From “Beast” to “Philosopher of Rights”: On the Newly Shaped Modern Structure of Yangism

Abstract

This paper traces the opposite portrayals of Yang Zhu in the pre-imperial and post-imperial eras, both characterized as “warring states.” In the former, it was mostly negative and shaped by his opponents such as Mencius, Han Feizi, and Zhuangzi. From the late Qing dynasty onward and under the influence of Western learning, Yang Zhu’s image began to be questioned and turned very positive with the New Culture Movement. In the “fever of studying pre-Qin thinkers,” Yang Zhu came to represent freedom, democracy, and individualism, in opposition to the perceived exclusive Confucian dominance. The focus in the shift from the conventional interpretation to the modern one was concerns about the salvation and strengthening of the nation.

Notes

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5 Chen Li, Dongshu dushu ji [Notes in the East School] (Shanghai: Zhongxi shuju, 2012), 190.

6 Gao, “Xueshu yange zhi gailun.”

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8 Wu Yu, “Bian Mengzi pi Yang Mo zhi fei” [The falsity of Mencius’s refutation of Yang and Mo], in Wu Yu Ji [Collected works of Wu Yu] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2013), 356–360, quoting 357–359.

9 Gu Shi, Yang Zhu zhexue [Yang Zhu’s philosophy] (Changsha: Yuelu shushe, 2011), 5.

10 Li Yimin, “Rensheng weiyi zhi mudi” [The sole goal in life], Xin qingnian [New youth journal] 1, no. 2 (1915): 3.

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13 Chen Cisheng, Yang Zhu (Shanghai: Shanghai shangwu yinshuguan, 1930), 27–28.

14 Yang Daying, “Yang Zhu jiaoyi yu fuxing Zhongguo” [Yang Zhu’s doctrine and the renaissance of China], in Song Hongbing, ed., Guoxue yu jindai zhuzixue de xingqi [Rise of the national teaching and the modern master teachings] (Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe, 2010), quoting 50–51.

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18 Xiongmeng, “Wan Zhou zhuzi jingji sixiang shi” [The history of the masters’ economic thought in Late Zhou], in Xian Qin jingji sixiang shi erzhong [Two histories of the economic thought in the pre-Qin dynasty] (Beijing: Zhishichanquan chubanshe, 2013), 89–224, quoting 111–112.

19 Hu Shi, Zhongguo zhexueshi dagang [An outline of the Chinese philosophy] (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2011), 145, 148.

20 Lü Simian, Xian Qin xueshu gailun [An overview of the pre-Qin intellectual thought] (Changsha: Yuelu shushe, 2010), 40.

21 Ibid., p. 43.

22 Feng Youlan, Zhongguo zhexue jianzhi [A short history of Chinese philosophy] (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 1985), 76.

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24 Hou Wailu, Zhao Jibin, and Du Guoxiang, Zhongguo sixiang tongshi [A general history of the Chinese intellectual thought], vol. 1 (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin chubanshe, 1957), 342.

25 Ibid., 344.

26 Ibid., 350.

27 Ibid., 349.

28 There were still some scholars who believed Yang Zhu endorsed “hedonism.” See Chen Zhu, Zhuzi gailun [An overview of the masters] (Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe, 2010), 38.

29 Hu, Zhongguo zhexueshi dagang, 147.

30 Jiang, “Yangzi zhexue,” 31.

31 Chen, Yang Zhu, 16.

32 Lü, Xian Qin xueshu gailun, 40.

33 Ibid., 239.

34 Ibid., 43.

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37 Bi Yongnian, “Cun hua pian,” in Ding Shouhe, ed., Zhongguo jindai qimeng sichao [The modern Chinese enlightenment], vol. 1 (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 1999), quoting 275.

38 Gao, “Xueshu yange zhi gailun.”

39 Liu Xianzhi, “Lun Zhongguo jiaoyu zhi zhuyi” [On Chinese educational visions], Zhongguo xinbao [Chinese New Journal] 6 (1907).

40 Yan Fu, “Zhengzhi jiangyi” [Lectures on politics], in Zhongguo jindai qimeng sichao, quoting 69.

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42 Luo Genze, “Guanyu ‘zhuzi xue’” [On ‘master studies’], in Guoxue yu jindai zhuzixue de xingqi, quoting 9.

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44 Gu Jiegang, “Women duiyu guogu ying qu de taidu” [The attitude we should take towards the national essence], Xiaoshuo yuebao [Novel monthly] 14, no. 1 (1923).

45 Gu, Yang Zhu zhexue, 5.

46 Yang, Yang Zhu jiaoyi yu fuxing Zhongguo, 50.

47 Gu, Yang Zhu zhexue, 72.

48 Ibid.

49 Chen Duxiu, “Tongxin: fu Chang Naide” [Letters: Replying to Chang Naide], in Xin qingnian 2, no. 4 (1916). 

50 Wu, “Bian Mengzi pi Yang Mo zhi fei.”

51 Chen, Yang Zhu, 72.

52 Ji Wenfu, “Qin Han datongyi yu xian Qin zhuzi de jieju” [The unification of Qin and Han and the endings of the pre-Qin masters], in Guoxue yu jindai zhuzixue de xingqi, quoting 200.

53 Gu, Yang Zhu zhexue, 103.

54 Hou, Zhao and Du, Zhongguo sixiang tongshi, 349.

55 Cao Bohan, Guoxue changshi [Common knowledge of the national learning] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2010), 109.

56 Ge Zhaoguang, Zhongguo sixiangshi (The Chinese intellectual history), vol. 1 (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe, 2011), 121.