Explain the development of educational ideas?

The history of China's philosophy sprouted in Shang and Zhou Dynasties and took shape at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. To the May 4th period, it can be divided into three periods: pre-Qin philosophy; Philosophy from Qin and Han Dynasties to Ming and Qing Dynasties; The philosophy from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the May 4th Movement can be called modern philosophy.

1. The main problems and characteristics of China's philosophy history

1. The history of China's philosophy has long been based on the principle of harmony between man and nature.

Turn to the development history of the relationship between subject and object

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially before Wang Chuanshan, the mainstream of China's philosophical thought was the concept of harmony between man and the world. It was only when Wang Chuanshan began to develop a view similar to the dichotomy between subject and object, that is, the dichotomy between thinking and existence. China's thought of harmony between man and nature can be divided into the following types: first, the Confucian thought of harmony between man and nature with moral significance; Second, the unity of "Tao" and man in Taoist philosophy has no moral significance. Confucianism's thought of harmony between man and nature can be divided into two categories: one is the philosophical thought of harmony between man and nature, which originated from Mencius and flourished in Taoism (Neo-Confucianism) in Song and Ming Dynasties; Second, Dong Zhongshu's thought of harmony between man and nature in Han Dynasty. There are two schools of thought: one is the so-called harmony between man and nature represented by Zhu; The second is the thought of "human heart is justice" represented by Wang Yangming. In fact, the unity of man and nature means not distinguishing between subject and object, thinking and existence, but treating them as a whole. For this reason, the schools in China's traditional philosophy generally say that it is inappropriate to divide and judge between subject and object, thinking and existence, which is the first and which is the second. Wang Chuanshan's thought of "ability" is a breakthrough of China's traditional thought of harmony between man and nature (although Wang Chuanshan has more thoughts of harmony between man and nature), which makes the mainstream of China's philosophy history begin to transition to the dichotomy of subject and object, which is a turning point in China's philosophy history; Sun Yat-sen clearly put forward

The dualism of spiritual matter actually puts forward the dichotomy of subject and object, but it has not reached the level of the dichotomy of subject and object in western Descartes. Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's philosophy history was dominated by the idea of harmony between man and nature, lacking the dichotomy of subject and object, thus lacking the subjectivity principle closely related to it; Starting from Wang Chuanshan, especially after the Opium War, the history of China's philosophy began to shift to the dichotomy of subject and object, and began to summon the principle of subjectivity to modern western philosophy. China's modern philosophy can be said to be a philosophy of developing the dichotomy of subject and object, and a philosophy of summoning subjectivity to the West.

2. The history of China's philosophy has turned from the long-term study of ethics.

Pay attention to the development history of nature.

Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the history of China's philosophy focused on the unity of man and nature, and regarded subject and object as a whole. Therefore, people generally paid attention to the life problem of how people lived in the world, and there were few special and obvious epistemological problems about how the subject knew the object and how the self knew the object. The philosophy of life is called philosophy of life, and the philosophy of understanding is called epistemology. Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the history of China's philosophy focused on the study of philosophy of life and the relationship between personnel and human relations, but ignored epistemology, so it did not pay attention to the study of the universe and cosmology. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's philosophy began to turn to the dichotomy of subject and object, and began to pay attention to the principle of subjectivity or self-awareness, which made the issue of epistemology gradually become an important issue in China's philosophy.

Developing science, understanding and conquering nature and making nature serve us are the results of the dichotomy of subject and object and the principle of subjectivity, with the former as the premise. Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China could not say that there was no science, but science was underdeveloped and ignored because of his emphasis on the unity of heaven and man and the lack of the principle of dichotomy between subject and object and subjectivity. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the dichotomy between subject and object began to turn, especially after the Opium War, the principle of subjectivity of modern western philosophy was called, so people paid attention to the development of science and the understanding of nature. If the history of China's philosophy before the Qing Dynasty was a history of long-term concern about disputes and coordination between people, then after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the history of China's philosophy began to pay attention to the thought of tL struggle between man and nature.

