Through hole 001 Xiong’s Philosophy Research

This semester, I will give you a lecture on "Modern and Contemporary Chinese Philosophy". It should be said that modern and contemporary Chinese philosophy is a very rich process of philosophical progression, and there should be various schools and schools of thought. Ma Zhe talked about Li Da, Western Philosophy talked about He Lin, and Logic talked about Jin Yuelin. Only our teachers in the Chinese Philosophy Teaching and Research Office are struggling to support us in this place. This course is about the modern transformation of traditional Chinese philosophy.  

For example, when it comes to Xiong Shili, Liang Shuming, Feng Youlan, Mou Zongsan, and Tang Junyi, it becomes a special lecture that turns contemporary Chinese philosophy into a modern Neo Confucianism, which is beyond our control. I think this makes sense. Do you still need to teach modern and contemporary Marxist philosophy? You don't need to teach Marxist Leninist principles every day. We haven't fully studied Western philosophy, and sometimes we're afraid of making mistakes, so in the end, we're the only ones left. But this lesson is very difficult to teach, and there may not be many undergraduate students present today. I hope everyone can give it their all.

Because this course is very difficult, it should be among the most complex courses in our undergraduate curriculum. In the past, this course was scheduled for the first semester of fourth grade, when everyone was about to graduate. In theory, you had to have studied the history of Chinese and Western philosophy, logic and ethics, and other common sense before taking this course.

I will talk about Xiong Shili, while other teachers will talk about other figures of Neo Confucianism. Their thoughts may not be mature, and they may not be able to survive in the history of philosophy in the future. They may not be present in writing about these figures for hundreds of years, but their ideas are very inclusive. You can say that it contains traditional Chinese elements, Western influences, as well as reflections on modern and contemporary issues.

So strictly speaking, this course is very difficult to teach. I am talking about the philosophy of Xiong Shili. I chose this character after starting work, and at first I felt self-centered. After talking about it for more than ten years, I feel that I can talk about it, but it may not be right. So, let me explain to you first. If you are willing to follow me for three weeks of class, what content will I teach you? You can take a look at what my three weeks mainly focus on.

I mainly focus on five topics in these three weeks and nine classes.

The first part is an introduction, which introduces Xiong Shili's life, what books he wrote, what are the main contents of his ideological system, and what are the origins of his thoughts? What kind of impact does it have? This is a simple introduction for the first part.

The second part is about Emperor Mingzong. The name I gave was written according to the structure of Xiong Shili's "New Yogacara Theory". The new Yogacara system of Xiong Shili is generally divided into six parts, called Mingzong, Yogacara, Transformation, Function, Creation, and Mingxin. Among them, the transformation is a self-contained system, and the first two can be taken out. Mingzong was the one who spoke about the purpose of his own ideological system, while Yogacara was the one he transformed from Yogacara. The last four were the systems he developed and constructed himself.

So, when he wrote his book, he first started working on this system in 1923. By 1958, when he wrote "Theory of Body and Use", he simply cut off the first two chapters and started directly from that transformation. In fact, what it cuts off is the most valuable, where did this philosophy come from? Why was it proposed, and what are the four elements of the ideas he drew inspiration from?

You have to look directly at the theory of body use as his most mature system of work, but you don't know where he comes from. And that is a systematic work, just a synthesis and refinement of our traditional philosophy. In fact, the richest and most valuable ones are the first two.

So, my first main content is about Mingzong, who proposed his own philosophical system. What does Mingzong actually discuss? I will summarize it in two parts, which is the exploration of quantity theory based on his life experience. You may not be familiar with this word, but quantity is used in Buddhism to indicate the part of content that is roughly similar to the understanding we have in modern philosophy. Modern philosophy, Xiong Shili, also belongs to modern philosophy and is deeply influenced by the interaction between Chinese and Western philosophy. If you want to talk about ontology, if you want to talk about historical and political philosophy, you first need to solve the problem of cognition. Why can you propose this construction of ontology?

Xiong Shili is also like this, so Mingzong is actually a question of understanding people. He borrowed Buddhist words, and the same goes for Xiong Shili. Firstly, how did Xiong Shili discuss the issue of life.

So, the second paragraph of the main body is about Yogacara. How did he transform from the old Yogacara school?

Xiong Shili's philosophy is the New Consciousness Theory, and you can tell from its name that it originated from the Old Consciousness Theory. But you need to compare carefully, where did the difference between their old Yogacara theories start from? It started from the very beginning. It began to break off from the second chapter of his book 'New Consciousness Theory'.

Why did this change occur?

As I just said, the transformation, function, formation, and clarity of mind are his own systems. Consciousness is where he breaks away from the old and new Yogacara schools. What are the key points of theoretical analysis of this break? It is a shift from the causal thinking mode of Buddhism to the embodied mode of traditional Confucianism.

What do causality and bodily use mean?

I will introduce it to everyone during class. This is my second part, and I think it is one of the most important ideas I have had in class over the past decade. Although I am teaching you undergraduate courses, I will definitely address the most important issue we are currently discussing and the best possible problem we can achieve regarding the new Yogacara. This chapter may be quite tedious, but we can talk about it later. Every chapter about Xiong Shili may be quite tedious.

The third part of the main body is a comprehensive introduction to Xiong Shili's philosophy.

Actually, some teachers may only talk about this third part. In my opinion, the third part doesn't have much meaning, it's just a philosophical poem. What really matters is his first two paragraphs. Why did he write the New Consciousness Theory? Because he has his own questions, from why it can propose the new Yogacara theory to why it has its philosophical foundation in the old Yogacara school. When he started to talk about his theory of embodiment and use, he had his own set of ideas. Therefore, I am preparing to briefly introduce the third part to everyone.  

If you have the book 'New Yogacara' in your hand, we can flip it over. I will explain it briefly in class and welcome everyone to discuss it at other times after class. There is another content in the main body that depends on time. If there is enough time, we will briefly introduce it to everyone. If there is not enough time, we will not talk about it. Returning to the basics and opening up a new field of study is traditional Confucianism, which teaches us the way of inner sage and outer king. Generally, it is based on the individual's life experience and moral cultivation, but the ultimate goal is to expand it and talk about cultivation, harmony, and peace. Xiong Shili is also within this framework. So, there are many ideas in this area, and I hope I have time to discuss them with everyone.

If you follow me, then I have an introduction with four main topics. I welcome everyone to persevere and work with me to complete these three weeks of classes.

The brief introduction is over, let's start talking about Xiong Shili's philosophical ideas.

Before discussing this topic, I would like to provide an introduction to the books written by this person and their thoughts. This is a tradition in Chinese philosophy. Mencius said that understanding a person is called "knowing people and discussing things", and you also know what kind of life they are in and what their personal life experience is. Some teachers who teach philosophy are not very willing to say so, thinking that philosophy is just philosophy and has nothing to do with who said it. Everyone knows what Qian Zhongshu said, you don't have to ask which hen laid the egg after eating it.

But when it comes to studying philosophy, the tradition of Chinese philosophy is different. If you don't know where it comes from, you often don't know the definite meaning of his sentence. Because language is always in context. If you really want to learn Xiong Shili's philosophy well, you can read Xiong Shili's biography, but unfortunately there is no biography written in depth, it seems to be very lively. He actually cannot truly enter this person's inner world.

I think we have some resonance. I haven't done anything else in the past decade. Apart from the necessary things, I have conducted a systematic study on Xiong Shili. I am here to teach everyone and have made sufficient preparations. Why did I prepare the courseware? I wrote a 250000 word material just to attend these three weeks of classes. But maybe when I said it, I confused your hearts. You were already quite familiar with Xiong Shili, so let me explain it to you. If that's the case, everyone is welcome to continue discussing with me, and we will clarify this issue through communication.

Below, I will use an introduction to introduce Xiong Shili, hoping to help us understand his thoughts.

Firstly, it is a simple overview of one's life, writings, thoughts, and perspectives. For example, if I introduce Xiong Shili to you and tell you a story, I actually made it up. When you hear me talk about Xiong Shili, I have already arranged it. For example, if I divide it into four parts and others can only tell you, they won't say it that way.

Which of his books are highlighted in red and why? I made some new changes at home last night, some in red, some in green, and some in blue. All the stories have been simplified. I will tell you about Xiong Shili's life, writings, thoughts, and perspectives, which I have tailored. So, listen to me and if you're not satisfied, go back and take a look for yourself. Discuss with me, just in class, just in class, listen to me. You will always be a student. If you can read 'New Yogacara', you will be on the same level as me.

If you can not only read new Yogacara, but also cultivate power, why write, and what pain and life experience Xiong Shili has, then you are on the same level as Xiong Shili. These are the three realms of teaching.