Abstract
Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵 (1139–1193), courtesy name Zijing 子靜, literary name Xiangshan 象山, was born in the town of Jinxi 金谿 in Jiangxi province. He was the youngest of six brothers, two of whom, fourth brother Jiushao 九紹 (fl. twelfth century), courtesy name Zimei 子美, literary name Suoshan 梭山, and fifth brother Jiuling 九齡 (1132–1180), courtesy name Zishou 子壽, literary name Fuzhai 復齋, were impressive philosophers in their own right. As we shall discuss below, Jiuling was present at and participated in the extended discussion and exchange Jiuyuan had with Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200) at Goose Lake Temple (E hu si 鵝湖寺) in 1175; Jiushao initiated an important and extended scholarly debate with Zhu over the interpretation of a number of metaphysical issues central to daoxue philosophy at the time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This entry is a modified version of Phillip J. Ivanhoe's Introduction to Readings from the Lu-Wang School of Neo-Confucianism (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2009). Reprinted by permission of Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 2.
- 3.
For a study that describes the meeting at Goose Lake Temple, the later debate between Jiushao and Zhu Xi, and the relationship between Lu Jiuyuan and Zhu, see the relevant sections of Ching (2000).
- 4.
His examination essay was highly praised by Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 (1137–1185) a friend of the great Zhu Xi and with him co-compiler of the Jin si lu 近思錄 “Record for Reflection.” For an English translation of this work, see Chan (1963). Zuqian was responsible for suggesting and facilitating the meeting between Jiuyuan and Zhu Xi at Goose Lake Temple.
- 5.
Like Wang Yangming 王陽明 (1472–1529), Jiuyuan was keenly interested and skilled in military matters. He was committed to the goal of regaining territory lost to earlier invasions by the Jin Tartars. His biography informs us that when the sixteen year old Jiuyuan read an account of the sacking of Kaifeng and the carrying off the imperial household, which occurred in 1126, he “cut off his fingernails and began to practice archery and horsemanship.” See the entry for 1155 in Lu’s Chronological Biography (Nianpu 年譜).
- 6.
As a result, he often is referred to by his literary name: Lu Xiangshan.
- 7.
See the entry for winter of 1193 in Lu’s Nianpu.
- 8.
This account of Lu’s passing is a good example of an important genre that emerged in Neo-Confucian biography describing the last moments of life. For a revealing study of this interesting phenomenon, see Peng (2010).
- 9.
My claim here takes no stand on whether what we find in the Analects in fact reflects the views of the historical Kongzi. Clearly substantial parts of it do not. The point, though, is that thinkers like Jiuyuan took this text as an authority and model.
- 10.
This attribution, which no contemporary scholar accepts, did not go unchallenged in the Chinese tradition. In the early Song, Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1072) repeatedly argued that Kongzi could not possibly have written them.
- 11.
See the entry for 1147 in Lu’s Nianpu. Cheng Yichuan 程伊川 (1033–1107) was the younger of the two famous Cheng brothers.
- 12.
Here and throughout I translate the Chinese word xin 心 as “heart/mind” to indicate that it was thought to contain faculties of cognition and emotion as well as intention or volition. In some contexts, one or the other of these various senses may dominate, but often all are present to some degree. The reader is advised to judge by context where the emphasis falls in a given case.
- 13.
The Chinese word is composed of two characters, meaning space (yu) and time (zhou).
- 14.
See the entry for 1152 in Lu’s Nianpu. Essentially the same lines are found in Lu’s “Assorted Sayings.” See section three of the “Assorted Sayings” in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 15.
As I have argued in other work (Ivanhoe 2002), it also makes the sudden enlightenment experience or the “discovery model” of self-cultivation possible.
- 16.
For example, “Zhang Zai based his theories entirely on qi, whereas Zhu Xi’s contemporary Lu Jiuyuan (1139–1193) asserted that li alone exists” (Schirokauer and Brown 2006: 161).
- 17.
See the entry for 1152 in Lu’s Nianpu. Similar lines appear in his “Assorted Explanations.” See Ivanhoe (2009).
- 18.
See “(Eighth) Letter to Wu Zisi” in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 19.
See section three of Lu’s “Recorded Sayings” in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 20.
