Nanchang, 4 April (ZXS) -- How does Zhu Zixue go abroad and influence the world?

——Interview with Xu Gongxi, vice president of Jiangxi Zhuzi Society and director of the Zhuzi Institute of Shangrao Normal University

Written by Liu Zhankun Liu Yujie

Zhu Xi, whose ancestral home is Wuyuan, Jiangxi (present-day Wuyuan County, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province), was a famous philosopher, thinker, and philosopher of the Song Dynasty of China. The Zhu Zixue founded by Zhu Xi and his disciples not only profoundly influenced the ideology and culture of the Chinese nation, but also spread across nationalities and regions to many countries and regions, and still has influence and epochal value today.

Why can Zhu Zixue go abroad and spread overseas? How does Zhuzixue affect the world? In the process of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which values of Zhu Zixue have enlightening significance? Xu Gongxi, vice president of the Jiangxi Province Zhuzi Society and director of the Zhuzi Studies Institute of Shangrao Normal University, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East-West Question" for in-depth analysis.

The following is a summary of the interview:

China News Agency: In your opinion, what is the most important idea of Zhu Zixue? How does Zhu Zixue go abroad and influence the world?

Xu Gongxi: The connotation and extension of the concept of "Zhuzixue" itself has rich content, including subjectivity, temporal and spatial significance, historical status, and ideological content characteristics. Zhu Zixue thought is of great significance to many classes, groups and groups, and its most important contribution is to provide China with a new culture to correct the chaos and establish a new Confucian Taoist lineage in history.

Zhu Xi put aside the thousand-year chaos to re-establish the lofty status of Confucius, establish the Confucian Taoist system, and then clarify the position of the philosopher in the Taoist system, so that the life of Chinese culture returned to its roots, which played an important role in the formation and consolidation of the values of the Chinese nation.

Zhu Xi. Photo courtesy of Visual China

Regarding the overseas dissemination of Zhu Zixue, according to research, in the first year of the Qingyuan Dynasty of the Southern Song Dynasty (1195), Zhu Xi's disciples Zhong Tangjie and Dou Congzhou Zeng painted the "Farewell Map of Rongxi Zen Master Returning to the Song Dynasty", and the Japanese monk and founder of the Rinzai Sect, Rongxi, brought Zhu Zixue's works back to Japan, which can be described as the earliest beginning of overseas dissemination of Zhuzixue.

There are two main paths for the overseas dissemination of Chinese Zhuzixue, that is, "coming in and leading out". From the 13th century to the 16th century, a large number of scholars, officials and monks from Japan and Korea came to China to introduce and absorb Chinese Zhuzixue. In 1224, Zhu Xi's great-grandson Zhu Qian and his family moved to Geumseong, Goryeo (present-day Xin'an, Korea), sowing the "seeds" of Zhu Zi's science and taking root in the Korean Peninsula. At the same time, Zhu Zixue spread to Vietnam. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, some Chinese immigrants introduced Zhu Zixue to Southeast and South Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India, and Zhu Zixue gradually integrated into the ideas and culture of East Asia and Southeast Asia.

In the 16th century, Zhu Zixue's related works began to be translated into Western languages and introduced into the Western world, and were translated from Western languages to English in the 17th century, entered the United States in the 18th century, and directly translated from Chinese to English in the 19th century, realizing "travel" in the English-speaking world. These works were initially translated and introduced by missionaries for missionary and language learning, and later some professional sinologists and Chinese scholars living in Europe and the United States translated and studied Zhuzixue from the perspectives of philosophy and history.

In short, Zhuzixue is not only one of the most important contents of East Asian civilization, but also in the process of learning from the East and the West, it has become one of the ideological sources of Western Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu, Voltaire and Leibniz, as well as Western philosophers such as Kant and Hegel in modern times, and has had a certain impact on the shaping of Western civilization.

The wax figure of the cultivation hall of Lianjiang Academy in Linpu Village was simulated in the Fuzhou Planning Museum, which was once the place where the famous physicist Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty taught. Photo by Zheng Shuai

China News Agency: Why can Zhu Zixue go abroad and spread overseas?

