Differences and Similarities between National Enlightenment Thought and European Thinkers in the Early Ming and Qing Dynasties

In the 15th and 17th centuries, China and Europe entered the late feudal period one after another. In line with the budding of the feudal economy and the capitalist mode of production, a new cultural trend flourished on both sides of the Old Continent. In Europe, it was the famous Renaissance movement; in China, it was the progressive thinking initiated by philosophers such as Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, and Wang Fuzhi in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Comparing the two, we can see the unity and diversity of historical development between the similarities and differences.

I. Two types of culture nurtured by different cultural traditions and historical conditions?

There are obvious differences between the feudal societies of China and Europe. The aristocratic manor system economy and the knight feudal system were the main features of medieval Europe; while the landlord small peasant economy and the highly reinforced authoritarian monarchical centralized politics were the basic pattern of China's feudal system. However, whether it was medieval Europe or medieval China, the nature of economic and class relations was similar, i.e., the natural economy of self-sufficiency dominated, and the feudal lords possessed the land and incomplete possession of the producers. The feudal ideology, which was founded on this, also exists in **** common in the East and the West.?

First, Europe - humanistic culture, China - ethical culture?

The masters of the Renaissance, in attacking feudal obscurantism, highly affirmed the value of "man" as the center of the world. The world is centered on man, and man is the measure of all things. They demanded the fullest development of human personality and the satisfaction of human desires. From the point of view of this mainstream of thought, the culture of the early European Enlightenment can be called a "humanistic culture.

Though the early Chinese Enlightenment thinkers also recognized the value of human beings and the legitimacy of human desires, they paid more attention to the importance of human desires. However, they paid more attention to the ethical obligations of human beings to society and the state, believing that only in this context could the value of human beings and human desires be justified. For example, Wang Fuzhi, on the one hand, put forward the idea of "cherishing life", but on the other hand, he emphasized that "the reason of heaven is within human desires, and all desires are subordinate to reason"? (7). He especially emphasized the significance of "benevolence", and in his blueprint for the future state, the monarch "benevolence to the world" and the common people "kinship" were full of ideal ethical and moral poetry. Gu Yanwu and Dai Zhen sharply criticized the particularly reactionary parts of Cheng Zhu's theory, but they all coincidentally recognized benevolence and righteousness as the highest category of morality. Of course, the ethical thinking of the Enlightenment masters of the Ming and Qing dynasties cannot be equated with the traditional and corrupt ethical thinking, which already contains elements of criticism of the tradition, but judging from the great importance they attached to ethics and morality, we might as well say that the early Enlightenment culture in China had a strong "ethical" coloring, which is quite different from that of the humanist cultural line of the European Renaissance that attached importance to the individual, and which was very different from that of the humanist cultural line of the European Renaissance that attached importance to the individual.

Secondly, the Chinese culture of the early Enlightenment had a strong "ethical" flavor, which was very different from the European Renaissance's emphasis on the individual and its humanistic cultural line.

Secondly, Europe emphasized science, while China emphasized politics.

The Renaissance was greatly characterized by a high degree of development of modern natural sciences. The fundamental reason for this situation was the role of the productive forces of society, but the advocacy and practice of the Renaissance masters also played a crucial role in it. For example, Da Vinci, the giant of the Renaissance era, enthusiastically advocated that people turn their attention to the study of nature. He not only engaged in artistic creation with great energy, challenging medieval theology with his famous paintings "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper," but also conducted vast scientific experiments with great enthusiasm and made a large number of remarkable inventions and creations in applied science. Francis Bacon, "the true originator of English materialism and of the whole of modern experimental science", put forward the famous saying that "knowledge is power", calling on people to break through the fog of feudal obscurantism. From the position of modern natural science in the Renaissance and the general importance attached to natural science by the Renaissance masters, the early European Enlightenment culture has a distinctive modern natural science color.