This view about what constitutes understanding is reflected in the modern Chinese word lihui 理會, “to comprehend,” which literally means a “meeting” or “joining” of “principles.”
- 21.
See section five of Lu’s “Recorded Sayings” in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 22.
This section continues the passage quoted above from Lu’s Nianpu. See also section five of Lu’s “Assorted Explanations” in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 23.
Compare this and the following line to Doctrine of the Mean 26.9.
- 24.
Mount Tai (Taishan 泰山) is located in Shandong Province and Mount Hua (Huashan 華山) is located in Shaanxi Province. Along with Mount Heng (Hengshan 衡山) in Hunan Province, Mount Heng (Hengshan 恆山) in Hebai Province, and Mount Song (Songshan 嵩山) in Henan Province these are the Five Sacred Mountains, representing the East, West, South, North, and Center of China respectively.
- 25.
This line paraphrases section one of the “Great Commentary” to the Book of Change.
- 26.
“Fragmented and disconnected endeavors” alludes to the approach of scholars like Zhu Xi who advocated a more gradual method of self-cultivation in which one studies discrete lessons and builds up a comprehensive and synthetic grasp of the dao. This criticism became a major theme in Wang Yangming’s teachings.
- 27.
Compare Analects 14.35 where Kongzi says, “I study what is below to comprehend what is above.”
- 28.
For this and other examples of Lu’s poetry, see the selections in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 29.
For a more detailed discussion of Zhu Xi’s method of self-cultivation see the chapter on Zhu Xi in Ivanhoe (2000). Compare the discussion of Wang’s method of self-cultivation in the later chapter on Wang in the same work.
- 30.
See the letters from Jiuyuan to Zhu Xi in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 31.
See the second letter from Jiuyuan to Zhu Xi in Ivanhoe (2009).
- 32.
This is one line of the famous four-line description of the Chan, traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma but actually composed some time in the Tang dynasty, “A separate teaching, outside the tradition; Not residing in words or letters. Directly pointing to the heart/mind; See one’s nature and become a Buddha.” For a discussion, see Dumoulin (1988: 85–86). For a discussion of Chan’s influence on Neo-Confucianism, see (Ivanhoe 2009).
- 33.
For a splendid application of this idea which argues for ways in which Buddhism can support and enhance our understanding of the nature of rights, see Taylor (1999: 124–144).
- 34.
- 35.
A good illustration of this point is parents of children with severe cognitive disabilities who take great hope, pride, and joy in their children when they respond to or create art, music, dance etc. This parental response is not just an expression of gratefulness that their children can participate in these activities; it is a celebration of their children’s fundamental humanity. I owe this example to Erin M. Cline.
- 36.
Lu and later followers of the Lu-Wang School were much more open to non-classical expressions of art, literature, and philosophy than were their Cheng-Zhu School colleagues. In fact, these and other schools of later Confucian philosophy expressed a broad range of views on this general topic. For a study that focuses on such theories in regard to literature, see Ivanhoe (2007: 29–48).
- 37.
For the quotation, see John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (1819).
- 38.
This line can be found in his essay “Pen, Pencil, and Poison—a Study in Green,” (1889).
- 39.
To insist that aesthetics must be divorced from ethics expresses one reasonable but quite distinctive norm for a conception of aesthetic judgments. Such a view stipulates where to draw the line, but it in no way justifies that it be drawn here rather than where the Confucians want to draw it.
- 40.
A modern account should rely upon a counterfactual account of what people would desire under reasonable conditions of information, experience, and reflection. These aspects of Lu’s view were developed in a distinctive and powerful way by the Qing Confucian Dai Zhen 戴震 (1724–1777). For a splendid introduction to this aspect of Dai’s philosophy, see Tiwald (2010).
Bibliography
Cady, Lyman V. 1939. The Philosophy of Lu Hsiang-shan. Taipei: Pacific Cultural Foundation. (A dated but still rich resource, containing both translations and analysis.)
Chan, Wing-tsit. 1963. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (The most comprehensive source for translations of Chinese philosophical texts, with brief introductions.)
Chang, Carsun. 1958. The Development of Neo-Confucian Thought, vol. 1. New York: Bookman Associates. (A dated but still useful survey of Neo-Confucian philosophy.)
