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What is the ideological purpose of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties?
"Talking about the Wrong Country" is the overall evaluation of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties by most historians and scholars in China history from the Jin Dynasty to the 20th century. As history entered the 20th century, with the deepening of China scholars' understanding of western culture, people began to re-examine and evaluate metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties. With the joint efforts of several generations of scholars in the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, as an important part of China's modern scholarship, has become an indispensable link in the history of China's academic, ideological and cultural development, and has gained a brand-new affirmation and evaluation, just like the philosophers in Zhou and Qin Dynasties, Confucian classics in Han Dynasty, Buddhism in Sui and Tang Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties and Neo-Confucianism in Qing Dynasty. According to the characteristics of metaphysics research in Wei and Jin Dynasties influenced by western philosophy in different stages of the 20th century, and the interaction between this research and China's real social, political, economic and cultural life, we will roughly divide metaphysics research in Wei and Jin Dynasties into five stages for comments, so as to have an overall grasp of metaphysics research in Wei and Jin Dynasties in the 20th century.

I.1before the 1930s

As Hou Wailu pointed out in his General History of China Thought, before the Qing Dynasty, the evaluation of Qingtan had one thing in common, that is, the academic content was not studied, but linked to the so-called civil strife and foreign invasion to clarify the cause and effect. This weakness was reactionary by sinologists in the Qing Dynasty, and was refuted by scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. [1] This new tendency to defend the false claims of scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties has been increasingly strongly echoed and supported until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China entered the 20th century.

1907, Liu wrote the article "On the relationship between the changes of study style in ancient and modern times and political customs". After pointing out that many historians and scholars, including Gu (), made negative comments on the study of Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, he pointed out that they all "did not know that the study of the two Jin and Six Dynasties did not stop at the market, but were ambitious, advocating nature, being far-reaching and independent, and being complacent in learning. So, for a time, a bachelor's doctor thought highly of himself, detached from the dust, not bound by glory, not bound by the dust net, from openness to nobility, from world-weariness to happiness. Scholars advocate its style, and the people immerse its customs. Although it is not conducive to governing the country, a good style of study still has several ends. Give priority to high concealment, rashness will decline, forgetting each other will be your priority, suspicion will disappear, plain words will be your priority, worldly thoughts will not be born, and greed will change. Therefore, although the support is contemptible, the determination is high. To give you a word, the study of Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties is not limited to humble people, and the ministers of Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties do not touch filth. " [2] This is quite different from the criticism that Fan Ning and others regard Wang as a maverick and Gu as a sinner. Liu affirmed the high standards and good style of study during the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties. He believes that during the Han and Wei Dynasties, politicians' political behavior should be mainly responsible for the downfall and vulgar decline of the country, while literati's liberalism and world-weariness are only to avoid disaster. Although their attitudes and behaviors are not directly beneficial to governing the country, their ambitious and natural style and character have a positive demonstration effect on the strictness and greed of political style.

Immediately after Liu, Zhang Taiyan wrote "A Study of the Five Dynasties" at 19 10. Like Liu, Zhang also compared the gains and losses of the style of study in history, criticized the prejudice of historians and scholars that the style of Wei and Jin dynasties was not as good as that of the previous dynasties, and pointed out: "Those who talk about Fuxi should not start from the beginning, but take metaphysics as their criticism. Metaphysical scholars, because they are not inconsistent with artistic writing, support it with their wings. .. the husband is obsessed with "ceremony" and "joy", and politics does not rely on law, skills do not rely on surgery, and the shape does not worry about medicine stone, which is true of five generations of celebrities. What he says is empty, and what he does is real, so it is valuable. .. There was metaphysics in the Five Dynasties, knowledge and quietness complemented each other, and their natures were harmonious. As a result, arrogance and obscenity are on the rise, while fanaticism and competition are on the decline. .. The world saw that the Five Dynasties' thrones were shallow and the country was weak, because they left their academic pursuits behind. Therefore, the five generations do not dispute, but let words express people, not metaphysics. " [3] Different from Liu's writing style, Zhang Duo draws the following more faithful conclusions based on historical facts: First, the customs of Wei and Jin Dynasties are no worse than those of Han Dynasty; Most of the celebrities in the second and fifth generations have certain specialties and skills, "their words are empty, and their skills control reality"; Thirdly, metaphysics pays attention to calmness and self-restraint, so it has a calming effect on the arrogance of the upper class and the manic competition of the lower class; Fourth, the five dynasties countries were short and fast, and their national strength was weak, which could not be attributed to metaphysics, but to the improper way of selecting officials and employing people in politics. It is worth noting that Zhang mentioned: "Metaphysics should be named, and those who are good at six arts should also be named." Treat and calculate, judge the shape and measure the sound. When the service drops, the punishment is increased or decreased. Chuan said:' the name of punishment comes from business, and the name of writing comes from ceremony.' Therefore, metaphysics is often helpful to etiquette. Since the Tang dynasty, metaphysics has been lost, and the six arts have also declined. "(ibid., pp. 75-76) This shows that Zhang vaguely realized that the metaphysical thinking method of paying attention to the distinction between name and reason is helpful to develop academics, master skills and maintain etiquette.