Xu Gongxi: There are at least three reasons why Zhu Zixue can go abroad and spread overseas. First, East Asian and Southeast Asian countries are adjacent to China, belong to the same Han cultural circle, and have roughly the same cultural structure, and the traditional cultural values with Zhu Zixue as the core after the Song Dynasty are easily recognized by East Asian and Southeast Asian societies.

Second, a large number of Chinese immigrants have continued the excellent traditional Chinese cultural values and moral and ethical thoughts, and regarded this as the foundation for their self-improvement and survival overseas. For more than 700 years from Zhu Zi to the Qing Dynasty, as an ideology and theory that has been in the dominant position of traditional Chinese society, Zhu Zixue represents the traditional national spirit of universal significance, and can be said to be the core cultural and spiritual source of Confucian culture at this stage.

Third, as a representative of excellent culture in the historical era, Zhu Zixue is worthy of reference from Eastern and Western cultures. From the perspective of cultural space development, Zhu Zixue was originally called "Min Studies" as a kind of local scholarship formed in Fujian. With the passage of time, the influence of Zhuzixue gradually expanded, from Fujian to the whole country, from China to East Asia, and then from East Asia to the world, forming Korean Zhuzixue, Japanese Zhuzixue, Vietnamese Zhuzixue, American Zhuzixue, etc., reflecting that the Zhuzixue system covers other countries and regions in the world except China.

China News Agency: What contribution has Zhuzi Culture made to promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations?

Xu Gongxi: Zhuzi culture is one of the outstanding representatives of oriental culture and a world cultural heritage, which has played an active role in promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations.

First of all, Zhu Zixue is a bridge and link for Western society to understand and understand Chinese culture. Zhu Xi inherited and developed Confucianism and created the largest and most profound Chinese Confucian system, and it can be said that Chinese philosophy did not have a truly complete form until the time of Zhu Xi. Therefore, since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Western society has regarded Zhuzixue as the most important content of Chinese Confucianism, and Chinese and foreign scholars such as the famous American sinologist Bu De translated Song Dynasty as "neo-Confucianism".

Secondly, Zhuzixue is a resource library for the core culture of Sino-foreign exchanges. Zhu Zi Shiyun: "Q Qu Na is as clear as promised?" For the source of living water comes. "Zhuzi culture is not only the core cultural element of traditional Chinese society after the Song Dynasty, but also the most direct source of political and cultural systems in East and Southeast Asian countries such as North Korea and Vietnam.

Finally, Zhu Zixue is a fusion agent for multicultural exchanges between East and West. The French physiocrats and enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire all absorbed and elaborated Zhuzi to varying degrees. After Zhu Zixue was introduced to Germany, German thinkers and philosophers were influenced by it, which triggered a classical philosophical revolution. In the 17th century, with the introduction of Zhuzixue, "deism" was popular in the West, and the German philosopher and natural scientist Leibniz highly praised Zhuzixue.

In 2017, some of the guests attending the 1183th World Chinese Media Forum visited the most prestigious academy in Wuyishan, Fujian. In <>, Zhu Xi founded Wuyi Jingshe, a place for him to write books and advocate teachings. Photo by Zhang Bin

China News Agency: How do you view the contemporary value of Zhu Zixue and what enlightening significance does it have for modern society?

Xu Gongxi: First of all, Zhu Zixue provides core values for modern society to learn from, and is one of the "historical roots" of contemporary Chinese culture and moral system. As an important part of China's excellent traditional culture, Zhuzi culture contains rich philosophical ideas and moral concepts, is an important foundation and valuable resource for contemporary Chinese culture and moral construction, and has positive significance for modern society. Through creative transformation and innovative development, it can provide useful inspiration for solving the problems facing contemporary mankind and provide useful inspiration for moral construction.

Secondly, by expounding Song Confucian thought by example, and enhancing the moral construction of contemporary Confucianism, we can fully understand the role of excavating the world of Zhuzi culture. Historically, Zhuzi culture has occupied a place in world culture. In contemporary times, Zhuzi culture can still exert its intrinsic value and integrate with world culture. At the same time, through international cooperation and cultural exchanges, it can not only promote the traditional excellent cultural exchanges represented by Zhuzixue, but also absorb each other, and promote the development of Zhuzi culture, Eastern philosophy and modern Neo-Confucianism throughout China.

