Confucianism in Sui and Tang Dynasty - Theory of Temperament

Sui and Tang Confucianism--The Theory of Nature

Confucianism tried to overpower Buddhism and Taoism to regain its exclusive position in the situation of the three religions, and although it had many favorable conditions, it also had obvious deficiencies. In terms of theoretical system, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism and Buddhism in particular have established a huge and meticulous theoretical system, and its study of the theory of mind is particularly prominent. Its study of the theory of mind is particularly outstanding. It has unique research on human mental activity, sensory experience, moral concept, epistemology, ontology, and cultivation methods, etc., which is rich in exquisite discourse and has achieved remarkable results. The Confucianism of the early Sui and Tang dynasties was still busy with the collation of canonical books and the unification of scriptures, and it did not put forward many innovative ideas in theory, and its appearance did not change much. From the popularization and publicity of the theory, Buddhism has adopted flexible and diversified publicity methods, such as storytelling (popular speech), slide show, with folk music sheet to publicize the contents of the sutra, etc., which is more convenient to fight for the masses of the lower stratum of the masses. In terms of the construction of the theoretical system and social influence, Confucianism is dwarfed by Buddhism.

Finding the "way of life" in Taoism and Buddhism

Confucian thinkers saw this. According to Li Ao, at that time, people "all entered the Zhuang, Lai, Lao, and Shi" to Taoism and Buddhism to find "the way of life" (Fuxinshu). According to Liu Yuxi, "The Confucianism is based on the Middle Way, which is the way of life, so the world is in decline, and the world goes to sleep. The great contrast between the decline of Confucianism and the honoring of Buddhism at the time of the "decline of the world" was due to the fact that Confucianism did not talk much about "the science of life" (Fusheng shu). The key lies in the fact that Confucianism does not talk much about "the science of life". Confucian thinkers realized that Confucianism must enrich itself on the issue of mindfulness in order to change the passive situation in the struggle with Buddhism and Taoism.

Liu Zongyuan studied Buddhism in depth. As mentioned earlier, he saw more in Buddhism that "there is no difference between the way of Confucius and the way of Buddhism". In the theory of the nature of the mind, he respected Buddhism, "its in the nature of Shi Ran", indifferent to fame and fortune, "all for its way, do not love the official, do not compete for the ability to enjoy the landscape and addiction to idleness and peace of mind as much" ("send monks Haochu preface"). This state of mind, spiritual realm and "the world by and by, only print group for business to roll" (ibid.) compared to, indeed, is very different. From the treatment of self-interest, self-interest, Buddhism advocates the spirit of this state of affairs can be very Confucian reference, especially in the individual cultivation. He said: "The gentleman's out, in order to walk the road; its place, in order to be good alone." ("Sending Lou Tunan Xiucai tour of Huainan will enter the road preface") "The inner can be guarded, the outer can be practiced, I think to the end." (The Book with Yang Zhi Zhi) Cultivating oneself and practicing the Way must be both. Buddhism in this regard can be for people to open lethargy and enlightenment, purify the mind and improve the spiritual realm of people. He in "Yongzhou Longxing Temple West Xuanji" has visualized his own experience, expressed his insights. When he was in Yongzhou, the west wall of his room had no windows, and the room was so dark that he could not see the open view of the big river flowing outside the wall. Later, he opened a window in the wall, so his eyes were opened, showing a very different realm from the previous one. So he said: "the room, to the room of the person also; seat and a few, to the place of the person also; to also obscure, but now also show, is not a different thing? Because of the realization of the Buddha's way, you can turn confusion into true wisdom, that is, the group of confusion into the right consciousness, and give up the great darkness into the light. Is not the nature of the Buddha a different thing? I will be a disciple of the one who can chisel out the great darkness for Yu, open the door of spiritual illumination, and broaden the xuan of responsiveness." Secular people do not know their own nature, as if in a dark room, Buddhism can open the window of human nature and spirit, broaden people's horizons, so that people enter a new realm. Liu Zongyuan advocated the transplantation of the Buddhist theory of mind into Confucianism to make up for the inadequacy of Confucianism's theory of individual cultivation.

