Wang Yangming

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Wang Yang-ming (1472-1529) was a Chinese philosopher and government official. He led the revolt against the orthodox Neo-Confucianism of Chu Hsi and founded the Yang-ming school, which later dominated Chinese thought.

Born Wang Shou-jen into a scholar-official family in a district southeast of Hangchow, Chekiang, Wang Yang-ming exhibited in his teens a spirit of adventure and a questioning of orthodox beliefs. He became obsessed with Neo-Confucianism at age 17, when a noted Confucian scholar told him that one could become a sage through learning. Besides his classical studies, Wang interested himself in the military arts, the practice of Taoist technique of breathing to prolong life, and Buddhist philosophy.

Official Career

Wang passed the examination for chin-shih, the highest academic degree, in 1499, and then served as a secretary in the Ministry of Justice, later of War. But he twice left office, first because of illness, then because of his offending a powerful eunuch in trying to save an official's life, but these temporary reliefs from public duties gave him the leisure to deepen his thinking. In 1508, during a banishment in Kweichow, he came to the realization that to investigate the principle of things is not to seek for them externally on actual objects, as Chu Hsi had taught, but to look for them in one's own mind. A year later he formulated the epoch-making theory that knowledge and action are one.

Emerging from his exile in 1510, Wang was appointed a district magistrate in Kiangsi. There he initiated several reform measures that were prototypes in his later administration and made him famous in government. In the following year he served in various ministries at Nanking and Peking, returning to Kiangsi as governor in 1516. He suppressed the bandits, reorganized the administration, and introduced social reforms, the most significant of which was the setting up of the community compact. Meanwhile, he further developed his philosophy and took a position against the criticism of the followers of the Chu Hsi school.

In 1519 Wang took charge of the suppression of an imperial prince who staged a rebellion in Kiangsi. Wang succeeded in capturing the rebel, but his victory aroused the jealousy of his opponents at court; only when Wang submitted a report deemphasizing his own efforts did criticism subside. Late in 1521 he was made the Earl of Hsin-chien, but he retired shortly upon his father's death.

During these years Wang made significant strides in his philosophical achievements. In 1521 he enunciated the doctrine of the extension of innate knowledge, which he described as the "original substance of the mind." His last official assignment occurred in 1527, when he was recalled from retirement to crush a tribal uprising in Kwangsi. There he contracted an illness and died 2 years later. Despite his meritorious service, he fell under the malice of his enemies at court and the traditional honors were withheld. Only in 1567 was he honored with the title of Marquis and the posthumous name Wen-ch'eng, meaning "completion of culture."

Wang's Philosophical Concepts

The Neo-Confucian idealist movement of Wang Yangming arose as a reaction against the Neo-Confucian rationalism of Chu Hsi, which had dominated Chinese thought since the 12th century but which had become stereotyped, narrow, and devoid of originality by the time of the Ming dynasty. Championing against this empty and lifeless tradition, Wang advocated sincere convictions and outright actions emanating from one's own intuitive mind and presented four basic concepts: love as exemplified in the great man's forming one body with the universe, the identification of one's mind with principle (li), the extension of native knowledge, and the unity of knowledge and conduct.

These concepts can be briefly illustrated as follows. First, in forming one body with heaven and earth, the great man eliminates selfish desires and obscurations, reveals his true character, and fully develops his nature. This is love, which, by extension, is the will to live, the process of unceasing production and reproduction; it is also filial piety, brotherly respect, and the like.

Second, following Lu Hsiang-shan (Lu Chiu-yüan), Wang equates principle with mind, of which principle is the order, and material force (ch'i) is the function. As this original mind manifests itself, there is native knowledge; to extend this native knowledge is the supreme duty of man.

Third, while extension of knowledge depends on investigation, unlike Chu Hsi who interpreted investigation (ko) as intellectual investigation of things, Wang argued that ko meant rectification of the mind. To him all principles are contained in the mind and are discoverable if the mind is clear and calm; such a state can be achieved through the method of tranquility, that is, the elimination of self-desires, self-examination, quiet sitting, and the like.

Fourth, as Wang placed equal emphasis on tranquility and activity, extension of native knowledge is not mere contemplation but knowledge translated into action. In his theory, knowledge is not complete until it becomes conduct, and conduct is not complete unless it is knowledge itself at work. Knowledge is the will, the beginning; conduct is the work, the accomplishment. These tenets are the foundation of the philosophy of the unity of knowledge and conduct.

