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| WANG Yang-ming’s Life Concern and Ecological Wisdom |
| GUO Qi-yong |
| College of Chinese Classics, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 |
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Abstract The Confucian thoughts of Confucius, Mencius and Cheng Hao are the source of WANG Yang-ming’s deep life concern and superb ecological wisdom. WANG Yang-ming claims that the human mind is identical with the pattern of the universe, and as such it forms “one body” (yiti, one substance) with “Heaven, Earth, and the myriad creatures” of the world, emphasizing all creatures spiritually form one body as they all possess Liangzhi (innate knowing) and Lingming (innate wisdom). Such natural objects as mountains and rivers, birds and animals, grass and trees, and tiles and stones also possess their own spirit and value. Why can humans take advantage of everything in the world? “It can be attributed to the natural order of human liangzhi”, said WANG Yang-ming. This is Confucian “love of differentiation”—that is, love for intimates, love for people, and love for all things in this world are different. “The benevolence that forms one body with Heaven, Earth, and the myriad creature” is “universality”, while “love of differentiation” is particularity. Yangming’s thought is permeated with deep concern for life. Everything in the universe has life, and forms an integrated life body. Therefore, we should care for them all. Knowledge and action can be united as everybody without exception has the innate knowledge of good and evil and one can activate it anytime to properly respond to any situation. It is xin (mind) and also “intuitive knowledge and ability” as “xin (the mind) is li (principle). “The mind is principle” indicates this innate knowledge of good and evil is the principle of legislation, and “intuitive knowledge and ability (liangzhi liangneng) ” indicates human’s innate knowledge of good and evil is also principle of morality and practice. Only by returning to the original state of the mind and distinguishing the goodness that reflects the original state of the mind from the badness that stems from selfish desires can we achieve the unity of knowledge and action. If we fail to do so, we do not understand it thoroughly. With thorough understanding we are sure to make it.
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Received: 25 June 2017
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2018, Vol. 35 
