaching contain a negative attitude coming from his early education in Buddhism . Fuzhi didn't agree with Yangming that there

550-433: Is the proper action, but still fail to act. Wang rejected both of these which allowed him to develop his philosophy of action. Wang believed that only through spontaneous action could one gain knowledge and denied all other ways of gaining it. To him, there was no way to use knowledge after gaining it because he believed that knowledge and action were unified as one. Any knowledge that had been gained then put into action

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600-558: The Lixue school sometimes called the Cheng-Zhu school after its leading philosophers, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi . Yangming's philosophy was inherited and spread by his disciples. Eventually, Yangmingism overtook the dominance of the Cheng-Zhu School and started to have followers outside China. Yangmingism became an influence on the incipient anti-foreigner movement in 19th century Japan. In

650-878: The imperial examination in 1481, thus he had been expecting his children to inherit his knowledge and start their career by participating in the imperial examination. When Yangming was 12 years old, Yangming's father sent him to a private school to prepare for the exam. At the age of eighteen, Yangming had a talk with Lou Liang  [ zh ] , who was one of the representative figures of Cheng-Zhu School at that time. Lou's teachings had significantly enhanced Yangming's interest in Cheng-Zhu School . After their conversations, Yangming managed to read through all of Zhu ’s work, reflecting on Cheng-Zhu School ’s principle that “to acquire knowledge one must study things” ( 格物致知 ). To practice this principle, Yangming spent seven days doing nothing except staring at, or so to say, studying

700-678: The 20th century, Japanese author and nationalist Yukio Mishima examined Yangmingism as an integral part of the ideologies behind the Meiji Restoration as well as further samurai resistance, in particular the Shinpūren rebellion . Some have described it as influential as the Cultural Revolution for its idea of internal transformation. In 1472, Yangming was born in a rich household in Yuyao , Zhejiang . Yangming's father ranked first place in

750-502: The Confucian source texts for their original meanings. Some of the most important first generation of Qing thinkers were Ming loyalists, at least in their hearts, including Gu Yanwu , Huang Zongxi , and Fang Yizhi . Partly in reaction to the presumed laxity and excess of the late Ming, they turned to kaozheng , or evidential learning, which emphasized careful textual study and critical thinking. The kaozheng movement has been compared to

800-544: The European phenomena of Historism , Enlightenment , or Biblical criticism , seeking reform and deconstruction of royal-centric and optimistic narratives by "returning to the sources" through source criticism. The kaozheng movement was also closely linked to the Han learning movement which sought to reject Neo-Confucianism for the Han dynasty commentarial tradition. The kaozheng movement

850-646: The Mind. In China, Japan, and Western countries, he is known by his honorific name rather than his private name. Wang was born in Yuyao , Zhejiang Province , to a scholarly family with a tradition of bureaucratic service. His father, Wang Hua, was first ( Zhuangyuan , 狀元) in the Imperial Examination of 1481, and rose to become the vice-minister of the Ministry of Rites , but was later demoted and subsequently expelled from government service for having offended Liu Jin ,

900-696: The North could not ignore its basic philosophical claims. The Yangmingist belief that all men were equally capable of moral behaviour led them to advocate the formation of jiangxue study communities and that participating in the state was not necessary, which in turn led to rise of the Donglin movement . Northern literati, more dependent on governmental routes to success than their Southern counterparts, were less receptive to Yangmingism. Yangming inherits Lu Jiuyuan 's idea that everything one needs can be found in one's heart, opposing to Cheng-Zhu 's idea that one must learn from

950-448: The Prince of Ning was defeated and captured. In this campaign, Wang also made one of the earliest references to using the fo-lang-ji in battle, a breech loading culverin cannon imported from the newly arrived Portuguese venturers to China. As governor of Jiangxi he also built schools, rehabilitated the rebels, and reconstructed what was lost by the enemy during the revolt. Though he

1000-426: The Supreme Principle used here is the sympathy for others. For those who doesn't feel bad for the child, they haven't learn the knowledge of sympathy yet, thus they cannot apply the knowledge in their actions. Similar ideas can be found in the western literature. In Demian , Hermann Hesse writes that "only the thoughts that we live out have any value." MIT 's motto "Mens et Manus," or "Mind and Hand," also reflect

