Abstract
Northern Song thinkers like Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤, Zhang Zai 張載, and the Cheng brothers (Cheng Hao 程顥 and Cheng Yi 程頤) are often seen as marking a turning point in the long history of Chinese philosophy. Unlike earlier Confucian thinkers who paid little attention to abstract issues, these thinkers apparently have turned toward “pure thought” and advanced cosmological, even metaphysical explanations of the world. In fact, they seem to be true “philosophers” in the original Greek sense. However, this description misses one crucial point: the followers of the Learning of the Way (daoxue 道學) never practiced the “value-free” contemplation of the world sub specie aeternitatis: they always maintained that their ideas about the cosmos and moral cultivation would eventually result in the radical transformation of the political, cultural, and social worlds. This notion of profound renewal certainly has less in common with the ideas of a traditional Western philosopher like Plato who retreated from the muddiness of the human world by founding the famous academy and who never thought of society as perfectible (Plato 2000: 312[592b]). Rather, it more closely resembles the views of modern thinkers like Marx, Heidegger, or Wittgenstein, who called for the abandonment of the philosopher’s detached “theoretical stance,” arguing instead for a close engagement with the realm of human practice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
For a more comprehensive assessment see Huang and Wu (2008, 1:28–57); compare also the relevant entries in Balazs and Hervouet (1978). The new edition of the Complete Works of L ü Zuqian includes 27 works in total and provides a detailed discussion of edition, authorship, and dating for all these works (see also Liu 1986: 33–73; De Weerdt 2007: 393–396). It seems indisputable that the main body of these works has its origin in the years between 1168 and 1181; however, as many of these works are based on Lü Zuqian’s lectures and were not printed until after his death, the precise dating is extremely difficult. I tentatively assume that Lü’s thought did not undergo a major change, but that all these works reflect a unified viewpoint. All quotations of Lü’s writings in this essay refer to Huang Linggeng’s edition. I refer to individual works by an abbreviation (see bibliography), the number of the volume and the page.
- 3.
In 1170, Lü and his close associate Rui Ye 芮燁 (1114–1172?) were involved in a reform of the curricula standards (Du 2007: 83–84, 87). In his letters to Lü of that year, Zhu Xi insisted on the necessity to counter the influence of “Ancient Prose” and to implement the doctrines of the Chengs. Lü, however, refused to endorse this claim and advocated a combination of existing curricula standards and the teachings of the Cheng brothers (Yan 2004; compare De Weerdt 2007: 301–305). Also, as far as I see, he nowhere declared a belief in the need for a genealogy of true transmission of the “way.” Although he participated in the compilation of the Record for Reflection which represents an important step in the process of purification of the Learning of the Way tradition, he never seems to have wished that this anthology should entirely replace the traditional canon.
References
I quote Lü Zuqian’s writings according to the new edition of his Complete Works (Lü 2008). In order to distinguish his various writings, I use the following abbreviations, plus the number of the volume and the page number in the Complete Works:
WJ – containing the Literary Collections 文集, Further Collections 別集, and Outer Collections 外集, edited by Lü Zujian 呂祖儉 and Lü Qiaonian 呂喬年 (1204).
LZLSJL – Collected Teachings of the Friendship Academy 麗澤論說集錄. (Contains Lü’s lectures on classical texts like the Book of Change, the Analects, and Mencius, but also his remarks on other topics).
ZSBY – Extensive Deliberations on Master Zuo 左氏博議. (Lü’s collection of model essays on the Zuo Tradition; 1168).
ZSZS – Explanations of Master Zuo’s Tradition 左氏傳說. (Lü’s collected annotations to the Zuo Tradition, presumably dating from the early 1170s).
ZSZXS – Further Explanations of Master Zuo’s Tradition 左氏傳續說. (Sequel to Explanations of Master Zuo’s Tradition, providing supplementary information; presumably dating from the late 1170s).