Ching, Julia. 2000. The Religious Thought of Chu Hsi. New York: Oxford University Press. (A revealing study which relates Zhu’s thought to essential aspects of Lu Xiangshan’s philosophy.)
Dumoulin, Heinrich. 1988. Zen Buddhism: A History, vol. 1, India and China. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. (A masterful study and one of the few works that show the relationship between Buddhism and Confucian philosophy.)
Fung, Yu-lan. 1953. A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 2, The Period of Classical Learning, translated by Derk Bodde. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. (A dated but still insightful and helpful survey.)
Huang, Siu-chi. 1944. Lu Hsiang-shan: A Twelfth Century Chinese Idealist Philosopher. New Haven, CN: American Oriental Society. (A dated but still important study, containing both translation and analysis.)
Hursthouse, Rosalind. 1997. “Virtue Theory and Abortion.” In Roger Crisp and Michael Slote (eds.), Virtue Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ivanhoe, Philip J. 2000. Confucian Moral Self Cultivation, second edition. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company. (Explores the theme of self-cultivation across a broad range of Confucian philosophers.)
Ivanhoe, Philip J. 2002. Ethics in the Confucian Tradition: The Thought of Mengzi and Wang Yangming, Second Edition. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company. (Compares the thought of two highly influential Confucian thinkers and demonstrates the influence of Buddhism on Wang’s thought.)
Ivanhoe, Philip J. 2007. “Literature and Ethics in the Chinese Confucian Tradition.” In Brad Wilburn (ed.), Moral Cultivation. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Ivanhoe, Philip J. 2009. Readings in the Lu-Wang School of Neo-Confucianism . Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company. (Translations with accompanying introductions to selections from Lu’s and Wang’s writings. Begins with selections from and introduction to the Platform Sutra.)
Peng, Guoxiang. 2010. “Death as Ultimate Concern in the Neo-Confucian Tradition: Wang Yangming’s Followers as an Example.” In Amy Olberding and Philip J. Ivanhoe (eds.), Mortality in Traditional Chinese Thought. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2010. (A ground-breaking study on this important yet neglected topic.)
Putnam, Hilary. 1981. Reason, Truth and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Putnam, Hilary. 1983. “Models and Reality.” In Realism and Reason, Philosophical Papers Volume 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rawls, John. 1993. Political Liberalism, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press.
Schirokauer, Conrad, and Miranda Brown, eds. 2006. A Brief History of Chinese Civilization. South Melbourne, Victoria: Wadsworth.
Taylor, Charles. 1999. “Conditions of an Unforced Consensus on Human Rights.” In Joanne R. Bauer and Daniel A. Bell (eds.), The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tiwald, Justin. 2010. “Is Sympathy Naïve? Dai Zhen on the Use of Shu to Track Well-being.” In Yu Kam Por, Julia Tao, and Philip J. Ivanhoe (eds.), Taking Confucian Ethics Seriously: Contemporary Theories and Applications. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2009. (A sophisticated and revealing treatment of Dai Zhen’s conception of sympathy.)
Xu, Jifang 徐紀芳. 1990. A Study of the Disciples of L u Xiangshan 陸象山弟子妍究. Taibei 臺北: Wenjin chubanshe文津出版社.
Zhang, Liwen 張立文. 1992. Following the Path of the Learning of the Heart/Mind: The Footprints of L u Xiangshan 走向心學之路: 陸象山山思想的足跡. Beijing 北京: Zhonghua shuju 中華書局.
Zhu, Xi. 1967. Reflections on Things at Hand, translated by Wing-tsit Chan. New York: Columbia University Press. (A valuable translation of this fascinating and influential work.)
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Erin M. Cline, Eirik L. Harris, Eric L. Hutton, Paul Kjellberg, Michael R. Slater, David W. Tien, and Justin Tiwald for corrections, comments, and suggestions on earlier drafts of this essay.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ivanhoe, P.J. (2010). Lu Xiangshan’s Ethical Philosophy. In: Makeham, J. (eds) Dao Companion to Neo-Confucian Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2930-0_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2930-0_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2929-4
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2930-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)