The first is the revival of Confucianism. Because China has been under the attack of western economic and cultural forces for nearly a hundred years, traditional ideology and culture, especially Confucian culture, have suffered a devastating blow. Especially after the May 4th New Culture Movement, Confucianism has become synonymous with conservatism, backwardness, feudalism and ignorance in the minds of most people in society. The status of Confucian classics has plummeted, and Confucianism has been ignored. Under the slogan of "Down with Kongjiadian", not only Confucianism was completely denied, but even thousands of years of cultural traditions were said to be useless. There is even an extreme remark that "China's books should not be read, and the thread-bound books should be thrown in the toilet". Faced with the challenge of western culture and the loss of Confucianism, Mr. Du Weiming, a doctor of history and a professor of philosophy at Harvard University in the United States, admitted that he was a contemporary neo-Confucian, infatuated with Confucian sages, and made a prediction of "the third revival of Confucian culture".

Du Weiming believes that in the 70 years after the May 4th Movement, besides westernization and Marxism-Leninism, there was also the revival of Confucianism. In The Meaning of New Trends of Confucianism in Mainland China, he pointed out that Confucianism, Westernization and Marxism-Leninism should be "regarded as three opposing value systems" (see China Forum No.3 1 9, No.3 1989 and No.31period). He also advocated that China's future hope lies in the benign interaction of Marxism-Leninism, Westernization and Confucian humanistic thought, and hoped that Confucianism and Marxism would have a deep dialogue and find a combination point in it.

The so-called third period of Confucianism is the third period of modern neo-Confucianism, with Confucianism in the pre-Qin and Western Han Dynasties as the first period, Confucianism in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties as the second period, and modern Liang Shuming, Xiong Shili, Feng Youlan and He Lin. Absorb, integrate and draw lessons from western learning, seek the realistic outlet of China culture and China society, and inherit and innovate traditional Confucianism. Du Weiming believes that if the second development of Confucianism is aimed at the challenge of Indian culture, or Buddhist culture, as a creative response, that is, to digest Indian culture and put forward a set of thinking modes unique to the East, whose influence goes beyond the scope of China and becomes the dominant thought of philosophy, ethics, politics and pedagogy in East Asia (including Japan, Korea, Vietnam), then the third development of Confucianism will be aimed at western culture. In "Looking at the New Trends of Confucian Studies from Several Aspects of World Ideological Trends", he argued: "Confucianism has many battlefields and many goals in the late 20th century, and I think it must face the challenges of American culture, European culture, East Asian culture (and industrial East Asia)." ("Cultural Crisis and Prospect", page 429) and said: "Confucianism should inspire them, because Confucianism is humanistic, it is a member of the WTO, it strives to change the world, and its understanding of people is complete, neither excluding the divinity of people, nor the relationship between people and nature, let alone the relationship between people." (ibid., page 430) It can be seen that Du Weiming put the development of the third period of Confucianism in an important position in the world cultural framework, which is the embodiment of his enlightened thinking and creative consciousness.

However, what is the development prospect of the third period of Confucianism? Can you fight back the challenge of western culture? Can the "revival of Confucianism" be realized? Liu Jiaoshou, 1964, received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in the United States, stayed there to teach and obtained permanent residency, and was also the backbone of the third generation of neo-Confucianism. He believes that the crux of the problem lies in whether the third generation of new Confucianism (contemporary) can show vitality, which depends on whether it can inherit the traditional spirit and transform the traditional content to meet the challenges of the West. In "On the Interaction between Confucianism and China Reality", he expounded that the neo-Confucianism must do two things: "On the one hand, reinterpret Confucianism and spirit to give it modern significance, on the other hand, strive to expand itself and absorb some more reasonable modern ways to deconstruct and reorganize the tradition." (Wang pian, Collected Works of Contemporary Neo-Confucianism, page 14- 15, Taiwan Province Jinwen Publishing House, May edition, 199 1) This view that traditional Confucianism needs new exploration and interpretation is reasonable.