3. The history of China's philosophy has long been dominated by the idea of "harmony between man and nature".

To the beginning of the development history of anti-"justice"

Although a hundred schools of thought contended in hundred schools of thought before Qin Dynasty, Confucius was the real founder of China's philosophy, and no other school could compete with it. In the era of Mencius, "the words of the world do not belong to Yang, but Yang Mo's words are only temporary. Throughout the pre-Qin philosophers' philosophy, Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius is still the mainstream of the ideological circle. Although Confucius seldom said "destiny", it was not without saying "destiny". He thinks that "Heaven is the greatest" and people also think that Confucius is a destiny. Mencius' "heaven" mainly refers to the heaven of justice, and the four ends of benevolence, righteousness and reason are "heaven belongs to me" Mencius definitely absolutes and objectifies the feudal moral principle into a metaphysical "heaven" of justice, and then oppresses people with this "heaven" of justice. Mencius is the pioneer of China's philosophy history.

In the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was the only respect, and Dong Zhongshu's theory of correspondence between man and nature more clearly described the feudal three cardinal guides and the five permanent members as "providence" and suppressed human rights with "providence".

Although Ji Kang, Ruan Ji and others said that metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties was "detached from the famous religion and immune to it", the mainstream of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties was to reconcile the famous religion with nature. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism prevailed, but Confucianism was still authentic. Han Yu has always stood on the position of Confucian theory of "destiny". Liu Yuxi's thought that "human rationality" is higher than "natural rationality" is not applicable to future generations.

Taoism in the Song and Ming Dynasties, whether represented by Zhu or Wang Yangming, suppressed "people's hearts" with the "justice" of feudal morality. The theory of mind advocates that justice is the human heart and does not belong to the metaphysical ontology. Wang Yangming even doubted Confucius' anti-traditional thought, but in the final analysis, he still regarded feudal moral principles as a "natural principle" that was justified and sacred.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wang Chuanshan, Dai Zhen and others all opposed the absolute opposition between "natural justice" and "human desire" in the Daoism of Song and Ming Dynasties. Dai Zhen even severely reprimanded people for dying of reason rather than the cruelty of law. Most advanced thinkers after the Opium War opposed the Confucian concept of "destiny". Tan Sitong believes that Zoroastrianism is neither a "heavenly principle" nor a "destiny", but a tool for the superior to suppress the inferior. Zhang insisted that there is neither "heaven" nor "emperor", emphasizing that everything depends on "manpower".

In the Western Middle Ages, it was the theocracy of the church that weighed on people, which was the Christian god. Similarly, it is the Confucian "natural principles" and "destiny" that have oppressed China for thousands of years. The history of modern western philosophy is a history of overthrowing the theocracy of the church, and the history of modern philosophy in China since Ming and Qing Dynasties is a history of challenging "justice" and "destiny".

The May 4th Movement was China's "Renaissance", and its two slogans, democracy and science, were quite similar to the discoveries of human beings and nature during the Western Renaissance. The two discoveries of the Western Renaissance provided ideological preparation for the dichotomy of subject and object and the principle of subjectivity in modern western philosophy. The two slogans put forward by China during the May 4th Movement are a summary of the history of modern philosophy in China since the Ming and Qing Dynasties: a summary of the dichotomy between subject and object and the transformation of the principle of subjectivity, and a summary of the development of natural science knowledge and the anti-Confucian "natural justice" and "destiny". The May 4th Movement has opened up broad prospects for further establishing the principle of dichotomy between subject and object and subjectivity, opposing the oppression of people by "natural laws" and developing natural science. The history of China's philosophy is still advancing along the May 4th road.