Justification and Influence

That Wang gave priority to firm purpose, a will to work, and social and political responsibilities distinguished him as a true Confucian; and though he adopted Buddhist and Taoist overtones and practices, he rejected selfish renunciation of human relations and of social responsibility. In time his followers spread all over China, and the school set off a strong movement that was to overshadow the Chu Hsi orthodoxy during the next century. His influence also extended to Japan, where, as the O-yo-mei school, Wang's ideas inspired the great leaders of modern reforms and produced some of Japan's leading thinkers.

Although the movement in China declined in vitality toward the end of the 16th century, its impact was again felt in the 20th, especially in Sun Yat-sen and other leaders of the revolution who zealously admired Wang's idealism and personality. Wang left several volumes of philosophical writings and literary works, many of which are available in English translation.

Further Reading

The most useful interpretation of Wang Yang-ming's life and thought is the introductory chapter in his Instructions for Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writings, translated with notes by W. T. Chan (1963). Wang's writings are available in The Philosophy of Wang Yang-ming, translated by Frederick G. Henke (1916); W. T. De Bary, ed., Sources of the Chinese Tradition (1960); and W. T. Chan, comp. and trans., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963). A study of Wang in English is Carsun Chang, Wang Yang-ming: Idealist Philosopher of Sixteenth-century China (1962). Fung Yulan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, translated by Derk Bodde (2 vols., 1952-1953), is recommended for general historical background.

Additional Sources

Ching, Julia, To acquire wisdom: the way of Wang Yang-ming, New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.

Tu, Wei-ming, Neo-Confucian thought in action: Wang Yangming's youth (1472-1509), Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.

(1472-1529) The most important Neo-Confucian philosopher of the period corresponding to the western middle ages. Wang Yang-Ming taught a kind of pragmatism, arguing that knowledge and action are inseparable. Purely contemplative ideals presuppose a split between mind and the world; whereas by eliminating selfishness and obscurity, and then through action, the mind is united with the principle (li) of things.

Wang Yangming
Family name: (姓)	Wang (王) (Pinyin: Wáng)
Given name: (名)	Shouren (守仁) (Pinyin: Shǒurén)
Courtesy name: (字)	Bo'an (伯安) (Pinyin: Bo'an)
Hào 號: (號)	Yangming (陽明) (Pinyin: Yángmíng)
Posthumous name: (謚)	Wencheng
	(Ch: 王文成公 ; Py: Wang Wenchenggong)
Title: (封號)	Xinjianbo (新建伯) (Pinyin: Xinjianbo)
Styled:	Master Yangming
	(Ch: 陽明子, or 陽明先生;
	Py: Yángmíngzǐ, or fr. Yángmíng Xiānshēng;
Romanised as "Wang Yangming".

Wang Yangming (王陽明, 1472–1529) was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Zhu Xi. He was known as Yangming Xiansheng or Yangming Zi (both mean "Brilliant Master Yangming") in literary circles.

Contents 1 Life and times 2 Philosophy 2.1 Innate knowing 2.2 Knowledge as action 2.3 Mind and the world 3 Influence 4 Notes 5 References 6 See also

Life and times

Born Wang Shouren (王 守仁) in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, his courtesy name was Bo'an (伯安). His father was an earl and a minister of civil personnel. He earned the "recommended person" degree in 1492 and the "presented scholar" degree in 1499. He served as an executive assistant in various government departments until being banished for offending a eunuch in 1506.^[1] However, his professional career was later ensured when he became the Governor of Jiangxi.^[2]

Wang became a successful general and was known for the strict discipline he imposed on his troops, repressing several rebellions. In 1519 AD, while being governor of Jiangxi province, he repressed the uprising of Prince Zhu Chen-hao, and made one of the earliest references in using the fo-lang-ji in battle, a breech loading culverin cannon imported from the newly-arrived Portuguese venturers to China.^[2] While governor of Jiangxi he also built schools, rehabilitated the rebels, and reconstructed what was lost by the enemy during the revolt. Though he was made an earl, he was ostracized for opposing Zhu Xi.^[1]

Thirty-eight years after his death, he was given the titles Marquis and Completion of Culture. In 1584 he was offered sacrifice in the Confucian Temple, the highest honour for a scholar.^[1]

Philosophy

Wang was the leading figure in the Neo-Confucian School of Mind, founded by Lu Jiuyuan of Southern Song. This school championed an interpretation of Mencius (a Classical Confucian who became the focus of later interpretation) that unified knowledge and action. Their rival school, the School of Principle (Li) treated gaining knowledge as a kind of preparation or cultivation that, when completed, could guide action.