DLSS – Explanation of the Book of Documents 東萊書說. (Lü’s collected annotations to the Book of Documents, presumably mostly based on lectures he gave in the winter 1179/80).
DSJ – Chronicle of Major Events 大事記. (Lü’s critical, yet incomplete redaction of Sima Guang’s Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government 資治通鑒, compiled in 1180/1181).
LDZDXS – Detailed Explanations of Institutions throughout the Ages 歷代制度詳說. (Based on the lectures Lü gave on various institutional and historical issues).
Balazs, Etienne, and Yves Hervouet (eds.). 1978. A Sung Bibliography/Bibliographie des Sung. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.
Bol, Peter K. 1993. “Government, Society, and State: On the Political Visions of Ssu-Ma Kuang and Wang An-shih.” In Robert Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer (eds.), Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bol, Peter K.. 1998. “Reading Su Shi in Southern Song Wuzhou.” East Asian Library Journal 8.2: 69–102.
Brooks, E. Bruce and Brooks, A. Taeko. 1998. The Original Analects. Sayings of Confucius and His Successors. New York: Columbia University Press.
Chan, Wing-tsit 1989. Chu Hsi: New Studies. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Cheng, Hao 程顥 and Cheng, Yi 程頤. 2004. The Works of the Two Chengs 二程集. Beijing 北京: Zhonghua shuju 中華書局.
De Weerdt, Hilde. 2007. Competition over Content. Negotiating Standards for the Civil Service Examinations in Imperial China (1127–1279). Harvard: Harvard University Asia Center. (Analyzes Lü Zuqian’s various textbooks and teaching materials and provides important insights into his role in the ideological struggle over the civil service examinations.)
Du, Haijun 杜海軍. 2003a. Research on L ü Zuqian’s Literature 呂祖謙文學研究, Beijing 北京: Xueyuan chubanshe 學苑出版社. (Concise account of Lü’s thought on literature and literary criticism.)
Du, Haijun 杜海軍. 2003b. “L ü Zuqian and the Compilation of A Record for Reflection 呂祖謙與《近思錄》的編纂.” Zhongguo zheuxe 中國哲學 2003 (4): 43–49. (Argues that Lü played a more important role in the compilation of the Record for Reflection than did Zhu Xi.)
Du, Haijun 杜海軍. 2007. Chronicle of L ü Zuqian 呂祖謙年譜. Beijing北京: Zhonghua shuju 中華書局. (Thorough account of Lü’s biography, due to become the standard biography of Lü alongside Xu 2005.)
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley 1991. Chu Hsi’s Familiy Rituals: A Twelfth-Century Chinese Manual for the Performance of Cappings, Weddings, Funerals, and Ancestral Rites. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Gardner, Daniel K. 1986. Chu Hsi and the Ta-hsueh: Neo-Confucian Reflection on the Confucian Canon, Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University.
Gong, Wei Ai. 2009. “The Consolidation of Southern Sung China: The Reign of Hsiao-Tsung (1162–1189).” In Paul Smith and John W. Chaffee (eds.), Cambridge History of China, vol. 5, pt. I, The Five Dynasties and Sung China, 960–1279 A.D. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hon, Tze-ki. 2005. The Yijing and Chinese Politics, Classical Commentary and Literati Activism in the Northern Song Period, 960–1127. New York: State University of New York Press.
Huang, Linggeng 黃靈庚, and Wu Zhanlei 吳戰壘 (eds.). 2008. Complete Works of L ü Zuqian 呂祖謙全集. Hangzhou 杭州: Zhejiang guji chubanshe 浙江古籍出版社. (Critical modern edition with punctuation, due to become the standard edition of Lü’s works.)
Huang, Siu-chi. 1999. Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Ichiki, Tsuyuhiko 市來津由彥. 2002. Investigation into the Formation of Z hu Xi’s Fellowship 朱熹門人集團形成の研究. Tokyo: Sōbunsha 創文社. (Contains an important chapter on Lü’s scholarly activity.)