1050-790: The ancient, original meanings of texts. The earliest use of kaozheng methods in Edo Japan was Keichū 's critical edition of the Man'yōshū . These methods were eventually used by the Kokugaku to argue that modern science was indigenous to Japan; they also contributed to the Kokugaku critique of Buddhism . Yangmingism School of the Heart ( Chinese : 心學 ; pinyin : xīn xué ), or Yangmingism ( Chinese : 陽明學 ; pinyin : yángmíng xué ; Japanese : 陽明学 , romanized :  yōmeigaku ),

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1100-471: The bamboos planted in the garden. Not surprisingly, not only did he not learn anything from the bamboos, but Yangming also fell seriously ill after sitting in the garden for seven days. Therefore, Yangming had given up on most of the Cheng-Zhu literature, as well as the idea of taking the imperial examination. Instead, he began to read texts written by other Chinese philosophers, and eventually narrowed his focus on Taoism and Lu Jiuyuan , whose work had been

1150-466: The child after all. This is the situation in which the supreme principle is covered by selfish desires. If one can remove all selfish desires from one's heart, then he would achieve the ultimate consciousness, which is the final purpose pursued by many Chinese philosophers throughout centuries. One thing worth noticing here is that, the ultimate consciousness is also in accordance with Cheng-Zhu 's "to acquire knowledge one must study things ( 格物致知 )" in

1200-494: The development of modern bushido (the "way of the warrior") in Japan, and promoted both ethics in their countries to strengthen the spirit of their respective peoples. The Japanese Admiral of the Russo-Japanese War , Tōgō Heihachirō , was influenced by Wang, and made a stamp which read, "One's whole life followed the example of Yangming" ( Japanese : 一生低首拜陽明 ). In Japan, many scholars and politicians (this group of people

1250-493: The difference between good and evil. Wang claimed that such knowledge is intuitive and not rational. These revolutionizing ideas of Wang Yangming would later inspire prominent Japanese thinkers like Motoori Norinaga , who argued that because of the Shinto deities, Japanese people alone had the intuitive ability to distinguish good and evil without complex rationalization. His school of thought ( Ōyōmei-gaku in Japanese, Ō stands for

1300-685: The dominant Confucian schools in the mid-late Ming period and Qing period China. The typical figures came from this school after Wang were Wang Ji ( 王龍溪 ), Qian Dehong ( 錢德洪 ), Wang Gen , Huang Zongxi , Li Zhuowu and Liu Zongzhou ( 劉宗周 ). Wang Gen formed Taizhou School ( 泰州學派 ), which went left of Wang Yangming's thought. During the late Ming period, Wang Yangming's thought became notably popular and influential in China. Wang's interpretation of Confucianism has been influential in China into modern times. The twentieth-century Chinese warlord Yan Xishan attempted to revive Confucianism in Shanxi largely on

1350-460: The external things. This was promoted with the adage "The Supreme Principle is Buried in One's Mind" (不离日用常行内，直到先天未画时). Yangming argues that there are countless matters existing in the world, we can never get to study all of, or even most of them. However, when we are interacting with the world, we are using our consciousness to look, smell, and hear what is all around us. Thus, we can find the existence of

1400-505: The fourth Prince of Ning. Given that the prince's base in Nanchang allowed him to sail down the Yangtze River and capture the southern capital of Nanjing , Wang actively prepared for battle to prevent that possibility, while engaging in deception to convince the prince that armies were moving to surround him. The prince, deceived by this, hesitated and gave time for Nanjing to be reinforced. Eventually, forced to engage governmental forces,

1450-468: The importance of combining the inner knowledge and actions as one. In 1528, one year before his death, Yangming summaries his philosophies into a doctrine called "the Four-Sentence Teaching ( 四句教 )". The original Chinese text is " 無善無惡心之體，有善有惡意之動；知善知惡是良知，為善去惡是格物 ". which can be translated as "The Substance of the mind lacks good and lacks evil. When intentions are formed there is good and there