Before 1930s, Feng Youlan was the main scholar who really paid attention to the ideological or philosophical contributions of celebrities in Wei and Jin Dynasties. He directly compared and explained Guo Xiang's philosophy with the concepts and theories in the history of western philosophy. His Philosophy of Guo Xiang, published in 1927, built a "very good philosophy system" of ancient China philosophers with the help of western academic concepts (in Feng Youlan's language). First of all, this paper disagrees with many people's view that China's philosophy has not progressed, but thinks that China's philosophy is ostensibly that future generations are constantly talking about the ideas of predecessors, but in essence, everyone's explanations have been extended, which is progress. For example, Guo Xiang's Notes on Zhuangzi is Guo Xiang's philosophy. In order to illustrate this point, Feng Youlan quoted Alex Dodd's views on potential and reality to illustrate that things are from simple to complex, and knowledge is from vague to clear. He thinks that Guo Xiang can not only develop Zhuangzi Thought, but also express the meaning contained in Zhuangzi's articles with abstract and ordinary theories, and has new insights. Secondly, this paper holds that Guo Xiang's "personalization" theory is very similar to that of parmenides, an ancient Greek philosopher. Because the so-called "Tao" of Laozi and Zhuangzi is not zero in mathematics, and Guo Xiang said zero. Everything is so because they were born this way. Guo Xiang's "Journey to the North" notes that "there is no past, no present, no beginning and no end": "If there is nothing, it will be turned into something. Things do something, though ever-changing, they will do something different. Certainly not, since ancient times. " This note shows that Guo Xiang, on the one hand, zeroes the Tao, on the other hand, thinks that "being" is eternal, although it cannot be nothing. This is indeed similar to parmenides's thought of "being", the founder of Elijah School in ancient Greece. Pasteur believes that "the existence of the existence", existence is eternal, neither born nor dead; Existence is integrated, continuous, inseparable and so on. Thirdly, this paper holds that Guo Xiang's thought about the ever-changing universe is similar to Heraclitus' thought about "the flow of everything". Finally, this paper holds that Guo Xiang's philosophy, like Spinoza's ethics, is the unity of realism and mysticism. It is also believed that Guo Xiang's metaphysics is realism, while his metaphysics is epistemology. So although there is mysticism, Taoist philosophy like Guo Xiang does not conflict with science. Feng Youlan's research and narration of Guo Xiang's philosophy clearly shows that he is trying to think and explain Guo Xiang's philosophy with the concept of western philosophy.

From the above summary and analysis of the traditional academic research in China before 1930s, we can feel that the academic research in China is undergoing great changes during this period. However, because this is only the primary stage of modern academic research in China, there are many comparative traces in this period, so new breakthroughs need time and the participation and joint efforts of many scholars from different disciplines.

Second, in the 1930s and 1940s.

China's modern academic research on metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties began in this period. At that time, China was facing a national crisis, and the Chinese nation was in the autumn of life and death. However, it was during this period that a group of scholars began to study and discuss the culture and scholarship of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties from different disciplines such as philosophy, history, literature and aesthetics. Among them, Tang Yongtong's creative and systematic research and interpretation of philosophy made the most outstanding contribution to the establishment of metaphysics in Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties.