Liu Yuxi had the same opinion. He believed that in order to realize the governance of society according to Confucian ideals, it is necessary to start from strengthening physical and mental cultivation. He said: "Taishigong cloud: body repair, the official has not been chaotic. However, there are those who cultivate their bodies but cannot and rule, and there is no one who can reach the people without themselves." ("Reply to Envoy Yuan of Raozhou") And the Buddhist doctrine on the cultivation of the mind can precisely make up for the inadequacy of Confucianism's theory on the individual's cultivation through cultivation to sainthood. He said, "In former times, I studied the Rites of Passage and the Middle Ages, and when I reached the point of 'being neutral without reluctance, and gaining without thinking,' I was impressed to realize the virtue of the saints, and I learned to the point of being unlearned. However, the words are also, as if the walker to the room of the Austrian ear. Seek its scripture and martial arts, not easy to get. Late reading Buddhist books, see the Maharishi Nianshi Pu, level of treasure mountain and ladder; high reveal wisdom fire, skillfully melt the evil see, wide sparse door, beside the bundle of evil paths. Its witnesses, such as the boat to go back to the river, not beginning to think of the day before and far away. Why do you think about it? It is the Yu know suddenly Ao in the "Meanwhile", enlightenment key on the internal canon, will be returned to, but also the first heart." ("Farewell to Junsu") He thought that "The Meanings" had not yet talked about the specific steps to achieve "the virtue of the saints", while Buddhism had clarified the ways and means to realize the truth, and thus advocated absorbing the theories of Buddhism in order to complete the study of Confucianism up to the saintly level. However, both Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan oversimplified the problem. Confucianism and Buddhism are two different systems of thought, and a simple "transplantation" that reveals that a certain part of the theories of Buddhism is "not different from the way of Confucius", thus combining the Buddhist doctrine of mindfulness with the Confucian principle of discipline and name and religion to form a new theoretical system is It is difficult to realize.

Han Yu stood on the position of Confucianism, firmly rejected the Buddha and the old, and opposed to "mixing the Buddha and the old to the detriment of" the nature of mind. From the perspective of maintaining the purity of Confucianism, Han Yu invoked the University and first pointed out the difference between Confucianism and Buddhism. In his view, there is an essential difference between Confucianism and Buddhism in terms of sincerity, correctness of mind, cultivation of one's own body and family, governance of the country, and pacification of the world, which are taught in the University. Confucianism talks about sincerity of intention, correcting the heart and cultivating the body, and Buddhism also talks about cultivation of the heart, but the purposes of the two are completely different. Confucianism advocates the establishment of harmonious interpersonal relations and hierarchical order through the cultivation of the body, from near and far, from small to large to achieve the coordination and stability of the whole society under the patriarchal hierarchy, from the inner saint to the outer king; while the Buddhists set aside the ethics, society and the state, only the individual's own liberation, not to speak of family and social responsibility, "to seek what is known as the pure and silent", and this is "to seek what is known as the pure and silent". "This is the "extinction of its heavenly norms", which completely violates the nature of human beings and can only lead to social chaos and the defeat of the country. This is a complete violation of human nature, which can only lead to social disorder and the defeat of the country. Such mental cultivation has completely lost its proper social significance.

Han Yu's theory of temperament

In order to fight against the Buddhist and Taoist doctrines of mental cultivation, Han Yu put forward his own theory of temperament.

