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The Eight Virtues of Liangzhi: an Analysis of the Fundamental Characteristics of Wang Yangming’S Central Doctrine* ______

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The Eight Virtues of Liangzhi: an Analysis of the Fundamental Characteristics of Wang Yangming’S Central Doctrine* ______ Journal of World Philosophies Articles/73 The Eight Virtues of Liangzhi: An Analysis of the Fundamental Characteristics of Wang Yangming’s Central Doctrine* _______________________________________ DONG PING Zhejiang University, China ([email protected]) GEORGE L. ISRAEL Middle Georgia State University, USA ([email protected]) On the premise that the good knowing (liangzhi 良知) is the originary reality, this article provides a synopsis of Wang Yangming’s exposition of the fundamental essence of liangzhi. The self-existent resemblances of the originary reality are outlined and summarized as the eight virtues of liangzhi: voidness, intelligence, luminousness, awareness, constancy, happiness, true I, and purity. These eight virtues are, however, ultimately subsumed by the middle, which governs them in common. The middle is the original state and true form of the fundamental essence of liangzhi, which Wang Yangming describes as a transparent mirror and level balance. Key words: Wang Yangming; Neo-Confucianism; liangzhi; Chinese philosophy; learning of the mind 1 Introduction Wang Yangming (1472-1529) was a Chinese scholar-official and Confucian philosopher who lived during the middle of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). He is widely recognized for his contribution to the development of Neo-Confucian philosophy in late imperial China, especially the school of the learning of mind (xinxue 心學). Although his principle teachings changed over the course of his life, it is generally accepted that in 1520, after he proposed his theory of zhi liangzhi 致良知 (realizing good knowing), it became his definitive and final doctrine, one that he routinely discussed in those many philosophical dialogues in which he was engaged to the end of his life.1 In prior publications, I encapsulated the meaning of the good knowing as a human being’s originary reality (benyuanxing shizai 本原性實在) and distinguished different dimensions of liangzhi—as the fundamental source of life, morality, reason, and emotion.2 For Wang Yangming, however, the purpose of the doctrine of liangzhi was similar to what the Lotus Sutra describes as “to dispel partial teachings and reveal the entire truth (kai quan xian shi 開權顯實)” and “to uncover the marks and manifest the origin (fa ji xian ben 發迹顯 本).” Thus, all these distinctions are no more than convenient, expedient means for pointing to aspects * This article was originally published in Chinese and has been translated, abridged, and annotated with endnotes by George L. Israel. See Dong Ping 董平, “Lun liangzhi ‘ba de’ 論良知‘八德,’” Shehui kexue jikan 2 (2019): 5-16. The translator would like to express his gratitude for the conscientious advice and support of the editors and reviewers at the Journal of World Philosophies. _______________ Journal of World Philosophies 5 (Winter 2020): 73–93 Copyright © 2020 Dong Ping and George L. Israel. e-ISSN: 2474-1795 • http://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp • doi: 10.2979/jourworlphil.5.2.06 Journal of World Philosophies Articles/74 of liangzhi when it is in fact simply one source (yiyuan 一原), the fundamental essence of mind (xin zhi benti 心之本體).3 The fundamental essence’s own existence, and self-expression of the nature of its own existence (beingness—cunzaixing 存在性), cannot possibly be separated from a context of objective communicative relations, where actual life is manifested or realized. All morality, rationality, sentiment, and desire are the fundamental essence manifesting itself in just such an experiential context. Only as such can it then be stated regarding the integrity of the existence of life itself that “one thread runs through it all” (Analects 4/15). Although liangzhi is one source, it expresses itself in the many dimensions of experience, just as the multi-dimensional character of experiential existence is subsumed by the one source—the fundamental essence of liangzhi. For this reason, it is my conviction that liangzhi is a concept pertaining to theories of how one is to live one’s life. Thus, realizing good knowing is the effort necessary to actualize the ultimate source of life. Nevertheless, since liangzhi is a human being’s originary reality, the actually existing inherent resemblances (zishen xiangzhuang 自身相 狀) or original state of this reality should be clearly identified. The purpose of this article is to provide a synopsis of Wang Yangming’s exposition of the fundamental essence of liangzhi by elucidating the primordial condition of the originary reality, or what might be referred to as its self-nature. To do so, its attributes are concisely summarized as the eight virtues of liangzhi. 