New Confucianists abroad have made diversified interpretations of Confucianism and made new discoveries. For example, Du Weiming made a strict distinction between Confucian tradition and Confucian China in Confucian Tradition and Modernization, and proposed that Confucian tradition is an idealized Confucianism. Confucian China is a politicized Confucian. The idealization of Confucianism is not the politicization of Confucianism; The modernization of China is not the westernization of China. He pointed out that it was a common problem for many intellectuals during the May 4th Movement to confuse modernization with westernization. In the prospect of the third development of Confucianism, he revealed: "The potential to hinder China's strong progress is related to the inertia of Confucianism and China. The conservative thought of natural economy is an organic part of Confucian China's attaching importance to agriculture and neglecting commerce. The closed psychology of family society is the theoretical basis of Confucian China's emphasis on ceremony and light punishment. The bureaucratization of authoritative politics is the inevitable result of Confucian China's emphasis on the people and contempt for the law. " (page 122) This is the drawback of politicized Confucianism. Du Weiming advocates idealized Confucianism, which must thoroughly criticize feudal thought or feudal legacy. He said, "Since 1978, I have often discussed the issues about Confucianism and China tradition, and overemphasized the value of traditional China, especially some health-preserving factors of Confucian tradition ..." Because "most of the challenges I face are western academic culture. ..... If I live in another environment, and this feudal thought has played a negative role in our society for a long time, then my attention will definitely turn to the criticism of feudal thought, and I will not even overemphasize the importance of traditional culture and Confucian culture. " This involves the relationship between criticism and inheritance of Confucianism. Du Weiming believes that "if this feudal thought is the accumulation of the cultural and psychological structure of the Chinese nation, since it has entered our blood and bone marrow and has chemical and negative effects, then it is impossible to abandon it like abandoning the burden." What shall we do? Professor Du proposed a solution that two channels go hand in hand. First, introduce the values represented by western capitalist society, such as individualism and competition; One is to draw flowing water from tradition itself, otherwise there will be no basis for self-control and no real sense of identity. He said: "The direction of self-control must come from one's own cultural tradition and reality, and this kind of self-control is also the recognition of building a new culture." (For the above quotation, see Comparative Study of Chinese and Foreign Cultures, p.15-165438, Life, Reading and Knowledge Joint Publishing Company, 1988). In a word, we should inherit the tradition critically and the fine tradition of Confucianism. We should not only introduce and absorb some sources of value in western culture, but also sublate and criticize its superficial phenomena. Only in this way can we develop and innovate the idealized Confucianism. This is the Confucianism that Du Weiming wants to "revive". In Du Fu's words, it is "to dig wells and springs repeatedly, so that the source of Confucian tradition flows to the conscious level", and "only through the critical consciousness of intellectuals can Confucianism further innovate and develop" (Li Yi's China Socialism and Modern Neo-Confucianism, p. 354, Liaoning University Press, 1994 edition).

Secondly, it is a new interpretation and exploration of Confucianism. From the perspective of hermeneutics, foreign neo-Confucianism creatively transformed the important thoughts of traditional Confucianism with modern thoughts and languages. For example, their "benevolence", the core idea of Confucius' Confucianism, has given modern value and significance.