Han Yu said: "Sex is also born with life; emotion is also born from things. Sexual character has three, and its so for the sex of the five; love of the character has three, and its so for the love of the seven. Said: Why? Said: the character of the nature of the upper, middle and lower three. On the one who, good just carry on; in the one who, can guide and up and down also; under the one who, evil just carry on. It is so for the sex of five: said benevolence, said ritual, said faith, said righteousness, said wisdom. The upper part of the five also, the main in one of the four; the middle part of the five also, one is not less there is also, then less against it, its in four also mixed; the lower part of the five also, against one and against the four. Sex in the mood depending on its character, the character of the love of the upper middle and lower three. It is so for the love of seven: said joy, said anger, said grief, said fear, said love, said evil, said desire. The upper part of the seven also, move and in which; the middle part of the seven also, some very, some death, however, seek to fit in which also; the lower part of the son of seven also, death and even, straight love and line also. The feelings of the sex depend on its character." (The original nature)

Han Yuai believes that human nature is born, is the innate endowment. And its contents are benevolence, propriety, faith, righteousness and wisdom. In other words, benevolence and righteousness are inherent in human nature. In this way, on the one hand, Han Yu shows that the morality advocated by Confucianism, which is based on benevolence and righteousness, is in accordance with human nature, while the morality advocated by Buddhism and Taoism, which is not based on benevolence and righteousness, is contrary to human nature; on the other hand, he shows that the theory of the nature of the heart, which is based on benevolence and righteousness but not on human nature, is absurd. Here, Han sought to establish a teleological foundation for the Confucian doctrine of benevolence and righteousness, and to find a theoretical basis for the rationality and inevitability of the existence of Confucian benevolence and morality.

According to Han Yu, the human nature that is born with is not exactly the same for everyone, but is divided into three grades. The top grade is good; the middle grade can be good or evil; and the bottom grade is evil. The reason for the difference between high and low human nature is that, in different people, the collocation of the five virtues of benevolence, courtesy, faith, righteousness and wisdom and the role they play are different. The human nature of the top grade is dominated by one virtue, and can be passed on to the remaining four virtues; the human nature of the middle grade in the five virtues of a certain virtue or have, or against, and the remaining four virtues are often mixed and impure; the human nature of the lower grade of a certain virtue against, and thus the rest of the four virtues will be violated. The nature of the three qualities, "the nature of the upper on the learning and the more clear, the nature of the lower fear of authority and fewer crimes, so the upper can be taught and the lower can be controlled. Its character is said by Confucius not to be shifted" (The Original Nature). He thought that Mencius's theory of the goodness of human nature is only on the top of human nature, Yang Xiong's theory of the goodness of human nature is only on the middle of human nature, and Xunzi's theory of the badness of human nature is only on the bottom of human nature, which are not comprehensive. Han Yu intended to show that the feudal hierarchy advocated by Confucianism was in line with human nature. Because there is a difference between the virtuous and the unworthy, the good and the evil in the innate nature, the hierarchical relationship between the rulers and the ruled, which is "the superior can be taught and the inferior can be controlled", is of course logical and natural.

Han Yu also categorized emotions into upper, middle, and lower classes. He believed that the content of love is seven kinds of feelings: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil, and desire. The distinction between the three kinds of love is: the top of the love of "moving and in which", that is, the launch of the top of the love of all in line with the principle of the Middle Way; the launch of the middle of the love of the sometimes more than, sometimes less than, only partially in line with the principle of the Middle Way; the launch of the bottom of the love of the middle of the principle of the love of the love is not in line with the principle of the Middle Way, is love of the indulgence of the love of the "straight love and line The lower grade of emotion is not in accordance with the principle of the middle way, it is the indulgence of emotion, "straight emotion and behavior.

Han Yu believes that sex is the basis of love, and sex is expressed by love. "Sex is seen as its character by emotion" and "emotion is seen as its character by sex". Sex and emotion are the relationship between body and use, essence and phenomenon. Buddhism advocates seeking Buddha nature by eliminating the seven emotions and six desires of human beings, believing that worldly relationships such as those between ruler and subject, father and son, and husband and wife are all burdened by emotions. Han Yu, on the other hand, believed that telling people to give up the way of ruler and subject, father and son, and husband and wife, and to pursue purity and silence, was against the feudal order, and that one's moral cultivation could only be realized in feudal relationships, not by extinguishing emotions in order to see the nature, but by seeing the nature because of the emotions, as Buddhism claimed.