In October 2014, the cross-strait exchange concert "The Song of Zhuzi, The Legend of Daodong" was held in Zhongshan Hall, Taipei City. The picture shows the Taipei City Orchestra singing "Zhuzi Family Training". Photo by Chen Liyu

Finally, in the global multicultural integration, the national and global significance of Zhuzixue is brought into play. Today, the multicultural integration of globalization has become a trend, and fully understanding and grasping the background of the times is of great significance for promoting the study of Zhu Zixue and Zhu Xi's thought under the new situation. Zhu Zixue is not only philosophy, but also a complete set of ideological and cultural systems, which correspond to the needs of different levels of society and culture, and can influence and help the understanding and solution of many development problems in East Asia and even the world in the 21st century.

Australian students recite the Zhuzi family motto at Xi'an Bell and Drum Tower Square. Photo by Chen Tuanjie

China News Agency: In the process of building a community with a shared future for mankind, what values and concepts of Zhu Zixue have enlightening significance?

Xu Gongxi: Zhu Xi not only provides mankind with a foreign king ideological system that keeps pace with the times, is applied by the world, and is conducive to the governance of the country's society, "Zhu Zi's study of political affairs and governance can be described as the most outstanding in science", but also provides mankind with a complete set of theoretical systems of inner saint self-cultivation, provides a combination of inner personality cultivation and external merit, and can provide a rational knowledge system and value system for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Specifically, Zhu Zixue provides three core values.

The first is the theory of "one difference between the two and the other." Zhu Zi's "Liyi" and "Division" are not separate, and "Liyi" is integrated into the "Division". "Rational Distinction" advocates seeking common ground while reserving differences in the collision of different religions and cultures, seeking "Rational One" in "Distinction", and adhering to the tolerance of the world and harmony and difference with an international perspective.

The second is the theory of "saving reason and destroying desire". Zhu Zixue attaches great importance to the distinction between righteousness and righteousness, taking the distinction between righteousness and benefit as the beginning of the introduction to Confucian moral cultivation, and even as the primary issue of Confucianism, advocating that "righteousness does not seek its own interests, and clear its way does not take into account its merits", which can provide a way to integrate "rationalism" and "utilitarianism" for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Anhui Tangyue Ancestral Hall in the main hall of Zhu Xishu "Lian Festival" word. Photo courtesy of Visual China

The third is the theory of "axiom benevolence". The era of globalization with cultural diversity may have an impact on the core values of a society, and may also affect the political and cultural identity of a country. Globalization is inseparable from multicultural exchanges, and different civilizations and societies need a value theory accepted by mankind, and Zhu Zixue's "axiomatic benevolence" is suitable for the needs of this world civilization pattern. (End)

Respondent Profile:

Xu Gongxi, Deputy Secretary-General of China Zhuzi Society, Vice President of Jiangxi Province Zhuzi Society, Director of the Institute of Zhuzi Studies of Shangrao Normal University, second-level professor, editor-in-chief of "Zhuzi Studies Research", part-time master tutor of Nanchang University and Zhejiang Ocean University; He is a member of the Academic Committee of the China Confucius Foundation and a member of the Compilation Committee of Jiangxi Province's Jiangyou Library.

He has presided over and completed 2 national social science planning projects and 10 provincial and ministerial projects. He has made achievements in the academic fields of literature, history, philosophy and law. In recent years, he has published more than 10 monographs such as "Song Ming's Study of Science and Social Culture of Theory", "Zhu Zimen Renxue Case", "Zhu Xi's Study of Legal Thought", "Zhu Zixue Zheng Theory", as well as the school's works "Xue Tong" and "Examination of the Origin of Science in Fujian and China", and edited more than 80 books, including "Zhu Zixue at the Turn of the Century" and "Zhu Zixue from the Perspective of Etiquette". He has published <> academic papers in journals at home and abroad, such as "History of Chinese Philosophy", "Academia", "Goose Lake" in Taiwan, and "Yuanmin Xuezhi" in South Korea.