Levine, Ari Daniel. 2008. Divided by a Common Language: Factional Conflict in Late Northern Song China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Liu, Zhaoren 劉昭仁. 1986. On Lü Zuqian’s Studies of Literature and History 呂東萊之文學與史學. Taipei 臺北: Wenshizhe chubanshe 文史哲出版社. (Concise account of Lü Zuqian’s thought on literary and historical writing.)
Lü, Zuqian 呂祖謙. 2008. Complete Works of L ü Zuqian 呂祖謙全集, edited by Huang Linggeng 黃靈庚 and Wu Zhanlei 吳戰壘. Hangzhou 杭州: Zhejiang guji chubanshe 浙江古籍出版社.
Marchal, Kai. 2006. “Die Ordnung des Politischen und die Ordnung des Herzens – Eine Studie zum politisch-philosophischen Denken des Lü Zuqian (1137–1181).” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Munich. For the full text see http://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/5553/.
Mencius 2003. Trans. by D.C. Lau. Revised edition. New York, Middlesex: Penguin.
Mou, Zongsan 牟宗三. 1968–1969. Onto-cosmological State of the Original Heart/Mind and Human Nature 心體與性體. 3 vols. Taibei 臺北: Zhengzhong shuju 正中書局. (Seminal study by one of the most important Chinese philosophers of the twentieth century.)
Mou, Zongsan 牟宗三. 2003. On the Way of Administration and the Way of Politics 政道與治道. Taibei 臺北: Xuesheng shuju 學生書局. (Important work on political philosophy.)
Pan, Fu’en 潘富恩, and Xu Yuqing 徐余慶 1992. Critical Biography of L ü Zuqian 呂祖謙評傳. Hangzhou 杭州: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe 浙江人民出版社. (The only comprehensive study of Lü’s thought in China and the West.)
Pines, Yuri 2002. Foundations of Confucian Thought. Intellectual Life in the Chunqiu Period 722–453 B.C.E. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Plato. 2000. The Republic. Edited by G.R.F. Ferrari, trans. by Tom Griffith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Qian, Mu 錢穆. 1977. Introduction to Song and Ming Principle-centered Learning 宋明理學概述. Taibei 臺北: Xuesheng shuju 學生書局.
Schirokauer, Conrad M. 1962. “Chu Hsi’s Political Career: A Study in Ambivalence.” In Arthur F. Wright and Denis Twitchett (eds.), Confucian Personalities. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Shen, Songqin 沈松勤. 2005. Southern Song Literati and Factionalism 南宋文人與党爭. Beijing 北京: Renmin chubanshe 人民出版社. (Important study on the factional struggle in the history of the Southern Song dynasty and the ideology of the literati.)
Tang, Qinfu 湯勤福. 2000. The Historiographical Thought of Z hu Xi 朱熹的史學思想. Jinan 濟南: Qilu shushe 齊魯書社. (Contains a helpful analysis of the differences and similarities between Zhu Xi’s and Lü Zuqian’s historiographical thought.)
Taylor, Charles. 1991. The Ethics of Authenticity, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Tillman, Hoyt C. 1982. Utilitarian Confucianism: Ch’en Liang’s Challenge to Chu Hsi. Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University.
Tillman, Hoyt C. 1987. “Consciousness of T’ien in Chu Hsi’s Thought.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 47.1: 31–50.
Tillman, Hoyt C. 1992. Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. (Seminal study describing the evolution of the twelfth-century daoxue fellowship into state orthodoxy; contains the most comprehensive overview of Lü Zuqian’s thought in any Western language.)
Tillman, Hoyt C. 1994. Ch’en Liang on Public Interest and the Law. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Tillman, Hoyt C. 2003. “Lü Zuqian.” In Xinzhong Yao (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Confucianism. London: Routledge Curzon.