In addition to confronting Buddhism, Han Yu's theory of human nature is also a theoretical basis for the social and political theories of traditional Confucianism. His thesis that "the nature of the upper class is to learn and become clearer, and the nature of the lower class is to fear authority and commit fewer crimes, so that the upper class can be taught and the lower class can be controlled" is not only to justify the feudal hierarchy, but also to establish the theoretical basis for eliminating the evils and promoting the good within the feudal ruling class. In his "Questions to Yu", he said, "Heaven does not count the number of great saints it produces, nor does it count the number of great evils it produces. When it passes on to the people, they get the great saints, and then no one dares to contend; when it passes on to the sons, they get the great evils, and then the people suffer from them." This shows that the evil will die, the good will rise, the inevitability of dynastic change, for the pre-Qin Confucianism, virtue is the world, no virtue is lost to the world to provide a deeper theoretical basis. At the same time, it also provides the theoretical basis for the ruling class to select the virtuous and select the capable, eliminate the wicked and evil, and "pull out the wicked and evil, and ascend to the steppe of goodness" ("Explanation of Progress in Learning"). Because the good and evil of nature are "immovable", only by promoting goodness and eliminating evil can we ensure political clarity. In addition, Han Yu's point of view on "Zhong yan, can be guided up and down," also lies in the people to cultivate morality, self-toner to provide theoretical justification to the good. He said: "virtuous or unworthy of their own, ...... save on their own, I will be reluctant." ("and Wei Zhongxing book") "can guide and up and down" that lies in the "virtuous and unworthy of their own" to provide a theoretical basis.

Han Yu's theory of temperament absorbed and developed the ideas of Mencius's theory of goodness and the theory of temperament of Dong Zhongshu and Wang Chong in the Han Dynasty. Dong Zhongshu and Wang Chong only saw the mutual constraints of sex and emotion, but not the relationship between the two in terms of determining and being determined, manifesting and being manifested. Han Yu also made a more detailed division of the categories of sex and emotion. Han Yu's theory of sex and emotion, which describes sex as the five moral qualities of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust, and emotion as the seven feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil, and desire, provided intellectual nourishment and inspiration for the Song Confucians' theories on "the nature of the destiny of heaven" and "the nature of the temperament. The idea of the seven types of feelings is the inspiration for the theory of "nature of destiny" and "nature of temperament" of the Song dynasty.

However, Han Yu's theory of temperament has obvious flaws at the same time. He regarded ethics and morality as the essential attributes of human beings, and believed that the content of sex is five virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, and is "inherent", and at the same time, he also advocated the existence of people who are fundamentally in violation of the five virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, which makes it difficult for him to justify his own argument. His theory of temperament remained in the classification of moral phenomena, failing to examine in depth the universal attributes of human ****same nature. He regarded the evil nature of the lower qualities as unchangeable, and failed to show the way out for the people of the lower qualities to change their evil nature and follow the good, and thus was not conducive to competing with the Buddhist and Taoist religions for the masses. Although he suggested that the middle nature "can be guided up and down", he did not further point out to people the specific ways and means of cultivation. All these make his theory of temperament still seem crude, not enough to compete with the exquisite Buddhist theory of mind.

Li Ao's theory of temperament

Li Ao saw this. He said, "Those who row (referring to Buddhism) do not know their hearts, and although they argue and when they do, they cannot make their disciples clamor without persuading them to come." ("Going to the Buddha's Lodge") He thought that in order to repudiate Buddhism and revitalize Confucianism, it was necessary to understand the Buddhist doctrine of mindfulness, and to establish a set of theories of mindfulness on the basis of the traditional theories of Confucianism that exceeded the Buddhist doctrine of mindfulness.

