Historical origin of practical application

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jinhua School, headed by Lv Zuqian, advocated the practice of learning from the world, advocated taking history as a mirror, and opposed the empty learning of Neo-Confucianism at that time. However, Jinhua School adopted a conciliatory and eclectic attitude towards the dispute between Zhu and Lu. Yongjia School, represented by Xue, Ye Shi and Yongkang School, combined practical application with practical application, and severely criticized the empty talk of Neo-Confucianism.

At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, the study of practical application flourished and formed an influential social trend of thought. Representative figures include Gu, Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi, Yan Yuan, Li Yong and Roy. On the basis of summing up the experience and lessons of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the beginners in the Qing Dynasty deeply felt that the style of study in the Ming Dynasty was empty and untrue, which brought great disasters to the country and the nation. "Scholars only teach truth, don't take advantage of the current situation, and don't miss the country." They demand that academic practice be based on facts, and advocate practical learning and a new style of study based on facts. Their style of study is characterized by: dealing with the world, helping the poor, and opposing being divorced from social reality; Be brave in doing things, and don't talk about "if you live for one day, you must do things for the people for one day"; Committed to innovation and never copying the ancients; Seek truth from facts and pay attention to investigation and research. Their research covers almost all aspects of social issues, including politics, economy, military affairs, countries, nationalities, laws, frontiers, geography, human feelings, customs, natural sciences and so on. "Those related to people's livelihood and national life must be traced back to the source and discuss why." Under the guidance of the thought of saving the world, they put forward various solutions to the current social problems: ① Politically, they violently criticized the feudal autocratic system, exposed the evils of feudal autocratic monarchs, and put forward some ideas with initial democratic enlightenment factors, such as Huang Zongxi's thought of "managing the public right and wrong" and Gu's thought of "Shu Ren being in politics". Economically, in view of the feudal land annexation, various methods to solve the land problem were put forward. These methods are permeated with the spirit of "land equalization system". Although the "land equalization system" put forward by them is essentially different from that put forward by the peasant uprising, it shows concern and sympathy for the peasant problem. (3) In education, they strongly criticized the imperial examination system and stereotyped writing, attached importance to school education, and demanded to cultivate useful talents with real talents and practical learning. (4) Philosophically, everyone has his own ideas and presents an active situation.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the feudal Qing government was corrupt and incompetent, imperialist aggression deepened day by day, and the country faced a grim situation of life and death. In this case, the research of practical application has risen again. Its representatives are Wei Yuan, Gong Zizhen and later Kang Youwei. They attached great importance to Confucian classics, inherited and developed the spirit of being practical in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and used the so-called "micro-criticism and righteousness" of Confucian classics to give play to their social transformation thoughts. Under the banner of saving the nation from extinction, a new chapter in history has been opened.

Confucian theory of "running the world" from pre-Qin to Qing Dynasty.

Modern times are often used in the historical background of the late Qing Dynasty. They belong to an idea or a value. At that time, the Qing dynasty was poor and weak, and foreign enemies invaded. There are roughly two schools of thought about where to go. One faction sticks to the old tradition, resists cheap and easy-to-use foreign goods, hates Westernization, but cannot resist the spread of foreign goods. The other school belongs to the Westernization School, the so-called new school, which focuses on learning from foreigners to control them and wants to learn advanced western things, including technology.