Tang Yongtong's main contribution to the study of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties is reflected in his nine manuscripts completed in the ten years from 1938 to 1947, which were later included and published by 1957 People's Publishing House, with the title "On Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties". These papers have made a special study on the ideological origin, academic methods, philosophical nature, development stage and historical influence of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and formed a relatively comprehensive and systematic theoretical system. In particular, he pioneered the overall and systematic study of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties from the perspective of philosophical ontology, which had a decisive influence on the basic direction and scale of metaphysics research in Wei and Jin Dynasties in the whole 20th century.

If Hu Shi's Outline of China's Philosophical History [4] and Feng Youlan's History of China [5] are models of the general history of China's philosophical history, then Tang Yongtong's Metaphysics Research in Wei and Jin Dynasties is a model of the special history of China's philosophical history or the dynastic history of China's philosophical history. Tang Yongtong, Hu Shi and Feng Youlan have similarities in academic background, but they have their own characteristics in specific research paths. The so-called similarity in the great academic background means that all of them have studied in the West and received strict western academic training. At the same time, they all have a certain family background, received systematic education of China traditional culture in their early years, and have a deep understanding of China traditional studies. Therefore, under the historical background of "western learning spreading to the east", they can truly "integrate Chinese and western". The main gain of receiving western academic training lies in the important enlightenment to academic research methods. Hu Shi was the first scholar to realize this in the May 4th Movement. When he talked about the interpretation, establishment or reconstruction of China's philosophical system in Preface to the History of Pre-Qin philosophers, the predecessor of China's Outline of Philosophical History, he consciously realized: "I am luckier than the organizers and interpreters in the past, because I got it from the study of the history of European philosophy. Only people with similar experience in comparative research (for example, in comparative language) can truly understand the value of western philosophy in helping me explain China's ancient ideological system. " [6] Cai Yuanpei also clearly pointed out in the preface of Hu Shi's Outline of China's Philosophical History: "We have to compile a system, and there is nothing to rely on in the works of the ancients, so we have to rely on the philosophical history of westerners. Therefore, people who have not studied the history of western philosophy cannot form an appropriate form. " (ibid., page 155) Those who have received strict western academic training and made great achievements in the modern academic reconstruction in China have made great innovations and breakthroughs in methods. Tang Yongtong's research on metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, like Hu Shi's research on the history of ancient philosophy in China, initiated a new philosophical method, thus confirming this point, that is, the key to studying a philosopher or philosophical school lies in grasping the thoughts of this philosopher or philosophical school. This may be the greatest gain that the scholars of the May 4th generation got in the process of learning western culture and receiving western academic training.

In order to illustrate the exemplary role of Tang Yongtong's study of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties in the study of China's special philosophy history or dynastic history and its great significance in the study of China's general philosophy history, it is necessary for us to return to the achievements and limitations of Hu Shi and Feng Youlan's study of China's philosophy history. The philosophy of China discussed in Hu Shi's Outline of China's Philosophy History began with Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period (6th century BC) and ended with the establishment of the Qin Dynasty (3rd century BC). In the introduction of this book, he divides the history of China's philosophy into three periods: from Laozi to Han Fei, it is an ancient philosophy, also known as "philosophy of various schools"; From the Han Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty is a medieval philosophy, which is divided into two periods. The first period is from the Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, and the second period is from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty. Modern philosophy is from the Tang Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore, the scope of his Outline of China's Philosophical History only covers the ancient part of China's philosophical history as defined by him, but does not reach the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Because of this, the book was renamed "History of Ancient Philosophy in China" in 1930. Although the book fails to cover the philosophical contents of the Middle Ages and Wei and Jin Dynasties, we can still read the news of Hu Shi's initial understanding of the philosophy of the Middle Ages and Wei and Jin Dynasties. First of all, regarding historical materials, Hu Shi believes that studying the history of medieval philosophy faces great difficulties, many of which are added, falsified and lost. "Therefore, the historical materials of medieval philosophy are the most incomplete. It is the most unfortunate thing in the history of China's philosophy that the philosophical works of Wei and Jin Dynasties cannot be completely restored. " [7] Secondly, it is about the position of China's philosophy in the history of world philosophy. He believes that world philosophy can be divided into two branches, namely, India and China in the East and Greece and Judaism in the West. At the beginning, these four departments all happened independently. "After the Han Dynasty, the Jewish Department joined the Greek Department and became the philosophy of medieval Europe. The Indian Department joined the China Department and became China's medieval philosophy. " (ibid., p. 165 ~ 166) As he brought Indian philosophy into China philosophy as the main factor that decided China's medieval philosophy, he also decided the following points, namely, third, his understanding of China's medieval philosophy and Wei-Jin philosophy was not deep and his evaluation was not high.