Wing tsit Chan, a new Confucian (Chinese-American), reinterpreted Confucius' benevolence in The Development of the Concept of Confucian Benevolence (No.4, Philosophy of the East and the West, 1955), pointing out that before Confucius, the concept of benevolence used by people was benevolence in the special sense that rulers were kind to the people, while Confucius was "benevolent with one heart and no evil" This is equivalent to God in Christianity, the source of all truth, goodness and beauty, and the concrete embodiment of all truth, goodness and beauty. However, Confucius never defined "benevolence", which is the "profundity" of Confucius' thought (see China Philosophical Journal, No.2, 1975, "China and Westerners' Interpretation of Benevolence"). Because in Chen Yongji's view, Confucius did not fix the meaning of benevolence, which created conditions for future generations to develop benevolence. For example, Mencius, more than a hundred years after Confucius, said that "benevolence is human" ("Mencius devoted himself to it") and "benevolence is human" ("Mencius devoted himself to it"), explaining benevolence as human. Dong Zhongshu, a Confucian scholar in Han Dynasty, put forward that "benevolence" means "being a man", that is, "for him". Dong Zhongshu said: "The benevolent cares about others." Do not dispute, like and hate, be frugal, have no intention to harm evil, have no ambition to hide jealousy, have no desire to feel worried, have no dangerous and vicious things, and have no illegal trip. Therefore, his mind is comfortable, his mind is calm, his spirit is harmonious, his desire is frugal, his business is easy, and his way of doing things can be simple and reasonable without controversy. Such a person is called Ren. This inherits and develops Confucius' thought of "cultivating oneself" and "loving others" as "not competing with others", and preaches that people should not have "the heart of hurting evil", "the ambition of hiding jealousy" and "the desire of feeling sad". Chen Yongji interprets it as "being a man" and "for him", and further thinks that Zhu, a Southern Song Dynasty philosopher, is "the highest, most accurate and profound generalization of all benevolence since Confucius" (American Modern Neo-Confucianism, 1 14, Liaoning University Press, 1994). Because in the view of Zhu, a neo-Neo-Confucianist, "Reason means benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom" (volume 3 of literature), "The universe is self-harmonious, and heaven is heaven, and earth is earth, and those born between heaven and earth have their own characteristics" (volume 70 of Zhu Wen Official Papers). In other words, reason is the only existence, the creator of all things in the world, and "benevolence" is also the creation of reason. "Benevolence is creation, endless. It embodies the most fundamental and universal law of the universe, that is, the law of creation ... which has eternal value and significance in the history of human thought (Shi Zhonglian's Modern American Neo-Confucianism, page 1 14, Liaoning University Press, 1994).

Du Weiming, an imported contemporary neo-Confucian, also pointed out that the basic spirit of Confucianism is people-oriented, that is, "what it says about being a man can be applied to all mankind." Its value orientation lies in how to make people deeply reflect on body, mind, spirit and spirit, and in promoting the endless development of personality "(Modern transformation of Confucian tradition, page 5, China Radio and Television Press, 199 1 version). Liu Ye, the host of the Hong Kong International Symposium, said: "The social network to which Confucius attached is obviously outdated: there is no monarch to be loyal to today, and the relationship between monarch and minister is far from natural. But does the feeling of "benevolence" in people's hearts no longer apply to modern people? Don't! It can be seen that there are elements that keep pace with the times and eternal elements in Confucius' thought. " (ibid., page 5 17-5 18)

The author believes that this view is not unreasonable. This is to play the role of benevolence in the modernization of Confucian traditional culture from the "difference in reason" of change and invariability. As the highest realm of individual personality, benevolence in traditional culture is the sum of many moral items, including self-denial, kindness, filial piety, loyalty and forgiveness, respect, courage, tolerance, trust, sensitivity and benefit, and should be "benevolence for oneself" As for how to treat people and things, Confucius' principle is "If you want to establish yourself, you can achieve it" and "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" (The Analects of Confucius, Yongye). "Benevolent people can be good and evil" ("The Analects of Confucius"), that is, love and hate are clear, and people are treated correctly.

Many foreign neo-Confucianists believe that the class content of "benevolence" has changed, but the spirit of "self-cultivation", "being a man" and "for him" is eternal and has its value in the past, present and future. This is a valuable insight. For example, in today's market economy, we should not only talk about economic benefits, but also talk about the righteousness and morality of benefits.

When we say that time is money and interest is life, we should implement the Confucian way of pushing ourselves and others, that is, my time is money and others' time is money; My interests are life, and the interests of others are life. We can't sacrifice others' time and interests to gain our own time and interests, which is in line with the spirit of paying equal attention to Confucian traditional culture, morality and career.

Chen Yongji also organically linked Zhu's Confucian outlook on life with Taoism's "the weak live and the strong die" (Chapter 76 of Laozi). In Zhu's Comments on Laozi and Its Relationship with the Concept of Life, he said: "The book of Benevolence (Zhu's) has never quoted Laozi, but the language (Zhu's)" covers that benevolence can be born and its softness is also. Confucianism has never said this. " (See Journal of Tsinghua, Taiwan Province Province,No.1,No.2, 1975, 65438+February). This confirms Zhu's deserved reputation for Laozi, and connects Zhu's philosophy with Taoist thought, which has the method of compromising the two branches of China culture.