In order to overwhelm Buddhism, Han Yu invoked The Great Learning, while Li Ao promoted The Mean. The first sentence of the Meanwhile is "The nature of the Divine Order". On this basis, Li Ao believed that the Meanings was "the book of life" and that Confucius had "the way of life". After the death of Confucius, Zi Si obtained this way and made the "Meanwhile" and passed it on to Mencius. After the death of Mencius, this Way was lost. He said, "Zi Si, the grandson of Zhong Ni (仲尼), had obtained the way of his ancestor, and wrote forty-seven chapters of The Meanwhile to be passed on to Meng Ke (孟轲). ...... by the Qin destroyed the book, the "Medieval Times" of the non-burning one survives, so this Tao is missing. ...... The source of life, then I can not know its transmission." ("Flexibility book" on) due to the loss of this road, "although the book of life, scholars can not be clear, is why all into the Zhuang, Lie, the old, the interpretation. Those who do not know it say that the disciples of the Husbandman are not sufficient to understand the Way of Life, and those who believe in it do" (ibid.). After the death of Mencius, although the "Meanwhile" a surviving, but people do not know "the source of life", so people think that Confucianism is "not enough to poor life".

Li Ao believes that he has a unique experience of the Confucian "way of life". He thought that previous commentators of the "Meanwhile" were only "interpreting things", while he was "understanding things from the heart", and thus got the true transmission. He was confident in his own understanding. He believed that the Confucian way of life was "abolished" in the Qin and Han dynasties, and since then it has been declining without transmission. "The extreme of the Way will be restored when it is stripped away, but will I not be restored when it is restored?" (The Book of Restoration of Sex) he made the Book of Restoration of Sex on, in, the next three, systematically expounded his theory, "to open the source of sincerity and clarity," that this "and the lack of abandonment of the way of not Yang, a few can be passed on at the time," "Fu Zi I am not going to waste my words" ("Fuxinshu")!

Li Ao believes that human nature is gifted. It is born with. "The nature is also the destiny of heaven." (The Book of Rehabilitation of Nature) On this point, he was in agreement with Han Yu's view that "nature is also born with birth". However, he did not agree with Han Yu's view that nature is divided into three categories, and advocated that all human beings have a good nature, believing that mortals and "saints" have exactly the same good nature. He believed that all human beings have the same good nature as the "saints". "All human beings are good in nature", "the nature of the people is not different from that of the saints" (The Book of Restoration of Nature), and "the nature of the Jiezhu is like the nature of Yao and Shun" (The Book of Restoration of Nature).

On the other hand, human beings have feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil, and desire. "Emotion is the movement of nature." (On the Book of Restoration of Nature) Emotions are derived from sex.

The relationship between sex and emotion is first manifested by the fact that they are interdependent. "Sex and emotion are not without each other. Although, no sex is not born of love. Is the love from the nature of the birth, the love is not from the love, due to the nature of the love; sex is not from the nature, by the love to Ming." (The Book of Resumption of Sexuality) The relationship between the two is that of body and use, essence and phenomenon.

Since all human nature is good, and emotions are derived from nature, why is there a difference between good and evil people, between mortals and saints in reality? According to LI Ao, although all human nature is good, there are good and bad feelings. The saint's love is good, "nature, the fate of heaven, the saint to get and not confused. The reason why ...... people are saints is that their nature is also good" (The Book of Restoration of Nature). The saint's love and nature are consistent, both are good, so they become saints. However, on the other hand, some emotions are evil, "Emotions are delusional and evil" (in the Book of Restoring Nature), and thus the relationship between sex and emotions is again antithetical. "The reason why people confuse their nature is that emotions are also emotions. The seven emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil, and desire are all the result of emotions. Since the emotions are dim, the sex is hidden. Not the sex of the over also, the seven cycle and intersection, so the sex can not be full also. The water is muddy, its flow is not clear; fire smoke, its light is not clear; non-water and fire clear over. Sand is not muddy, the flow is clear; smoke is not rich, light is bright; love is not, sex is full." (The book on the nature of the rejuvenation) nature for the water, fire, love, such as sand, smoke, water, fire nature is clear, they appear muddy and rich is due to the sand stirred up turbid, smoke shrouded in the results. In the same way, if the emotions are not present, then the nature can express itself completely.

