Keywords: Li Zhi; Wang Fuzhi; Huang Zongxi; Gu; Enlightenment thought
Portrait of Li Zhi
Li Zhi, a thinker in the Ming Dynasty, and Huang Zongxi, Gu and Wang Fuzhi, three great thinkers in the early Qing Dynasty, were important figures in the history of China's early enlightenment thought, and they all contributed wisdom to the development of enlightenment thought. However, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Li Zhi was mercilessly criticized by three great thinkers. Wang Fuzhi rebuked Li Zhi for being a "fool" regardless of his relatives and human feelings and resisting the people and foreigners. [1](P89 1) His book should be "strongly condemned". [2] (P636) Gu called Li a "villain" and thought that "since ancient times, no villain dared to betray a saint more than Li Zhi". [3](P668) Although Huang Zongxi didn't criticize Li Zhi as harshly as Wang and Gu, his case of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty didn't file a case for Li Zhi, and he always attached importance to "one-sided" and "opposing" in academic research. [4] (P65438) As an enlightenment thinker, why did Li Zhi? In this regard, we must seriously reflect. In fact, the differences between the three thinkers and Li Zhi are mainly concentrated in three aspects: the view of reason and desire, the view of Buddhism and Zen, and the different evaluation of historical figures. These differences are closely related to the changes of social history and the differences of academic origins. At the same time, behind this divergence, we can see some characteristics of China's early enlightenment thought.
one
The relationship between reason and desire is an important theoretical issue in the history of thought from Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, and it is also a concern of most enlightenment scholars. The three thinkers' criticism of Li Zhi is manifested in the differences in their views on reason and desire.
On the issue of reason and desire, Li Zhi fully affirmed "human desire" and simply did not admit the existence of so-called "natural justice" as opposed to "human desire". He believes that people's material desire to dress and eat is the "natural principle" of "human relations physics", and there is no other "natural principle". He said in "Book Burning" Volume 1 "Answer to Deng Shiyang's Book": "Dressing and eating is a human physics, and there is nothing but dressing and eating." In this case, we should not "destroy people's desires", on the contrary, we should fully satisfy people's desires, that is, as he said in Historical Records of Ming Dow, "each has his own desires". Li Zhi's so-called "human desire" is a kind of "selfish desire". He believes that "men's hearts are also selfish. A person must have a private life before his heart can see it. Selflessness is unintentional. " [5](P344) Farming, housekeeping, reading and being an official are all to satisfy personal desires. Ordinary people do, and so do saints. Seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, everyone is the same. "Seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and people are United." From this, Li Zhi further explained the relationship between righteousness and benefit, pointing out that "righteousness is benefit" and "the husband's desire for righteousness is also benefit". Without profit, it is impossible to be right. [5](P344) Li Zhi believes that benefits are in righteousness and benefits are in righteousness. The purpose of justice is because it is profitable, otherwise justice will be meaningless. Li Zhi regards egoism as an irresistible objective law and asks people to abide by it. He said in "Burning Books, Volume One, Answer to Geng Zhongcheng": "Cold can fold the glue, but not the people in the market, and heat is rich in gold, but not the son of contention. What is this? Rich and powerful, so I was born with thick facial features and natural potential. Therefore, the sage will follow, and it will be safe. " In a word, Li Zhi equates people's desires with righteousness, fully affirms people's desires, and advocates that selfish desires are public interests and desires are justified. This is opposite to the asceticism of Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism, which excludes selfish desires and "saints have no self".
The understanding of the three thinkers is obviously different from that of Li Zhi. Let's look at Wang Fuzhi first. First of all, Wang Fuzhi thinks that people's material desires and moral standards are the natural connotation of human nature, and the smell of lewdness is not contradictory to benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. "There is a taste of lust to enrich his life, and there is benevolence and wisdom to correct his morality." "Benevolence, courtesy and wisdom can't be destroyed by fools, but the taste of lewdness can't be abolished by wisdom, which can be described as sex." [2] (P 12 1) Human nature is the unity of reason and desire.
Statue of Wang Fu
Secondly, although Wang Fuzhi thinks that justice and human desire are both indispensable contents of human nature, he does not equate human desire with justice like Li Zhi, but thinks that they cannot be replaced by each other. Different people are different, and their peers are the same as various realities. [1](P837) Third, Wang Fuzhi opposes asceticism, but he also opposes abandoning lust and advocates controlling desire with reason. This is because "without reason, we will abuse it, and without desire, we will abolish it", [1](P255) If we don't control our desires with reason, our desires will become a disaster, while if we completely suppress our desires, our rationality will be abolished because of the lack of foundation for existence. "If you try your best to suppress your desires, the world will be different; If you only push what you want and don't care about it, people will be interested and embarrassed. [6](P640) Furthermore, Wang Fuzhi advocates "public desire" and opposes "selfish desire", and thinks that only "public desire" is justified. "The archduke of human desire is the supreme justice of nature. When selfish desires are exhausted and justice prevails, it will be fair. [2](P406) advocates preserving public interests and getting rid of selfish desires, which is very different from Li Zhi's "selfish desires". It is in these respects that Wang Fuzhi accused Li Zhi of "resisting heaven, justice, people and justice". [2](P648) Wang Fuzhi not only affirmed the rationality of people's desire and utilitarian pursuit in normal life, but also criticized the social pathology caused by the abolition of all moral norms. Divided into "public desire" and "selfish desire", it has positive significance in encouraging people to fight for "public interest" and lofty cause. It is not difficult to see that this division is consistent with Zhu's division of "material desire" and "selfish desire"
Gu also believes that selfishness is human nature. "People in the world have their own homes and sons, which is human nature. The heart of the people for the emperor is not as good as itself. " [7](P 14) "Personal privacy.