2. Main development stages

1. Pre-Qin philosophy

The history of China's philosophy was in its infancy in Shang Dynasty. In Shang Dynasty, the "emperor" or "God of Heaven" of the will was regarded as the supreme master of the world, and all battles, hunting, diseases, years of success and actions were carried out according to the results of divination. After the demise of the Western Zhou and Shang Dynasties, there appeared a philosophical view of "destiny", which believed that personnel were predestined and the relationship between man and nature was actually a relationship between God and man. In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there was a view that Shui Mu's golden fire soil served as five basic substances, and the Zhou Dynasty had eight diagrams and Yin and Yang thoughts to explain natural phenomena, but they were all mixed with strong religious superstitions and far from scientific knowledge.

The idea of harmony between man and nature put forward by Duke Zhou is the earliest bud of the later Confucian idea of harmony between man and nature.

Man-made "Lord of God" appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period. The idea that the meaning of personality god was questioned the day before. Zheng made it very clear: "Heaven is far away and there are many people." (1) This is an expression of thought that despises fate and attaches importance to people themselves, but it is very simple. Fan Li interpreted the sky as the natural law of the movement of the sun and the moon, emphasizing that human beings can only succeed if they conform to the sky.

Confucius established a relatively complete ideological system. Confucius said little about heaven, but he still thought that heaven was the biggest, and "there is nothing to pray for if you commit a crime." The "heaven" mentioned by Confucius is mostly a "heaven" with will, and it is the master who dominates everything. Confucius said, "Being born with virtue is more important than giving. How can you give it?" ④ It can be seen that Confucius endowed "Heaven" with moral significance. The later concept of "natural justice" may have its ideological origin here. Of course, this sentence of Confucius also contains his intention of being ordered by God. Confucius said: "The group has three fears: fear of destiny, fear of adults, and fear of the words of saints." (2) This also shows that Confucius regards "destiny" and "sage" as the same thought. Confucius' remarks somewhat implied the unity of heaven and man. Confucius takes "benevolence" as the foundation, and "benevolence" is the handsome of all virtues. He believes that his "destiny" is to teach people to be benevolent, and the basic meaning of "benevolence" is "self-denial", that is, moral behavior that words and deeds conform to etiquette. Confucius put forward the idea of "correcting the name", that is, the so-called "monarch, monarch, minister, father, son, son", which is the specific content of restoring ceremony for benevolence and benevolence. Confucius' so-called "smell the Tao" means to be polite and be kind to others. Of course, Confucius' thought was not just "learning Tao" at first, but also focused on knowledge. He taught people to "know more about the names of birds, animals and plants" and the instructions for seeking knowledge. However, an Analects of Confucius still focuses on the moral lessons of "destiny" and "benevolence", and there are few theories about science and knowledge, which are extremely simple. Confucius attached importance to human nature and the combination of "destiny" and benevolence, but ignored knowledge and scientific understanding, which showed that his philosophy lacked the principle of dichotomy between subject and object and subjectivity. His thoughts constitute the characteristics of Confucianism in the whole history of China philosophy.

Although Mozi advocated that "God" has will, he also advocated "non-life", which is different from Confucius' conclusion about life. Mozi also talked about "benevolence", but the meaning of "benevolence" is "universal love". He opposes taking Ziyi's self-denial and self-sacrifice as benevolence. He advocates "mutual love and mutual benefit" and his philosophy is utilitarianism. Mozi emphasized "the truth of eyes and ears" and put forward the standard of judging whether a speech is true or false. "There must be three statements in a speech". Obviously, Mozi has preliminarily discussed the issue of epistemology.

Yang Zhu advocated "self-improvement", "self-reliance", "light things for rebirth" and "something for nothing". He was the first thinker in the history of China's philosophy who paid attention to the independence of individuals and people. Although he didn't make any theoretical arguments, there were some flashes of western subjective thoughts.