Tillman, Hoyt C. 2008. “Either Self-Realization or Transmission of Received Wisdom in Confucian Education? An Inquiry into Lü Zuqian’s and Zhu Xi’s Constructions for Student Learning.” In Roger T. Ames and Peter D. Hershock (eds.), Educations and Their Purposes. A Conversation among Cultures. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (Thorough analysis of Zhu Xi’s and Lü Zuqian’s different views on education and curricula standards.)
Wong, Siu-Kit, and Kar Shui Lee. 1989. “Poems of Depravity: A Twelfth-Century Dispute on the Moral Character of the Book of Songs.” T’oung Pao LXXV: 209–225. (Comparison between Zhu Xi’s and Lü Zuqian’s divergent views on the Book of Odes.)
Xiao, Gongquan 蕭公權. 1982. A History of Chinese Political Thought 中國政治思想史, Taibei 臺北: Zhongguo wenhua yinshuachang 中國文化印刷廠.
Xin, Deyong 辛德勇. 2006. “On Lü Zuqian’s Historical Criticism: The Origin of the Wuyuan Prefecture” 以五原郡的始設時間為例述呂祖謙之歷史考辨. Research on Jiangnan Culture (Special issue on Lü Zuqian and Zhedong Scholarship) 江南文化研究 (呂祖謙與浙東學術研究專輯). Beijing北京: Xueyuan chubanshe 學苑出版社: 110–129. (Meticulous case study of Lü’s use of history.)
Xu, Ruzong 徐儒宗. 2005. The Founder of Wu Learning – A Biography of L ü Zuqian 婺學之宗—呂祖謙傳. Hangzhou 杭州: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe 浙江人民出版社. (Thorough account of Lü’s biography, due to become the standard biography of Lü.)
Xunzi 荀子. 1997. Collected Commentaries to the Xunzi 荀子集解, edited by Wang Xianqian 王先謙. Beijing 北京: Zhonghua shuju 中華書局.
Yan, Zuozhi 嚴佐之. 2004. “Historical and Literary Reading of the Correspondence between Zhu Xi and Lü Zuqian in the Qiandao and Chunxi Eras” 乾淳間朱呂往復信劄的文學解讀和歷史解讀. In Zhu Jieren 朱傑人 and Yan Wenru 嚴文儒 (eds.), Complete Works of Master Zhu and Studies about Master Zhu – Volume for the 2003 International Conference 朱子全書與朱子學, 2003年國際學術討論會論文集. Shanghai 上海: Huadong shifan daxue chubanshe 華東師範大學出版社. (Analyzes the relationship between Zhu Xi’s and Lü Zuqian’s political agendas and their debates on examination standards and literature in the early 1170s.)
Yu, Yingshi 余英時. 2003. The Historical World of Z hu Xi : Investigations into the Political Culture of Song Scholar-Officials 朱熹的歷史世界—宋代士大夫政治文化的研究. Taibei 臺北: Yunchen 允晨. (Seminal study on Zhu Xi’s role in the factional struggle of the Southern Song dynasty, providing important insights into his political thought.)
Zhu, Xi 朱熹. 1994. Topically Arranged Conversations of Master Zhu 朱子語類, edited by Li Jingde 黎靖德 (fl. 1263). Beijing 北京: Zhonghua shuju 中華書局.
Zhu, Xi 朱熹. 2001. Section and Sentence Commentaries and Collected Annotations on the Four Books 四書章句集注. Beijing 北京: Zhonghua shuju 中華書局.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Hoyt Tillman, Hilde De Weerdt, Christian Soffel, Chu Ping-tzu and in particular John Makeham, editor of the present volume, for their helpful comments on a first draft of this essay. I am also grateful to S. Barret Dolph and Jonathan Keir for proofreading the final draft.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Marchal, K. (2010). Lü Zuqian’s Political Philosophy. In: Makeham, J. (eds) Dao Companion to Neo-Confucian Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2930-0_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2930-0_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2929-4
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2930-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)