Neo-Confucianism Tuesday: Neo-Confucianism and Jinhua Thursday: Transforming the State from Below? Transforming Society from Above?

The Confucian Perspective On Politics On Society On Culture On the Economy

Early Imperial Confucianism Figures: Confucius and his followers (Mencius, Xunzi, etc.) Texts: the Five Classics Justifications for Empire and Imperial Rule –heaven-and-earth –antiquity Political Values: Ritual and Music versus Institutions and Punishments Outside-in and top-down

The “Neo-Confucians” The Northern Song questions and Neo- Confucian answers The Southern Song –Zhu Xi 朱熹 and Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 Reflections on Things at Hand (Jin si lu 近思錄 ) The Four Books 四書 –Great Learning 大學 –Doctrine of the Mean 中庸 –Analects of Confucius 論語 –Mencius 孟子

What Made Neo-Confucianism Different? Philosophy –The concept of li 理 (principle, coherence) and qi 氣 (energy-matter, material force) –Ritual is li 理 –The Way is li 理 –Human nature is li 理

Wang Yangming mind is principle” 心即理 turning to qing 情 emotional response/feeling

Neo-Confucianism: As a position As an identity As a social movement

Neo-Confucianism as a totalizing ideology –The political – zhengshi 政事 –The sociomoral – dexing 德行 –The cultural – wenxue 文學

The Audience for Neo- Confucianism Local Society –Literati communities in local society –The literati problem Neo-Confucianism as philosophy for local literati elites?

The “True Unity of the Way” 道統 in Jinhua Lü Zuqian 呂 祖 謙 He Ji 何 基 Wang Bo 王 柏 Jin Lüxiang 金 履 祥 Xu Qian 許 謙 Zhang Mou 章 懋

Enduring Tensions In politics: opposition versus cooptation In theory: internalizing the external versus externalizing the internal In the practice of learning: “pursuing inquiry and scholarship” versus “honoring the moral nature” In belief: unity versus differentiation In social practice: exclusion versus inclusion

Transforming the State from Below? Transforming Society from Above? The grounds for values in Neo- Confucianism The existence of principle/coherence (li 理 ) in the self (=human nature) Learning as the means to cultivate awareness of principle/coherence in oneself The superiority and authority of those who do Action as the means to realize what one has learned

Neo-Confucianism and Literati “volunteerism” in Jinhua (aka “righteous” 義 activities) Private academies Relief granaries Equitable labor service Community compacts Neo-Confucian shrines Local tax reform Local defense militias

Reexamining Intellectual Culture in Jinhua Lü Zuqian –Daoxue advocate –Literary anthologist and examination teacher –Explicating the Classics –History and statecraft Zhu Xi’s criticism of Lü Chen Liang’s 陳 亮 criticism of Zhu Xi

Statecraft Traditions in Jinhua Zhang Ruyu 章 如 愚 (jinshi 1196?), Examination of All Books, Qunshu kaosuo 群 書 考 索

Literary Traditions in Jinhua Pan Zimu 潘 自 牧 (jinshi 1196): Complete Source for Literary Composition, Jizuan yuanhai 記 纂 淵 海

Jinhua as an Intellectual Tradition? Song Lian’s 宋 濂 eclecticism

Alternatives to Neo-Confucianism late 16th-17th century New literature of the emotions qing –Li Yu and Ni Renji New statecraft New mode of learning (kaozheng xue)

Intellectual Culture Multiple networks and traditions Creating an informed local elite The local as national

The Ming Dynasty the Hongwu Reign Period Ming Taizu (Zhu Yuanzhang) The synthesis

Early Ming Social Policy Village/Community tithing system (li jia 里甲 ) system One village/community (li) = 110 households Composed of 10 groups of ten (jia), led by the 10 wealthiest households in the community

The Elders ( 老人 ) system, Several elders in each rural community juridical powers Right to report on conduct of county officials and staff to higher authority Right to bypass county officials and appeal to higher authority

The community school ( 社學 ) system Each village to have a community school for the moral education of males

The Tax Captain ( 量長 ) system The wealthiest households in an area with tax of ten thousand bushels of grain are responsible for transporting the grain to its destination.

Moral Education Pavilions for Exhibiting the Bad and the Good The Community Altars The Grand Injunctions The Placard of Instructions to the People Community Wine Drinking Ceremony

Legislated leadership versus volunteerism The cycle: –State imposed systems –Local voluntary leadership

The Emergent Sociopolitical Order of Later Imperial China Local literati elite communities Education and examinations Neo-Confucianism Statecraft Lineage formation Creating local history