Mencius first put forward a clear idea of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. He said: "those who do their best know their nature;" If you know its nature, you will know heaven. " ⑧ "The gentleman has a god, and he is in the same stream with heaven and earth, and he can't make up for it." "Everything is ready for me." Sincerity is a great pleasure. "(1) people and everything in the world, in Mencius' view, is a unified whole. People's goodness (that is, benevolence, righteousness and reason) is influenced by heaven, originally from heaven, or given by this day. In this way, Mencius found a metaphysical basis for the feudal moral principle-heaven rules man with feudal moral significance. Mencius seldom talked about scientific understanding. He is the successor and promoter of Confucius' thought of "learning Tao". He paid attention to applying Ziyi's "benevolence" thought to political society. Like Confucius, he valued both "inner sage" and "outer king".

Laozi was the first person in the history of China's philosophy who explicitly opposed that "heaven" was the supreme Lord, and put forward the origin of all things in heaven and earth, thinking that "Tao" or "nothing" was the origin of all things in heaven and earth. Although he didn't attach importance to interpersonal relationship and despise the study of nature like Lutz, he didn't ignore the status of human beings. On the contrary, he is the first philosopher in the history of China's philosophy who clearly put forward that human beings have a superior position. He said: "People should learn from the earth, the earth should learn from heaven, and heaven should learn from Taoism, and Taoism is natural." (2) This means that in Laozi's view, man, earth and heaven are unified in Tao, which is natural and has no will. Laozi's thought of harmony between man and nature is manifested as harmony between man and nature; This state can be achieved through the inner intuition of "Xuan Lan". Laozi said: "Heaven and earth are heartless", which shows that Laozi canceled the moral meaning of "heaven" mentioned by Confucianism. Laozi opposes taking "benevolence" as the highest morality, which is contrary to Confucius' thought of "self-denial and courtesy as benevolence" and Mencius' thought of "accepting heaven at all ends" In the history of China's philosophy, Laozi clearly distinguished "for learning" and "for Tao", holding that "for Tao" is higher than "for learning" and "for Tao" is the primary task of life. Laozi does not take moral principles as the content of "being the Tao", which is the place where Laozi's philosophy is superior to Confucius and Mencius'. However, Laozi neglected "learning" and knowledge, which had a more negative impact on the development of China's scientific understanding. Of course, the idea of "returning to infants" advocated by Laozi cannot be simply understood as absolutely abandoning knowledge and absolutely denying desire. It contains the idea of teaching people to reach the superb realm beyond knowledge and desire, so Lao Zi inherited Yang Zhu's thought of valuing life over profit. Laozi's "inaction" is the unity with "Tao" and the natural meaning of all things. If people can follow the Tao and do nothing, they will do anything and die. This is Laozi's life ideal and social ideal.

Zhuangzi inherited and developed Laozi's thoughts. Zhuangzi also believes that the origin of the world is Tao, which is natural and has no will. The so-called "Tao is in heaven" is Lao Zi's "Tao is nature". So Zhuangzi said, "Doing nothing is heaven." The sky in Zhuangzi is natural. Zhuangzi believes that "heaven and earth coexist with me, everything is one with me", "man and heaven are one" and "to man" can "communicate with the spirit of heaven and earth". This is a realm of harmony between man and nature, a unity of life and death, an equality of honor and inferiority, an equality between man and me, and a realm that transcends all differences. Unlike Yang Zhu, Zhuangzi didn't take avoiding the world as the way to "preserve the truth". He believes that as long as the above-mentioned realm is reached, you can enjoy personal freedom that is not burdened by foreign objects. Zhuangzi's philosophy, like Laozi's philosophy, is obviously opposed to Confucius and Mencius' idea that "Heaven" oppresses people with righteousness. Zhuangzi believes that knowledge is not helpful to "being the Tao" or even harmful to "being the Tao". Zhuangzi's thought is certainly harmful to the development of scientific understanding.