In this way, 800 TeleServices is caught in a paradox. Since the nature of the gift and the emotion are "not mutually exclusive", how can we say that "if the emotion is not present, the nature is full"? Since "love is the movement of sex", "love is not from love, because of sex and love", then by the good sex initiated and determined by the love how can be evil? Since "nature is not self-evident, but is characterized by emotions", how can the nature embodied by evil emotions be good?

According to 800 TeleServices, it is not the case that the saints can maintain their natural state of goodness, but that the saints do not have emotions. "Is the sage not without emotion?" It is only that "the sage, silent and immovable, does not go but arrives, does not speak but is divine, does not shine but is light, makes reference to heaven and earth, changes in accordance with yin and yang, although there are feelings, but never have feelings" (《复性书》上). The saint's love is in line with the nature, also in line with the rites, "moving and in the rites" (Fuxuexue shu), the saint knows his own nature, not for the "evil feelings", "delusion of love" confuse, the so-called The saint knows his own nature and is not confused by "evil feelings" and "delusional feelings", so to speak. "The saint is not confused when he gets it" (ibid.), and his feelings are consistent with his goodness, and they are mutually complementary, and the body and its use are of one origin.

This is not the case with others. Because they do not know their own goodness, they "do not see their own nature" and "drown in it without being able to know its origin" (in the Book of Restoration of Nature), and they are "blinded by lust, goodness, and evil" (in the Book of Restoration of Nature), and thus their goodness cannot be revealed. The goodness of a person's nature cannot be manifested, and he or she becomes evil. For example, the innate nature of Jie and Zhou is the same as that of Yao and Shun, except that they were blinded by their acquired delusional and evil passions and thus became evil. This is because delusional and evil passions "circulate and intermingle" and "attack and attack each other, and there is no end to them" (The Book of Restoration of Nature), and thus there is a situation in which sex and love are opposed to each other. As a result, some people lose their nature due to the confusion of love: "There is a heart in all the bones, which is no different from that of the saints. It is no different from the saints. It is confusing to clamor for a return to its nature. The one who says that his heart cannot be pleasing to the saint abandons his nature." ("Learning can enter") as to why the good sex can give birth to evil feelings, Li Ao answer: "the nature of man is like the nature of saints, lust, love and hatred of the heart of the heart of how to give birth to also? Said: love, delusion, evil, evil and delusion is no cause." (In the book of "re-sex") delusion, evil feelings are "no cause" and born. Li Ao failed to satisfactorily resolve the contradictions in his own theory. Of course, there are other reasons for this.

Since all human beings are born with a good nature, and some people lose their good nature as a result of being affected by emotions, LI Ao advocated the elimination of emotions in order to "restore the nature".

Why do we need to destroy emotions to restore nature? First of all, Li Ao thinks that this is the reason why people are different from animals, people need to improve their personality requirements. He said: "Between heaven and earth, all things are born, people in all things, a thing. The reason why it is different from beasts, insects and fish, is it not the nature of morality? Receiving a gas into its form, a thing and a person, it is very difficult to get. Born in the world, and not deep long years, to not deep long years, line very difficult to get the body, and not specializing in the fire road, wantonly its heart for, then it is so different from the beasts and animals, insects and fish, the death of a few." (The Book of Restoration of Nature, below) As one of the things in heaven and earth, man is the most precious, and his life is limited, so he should cherish himself and make his behavior conform to the Great Way, instead of mixing with beasts and birds and just indulging in his passions and desires. In this way, human beings can be distinguished from beasts and be worthy of human beings. One should have a high spiritual state so that one's personality can be sublimated. When one removes one's passions and restores one's nature, one enters a completely different realm: "If one can fulfill one's nature, one can fulfill one's human nature; if one can fulfill one's human nature, one can fulfill one's nature of things; if one can fulfill one's nature of things, one can praise the transformation of the heavens and the earth; if one can praise the transformation of the heavens and the earth, one can participate in the heavens and the earth." (The Book of Restoration of Nature)

