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Wang Ruoxu and His Critical Essays In View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarBank@NUS WANG RUOXU (1174-1243) AND HIS CRITICAL ESSAYS IN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF JIN DYNASTY (1115-1234) GAO YUAN (B. SC.), NUS A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF CHINESE STUDIES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and the help of my teachers and many individuals who have in one way or other contributed and extended their assistance towards the completion of this thesis. First and foremost, my utmost gratitude goes to my supervisor Dr. Ong Chang Woei, who had to accommodate a part-time graduate’s schedule to meet up with me to review numerous drafts and to give me invaluable advice. His sincerity and encouragement will never be forgotten. Dr. Neo Peng Fu, in his tenure in NUS, showed kind concern and consideration towards me regarding my academic requirements. His passion in research had been my inspiration. Dr. Wong Sin Kiong, Head of the Department of Chinese Studies, gave me a lot encouragement, and allowed me to gain exposure with a field trip project he conducted, leading to the publication of some research results from it. I am also grateful to all the teaching staff of the Department of Chinese studies who taught me during my by-courses and later by-research years: Dr. Koh Khee Heong, Dr. Lee Chee Hiang, Dr. Lee Cheuk Yin, Dr. Lo Yuet Keung, Dr. Shi Yuzhi, Dr. Su Jui- Lung, Dr. Xiao Chi, and Dr. Yung Sai Shing. From their lessons, I have learnt many methods of approaching research questions. I am grateful to the two anonymous examiners for their insight. The Management Assistant Officer of the Department of Chinese Studies, Mdm Fong Yoke Chan, had been accommodating towards my queries, and I am thankful to her, and the staff in the Chinese Library as well, for all their help. I would also like to present my gratitude to my parents who have always encouraged and supported me during the prolonged process of thesis writing, and to my special friend Lynn for the challenges she offered. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary..........................................................................................................................................1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3 Recent literature on the intellectual development of Jin before the 1190s .................................4 Research on Neo-Confucianism trends in Jin after the 1190s ....................................................8 Chapter One Outline of Wang Ruoxu’s Life and Scholarship .........................................................................15 Wang Ruoxu’s family and educational background .................................................................15 Wang’s career in the administrative system ..............................................................................18 Wang’s attitude towards commentaries on Confucian classics and the commentators before Jin ..............................................................................................................................................20 Chapter Two The Concept of renqing in Wang’s Critical Essays ...................................................................24 Renqing in intellectual discourse ...............................................................................................25 Renqing in the formative stage of Confucianism tradition .....................................................25 Renqing in commentarial traditions from Han to Song .........................................................27 Northern and Southern Song scholars’ renqing ....................................................................29 Qing and renqing in Song ......................................................................................................32 Functions of Wang Ruoxu’s renqing ........................................................................................34 Renqing, a challenge to received pre-Song commentary tradition ........................................37 Correcting the three errors of Song Confucians ....................................................................44 Historical meaning and scriptural meaning ...............................................................................56 ii Conclusion .................................................................................................................................63 Chapter Three The Teaching of “yi yi ni zhi” in Wang’s Critical Essays ..........................................................65 “Yi yi ni zhi” in the commentarial tradition from Han to Song ................................................65 Mencius, Zhao Qi and Zhu Xi ...................................................................................................67 Evolution of the understanding of “yi yi ni zhi” before Wang Ruoxu ......................................71 “Yi yi ni zhi” in Wang Ruoxu’s writings ...................................................................................73 To clarify “ambiguities” .........................................................................................................77 To understand “exaggerations” .............................................................................................81 To refrain from “sticking to the words” ................................................................................83 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................86 Chapter Four The Idea of “wenshi yufa” in Wang’s Writings ..........................................................................89 Wang Ruoxu’s understanding of wenshi yufa ...........................................................................91 Wang Ruoxu’s use of “wenshi yufa” in reading Classics and commentaries ...........................94 To ensure the quality of the Classics .....................................................................................94 To check the quality of commentarial works ........................................................................98 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................103 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................108 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................114 Appendix ......................................................................................................................................121 iii Wang Ruoxu (1174-1243) and His Critical Essays in Intellectual History of Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) SUMMARY The Jin dynasty established by the Jurchens, and their civilization had been subjects of increasing interest in recent studies on the intellectual history of early modern China. The literary revival in late Jin has become the topic of a series of studies, and Wang Ruoxu, a central figure in this revival, has attracted scholarly attention. Wang is important to researchers because he is one of the few Jin literati whose literary collections have been preserved. His extant literary collection, consisting of forty- eight juan covering Classics studies, history, literary criticism and other occasional writings, provides a valuable source of information which has revealed the multiple facets of the Jin intellectual world. Wang’s writings are characterized by a strong sense of criticism. The majority of his collection is constituted by critical essays. Recent research into the reasons behind Wang’s writings suggested that he was trying to convey that “Chin literati can have authority over the cultural tradition and critically assess earlier participants in it.”1 How did he criticize others and engage himself in the cultural tradition? Wang’s critical essays provide the foundation for answering this question. In Chinese intellectual history, a readily available means of entering into the intellectual discourse was to write one’s own version of commentary. Wang mainly wrote critical essays as supplements to the well-established commentarial corpus. Writing these for particular Classics which 1 Bol, “Seeking common ground: Han literati under Jurchen rule”, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 47:2 (1987), p. 519. 1 already had sanctioned commentaries was Wang’s way of expression of dissident and represented an inquiry for accessing the authority to interpret the sacred meanings. This thesis attempts to answer the question by looking into the details of the text of Wang’s writings, analyzing his tactics, and trying to understand his position through detailed discussion of his critical works. To do so would help us know what conceptual tools he implemented and how he implemented them in understanding the Classics, and what reading strategies he adopted and how he adopted them in reading the sacred texts and others’ commentaries. Understanding Wang’s scholarly endeavor will be helpful for understanding the intellectual history of Northern China during the Song-Jin-Yuan period. This research assesses Wang Ruoxu’s scholarship and how he engaged himself in the cultural tradition. The first chapter constitutes
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