Hui Shi is the first person in the history of China's philosophy to study logic and epistemology in the debate. The ten things about Hui Shi mentioned in Zhuangzi Tianxiapian are the ten propositions in this respect, which mainly discuss the similarities and differences of things. He emphasized that specific and individual things are relative and limited. Hui Shi's "universal love for all things, the integration of heaven and earth" is similar to Zhuangzi's "Heaven and earth coexist with me, and everything is one with me". But Zhuangzi is talking about a state of harmony between heaven and man, and an intuitive way to realize this state from the perspective of the relationship between heaven and man, while giving is talking about realizing harmony between heaven and earth from the perspective of cognition and logic. Zhuangzi's philosophy focuses on "being Tao", while giving benefits seems to emphasize "learning", that is, epistemology and logic. In this respect, Hui Shi's thought is particularly worth mentioning in China's philosophical tradition.

Gong Sunlong, like Hui Shi, is mainly engaged in the study of logic and epistemology in debate, but he disagrees with Hui Shi's "contract difference" and advocates "separation from difference". His main idea is that concepts and * * * are absolutely independent, self-existent and unchangeable. Gong Sunlong is the first and rare person in the history of China's philosophy who has western metaphysical thought based on epistemology.

In the later period, Mohism paid more attention to natural science knowledge, and had clearer and more common-sense epistemology and logic theories than Hui Shi and Gongsun Long. They have a vague concept of the dichotomy between subject and object. They classify knowledge into three categories according to its source: listening, speaking and approaching. They also put forward some basic logical principles about debate, and made more research on basic logical categories such as concept, judgment and reasoning. Unfortunately, Mohist thought in the later period did not occupy a dominant position in China's traditional philosophy.

The author of Yi Zhuan takes "Tai Chi" as the foundation of heaven and earth, and "Tai Chi" is an inseparable integration of Yin and Yang. Yi Zhuan puts forward some explanations of natural phenomena, which is of certain significance to the development of scientific understanding. The Book of Changes also puts forward the proposition that "the metaphysical refers to the Tao, and the metaphysical refers to the device", which reveals the relationship between the general and the individual.

Xunzi's "heaven" is a natural heaven, and his so-called "sex" is "born to be human" (1), which belongs to heaven, so it doesn't have moral meaning like natural "heaven", which is different from Confucius and Mencius' "heaven" and "sex", and is obviously influenced by Laozi and Zhuangzi's philosophy. Xunzi believes that morality is artificial. The so-called "human nature is evil, but its goodness is also false", and "false" is artificial. This is different from Mencius' view that man-made feudal ethics is called "destiny" and then "heaven" is used to suppress people. However, Xunzi believes that "a monarch, a minister, a father, a son, a younger brother and a couple, the beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning, which is the same as heaven and earth and will last forever." Xunzi regarded feudal ethics as the same as heaven and earth here. Xunzi is not talking about the unity of heaven and man, but the separation between heaven and man, which is the so-called "separation between heaven and man" Its main meaning is that there is no necessary connection between the good fortune of the world and the change of nature ("heaven"), and the two should be distinguished. Based on this thought, Xunzi opposed Confucius and Mencius' view of "life" and advocated "using life to control it". Xunzi's demand for man to rule heaven here is contrary to Mencius' thought of the unity of man and nature, and cannot be interpreted as the unity of man and nature. "Making use of fate" is somewhat similar to the thought of conquering and using nature mentioned by modern western philosophers such as Bacon, but it does not reach the ideological height of dichotomy between subject and object. Xunzi is the successor of Confucius' philosophy of "doing for learning", which is just the opposite of Mencius' philosophy of "doing for Tao". Xunzi inherited and developed some ideas of Mohism in his later period, and there are many theories of epistemology and logic. He emphasized "unmasking" and "virtual quietness" in order to be objective and pay attention to verification. The utilitarian thought in Xunzi's philosophy originated from Mozi, but it was not as extreme as Mozi. He criticized Mozi for "hiding in use without knowing it". Xunzi also criticized Zhuangzi, saying that Zhuangzi "hides in the sky and doesn't know people" ⑦, that is, unknown white people can control and use their destiny. He criticized the debater for not paying attention to the facts and "hiding in words and not knowing the facts". Xunzi made his own summary of pre-Qin philosophy.

