A Brief Introduction to China Culture: 22. What is the historical background of the rise of Neo-Confucianism?

The Historical Background and Characteristics of the Rise of Neo-Confucianism

The rise of modern neo-Confucianism has domestic and international background;

Worldwide, the First World War brought great disasters to mankind, and people began to doubt the role and value of western material civilization. From Wei Yuan's "learning from foreigners" to Hu Shi's "total westernization", there has been no satisfactory answer.

In China, the slogan "Down with Kongjiadian" put forward by the May 4th Movement has the dangerous tendency of traditional nihilism. How to correctly understand traditional culture has become a reality that responsible intellectuals must face.

Under this background, some intellectuals set off the trend of oriental culture and formed the new Confucianism. Liang Qichao, who advocated improvement in his early years, opposed the theory of imitating the western system reform that year after the war, and thought that China's ancient cultural foundation was most in line with the new world trend. His disciple Zhang Junmai put forward the proposition that "it is our future mission to digest and integrate western science and western politics with our Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism", which showed his great desire to integrate things.

In addition, representatives of modern neo-Confucianism include Xiong Shili, Liang Shuming, Feng Youlan and others. Xiong Shili thoroughly cleaned up the primitive Confucianism, integrated the pre-Qin Confucius theory, the Song theory and Mahayana Buddhism's empty-sect epistemology, and built his own brand-new epistemology building. Put forward the viewpoint of "the combination of Chinese and western, the best of both worlds, the best of both worlds".

Modern Neo-Confucianism is the response of China intellectuals based on local culture when the tide of western learning is surging and its advantages and disadvantages are prominent. Modern Neo-Confucianism, as a trend of thought, is worthy of recognition in ideological value and theoretical significance, but it is doomed to decline due to its own defects.