Secondly, people live in society, but also to assume social responsibility and realize the social value of life. To do this, one must also extinguish emotions in order to restore one's nature-remove delusional and evil emotions and cultivate the nature of a sage. "Sincerity so the heart is right, the heart is right so the body repair, the body repair and the family Qi, the family Qi and the national reason (rule), the national reason (rule) and the world peace, this is why you can participate in the heaven and earth also. The Yi said: '...... Road to help the world, do not, ...... An Tu Dun hu Ren, so can love.'" (in the Book of Restoring Nature). The extinction of love and restoration of nature is a requirement for practicing the Confucian way of benevolence and righteousness, and for aligning the family, ruling the country and leveling the world.

What is the state to be achieved by restoring nature? According to LI Ao, it is the realm of "sincerity" in which the mind is silent. "Therefore, sincerity, the nature of the saint. Silent and immovable, vast and clear, illuminating heaven and earth, sensing and attempting to pass the reason for heaven and earth, behavior and speech and silence are not in the extreme." (The Book of Restoration of Nature) The distinctive feature of this realm is that it is "silent and immovable", i.e., it is able to maintain the tranquility of one's heart and nature, and is not disturbed by passions and desires. According to Li Ao, the role models in this regard are the Confucian saints, such as Yao, Shun, and Confucius. The rest of them, such as Yan Hui, although he died early and failed to reach the saints, "his heart does not go against benevolence in March"; Zi Lu was not afraid to die in battle, and died calmly with his tassel tied, "his heart is still and unmoving, so it is also". In the view of LI Yao, all of these people have initially reached or are close to this realm. As for Mencius, 800 TeleServices pointed out that he was "forty years old", which means that he had entered this realm.

Li Ao discusses the ways to reach the realm of extinction of emotion and restoration of nature. The first is to be silent. He believes that human nature is "vast and clear", "life and quiet, the nature of the sky. Human nature cannot be revealed because of the result of delusion. And delusional feelings, and is the result of the heart has thought, move. "Emotions, the nature of the movement also", therefore, to stop the production of love, can not "love to stop love", must be static brake, "silent and motionless", "do not move the heart", so that the mind It is necessary to use stillness as a brake, to "remain still" and "not to move the mind", so that the mind can return to stillness. In order to bring the mind to stillness, the first thing to do is to "not think and not think". "If one does not think, one's emotions do not arise; if emotions do not arise, one's mind is in the right state of mind. The proper mind is one that is free from anxiety and thought." (In the Book of the Restoration of Sexuality) There is no anxiety and no thought, in order to achieve stillness. In this way, "when one is immobile for a long time, the sand and mud sink of their own accord" (ibid.). The generation of delusional feelings can then be suppressed. The next step is to further achieve "the knowledge that there is no thought". According to 800 TeleServices, "not to think, not to think" is "not yet separated from the stillness. There is stillness, there must be movement, there is movement, there must be stillness, there is stillness, it is love" ("Resumption of Sexuality Book"). This is still the stage of "fasting", i.e., not thinking about anything, and it needs to be further developed to a higher stage of absolute silence where even "not thinking about anything" is not thought of, where "movement and stillness are all separated, and there is no movement at all". At this stage, according to 800 Telephonics. At this stage, according to 800 TeleServices, one enters the realm of "Supreme Sincerity" as described in the Meanwhile. After entering this realm, "the mind is silent and immovable, evil thoughts are restrained, but the nature is clear and bright, so where does evil come from" ("The Book of Restoration of Nature")? According to 800 TeleServices, the fact that a person reaches this state does not mean that he does not have contact with the outside world, nor does it mean that he does not see and hear, but that although he sees and hears, his mind is not touched by the seeing and hearing. He explained the University of "Ge Shi Zhi Zhi Zhi Knowledge", said: "Things, all things. When things arrive, their hearts are clear. When things come to be, their hearts are clear and discerning, and those who should not (a "著")be in the things are also Zhi Zhi Zhi (致知), and the knowledge is also the most important thing." (In the Book of Restoration of Nature) That is to say, when a person is in contact with external objects, to remain clear inwardly, to discern things clearly but not to be swayed by external objects, this is a kind of supreme wisdom. It is not true that people in this realm do not have emotions of joy, anger, sadness, and joy. Sages like Yao and Shun also have goodness and anger, only that they do not regard joy as joy or anger as anger, and that their emotions are "all in moderation" and reach the realm of "neutrality and harmony," as stated in the "Meanwhile" (Zhongyong).