Regardless of whether Hu Shi's comments on the stages of China's philosophical history and the influence of Indian Buddhism after its introduction into China are accurate, his three basic views on China's medieval philosophy, especially Wei-Jin philosophy, may lead to his double "shielding" of China's medieval philosophy and Wei-Jin philosophy. First, the technical level of "shielding", because he thinks that the study of medieval philosophy faces great difficulties in historical materials, especially the failure to restore the philosophical works of Wei and Jin people, which may lead him to give up or ignore the study of philosophical problems in this period because of technical difficulties; Moreover, because he thinks that the theory of Han and Jin dynasties is only a compromise of ancient philosophers, he can't see the development and change of many scholars or schools in Han and Jin dynasties in compromise and extension; What is particularly serious is that the historical value of philosophy accumulated by Wang Bi, Guo Xiang through annotation of Zhouyi, Analects of Confucius, Laozi and Zhuangzi is likely to be ignored. The second is "cover-up" on the value level, because he thought that it was because of the introduction of Indian philosophy that China's medieval philosophy surpassed other philosophers "uniquely and brilliantly". Naturally, he focused his attention on China's medieval philosophy on the academic achievements made by medieval Buddhist philosophy. As a result of the above-mentioned double "shielding" in the technical level and value level, it is conceivable that Hu Shi's research on the history of medieval philosophy will face great difficulties, which may be one of the important reasons for the delay in the follow-up research after he published the Outline of the History of China Philosophy. Because of this "concealment", Hu Shi's research on medieval philosophy or ideological history will be lost on at least two key issues. First, metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, as an important link in the history of China's philosophy, will be lost. Secondly, the meaningful interaction between metaphysics and Buddhism in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, as an important link in the history of cultural exchange between China and foreign countries and the history of cultural development in China, will be lost.

Compared with Hu Shi's Philosophy of China or History of Thought, the second volume of Feng Youlan's Philosophy of China pays more attention to the important thinkers in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. He specially created the first and second chapters of Metaphysics in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, discussing the metaphysical thoughts from Yanhe, Wang Bi to Guo Xiang. Feng Youlan summed up the research objects and characteristics of the history of philosophy in the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the name of "metaphysics", which is a great progress compared with Hu Shi's study of the history of philosophy. However, his definition of the stage of metaphysics in this period was not very accurate at that time, and he did not have a special understanding and in-depth analysis of the characteristics and changes of metaphysics in this period. Although Feng Youlan's understanding of the changes of China's academic thoughts in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is better than Hu Shi's, Hu Shi's influence can still be seen from it, because later Feng Youlan turned the focus of discussion to Buddhism and used the chapter of Buddhism in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the people's debate on Buddhism at that time, so that metaphysics and Buddhism were attributed to the same period in the definition of time period, and he believed that "in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, China's ideological circle, at that time, Buddhism was systematically imported, and China people could have a deep understanding of it." Since then, and even in the early Song Dynasty, China's first-class thinkers have been Buddhists. " [8] This evaluation is almost exactly the same as Hu Shi's evaluation, that is, it emphasizes that the reason for the great changes in China's thoughts during the Northern and Southern Dynasties lies in the input of foreign culture Buddhism, and the first-class thinkers in China from then to the early Song Dynasty were all Buddhists. The period when Buddhism played an important role in China's ideological circle was indeed the Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, in order to emphasize the status and influence of Buddhism, it affected the understanding and evaluation of metaphysics, and even induced the dislocation of classifying metaphysics into the Southern and Northern Dynasties. This can't help but say that Feng Youlan and Hu Shi have the same cognitive limitation in their view of metaphysics, that is, they overemphasize the status of Buddhism and "obscure" their understanding of metaphysics.

