Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t7.10.2

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;