This is the first time that a person has been in a position to do so.

The second way to eliminate emotions and restore nature is to follow the rituals and music, and to act according to nature. The method of silence is the most important method of restoration of nature, but its effect is mainly to inhibit the generation of evil feelings, and it is not sufficient to eliminate the evil feelings that people have already generated. For those evil feelings that have already arisen, if they are not removed, they will continue to be "intertwined and attacked without end," obscuring the nature. Li Ao said: "The sages know that people's nature is good, and they can follow it to the saints, so they make rituals to control it, and music to harmonize it. ...... Seeing, hearing, speaking and acting, moving according to the rites, so teaching people to forget their appetites and return to the way of life." (The Book of Restoration of Nature) In the practice of social life, through the section of the rites, and the music, so that their own eyes and ears, words and deeds, "moving and in the rites", "resting in the peace and happiness", so that the delusion of love into good feelings, because of the good feelings and see the goodness of the nature, "follow its source and reverse its nature. The book of "Restoring Nature" (《复性书》), thus restoring the nature, "to the holy".

Li Ao's theory of temperament draws on many Buddhist ideas, so much so that some people think he has become a prisoner of Buddhism. However, LI Ao only invoked Buddhism into Confucianism, and borrowed the research results and methods of the Buddhist theory of mind to establish the Confucian theory of mind. His theory of nature and sentiment speaks of goodness, both in terms of the nature of innate clarity and at the same time the nature of social morality, that is, the content of the Confucian "Way of the Sage"; the character of Yao, Shun, Confucius and other saints, whom he esteemed as role models for the extinction of sentiment and the restoration of nature, was basically the same as that of the traditional Confucianism; he emphasized the role of rites and music in the extinction of sentiment and the restoration of nature, and asserted that He emphasized the role of rites and music in extinguishing emotions and restoring nature, and advocated that the significance of restoring nature lies not only in the sublimation of individual personality, but also in the realization of the social value of human beings, i.e., to cultivate one's body, to keep the family together, to rule the country, and to pacify the whole world, which is the same as the direction of traditional Confucianism, that is, to think about the inner sainthood and outer kings. He has widely adopted the ideological nourishment of Buddhism, Lao and Zhuang, and more prominently emphasized the Confucian classics "The Meanwhile", "The Book of Changes", "The Great Learning", and "The Works of Mencius". His theory of temperament was not a simple repetition and copy of Buddhist theory, but a successful practice of invoking Buddhism into Confucianism and unifying Buddhism with Confucianism, which made Confucianism gain greater advancement in the theory of mind and nature. The theory of mindfulness of LI Ao had a profound influence on the development of Confucianism in later times. In the Song Dynasty, the ideas of "the nature of heaven and earth" and "the nature of temperament", and the idea of "preserving heavenly principles and removing human desires" had already taken shape in the theory of mindfulness of 800 Telephonics. The general framework of Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties is basically derived from Li Ao's Book of Restoration of Nature.