However, Feng Youlan's metaphysical research has several points to commend: First, he pointed out for the first time that Guo Xiang's Notes on Zhuangzi is an independent and extremely valuable work and an important classic in Taoist philosophy, and he made a systematic explanation of Guo Xiang's philosophy. Secondly, he pointed out that Wang Bi's annotation of Yi "created the atmosphere of interpreting the classics by Tao" and thought that he and Wang Bi "could systematically expound the Taoist theory". Thirdly, he explained the "On Tao and the Unknown" of reconciliation, thinking that "Tao is only a concrete existence, so it can be seen everywhere in the group, but it is nameless, so it can be used to communicate with the world". This shows that Feng Youlan has begun to explain the development of Yan He to Lao Zi from the concepts of generality and particularity, generality and particularity of neo-realism, that is, to explain "being born without" from the logical relationship rather than the generative relationship. Feng Youlan thinks that Wang Bi's explanation of "being born in nothingness" is consistent with his view of harmony, and that Wang Bi uses the relationship between body and function to explain "nothingness" and "inaction". (ibid., pp. 76-78) These viewpoints should provide important clues for Tang Yongtong's metaphysical research. Tang Yongtong was originally famous for Buddhism. He devoted himself to writing the history of Buddhism for fifteen years (1922 to 1937), and completed the History of Buddhism in Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties on 1937. In the academic practice in the following ten years, Tang Yongtong further realized the relationship between metaphysics and Buddhism, and created a new discipline field of "metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties" in the process of solving this problem. Tang Yongtong's study of Buddhism and then metaphysics corrected the tendency of people to attach importance to Buddhism and ignore metaphysics. Since then, metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, as a relatively independent discipline in the history of China's philosophy, thought and culture, has achieved its due academic status and received great attention from scholars.

One of the important reasons why Tang Yongtong can find his own way in the academic field neglected by his peers is that he has deep thoughts on the attitude and methods of cultural research and the conflict and reconciliation of cultural exchanges. Tang Yongtong once wrote The Conflict and Reconciliation of Cultural Thoughts, borrowed the research results of cultural anthropology on cultural transplantation, and applied them to the ideological level. He doesn't agree with the extreme "evolution theory" that "thought is produced by a nation or a country and has nothing to do with foreign cultural thoughts", nor with the extreme "broadcasting theory" that "the origin of a cultural thought is always influenced by outsiders, and foreign thoughts can always completely change its original characteristics and direction". Based on this view, Tang Yongtong believes that when foreign cultures come into contact with local cultures, they must go through two processes of conflict and reconciliation. Taking the introduction of Indian Buddhism into China as an example, he explained that foreign cultures should adapt to the local culture of China and become Buddhism in China before they can be widely accepted by China people. He stressed, "In this process, things that are consistent with China can continue to develop, while things that are different from China are often short-lived and cannot last long." He drew an important conclusion from this: "A nation's cultural thought does have its own characteristics, and foreign cultural thought must be changed to conform to another cultural nature before it can play its role." [9] During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Buddhism was a foreign culture, and metaphysics was a typical form of local culture in China at that time. Buddhism must be attached to metaphysics if it is to be accepted by intellectuals and ordinary people in China and developed in China. In order to understand the process of conflict and reconciliation between Buddhism and metaphysics, it is necessary to further understand the theoretical roots and academic nature of metaphysics itself, so it is a logical development process to enter metaphysics from Buddhism research. Only in this way can we further explain the process of Buddhism in China. This point can be further illustrated by Tang Yongtong's important paper "Introduction to Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties" written in 1940. This paper compares the metaphysical thoughts of Wei and Jin Dynasties with the teachings of Buddhism, clarifies the similarities and differences between them and their relationship, and finally draws the conclusion that "Wang Bi's attention to the old and the interpretation of Zhuang are both inherent in China's learning". As for Seng Zhao, although he was interested in talking about metaphysics, he despised Laozi and Zhuangzi, obeyed the Buddha, and broke through the barrier of metaphysics. [10] This shows that Buddhism can only develop if it is attached to metaphysics, and the emergence of Seng Zhao Thought is not only the inheritance and development of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, but also the beginning of Buddhism in China.

