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Abstract
Despite the reputation Yang Zhu seemed to enjoy once upon a time, there is no warranted information or textual source regarding him or his teachings. However, this shadowy figure often appears in classical texts of different times and schools. While the limited textual evidence poses problems for reconstructing Yang Zhu’s theory, it does not restrain us from tracing the influence of this figure in the intellectual history. Taking the notion of the “world of classics” as a research tool, this paper traces the intertextual and diachronic images of Yang Zhu portrayed in different texts. One core feature shared by the various images is that Yang Zhu has always been a supporting figure that inspires discussions in the “world of classics.”
Notes
1 Yan Fu and Cai Yuanpei, for example, have argued that Yang Zhu is Zhuangzi. See Yan Fu, Yan Fu ji [The collected works of Yan Fu] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), vol. 4, 1125; Cai Yuanpei, Zhongguo lunlixue shi [A history of Chinese ethics] (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2005), 32.
2 A. C. Graham, Disputers of the Tao (La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1989), 53–64.
3 Gao Heng, “Yang Zhu xuepai” [Yangism] in Gushi bian [Debate on ancient history] (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian chubanshe, 1933), vol. 4, 578–592, quoting 587–588.
4 Kang Youwei, Mengzi wei [Subtleties of Mencius], in Kang Youwei quanji [Collected works of Kang Youwei] (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2007), 495.
5 Hu Shi, Zhongguo zhexueshi dagang [Outline of the history of Chinese philosophy] (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2014), 119.
6 Meng Wentong, “Yang Zhu xuepai kao” [Study of Yangism], Guxue zhen wei [Inspection of the subtleties of ancient learning] (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1987), 243–268.
7 See Chen Shaoming, “Shenme shi ‘jingdian shijie’?” [What is the ‘world of classics’?], Zhongguo zhexue nianjian [Chinese philosophical almanac] (Zhexue yanjiu zazhishe, 2017), 34–39.
8 See Chen Shaoming, “‘Kongzi e yu Chen Cai’ yihou” [After ‘Confucius’s hardship between Chen and Cai’], Zhongshan daxue xuebao, social sciences ed. 6 (2004): 147–154; “Lunyu waizhuan: Kongmen shi-di chuanshuo de sixiang shi kaocha” [Additional accounts of the Analects: An Investigation of the intellectual history of the legends of Confucius’s disciples], Zhongshan daxue xuebao (Social Science Edition) 2, (2009): 117–127
9 Qian Mu, Xian Qin zhuzi xinian [A chronology of pre-Qin thinkers] (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2005), 285.
10 There are two additional small narratives that involve Yang Zhu. One is that of the two concubines of an innkeeper (“The Mountain Tree” [Shan mu] chapter of the Zhuangzi) and the other is Yang Zhu weeping at a crossroads (“Hegemons” [Wang ba] chapter of the Xunzi). Neither contains content that helps depict the particular character of Yang Zhu’s thinking, so I do not discuss them here.
11 Carine Defoort gives focused analysis of the complex connotations of “benefit” (li) in “Bu li zhi li: Zaoqi Zhongguo wenben zhong ‘li’ de maodun ju” [The profit that does not profit: Paradoxes with lì in early Chinese texts], Wen Shi Zhe 2 (2012): 2, 5–16.
12 Translations from the Mozi are adapted from W. P. Mei, where available, via ctext.org.—Trans.
13 The author’s attention to this issue is influenced by Carine Defoort, “Heavy and Light Body Parts: The Weighing Metaphor in Early Chinese Dialogues,” in Zhao Baoyou, Gao Xiuchang, and Chen Daming, eds., Laozi yu Huaxia wenming chuancheng chuangxin: 2012 Zhongguo Luyi guoji Laozi wenhua luntan wenji [Laozi and the inheritance and innovation of Chinese civilization: Collected papers of the 2012 International Forum on Laozi’s Culture in Luyi, China] (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2013), 565–571.
14 Thought to refer to Qin Guli 禽滑釐, a disciple of Mozi.
15 Wu Yu, “Bian Mengzi pi Yang Mo zhi fei” [The falsity of Mencius’s refutation of Yang and Mo], Shu bao 4 (1910): 10–16.
16 He Aiguo’s Xiandaixing de bentu huixiang: Jindai Yang Mo sichao yanjiu [Local echoes of modernity: A study on the modern thought trends of Yang Zhu and Mozi] (Guangzhou: Shijie tushu chuban Guangdong youxian gongsi, 2015) gives a comprehensive discussion of this.
17 Liang Qichao, “Lao Kong Mo yihou xuepai gaiguan” [A summary view of schools of thought after Laozi, Confucius, and Mozi), in Liang Qichao lun zhuzi baijia [Liang Qichao on the hundred schools of thought] (Beijing: Shangwu Chubanshe, 2012), 332.