Han Fei inherited and developed the thoughts of Xunzi and Laozi, denied "heaven" by will, and thought that social chaos was governed by man rather than heaven, and that benevolence and morality were not born of heaven. Han Fei advocates that "only a rational person can do one thing"; Tao, everything is done. ""Tao is the foundation of all things, and Tao is the foundation of all things. "These words are not only an explanation of Lao Tzu's Tao, but also Han Fei's own thoughts. Han Fei made a clear distinction between Tao and reason here: everything has its reason, and the confluence of all reasons is called Tao&; Qot, and "Tao" is "reason". In his view, it is a kind of "preconceived", that is, unfounded delusion to act without touching things and without understanding reason. Only by "acting according to the truth" can we succeed (ibid.). Han Fei also emphasized "experience" in epistemology. From the social and political point of view, he attaches great importance to the rule of law, just like Guan Zi's point of view that "all the monarch, ministers and civilians obey the law". Unfortunately, Han Fei and other legalists failed to realize this highest ideal in China.

2. Philosophy from Qin and Han Dynasties to Ming and Qing Dynasties

Pre-Qin philosophy, hundred schools of thought, is a great sight. After the unification of Qin and Han dynasties, ideas became more and more unified. The main idea of Confucianism is to control people with the "heaven" of feudal morality. In addition, Confucianism has both systematic theories and concrete measures in interpersonal relations and politics, so Confucianism can be loved and advocated by the unified autocratic monarch. Qin Shihuang adopted Confucianism in many ways, and Emperor Wu and Dong Zhongshu even established Confucianism as orthodox thought. Therefore, since the Qin and Han Dynasties, especially after Emperor Wu, the history of China's philosophy has been dominated by Confucianism for a long time, and it was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially after the Opium War, that this situation began to change gradually.

Philosophy of Qin and Han Dynasties. Under the historical background that the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements was mixed with Confucianism in Qin and Han Dynasties, Dong Zhongshu put forward the theory of "harmony between man and nature". He said: "Heaven also has emotions, similar to people." If people are of the same kind, heaven and man are one. "(4)" Heaven and man are one. " He believes that "heaven" is "the great king of the gods" and "heaven" consciously creates all things: "heaven is the ancestor of all things." (4) He used the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements to demonstrate that heaven has will. He thinks that man is in the sky, man is in the sky, man's body is like the sky, his hair is like stars, his eyes and ears are like the sun and the moon, and his nose and mouth are like the atmosphere. He said: "The three cardinal principles of kingcraft are a heaven that can be sought." (1) "The greatness of the Tao originates from the sky, and the sky remains the same, so does the Tao." (2) providence can also disaster people with different "tasks". This is the most explicit theory that "heaven" oppresses people.

During the Han Dynasty, Yin-Yang school and Confucianism were almost integrated, and the thoughts of heaven-man induction and divination dominated, but there were also scientific buds in the theory of Yin-Yang school.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, on the one hand, Yang Xiong criticized Chen Wei's thought, arguing that the words of Yin and Yang were not applicable to saints, in an attempt to separate Confucianism from the theory of Yin and Yang. On the other hand, Yang Xiong, also known as Tao Lao Zhuang, absorbed some thoughts of Taoism. But he still takes Confucianism as the leading factor, Confucius as the authentic one, and compares himself with Mencius. Yang Xiong believes that "Xuan" is the source of all things. He emphasized moral cultivation, but also noticed the importance of knowledge. He not only affirmed the inheritance of history, but also affirmed the necessity of reform, thinking that "if possible, it must be because, otherwise it must be reform."