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| Three Dimensions of Mencius's Philosophy: Its Shaping Force for Confucianism |
| Ding WeiXiang |
| School of Politics and Economics, Sha爷anxi Normal University, Xi'an Normal University, Sha'anxi, 710119 |
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Abstract As the founding father of the Confucian learning of xinxing, Mencius opened the horizon of meaning of life for the whole Confucian tradition. Yet scholars tend to disagree about the role Mencius's thought played in shaping the path of Cunfucianism: Zhaoqi from the Eastern Han dynasty put forth a model of evaluation based on a linear thinking and natural attitude; by invoking the Buddhist idea of Prajna, the Song Confucians formulated an interpretive model which unifies the moral and the natural, the physical and the metaphysical, substance and function; contemporary new Confucianist thinkers draw together traditional Confucian experience and Western philosophical theories to construct an interpretive model of "sageliness within and kingliness without. " Each of these models aims to understand how Mencius's world was created. Yet each understanding reflects the common sense of its specific historical situation and its background knowledge. In order to have a better understanding of Mencius's world, we will try to lay bare the underlying ground of the care of human Dasein and the mode of human thinking. We will also take into consideration Mencius's way of cognition. We will then examine the contemporary relevance of Mencius's philosophy in an attempt to pinpoint its threedimensional characteristic and its significance for Confucianism.
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Received: 30 May 2014
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