Yang Zhu in the Eyes of Kang Youwei

Abstact

Kang Youwei never conducted close philological research on texts related to Yang Zhu, nor was he interested in this figure for his own sake. In Kang’s core endeavor to establish Confucianism as a state religion or doctrine (guojiao), his portrayal of Yang Zhu gave a strong voice and lineage structure to the supposedly powerful opposition of Daoism to Confucianism and Mohism. Acting as Laozi’s main disciple, Yang became representative of his “non-humane” outlook, testified to Confucius’s chronological priority, and explained the absence of criticism of Laozi in the Mencius. His views on Yang Zhu were remarkably distinct and very influential at the verge of Chinese philosophy. They left a strong mark on Republican scholarship studying and reevaluating Yang Zhu.

Notes

1 Kang Youwei, “Qiyue chu san ye jiang yuanliu” [Discussion of origin and progression on the third night of the seventh month], Wanmucaotang jiangyi [Lectures in the Wanmu Cottage], in Jiang Yihua and Zhang Ronghua, eds., Kang Youwei quanji [Complete works of Kang Youwei] (Beijing: Zhongguo Renmin Daxue chubanshe, 2007), vol. 2, 279–303, quoting 283.

2 Kang, Wanmucaotang koushuo [Talks in the Wanmu Cottage], in Kang Youwei quanji, vol. 2, 131–208, quoting 178.

3 Kang, Wanmucaotang koushuo, 13.

4 Ibid., 144.

5 Kang, “Qiyue chu san ye jiang yuanliu,” 283.

6 Kang, Kongzi gaizhi kao juan wu [Investigation of Confucius as a reformer], vol. 5, in Kang Youwei quanji, vol. 3, 57–64, quoting 60–61.

7 Kang, Wanmucaotang koushuo, 207.

8 Ibid., 180.

9 Ibid., 179.

10 Kang, “Qiyue chu san ye jiang yuanliu,” 284.

11 Ibid., 167.

12 Ibid., 171.

13 Ibid., 176.

14 Kang, Mengzi wei [The subtleties of Mencius], in Kang Youwei quanji vol. 5, 409–505, quoting 493.

15 Ibid., 497–498.

16 Kang, Wanmucaotang koushuo, 207.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid., 179.

19 Kang, Mengzi wei, 494.

20 Kang, Wanmucaotang koushuo, 143.

21 Ibid., 142.

22 Ibid., 178.