Ping Dong Historical Background of Wang Yang-ming’s Philosophy of Mind From the Perspective of his Life Story Historical Background of Wang Yang-ming’s Philosophy of Mind Ping Dong Historical Background of Wang Yang-ming’s Philosophy of Mind From the Perspective of his Life Story Ping Dong Zhejiang University Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China Translated by Xiaolu Wang Liang Cai School of International Studies School of Foreign Language Studies Zhejiang University Ningbo Institute of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China Zhejiang University Ningbo, Zhejiang, China ISBN 978-981-15-3035-7 ISBN 978-981-15-3036-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3036-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020. This book is an open access publication. 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The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Preface The book, Historical Background for Wang Yang-ming’s Philosophy of Mind: From the Perspective of His Up-and-down Life Experience, was adapted from my lectures of Legendary Life of Wang Yang-ming in “Lecture Room1” of China Central Television (CCTV). Wang Yang-ming’s deeds can be found not only in the official historical records, but also in his disciples’ biographies and memoirs, and folklore in the unofficial history as well. My lectures were generally based on various official histories, Wang Yang-ming’s own writings, and his disciples’ records. With these materials as my sources, I hope that I can let people understand this ancient sage, Wang Yang-ming. He not only diligently pursued his objective of being a sage in life, but also persistently sought the ideal state of a sage in ideology. Surely, in view of this point, it is more important for us to understand his ideological state and appreciate his personality in order to have a more meaningful life for ourselves. Wang Yang-ming’s ideology was severely criticized in the past, for it was regarded as “subjective idealism.” However, he actually did not deny objective existence. In his opinion, before objectivity enters into people’s mental world, it remains in a state of “stillness,” which is impossible for people to clearly understand and get hold of. Therefore, he put much more emphasis on this point that the objective existence of the real world can be brought into our subjective world only through people’s own practical activities, and only in this way objective things can be truly understood and thus their existence can be of real meaning to us. This point of view is not equal to “subjective idealism.” With respect to his theory of “The Oneness of Knowing and Doing,” neither can we have any one-sided understanding, nor can we take “Knowing” as “Doing.” Actually, what Mr. Yang wanted to tell us was that the understanding of anything cannot just stay at the level of “Knowing,” but we must put the “Knowing” into use in real life. Only by putting the “Knowing” into practice through “Doing,” the “Knowing” is truly reliable and effective. In real life, “Doing” is always more important than simply “Knowing.” He proposed “The Theory of Original Knowledge” in an attempt to arouse every one of us to truly be aware of the 1A Chinese television program hosted by China Central Television (CCTV), in which scholars from various disciplines are invited to provide lectures. v vi Preface existence of our “Original Mind,” and to realize that our “Original Mind” is good, pure, and noble. Therefore, in order to be in line with our “Original Mind,” we should do moral things and live a moral life. Because of this, reverence for one’s own “Original Knowledge,” and reverence for one’s own “Original Mind” become everyone’s bounden duty and the ultimate goal of moral cultivation. Frankly speaking, we should not have reverence for nothing, but must for something in our life. We should at least have enough reverence for our own “Original Knowledge,” because this kind of reverence is indeed respect for the value of our own lives, and respect for others’ lives as well. While I was delivering Legendary Life of Wang Yang-ming in “Lecture Room” of CCTV, I got a lot of selfless help from the colleagues of the CCTV column group. Special thanks go to my friends Nie Cong-cong, Yu Hong, Wang Shan, and Meng Qing-ji, who put forward many suggestions for improvement in view of my lecture manuscripts, especially for their detailed and specific guidance in terms of the narrating methods. Without their help, I am afraid that I cannot finish these lectures. Sincere thanks to all of them! In terms of the publication of the book with the same title Legendary Life of Wang Yang-ming in Chinese, I would like to show my thanks to Cai Chang-hong, the Executive Editor, and his colleagues from the Commercial Press. They did not show any single bit of “laziness” in spite of tight time. It is very impressive for their responsible spirits in the editing process. I am surely responsible for all the mistakes made in the description of the events if they are not in keeping with the historical records, or correctly expressed. Readers are also welcome to criticize and correct the mistakes if they find any. Hangzhou, China Ping Dong November 2010 (Translated by Hu Hai-peng) Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people who have helped me make a reality the English version of my book Historical Background for Wang Yang-ming’s Philosophy of Mind: From the Perspective of His Up-and-down Life Experience. First of all, I would like to thank Professor Wang Xiaolu and Professor Cai Liang, together with team members at Zhejiang University, Ningbo Institute of Technology for their unfailing support of this translation project. In the past few years, they have mobilized all kinds of resources available to keep the endeavor going. Their academic passion and effective coordination means so much to me. I would like to thank the faculty members of the School of Foreign Language Studies, Zhejiang University, Ningbo Institute of Technology, who volunteered to participate in the project. Without their active engagement and unremitting efforts, the translation of my book would be impossible. I am grateful to many scholars and experts for taking the time out of their busy schedule to proofread the English drafts and make insightful suggestions. I am also grateful to Terence Noel for his meticulous revision of the whole book. Last but not least, many thanks go to the editing team for their professional work. Without all this, I could not have possibly gone so far. vii Contents 1 Experiencing “Gewu Zhizhi” .............................. 1 1.1 An Amazing Child ................................... 1 1.2 An Extraordinary Youth ............................... 11 2 Learning “Saint Theory” ................................. 19 2.1 A Maverick ........................................ 19 2.2 Risking His Life to Petition the Authorities ................. 24 2.3 A Narrow Escape .................................... 32 3 Proposing His “Philosophy of Mind” ........................ 43 3.1 The Enlightenment in Longchang ........................ 43 3.2 The Oneness of Knowing and Doing ...................... 50 4 Practicing His Military Thoughts ........................... 61 4.1 Mission Entrusted in Political Crisis ...................... 61 4.2 Moving to Fight in Jiangxi ............................. 70 4.3 Taking Litou by Strategy .............................. 79 4.4 Suppressing Zhu Chen-Hao’s Rebellion Alone ............... 86 4.5 Capturing Zhu Chen-Hao Alive .......................... 94 5 Pushing His Idea of Governance ...........................