Innate knowing

Out of Cheng-Zhu's Neo-Confucianism that was mainstream at the time, Wang Yangming developed the idea of innate knowing, arguing that every person knows from birth the difference between good and evil. Such knowledge is intuitive and not rational. These revolutionizing ideas of Wang Yangming would later inspire prominent Japanese thinkers like Motoori Norinaga, who argued that because of the Shinto deities, Japanese people alone had the intuitive ability to distinguish good and evil without complex rationalization. His school of thought (Ōyōmei-gaku in Japanese, Ō stands for the surname "Wang", yōmei stands for "Yangming", gaku means "school of learning") also greatly influenced the Japanese samurai ethic.

Knowledge as action

Wang's rejection of the investigation of knowledge comes from the fact that at the time the traditional view of Chinese thought was that once one gained knowledge, he had a duty to put that knowledge into action. This presupposed two possibilities:

• That one can have knowledge without/prior to corresponding action.
• That one can know what is the proper action, but still fail to act.

Wang rejected both of these which allowed him to develop his philosophy of action. Wang believed that only through simultaneous action could one gain knowledge and denied all other ways of gaining it. To him, there was no way to use knowledge after gaining it because he believed that knowledge and action were unified as one. Any knowledge that had been gained then put into action was considered delusion or false.

Mind and the world

He held that objects do not exist entirely apart from the mind because the mind shapes them. He believed that it is not the world that shapes the mind, but the mind that gives reason to the world. Therefore, the mind alone is the source of all reason. He understood this to be an inner light, an innate moral goodness and understanding of what is good. This is similar to the thinking of the Greek philosopher Socrates, who argued that knowledge is virtue.

In order to eliminate selfish desires that cloud the mind’s understanding of goodness, one can practice his type of meditation often called "tranquil repose" or "sitting still" (靜坐). This is similar to the practice of Chan (Zen) meditation in Buddhism.

Influence

• Wang Yangming is regarded one of the four greatest masters of Confucianism in history along with Confucius, Mencius and Zhu Xi (孔孟朱王).

• Wang Yangming founded Yaojiang School (Chinese: 姚江學派) or Yangming School of Mind (Chinese: 陽明心學), which became one of the dominant confucianism schools in the mid, late Ming period and Qing period China. The typical figures came from this school after Wang were Wang Ji (王龍溪), Qian Dehong (錢德洪), Wang Gen (王艮), Huang Zongxi (黃宗羲), Li Zhuowu (李卓吾) and Liu Zongzhou (劉宗周). Wang Gen formed Taizhou School (泰州學派), which went to leftism of Wang Yangming's thought. During late Ming period, Wang Yangming's thought was derived a lot in China and became a kind of popular learning.

• The Japanese Admiral of the Russo-Japanese War, Togo Heihachiro, was influenced by Wang, and made a stamp which read, "One's whole life followed the example of Yangming" (一生低首拜陽明). In Japan, many scholars and politicians (this group of people is named in Japanese as: 陽明学者) came from Wang Yangming's school (Ōyōmei-gaku) in history, including Kumazawa Banzan (熊沢蕃山), Saigō Takamori (西郷隆盛), Takasugi Shinsaku (高杉晋作) and Toju Nakae (中江藤樹). Toju Nakae is regarded as the founder of Japanese Ōyōmei-gaku.

• Chiang Kai-shek named a national attraction in Taiwan, Yangmingshan, after Wang. And a road in Nanchang is also named Yangming Road after Wang by Chiang-influenced local officials.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Chan 1963: 654.
2. ^ ^{a b} Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 372.

References

• Chan, Wing-tsit (translated and compiled). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 7. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Antonio S. Cua (1982). The Unity of Knowledge and Action: A Study in Wang Yang-ming's Moral Psychology. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-0786-3. 
• Wang Yang Ming in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

See also

• Confucianism
• Neo-Confucianism
• Lu Jiuyuan or (Lu Xiangshan)
• Zhu Xi
• Tu Wei-Ming
• Huo Long Jing

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