1500-460: The importance of education. Notable figures include He Xinyin, Yan Shannong, and Wang Gen . Taizhou School became widespread because it focuses on the general public. Scholars in Taizhou School believe that even the most ordinary person has the possibility of accomplishing extraordinary achievements. Everyone is a potential saint, as the universal truth is buried their own mind. Taizhou School

1550-532: The importance of observational science built by Cheng Yi and especially Zhu Xi . Wang Yangming, on the other hand, developed his philosophy as the main intellectual opposition to the Cheng-Zhu School. Yangmingism is considered to be part of the School of Mind established by Lu Jiuyuan , upon whom Yangming drew inspirations. Yangming argued that one can learn the supreme principle (理, pinyin: Li) from their minds, objecting to Cheng and Zhu's belief that one can only seek

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1600-601: The late 20th-century scholar Yu Ying-shih has tried to demonstrate continuity between kaozheng and neo-Confucianism in order to provide a non-revolutionary basis for Chinese culture, Benjamin Elman has argued that kaozheng constituted "an empirical revolution" that broke with the stance of neo-Confucian combination of teleological considerations with scholarship. The methods of kaozheng were imported into Edo -era Japan as kōshō or kōshōgaku . This approach combined textual criticism and empiricism in an effort to find

1650-466: The mind's understanding of goodness, one can practice his type of meditation often called "tranquil repose" or "sitting still" (靜坐 jingzuo ). This is similar to the practice of Chan ( Zen ) meditation in Buddhism . Wang Yangming is regarded one of the greatest masters of Confucianism in history along with Confucius , Mencius and Zhu Xi ( 孔孟朱王 ). He founded " Yaojiang School " ( 姚江學派 ) or "Yangming School of Mind" ( 陽明心學 ), which became one of

1700-504: The model of Wang's philosophy. The teachings of Wang Yangming were credited with inspiring many Japanese reformers and revolutionaries during the nineteenth century. This led to a great increase in interest in his thought in Japan at the end of the Meiji period , when many Chinese activists such as Liang Qichao and Chiang Kai-shek were staying in Japan. Some Chinese and Korean thinkers believed that Wang Yangming's teachings strongly influenced

1750-519: The necessity of uniting knowledge and actions as one in the process of education. Yangming believed that in order to achieve something, one must set up a specific goal first. Notable figures in this genre include Nie Bao, Zou Shouyi , Xu Jie , and Zhang Juzheng . Zhezhong School emphasizes on inner virtues. Scholars in this school regard virtues and knowledge are the foundation of one's life, arguing that one should solely focus on learning instead of actively seeking fames or reputations. They emphasize

1800-405: The need to know first, only then can they do something in this area. This lead them to do nothing, as well as to know nothing." In other words, 知行合一 could be interpret as the consistency of one's Supreme Principle and his objective actions. In the example of a child falling into water well, the action is not trying to save the child, but "feeling bad for the child". And the knowledge, the part of

1850-423: The original kaozheng scholarship while adopting its critical methods. Towards the end of the Qing and in the early 20th century, reform scholars such Liang Qichao , Hu Shih and Gu Jiegang saw in kaozheng a step towards development of empirical mode of scholarship and science in China. Conversely, Carsun Chang and Xu Fuguan criticized kaozheng as intellectually sterile and politically dangerous. While

1900-525: The setback. While working on improving the living situations of people in Guizhou, Yangming developed his own philosophical principles, which were then called Yangminism, based on The Great Learning and Lu 's work. Yangmingism became hugely popular in Southern China, especially Jiangxi and Jiangnan (except Suzhou), but not Anhui and Fujian, and by the sixteenth century the Cheng-Zhu orthodox school even in

1950-512: The supreme principle in the objective world. Furthermore, Yangmingism posits a oneness of action and knowledge in relation to one's concepts of morality. This idea, "regard the inner knowledge and the exterior action as one" ( 知行合一 ) is the main tenet in Yangmingism. It is sometimes called the Lu-Wang school by people who wish to emphasize the influence of Lu Jiuyuan . Xinxue was seen as a rival to

2000-404: The supreme principle, so we can't practice the principle well in our daily lives. Yangming uses an example in his book to demonstrate his idea: if we see a child fall into water well, we can't help but feel bad for the child. The feeling of bad here is an embodiment of the inherent supreme principle in our minds. But, if the child happens to be the son of one's biggest enemy, he may not feel bad for