2 Void, Intelligent, Luminous, Aware As a human being’s originary reality, liangzhi is primordial, present from the beginning. Its beingness in no way depends upon any one experiential state that a person might have. Nevertheless, considered in terms of the original meaning of Wang Yangming’s doctrine that mind is principle (xin ji li 心即理), the reason why experiential acts “accord with principle (he li 合理)” is that experience is the vehicle through which this inceptive, primordial presence expresses itself. Consequently, as the originary reality, the fundamental essence of mind (or liangzhi) is also at the same time the root cause by reason of which experiential acts conform with principle. Wang Yangming spoke forcefully of the importance of establishing a commitment (li zhi 立志) as the foundation for entering the path to sagehood. The most critical dimension of establishing this commitment is the requirement that what is foundational to my own existence unites with heaven’s reason (tianli 天理), this a priori fact, thereby bringing about an introspective recognition of self-awareness, and thus the actualization of the founding of the self in a subjective sense. Only in this way can the entirety of the individual’s experiential acts become actions undertaken by a subject. Therefore, as a human being’s originary reality, the essence of mind (mind-in-itself, xinti 心體) is at the same time the true bearer of subjectivity. From this perspective, as the empirical activity of a subject, realizing good knowing actualizes the self-expression of subjectivity. Because subjectivity is identical to the true nature of existence, realizing good knowing is the method by which a person manifests the originary reality. Consequently, it is especially important to recognize the natural true state of liangzhi-in-itself, that is, the fundamental, self-existent resemblances of liangzhi. Otherwise, the experiential act of realizing good knowing may deteriorate into rashly abandoning oneself for whatever seems pleasing and agreeable, such that what ends up being extended or realized is simply selfish intentions. Clarifying liangzhi’s self-existent state is the foundational precondition for assuring that the actual practice of zhi liangzhi is able truly and effectively to unfold. Regarding the true state of liangzhi-in-itself, Wang Yangming states that, “The mind is the master of the body, and the mind’s voidness, intelligence, luminousness, and awareness is what is _______________ Journal of World Philosophies 5 (Winter 2020): 73–93 Copyright © 2020 Dong Ping and George L. Israel. e-ISSN: 2474-1795 • http://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp • doi: 10.2979/jourworlphil.5.2.06 Journal of World Philosophies Articles/75 referred to as liangzhi in its natural state” (Chan 1963: 104).4 Here, Wang Yangming indicates that the self-existent natural state of liangzhi (or the fundamental essence of mind) originally possesses these four orientations. Voidness implies that when elucidating the mind’s essence one cannot appeal to any kind of phenomena lying within the realm of experience. The mind’s essence is not an entity or substance (shiti 實體), but rather a void essence or constitutive void (xuti 虛體), absent content. Therefore, Wang Yangming emphatically states that “what I refer to as your mind is not that lump of blood and flesh” (Chan 1963: 80). “A lump of blood and flesh” signifies something substantial, but liangzhi is a constitutive void and not an entity. It does not contain something substantial or tangible. It is not something directly experienced through sensory perception as concrete, restricted, spatial, bounded, or limited. Phenomenological existents are concrete, located in a determinate structure of space and time, manifesting the properties of their existence as a process within the space-time continuum. Precisely for this reason, any phenomenally present (appearing) substantial existent is circumscribed and, as such, not all-encompassing. Thus, the space-time structure of its existence cannot simultaneously encompass the existence of other existing things. The constitutive void, however, is entirely different from this. On the one hand, because it is intrinsically contentless and not an entity, it does not manifest itself as any singular and concrete image or state. Consequently, no concrete phenomena can be designated as the essence of mind itself (xinti zishen 心體自身). On the other hand, all phenomena rely on it to be present, as there is nothing that it does not encompass. It is “that which is so great that it has no exterior,”5 the infinite. Regarding liangzhi’s voidness, Wang Yangming states: When Daoists speak of voidness (xu 虚), how can the sage further add one iota of substance (shi 實) to that voidness? When Buddhists speak of nonbeing, how can the sage add one iota of being to that nonbeing? But when the Daoists speak of voidness, they are doing so from the perspective of their goal of extending life. When the Buddhists speak of nonbeing, they are doing so from the perspective of their goal of escaping from the sorrowful ocean of life and death. In both cases, intentions which do not belong to the true character of their [notions] of voidness and nonbeing have been added to the fundamental essence, and the fundamental essence is consequently obstructed. The sage simply returns to the natural qualities (bense 本色) of his liangzhi, without attaching any selfish intentions.
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