The Chinese masters of enlightenment in the Ming and Qing dynasties were also giants of that era with great erudition, summarization and creativity: Wang Fuzhi advanced ancient Chinese materialism to a splendid stage, Huang Zongxi's The Case of the Ming Confucianism was the first systematic academic history of China, and Gu Yanwu's practice of reviving the Chinese studies opened the way for a new generation of "Chinese studies". The practice of Gu Yanwu's "revival of Chinese studies" was the first step in the study of "Chinese studies" by later generations. However, from the perspective of Enlightenment culture, the Enlightenment culture of the Ming and Qing dynasties was rich in strong politics, and the color of modern natural science was relatively weak. In the ranks of the Enlightenment masters, although also produced Xu Guangqi such a pioneer of modern science, but its scientific ideas in the late Ming academia has very little impact, headed by his "Western School" is only a phoenix in the group of scholars at that time. In Wang Fuzhi's philosophical thought, although it also contains the theory of the indivisibility of matter and motion and the principle of the indestructibility of matter and the conservation of energy, the natural sciences still have a secondary position in his philosophical system. Taking an overview of the major writings and speeches of several philosophers, it is not difficult to see that they were fully concerned with the destiny of the nation-state and the plight of the people. Most of China's early Enlightenment thinkers had been "taking the world into their own hands" and discussing the affairs of the world since they were young. In the special historical conditions of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi, Gu Yanwu and other active participation in the anti-Qing activities, showing the determination of the destiny of the nation ****. Gu Yanwu even put forward the "world's prosperity and demise, everyone has the responsibility" point of view. At the same time, they all expressed deep sympathy for the people who were groaning under the pressure of feudal economy and politics. Gu Yanwu, "the world's counties and countries in the book" in the extensive disclosure of the deep oppression of the people at that time, issued a "people are restless, in order to have the poor and rich"? (8) of the appeal. Therefore, the early Enlightenment thinkers in outlining their own ideal social picture, all put forward the "average land rights" of all kinds of ideas. Such as Huang Zongxi put forward the "average grant field" theory, Gu Yanwu pointed out that "level the world, equalize the world only", Yan Yuan that "heaven and earth between the field, suitable for heaven and earth between the people * * * enjoy it. In short, the strong concern for the fate of the nation-state and the close connection with the political struggle were important features of the early Chinese Enlightenment culture. It was markedly different from the European Renaissance's focus on the natural sciences.?

The second attribution to the differences between the early Enlightenment cultures of Europe and China in two aspects?

First, the essential difference between the two is the difference in the way they viewed "human beings.

The reason for seeing the essential difference between the two as a difference in the view of "man" lies in the fact that Europe takes the individual human being as the core of its value orientation, emphasizes the individuality of human beings rather than the group, focuses on the value of the individual and his or her will, and advocates the individual's thinking about and exploration of nature and society, thus forming a spirit that attaches great importance to science. The spirit of humanism in the West was formed in this way; whereas in China, the focus was on the group but not on the individual, emphasizing the ethical patriarchal nature of human beings, focusing on government rather than science, and the starting point of these Enlightenment ideas was to advise the monarchs on how to rule over the people, which led to the formation of a strong tradition of authoritarianism with Chinese characteristics. The reasons why the two manifested themselves as two different types are manifold and can be summarized in the following two points.?

First, the different degree of development of the germ of capitalism is an important reason for the two cultural types. In Renaissance Europe, the level of development of capitalist germination obviously exceeded that of China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Florence in Italy around the 15th century has established the early bourgeois rule in the form of power - the city **** and state, in 1338 already had 70 banks. In contrast, the Chinese capitalist germ at the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties was relatively young and weak. From the point of view of the space of development, the capitalist factor was only limited to the south of the Yangtze River; from the point of view of the degree of development, the merchant capital both invested in the handmade workshops and dominated the production, but a large number of them flowed to the land. In the countryside, the landlords employed laborers to operate the land directly on the one hand, but maintained the old ways of exploitation on the other. Under the constraints of the tight and complete feudal structure, the sprout of capitalism could only struggle in the cracks. This determined that China's early Enlightenment culture was stunted and lacked a solid economic foundation, its modern color was not as strong as the European Renaissance, and its influence on the development of history was not as strong as that of the Renaissance.?

