Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t7.10.3

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.