Tang Yongtong's study of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties continued his rigorous academic style of paying attention to historical facts in Buddhist studies. This kind of research seems to have two approaches to the problem. First of all, through the study of the emergence and evolution of Buddhism in China, we find the relationship between Buddhism and metaphysics, and then we have the consciousness of taking metaphysics as an independent research object, which is a backward process. First, by studying how metaphysics was formed in the natural evolution of China's inherent scholarship, it is found that great changes have taken place in China's scholarship during the Han and Wei Dynasties, and the unique academic character of metaphysics has been established, which is a forward-looking process. According to the arrangement order and publication time of Tang Yongtong's Collection of Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, we can explore the process and achievements of his metaphysical research. Tang Yongtong first discovered the process and reasons of the academic changes in the late Han Dynasty and the early Jin Dynasty by reading Liu Shao's Figures in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and then pointed out that the metaphysical theory in the Zhengshi period had begun to break away from specific people and events and become a kind of "metaphysics". [1 1] Then, in his important paper "A Brief Introduction to Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties" published on 1940, he further clarified that the fundamental difference between metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties and metaphysics in Han Dynasty was that metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties was no longer limited to the external use of the operation of the universe, and then discussed the noumenon of everything in the world. In Han Dynasty, Heaven intervened in physics. The ontology research in Wei and Jin Dynasties was based on heaven, but few people attributed it to Xuan Ji. Forget the image and swim outside. So he broke away from the cosmology or cosmogenesis of the Han dynasty and stayed on the ontology or ontology. [12] He pointed out that Yanhe and Wang Bi believed that nothingness based on nothingness was "the thing without right" and "the integrity of Tao". (The same book, page 43) thus established the academic nature and position of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties as ontology in the history of China philosophy. Moreover, Tang Yongtong further studied the characteristics of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties in academic methods. He pointed out in his important paper "Discrimination between Words and Meaning" [13] that "the rise of new learning, although due to the current environment, does not have new horizons and new methods, but only fragmented remarks, can not be organized new learning." [14] This new method is "the discrimination between words and meanings". He believes that, first of all, the distinction between words and meanings, such as "Aokang razor", can eliminate the clutter of Han people; Secondly, the distinction between words and meanings is the inherent requirement of metaphysics as ontology; Thirdly, forgetting words in the distinction between words and meanings can "integrate the learning of Confucianism and Taoism"; Fourthly, the distinction between words and meanings is not only a matter of theory and method, but also a matter of life practice for scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Tang Yongtong advocated: "Anyone who wants to understand the theory of China School must predict the purpose of his standing and do his own thing." "Wei and Jin celebrities talk about reason, although there are differences, but its purpose has never been devoted to useless words, and has nothing to do with life. Talking about the theory of non-emptiness, metaphysics also has its advantages. " "The difference between words and meanings in theory has greatly contributed to the difference between god and form in practice." [15] Tang Yongtong expounded the academic method of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and linked it with the thinking method that best reflected the philosophical characteristics of metaphysics, namely, the abstract "difference between body and use", the social and political issues that people were most concerned about at that time, namely, the difference between fame and religion and nature, and the most personal life practice problem of scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties, which formed a close relationship.

Tang Yongtong's study of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties not only pointed out the academic nature and methods of metaphysics, but also further studied the evolution and factions of metaphysics and its influence on later generations. Regarding the deviation from metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, Tang Yongtong has a basic viewpoint, which determines his judgment method. This view was fully and accurately reflected in his 1947 speech "The Development of Wei and Jin Thoughts". He thought: "Metaphysics evolved from China's inherent academic nature, performing' new meanings' from past thoughts at any time, and gradually became a system. Metaphysics and Indian Buddhism are not necessarily related in theory. In other words, Buddhism is not a positive reason for the growth of metaphysics. On the contrary, Buddhism was first baptized by metaphysics, and this foreign idea can be accepted by China people. Therefore, on the one hand, Buddhism in Wei and Jin Dynasties can also be said to be metaphysics. The contribution of Buddhism to metaphysics is undeniable. " (Ibid., p. 1 12) Therefore, as far as Wei and Jin Dynasties are concerned, Tang Yongtong considered Buddhism as a metaphysical system. On the one hand, he gradually separated metaphysics from the entanglement between Buddhism and metaphysics, and gradually described the track of independent development of metaphysics; On the other hand, he gradually deepened the grasp of external characteristics such as simple time segmentation and the influence of theory on various schools to the analysis direction of theoretical characteristics and their internal logical relations. Tang Yongtong's research on the evolution and factions of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties provides important clues for later scholars to study the development process of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties with the method of unifying history and logic.