2050-467: The surname "Wang", yōmei stands for "Yangming", gaku stands for "school of learning") also greatly influenced the Japanese samurai ethic. Wang's rejection of the pure investigation of knowledge comes from the then traditional view of Chinese belief that once one gained knowledge, one had a duty to put that knowledge into action. This presupposed two possibilities: That one can have knowledge without/prior to corresponding action or that one can know what

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2100-464: The truth of the world, the supreme principles which have been guiding and teaching us through the ages. In his book, 傳習錄 , or Instructions for Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writings in English, Yangming writes that "there is nothing exists outside our minds, there is no supreme principle exists outside our hearts." However, the problem here is that we let all kinds of selfish desires cover up

2150-559: The ultimate consciousness. The unity of inner knowledge and action, or " 知行合一 ", is probably the most important and well-known concept in Yangmingism. Yangming explains this concept as "Nobody can separate the knowledge and the action apart. If one knows, one will act. If one knows but don't act, then he has never actually known it. If you can obtain both, when you know something, you are already doing it; when you are doing something, then you already know it." "Nowadays, many people treat knowledge and actions as two distinct things. They think

2200-407: The whole world in our minds. If we think deeper, we can even see the extensions of the world there. The recognition of extensions here doesn't mean that one can see the whole picture of Eiffel Tower even he has never been to Paris. What Yangming has been trying to prove is that, as we have a completed set of perceptions of the world in our minds, we have as well gotten a hold of the ultimate philosophy,

2250-454: Was a Chinese philosopher , general, politician, writer, and calligrapher during the Ming dynasty . After Zhu Xi , he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, for his interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Zhu Xi. Wang and Lu Xiangshan are regarded as the founders as the Lu–Wang school , or the School of

2300-714: Was at its preliminary stage in Japan. Later, when the Ming Dynasty ended, some of the Ming scholars fled to Japan and helped to develop Yangmingism there. In 1789, Yangmingism became an influential philosophy among the Japanese. Yangmingism had also played an essential role to Japan's Meiji Restoration . Wang Yangming Wang Shouren ( Chinese : 王守仁 , 26 October 1472 – 9 January 1529), courtesy name Bo'an ( Chinese : 伯安 ), art name Yangmingzi ( traditional Chinese : 陽明子 ; simplified Chinese : 阳明子 ), usually referred to as Wang Yangming ( traditional Chinese : 王陽明 ; simplified Chinese : 王阳明 ),

2350-503: Was centered around the Jiangnan area. Rather than regarding kaozheng as a local phenomenon around Jiangnan and Beijing , it has been proposed to view it as a general trend in development of Chinese scholarship in light of contribution of Cui Shu (1740–1816). The movement began to lose momentum in the late 18th-century, but not before triggering the rise of New Text Confucianism and the statecraft (經世 jingshi ) movements, which criticized

2400-443: Was considered delusion or false. He held that objects do not exist entirely apart from the mind because the mind shapes them. He believed that it is not the world that shapes the mind, but the mind that gives reason to the world. Therefore, the mind alone is the source of all reason. He understood this to be an inner light, an innate moral goodness and understanding of what is good. In order to eliminate selfish desires that cloud

2450-586: Was dispatched in response to petitions to suppress peasant revolts in Jiangxi , Fujian and Guangdong . Concerned with the destruction that came with war, he petitioned the court to allow amnesty , and successfully destroyed rebel military forces. In 1519 AD, while he was governor of Jiangxi province and on his way to suppress the revolts in Fujian , Wang was suddenly faced with the Prince of Ning rebellion , led by Zhu Chenhao

2500-625: Was made an earl, he was ostracized for opposing Zhu Xi . Thirty-eight years after his death, he was given the titles Marquis and Completion of Culture. In 1584 he was offered sacrifice in the Confucian Temple , the highest honour for a scholar. Wang was the leading figure in the Neo-Confucian School of heart , founded by Lu Jiuyuan (陸九淵, or Lu Xiangshan) of the Southern Song . This school championed an interpretation of Mencius ,

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