Wang Fuzhi on the Problem of Heaven and Human in the Religious Tradition of Confucianism
Although Wang Fuzhi is considered an important summarizer of Song–Ming Neo-Confucianism, his criticism of the traditional relationship between Heaven and human (<i>tian ren guan xi</i> 天人关系), especially the ensuing religious implications, has not been thoroughly examined. This essay aims...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/3/393 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Although Wang Fuzhi is considered an important summarizer of Song–Ming Neo-Confucianism, his criticism of the traditional relationship between Heaven and human (<i>tian ren guan xi</i> 天人关系), especially the ensuing religious implications, has not been thoroughly examined. This essay aims to illustrate his reconstruction of Confucianism’s Heaven–human relationship and its ideal this-worldly religious way of life. He believed that Confucianism’s theory of human nature was based on the vision of man and that it was wrong to establish a static theory of human nature with the perspective of Heaven. The Heaven–human relationship is similar to that between father and son, which is different in form and separate in essence (<i>xing yi zhi li</i> 形异质离) and can only be balanced in a dynamic relationship. In addition, he pointed out that the traditional static relationship would lead to hypocrisy and asserted that this tendency might destroy this-worldly life of Confucianism. He attempted to integrate the different degrees of understanding of the Heaven–human relationship into a holistic and historical way of life through the Confucian classics. This-worldly life is continually aware of its own ephemerality through the feeling of the Heaven–human relationship as well as the transmission of experience. The historical life of a particular this-worldly religion is thus established. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |