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Project

The Creation of Yang Zhu as A Philisopher in The Republican Era

The fame of Yangism was, in ancient times, as great as Confucianism and Mohism. As a matter of fact, Mohism and Confucianism were considered as equals during the Warring States period and the Han Dynasty, while Yangism being the third greatest school among the Hundred Schools of Thought. It is not until later times that Yangism and Mohism were deemed less than Confucianism. And after the Book Burning and Burial of the Scholars in the Qin Dynasty, instead of reviving to there original status like Confucianism, Yangism, as well as Mohism, remained in lack of concern in the following time. Although the spread of Mohism never died out, the original materials of Yangism and the legendary founder Yang Zhu were lost in hundreds and thousands of years that follows. The rehabilitation of Yangism sprouted in the late Qing Dynasty and then the study on Yangism entered its second peak of prosperity in the Republican Era. Despite that the intention of the scholars who assorted the materials of Yangism and tried to annotate the Yangist texts might not be to bring back passions for Yangism, their works undoubtedly brought attention to the Yangist school of thought. Then there came the time when a drastic revolution happened not only in Chinese society but also in the minds of Chinese people. With the import of various foreign theories, it was soon realized by Republican scholars that while to take in theories generated in other cultures was momentous, to establish the competing theory system of Chinese traditional philosophy was fundamental as well. Under the unique circumstances that the society was in urgent need of the guidance of theory for its transition, Republican scholars turned to Yangism that people of the Republic could relate to so that they were able to refute Confucianism and promote civil rights and democracy. However, with the drastic reform of Chinese society, the attention that was brought back to Yangism also invoked intense controversy in the academic circle. In this new trend of the propagation of Yangism, Republican scholars retrospectively reviewed the Yangist school of thought in terms of imported theories and newly coined neologisms. And although there are researches focusing on the assortment of the works on Yangism, and some examinations of the relationship between individuals and freedom, democracy and civil rights, happiness and giving way to ones' desires, world-weariness and annihilationism in Yangist philosophy, the influences of the social background, the cultural development and the reformation of ideology on how Yang Zhu was created as a philosopher was neglected. In addition, despite that the works of Republican scholars were studied from multiple angles through the years, to shed light on the reasons of their interpretations is unprecedented. Moreover, in the Republican era, imported theories played a great part in the interpretation and construction of the Yangist philosophy for scholars, it is of essence to pay attention to the influence the scholars got from these theories. This paper will focus on the influences of the social background, the cultural development and the reformation of ideology on how Yang Zhu was created as a philosopher presented in the works of Republican scholars. And a research will be carried on from the connections between the Republican scholars' rendition of the Yangist philosophy and the related works mentioned in their study.   

Date:1 Oct 2017 →  1 Oct 2021
Keywords:Yang Zhu, Philosophy
Disciplines:Theory and methodology of philosophy, Theology and religious studies, Language studies, Literary studies
Project type:PhD project