Secondly, the reason why the early Enlightenment culture of Europe and China manifested itself in two different types is also due to the great difference between the cultural traditions of the East and the West. The splendid ancient Greek culture is the source of modern Western culture. And Greek culture has the following distinctive features: firstly, the principle of individuality is the basic character of the Greek spirit, in which the individual maintains his own status and focuses on the development of his personality. This national spirit inevitably promotes people's pursuit of personal entity value (including natural and social value). Secondly, in ancient Greek culture, philosophy had an important position, and ancient Greek philosophy originated in natural science, beginning with the search for the universal principles of nature. This academic path led to the Greek thinkers in the calm observation of nature, thinking about natural thinking activities, generally have the tendency to pursue a rigorous axiomatic system, and at the same time, also created a mutual penetration of ancient Greek philosophy and natural sciences, the characteristics of the integration, many famous philosophers themselves are also natural scientists. For example, the outstanding Aristotle not only established a rigorous formal logic system in philosophy, but also made great achievements in natural science, becoming a renowned physicist, zoologist, botanist and astronomer. This Greek spiritual element was widely sown in Europe. The humanistic tendency of the early European Enlightenment culture and the high attention paid to the natural sciences were of course a product of the historical soil of that era, but the role played by the Greek spiritual element in it should not be ignored.?

Secondly, Chinese culture has a long history, and the scholarship of the sons of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods can be considered the mother of traditional Chinese spiritual culture.

Pre-Qin scholarly thought has had a great impact on the culture of later generations as well as the spirit of the nation. Pre-Qin thought is mainly reflected in: first, the importance of ethics. Confucius was the founder of Chinese feudal ethics, and he regarded "benevolence" as the highest virtue, and subordinated filial piety and fraternal duty, loyalty and trust to the general principle of benevolence. Mencius, on the other hand, organized Confucius' moral doctrines and put forward moral items such as "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom" and "filial piety, fraternal duty, loyalty, and trust". Although the doctrines of the two schools of Confucianism and Law are different, it is also the potential of the doctrine of Legalism to focus on morality and ethics, such as Guan Zi's proposal of "propriety, righteousness, honesty, and shame. The four dimensions of the country". In short, the ethical doctrine constructed by the pre-Qin thinkers, its historical soil is patriarchal paternalism, and once it was created, it had a great impact on the spirit of Chinese tradition. Secondly, the importance of political affairs. If Greek philosophy began in the midst of amazement at nature, pre-Qin philosophy arose in the midst of complex and intense political struggles. The Spring and Autumn Period was a time of great social transformation, when thinkers of various schools of thought stood on their own positions and launched a great academic debate of unprecedented scale. It was in this unprecedentedly active atmosphere that the pre-Qin plurals were born. Therefore, unlike Greek philosophy, which explored the mysteries of nature and focused on natural science, pre-Qin scholarship was basically political philosophy. And it was in the pre-Qin academics, which attached great importance to political affairs and political direction, that the folkism, which paid attention to the power of the people, was born, and the thought of Mencius that "the people are precious and the ruler is light" was the best interpretation of this thought. This people-centered tradition has had an extremely strong impact on traditional Chinese political and cultural thought. The early Enlightenment of the Ming and Qing dynasties was a spiritual product of that era, but when the Enlightenment masters sucked in the nourishment from ancient Chinese academics, the traditional spirit of pre-Qin academics, which emphasized ethics and political affairs, played a huge role in the early Enlightenment culture.

From the above analysis, it is not difficult to conclude that the early Enlightenment cultures of Europe and China, as two different types of cultures, are the products of different historical soils, distinctive national characters and ways of thinking, and very different cultural traditions. Comparing the progressive cultural trends of the late Middle Ages in China and Europe, we can not only see the constraining effect of the general laws of human history on the course of historical movements of various regions and nationalities, but also find that various regions and nationalities, due to their different cultural traditions, different internal and external conditions, and different natural and social environments, each displaying a variety of different manifestations under the constraints of the general laws, which is the unity and diversity of historical development. is the unity and diversity of historical development.?