Regarding the turning point of Wei-Jin thought and its influence on later academic circles, Tang Yongtong gave some hints in his article "Xie Lingyun's book on distinguishing clans", which was written in 1945. Tang Yongtong pointed out that since the Han and Wei Dynasties, the question of whether the ideal of saints can be learned has been under discussion. Xie Lingyun put forward in "On Differentiation" that there are two opposing views on this issue. China tradition says that saints can't learn, and Indian tradition says that saints can learn, while Xie Lingyun adopts Zhu Daosheng's "epiphany" theory to reconcile two different views and advocates that saints can't learn but reach, which shows a great change in Wei and Jin Dynasties, not only following the Sui and Tang Dynasties. (ibid., page 96- 102) Tang Yongtong paid great attention to "traces of change" in the academic research of the times. His research on Liu Shao's Figures and Wang Bi's Theory of Evolution reveals the "variation trace" of the transition from Confucian classics in Han Dynasty to metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and his research on Zong Lun by Xie Lingyun reveals this point.

With the joint efforts of scholars such as Tang Yongtong and Feng Youlan, and with the help of western academic ideas and methods, the study of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties established a basic modern academic form and laid a solid foundation for further research.

Three. The 1950s and 1970s

After 1949, Marxism gradually became the mainstream of social ideology and trend of thought in China. Hou Wailu's five-volume General History of China's Ideological History is an important achievement in systematically sorting out and studying China's ancient thoughts by using Marxist viewpoints and methods. The third volume, Thought of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, was written by Hou Wailu, and the first draft was completed at 1949. Hou Wailu's study of Wei-Jin thought from the perspective of ideological history is to integrate philosophical thought, logical thought and social thought in this period, and to emphasize the social and economic composition of this period and the social, political and economic status of Xuan Xueshi. Hou Wailu also noticed that Feng Youlan's History of China Philosophy was very short in discussing the philosophical thoughts of the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. [16] Therefore, he has made great efforts in quoting historical documents and excavating archaeological materials, and has also made great expansion in the specific content of his exposition. For example, at the turn from the end of Han Dynasty to Wei and Jin Dynasties, the main schools of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties were discussed, Xiang and Guo's mystery were explained respectively, Ji Kang's dualism thought and its connection with anti-Sima Jin activities were expounded, and Ge and so on were discussed. He also analyzed the contractual divorce of Wei and Jin thoughts from the perspective of the relationship between feudal politics, feudal economy and ideology, such as the contractual divorce of Wei and Jin celebrities, and discussed the economic and political roots of Wei and Jin metaphysics. This kind of conscious and even deliberate introduction of Marxist viewpoints and methods into the study of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties also produced unique effects in its early stage, especially by linking philosophical issues with social, political and economic background, which deepened people's understanding of the issues.

However, because this kind of research has some purpose of directly serving politics from the beginning, it is regarded as an inevitable ideological and theoretical struggle in the process of combining Marxism with China's revolutionary reality. At the same time, it is full of polemic style in writing, so this kind of research inevitably tends to be simple and biased. What is particularly serious is that this kind of research shows a strong rejection and negative attitude towards the research of other scholars in the 1930s and 1940s. For example, the study holds that "people who are close to people are rather lecturers of metaphysics because of the defense of metaphysics by scholars in the Qing Dynasty, and some say that they are' great liberation of spirit and great freedom of personality in the past few hundred years', which is better than the Renaissance thought in western history; Some people say that the beauty of Jin's personality has made him "an unprecedented spiritual liberation"; Some people say that Wei and Jin thought represents the naturalism of spiritual freedom; Some people say that metaphysics in Wei and Jin dynasties is a particularly exquisite knowledge of inner saints and outer kings; Some people say that it is the greatest ontology in the history of China's thought. These assertions are all prejudices. " [17] Because this kind of research holds a negative attitude towards almost all scholars who have a positive attitude towards the cultural and philosophical value of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, it is inevitable to directly deny metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties.

1947, zhdanov, a Soviet ideologist, put forward the definition of the object of study in the history of philosophy. He said: "The history of scientific philosophy is the history of the germination, occurrence and development of scientific materialist world outlook and its laws. Because materialism grew and developed in the struggle with idealism, the history of philosophy is materialism and idealism.