Minister of the Royal Court

A Chinese thinker in the mid-Ming dynasty. His pen name was Ziheng, and his pen names were Pingya or Junchuan. He was from Lankao County, Henan Province. Like Wang Yangming (Shouren) and Luo Qinshun, he was exiled because of the eunuch Liu Jin (?-1510), but later moved to the Ministry of War. His writings include the Wang Family Cult, which includes his major works such as "Refrain from Speak" and "Elegant Commentary." He wrote the "Yangqu Liqibian" (The Philosophy of Qi) and highly praised the "Philosophy of Qi" by Zhang Yaoqu (Zai) of the Song dynasty. He also deeply contemplated the theory of Liqi and debated with He Tang (1474-1543). In contrast to the "Philosophy of Li" of Neo-Confucianism, he placed a great deal of importance on "Qi" and constructed his own theory of Liqi. However, because he placed too much importance on Qi, he was not necessarily successful in establishing a universal position that could overcome it. As a result, he was immersed in the world of Qi and fell into fatalism in his theories of social policy and economics, and was unable to establish a system of thought that would establish a practical subject that could counter the growing corruption of the real world. Rather than establishing the individual, he tried to restore the ritual system and strengthen social norms, and correct the corruption of humans and society from the outside.

[Takashi February 17, 2016]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、明(みん)代中期の思想家。字(あざな)は子衡(しこう)、号は平厓(へいがい)または浚川(しゅんせん)。河南省蘭考(らんこう)県の人。王陽明(おうようめい)（守仁）、羅欽順(らきんじゅん)などと同様に宦官(かんがん)劉瑾(りゅうきん)（？―1510）のために配流(はいる)されるが、のちに累遷して兵部尚書(ひょうぶしょうしょ)になる。著書に『王氏家蔵集』があり、「慎言(しんげん)」「雅述(がじゅつ)」などの主著が網羅されている。『横渠理気弁(おうきょりきべん)』を著して宋(そう)代の張横渠（載）の「気の哲学」を高く評価し、自らも理気論を深く思索し、何塘(かとう)（1474―1543）と論争した。朱子学の「理の哲学」に対比すると、著しく「気」を重視して、独自の理気論を構築した。しかし、気を重視するあまり、それを超克する普遍的立場を樹立することにかならずしも成功していない。そのために気の世界に埋没してしまい、社会政策論、経世論においては運命論に陥り、腐敗の進行する現実社会のなかにあって、それに対抗可能な実践主体を確立する思想体系を樹立することができなかった。彼は個人の樹立よりも、礼制を復興して社会規範を強化し、外側から人間、社会の腐敗を矯正しようとした。

［田公平　2016年2月17日］

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