Du Weiming also made a new exposition and a deeper exploration of the Confucian way of being a man. Traditional Confucianism especially emphasizes that the purpose of reading and studying is to learn to be a man, that is, to learn to be a saint, so as to achieve the purpose of self-cultivation, governing the country and leveling the world. Du Weiming believes that learning to be a man is the core value of East Asian tradition, and its fundamental significance lies in answering the ultimate concerns of mankind in a unique way in the East, such as: What is the truest and highest existence in the world? What is the purpose and meaning of life and life? How can we achieve a true and innocent life? How to recognize and treat the problems of life and death? How to deal with your relationship with others and society? Many western scholars believe that Confucius and Confucianism are not interested in death and ghosts and gods, but only care about the survival of secular people, which is not as good as the ultimate and comprehensive concern of western religions for people, so Confucianism is narrow and limited. Du Weiming refuted this view and pointed out: "In the Confucian tradition, learning to be a perfect person is not only the primary concern, but also the ultimate concern and comprehensive concern." (See the Chinese version of New Confucianism, p. 49) Du Weiming believes that the perfect person is the all-round realization of human nature, and it is to pin hopes on people themselves and seek the ultimate meaning of life in daily life. However, learning for oneself is not extreme individualism, but self-realization, that is, the display of human nature in the real world, opening up one's inner endless spiritual strength, discovering one's inner value and becoming a real person. Du Weiming also pointed out that introspection is a spiritual cultivation method advocated by Confucianism and a way to grow up, which still plays a positive role in the development of human spirit in modern society. This makes a deeper exploration of Confucius's "Ancient scholars are for themselves, and today's scholars are human beings" (The Analects of Confucius' Constitutional Questions), so that Confucius' "ambition in Tao", "reliance on virtue" and Mencius' "benevolence and righteousness" serve the humanity cultivation of modern people.

Zheng Zhongying, Ph.D., Harvard University, Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawaii, one of the representatives of overseas contemporary Neo-Confucianism. He founded "ontological hermeneutics", which internationalized China's philosophy and made China a world philosophy.

Ontology hermeneutics is a theory to explore the relationship between ontology and method, and it is a philosophical theory combining ontology and method. In Zhong Yingcheng's view, ontology refers to the truth of the world and seems to refer to reality; Interpretation "is a process of arousing ontological consciousness and then becoming rational perception" (Modernization and Globalization of China Culture, p. 1 17). In other words, as a real person's ontological consciousness, the process of understanding (or comprehending) the knowledge (that is, explanation) you have acquired. This understanding is a question of meaning, evaluation and value judgment, and it is an open and rational process.

Zheng Zhongying also thinks that China's rationality is different from that of the West. "China people are based on holistic ontological thinking, and rationality tends to be concrete. Westerners tend to be abstract. For example, in China's abstract rational philosophy, "philosophy itself is not regarded as a deductive rational activity, but a comprehensive moral achievement that influences and guides human activities" (ibid., p. 98). Western philosophy attaches great importance to methods, and the replacement of methods is a driving force for the development of western philosophy. For example, ancient Greek philosophers regarded methods as objects and produced logic; Christian theology is also the product of method consciousness, which uses enlightenment to reflect on the ultimate reason and the source of human existence. Modern Descartes laid the foundation of western theoretical philosophy by means of doubt. In a word, western philosophy is constantly looking for new methods, constantly reflecting on rationality, and thus constantly producing new philosophy. China's traditional theory of body and function is mainly an ontology. China's philosophy advocates one source of body use and two ways of body use, holding that use is body use and body is body use. Zheng Zhongying said that the main goal of my ontological hermeneutics is to affirm that "ontology is unitary, methods are pluralistic, and diversified methods should be realized in the process of ontology." How to understand the diversity of methods and ontology itself in the process of ontology realizing the ultimate overall consciousness "(ibid., pp. 280-28 1). In this way, his "ontological hermeneutics" is both his philosophical ontology and his philosophical methodology. " It is the methodology of understanding methods and the ontology of mastering ontology "(ibid., p. 259). In 1970s, European and American academic circles once again put forward cultural pluralism. Zheng Zhongying also emphasized that the methodology of China's philosophy as a method to understand the world should be pluralistic, but stressed that the ontology of reality is unitary. Therefore, his "ontological hermeneutics" is not only a philosophical theory combining ontology and method, but also an innovation combining Chinese and western philosophy.

