Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t7.10

Language: English

v1.c7.s7.t7.10.1

As for what is the principle, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Chu Hsi, Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming all had different opinions. Cheng Yi pointed out that "Human Nature is the Principle". He said "Human Nature is the Principle and the Principle is Human Nature as well'. He also said that "the Principle belongs to the Heaven, if it is gifted to human, it shall be called human nature; if it is spoken by human beings then it shall be called human mind". Yang Shi explicated "Xing is 'Human Nature'; action along the human nature is principle. Human nature, life and principle belong to one part but with different name, originally there is no difference. Speaking of life is the heaven; speaking of the human nature is the world; speaking of the principle is the action." He thought the principle and human nature are the same and the only difference between them was that the objects that they adhered to were different. Chu Hsi spoke highly of Cheng Yi's opinion — the Principle is Human Nature, he said "since Confucius, this statement of Cheng Yi is the most accurate", "everything in the world has their nature and human beings are born with the temperament of humanness, righteousness and benevolence", which combined the Principle and Qi together to the object of a man. At the same time, he also pointed out that "Human Nature" is different when it adheres to different objects and there exists differences between Nature of the Heaven and Nature of Temperament.

v1.c7.s7.t7.10.2

This difference also originated from Cheng Yi. He said "a man's nature comes from the heaven and his talents come from his temperament. If he has good temperament, then he possesses good talents, vice versa”, thought that human beings were different from each other because of their temperament, though they received the same principle of heaven, there still existed many differences, or in other way, Human Nature presented by different people was different from the principle of heaven itself. Cheng Hao once said “Mind is Li and Li is Mind”; Xie Shangcai also said, “Mind is the principle of heaven”. Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming further claimed “Mind is Li”, Lu Jiuyuan advocated that “Xinxue” was powerful and should be respected by people, he said “Mind is the only one. Principle is the only one as well. Both, Mind and Principle, are unique and the two of them won’t exist”. “Everyone has a Mind and Mind is Li. So mind is Li”. He thought that mind of human beings was the principle of heaven and due to the impediment of bad habits, the principle of heaven could not be spread, and the mind was stifled. Wang Yangming also said “mind is Li, and is there anything or any principle that exists beyond the mind?” he thought that principle existed within the mind, so he advocated the learning of “To Conscience”. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi and Chu Hsi thought that Human Nature was principle, logically thought that human nature was not kind, but the principle of heaven was;

v1.c7.s7.t7.10.3

Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming thought that mind is principle, which meant human nature was kind, but it needed to return to the conscience to remove bad habits and obtain the original nature. As for the question of human mind and Taoist mind, Chu Hsiand Lu Jiuyuan had different opinions; their divergences reflected in the difference and uniform of “nature is principle” and “mind is principle”. “There are many uncertainties in the mind of human being, and human nature is delicate, so if you want to understand human nature, you need to constantly strive for perfection, concentrate on what you are doing, and adhere to the Doctrine of the Mean strictly”, this is a sentence in the book of *Shangshu*, and it is the thought of the Confucians of Song and Ming Dynasty and it is very important. Chu Hsi said “if the Mind can sense the Principle, then it is Path-Consciousness; but if it is controlled by greedy, it is just the human mind”. He thought “Path-Consciousness comes from the Principle and Human Mind comes from the human body, so even the sages cannot get rid of human mind”. However, Lu Jiuyuanput forward totally reversed opinion, he said “everyone has one mind, can anyone possesses two minds?” Wang Yangming also thought “Everyone only has one mind, and if his mind is not affected by bad things, then it can be called Path-Consciousness. However, if it is affected badly, it is only called popular feeling.

v1.c7.s7.t7.10.4

If a man could keep his faith firmly, than he has the Path-Consciousness, but if he lost his Path-Consciousness, then he just possessed dominant feeling. This means that no one has two minds”.