Because in western philosophy, from Plato to the present, the model of recognized knowledge should be as rigorous as mathematics; Taking the mathematical model and the internal integrity of reason as the ultimate standards of knowledge, namely accuracy and structural integrity. However, practical experience itself is not mathematics, nor is it a standardized concept like rationality. So abstract rationalism in the west can't grasp the real experience. Zheng Zhongying reflected on this rationalism and advocated interpretation and "deconstruction", that is, the opening of rationality. In addition, Zheng Zhongying also found an important tool to explain western philosophical problems from China's philosophy, which is Yi's enlightenment thought. Zheng Zhongying said in the article "The Development Trend of Modern Western Philosophy": "China's philosophy emphasizes integrity, variability and internal transformation. Representing this trend is the philosophy of the Book of Changes. The Book of Changes itself contains inner rationality and inner ontological consciousness. It affirms the unchangeable and unchangeable changes, and it affirms a universal use and unified whole. ...... As far as body and use are concerned, as far as method and ontology are concerned, I am afraid that no philosophy has the flexibility and vitality like the Book of Changes. " (ibid., p. 283) and said: "All the reasons are the conflict between ontology and method. In the west, no philosophy has been found to solve this conflict, and the philosophy of the Book of Changes has played an important role in it. " (ibid., p. 284) It can also be said that China's philosophy is ontological, while western philosophy is methodological. Because Zheng Zhongying believes that "the West has long regarded rationality as an inherently autonomous activity, so rationality involves a dialectical process, and its own development is not greatly affected by historical development. Its development represents the continuous breakthrough of rationality, that is, the continuous breakthrough of method consciousness. ..... On the contrary, the method in China's philosophy is hidden in the ontological consciousness, and the method is considered independently without being separated from the ontological consciousness. ..... So China people's method is often to solve practical problems, influenced by realistic conditions "(see" Comparative Study of Chinese and Foreign Cultures "on page 15 1). Therefore, Zheng Zhongying believes that "China people are ontological, while westerners are analytical. ..... China people attach importance to the overall harmony, while westerners attach importance to the analysis of differences. ..... China people emphasize that from many to one, the concept of unity is very strong. " On the contrary, Westerners emphasize "from one-to-many analysis". To understand a thing, we must first understand its structure and depth "(ibid., p. 152). At the same time, "China's pragmatism is the pragmatism of personality cultivation. ..... Western pragmatism is utilitarian ... which is completely different from the pragmatism advocated by Confucianism that pays attention to the cultivation of process, realm and mental state "(ibid., p. 153- 154). The primary significance of "ontological hermeneutics" put forward by Zheng Zhongying on the basis of comparing the cultural differences between China and the West lies in the hope that the subject and object can explain and combine with each other; Emphasizing mutual explanation and attaching importance to people played an open and rational role, communicated Chinese and western philosophy and rebuilt "New Confucianism".

Fu Weixun (China native), a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA and an overseas contemporary neo-Confucian, also put forward "the hermeneutics of creation", that is, "the China theory of the interaction between Chinese and Western cultures". In his article Criticizing the Development of Inheritance and Creation, he thinks that "the biggest key of China's cultural reconstruction project lies in whether we can and are willing to cultivate a pluralistic and open cultural mind and absorb a large number of excellent western cultures into our cultural traditions" (Taiwan Province Dongda Bookstore, 1986, pp. 58-59). He analyzed the development history of China culture and thought that "China's traditional sense of superiority" often "constitutes a major factor in our rejection of foreign cultures" (ibid., p. 55). At the same time, he pointed out in the American winter issue of Intellectuals 1987: "As long as it contributes to the inheritance and creative development of China's traditional ideological and cultural criticism, western learning and western tide can be absorbed without being used separately and integrated with middle schools." (See Three Weeks after Lecturing in the Mainland) His "Creative Hermeneutics" has a targeted critical effect on the liberal cultural orientation of "total westernization" and "Chinese style and western use".