Ancient statue
Love is unavoidable. [3](P92) He also pointed out that the pursuit of self-interest is objective, and it is undeniable that "there is fairness and selflessness, and the kind words of this generation are not taught by the former king". [3] (P92) But the destination of Gu's exposition of reason and desire lies in "reason" and "fairness". In this regard, he mentioned the discussion at the institutional level and pointed out that the way of governance is to form "the meaning of the world" on the basis of fully satisfying personal desires. "It's also kingly that the private cooperation in the world becomes the public in the world." [3](P92) His political idea of "feudalism in counties" is to link county governance with the personal desires of county governors and county heads, and effectively promote the formation of social public interests through the recognition of private interests. Gu hopes that the rulers can become the public because of private interests. "Sages use it, use the self-interest of the world, and rule the world with the public." [7](P 14) Gu admitted that "lust" was reasonable, but he followed suit and was obviously influenced by his thoughts. He opposes abstinence, lust, and especially the expansion of lust. In Gu's view, the purpose of satisfying people's "lust" is to realize "public interest", and the foothold is in the latter. And Li Zhi's foothold is in the front. Because of this, Gu criticized Zhong Xing, Li Zhi and others, accusing them of "openly abandoning the famous religion and ignoring it", which is "destroying the world" in other people's words. [3](P668)
Huang Zongxi believes that self-interest is human nature. "At the beginning of life, everyone is selfish and everyone is beneficial." Later monarchs regarded the world as their own and usurped the private interests of the people, "so that everyone in the world did not dare to be selfish and self-interested, and my private interests were the greatest public in the world." [8](P2) and criticized the absolute monarchy from this level. But Huang Zongxi admits that the rationality of human desire is limited. He opposed the proliferation of human desires and defined "human desires" as "one person's private interests", and people wanted to stay and one person's private interests were also ". [9](P 153) Then, there can be no justice in the prevalence of selfish desires. Justice and human desire are completely opposite. "Justice is just the opposite of human desire. This profit is tight and that profit is tight, so it is scarce. As for being just without desire, it is pure justice. " [9](P 153) He also severely criticized his friend Chen Que's proposition that "if you want to seek justice from human desires, you will be restless for life, and if you don't have love, you will see justice and fear that people will change their minds." [9](P 153) Huang Zongxi hated selfish human desires so much, and made such a strict distinction between heaven and human desires. In addition to the traces of Neo-Confucianism, his thoughts are also related to his distinction between gentlemen and villains. He thinks that a gentleman has selfless desires and a villain has selfish desires, which shows his hatred for villains. Li Zhi advocated selfish desires, which naturally Huang Zongxi could not agree with.
In a word, Li Zhi admits that desire is rationality, human desire is justice, personal lust is public interest, and denies all social norms. Although the three thinkers all admit the rationality of human desire, they all pay attention to rational abstinence, and think that the development of human desire needs a degree, and it is not normal to go too far. They especially hate "selfish desires".
two
From the academic origin, Li Zhi is the third generation descendant of Wangmen School and Taizhou School, and the way to study is the study of mind. Many of Wang Xue's followers are Zen believers, and Li Zhi is one of them. He studied inside and outside Buddhism, and even became a monk in his later years, abandoning secular human feelings and moving towards extreme Zen. He thinks that the second volume of "Continued Burning Books, Three Religions Returning to Confucianism" is "Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are the same". Confucius, Laozi and Sakyamuni are called "three great saints" in the same book Liv Shilong. This is the last thing the three thinkers like.
The academic inheritance of the three great thinkers is different, but they are all the same. Zhang Zai, Wang Fuzhi's master, revised Zhu Cheng, opposed Lu Wang, and especially criticized Lu Wang's psychology as a kind of Zen. Li Zhi's crazy Zen made Wang Fu hate his guts. Wang Fuzhi believes that Laozi, Zhuangzi, Shen Han and Buddhism are the three major disasters in ancient and modern times. "Three major disasters in ancient and modern times, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Futu and Shen Han." [10] (p580) He denounced Buddhism as "heresy" and "beast", and the so-called six-industry cycle and retribution for good and evil in Buddhism were "wasting human nature and disturbing heaven". [1 1](P236) In his view, Wang Yangming's learning has a serious Zen tendency, "Yao Zhiyang's Confucianism is released in Yin, which is a heresy of pseudo-saints". [2] (P 10) was first passed to Wang Gen and Wang Ji, and then to Li Zhi. "Shameless, stealing the old Buddha's homeland will do more and more harm. The hearts of bad people and the denial of the world are inevitable. " [12] (p1246) Especially Li Zhi, "An old man who has learned the Tao is also a saint, especially one who has no virtue or discipline". [2] (page 26)
Gu objected and amended it. Criticize the empty style of study and call on people to do real learning. By comparing Confucius' theory with the theory of mind and nature, he revealed the Zen essence of Wang Lu's theory of mind and nature. In Huang Zhen's words, "Confucius didn't say that he devoted himself to the interior, but put his heart inside, which is the ear of modern Zen." [3](P653) agrees with Huang Zhen's rebuke of the theory of mind and nature: "In modern times, he likes to talk about heart and nature, giving up the whole chapter to talk about people's hearts, and even talking about the word' heart and heart', which is simply that the heart is the Tao and he is trapped in meditation without knowing it. Far from being taught by Yao, Shun and Yu. " [3](P654) Gu devoted his whole life to restoring the integrity of Confucianism and eliminating the "heresy" of post-Confucianism in primitive Confucianism, and Buddhism was excluded. He claimed that he was "not born to read Buddhist books", [7](P242) to show that he was not a Buddhist. He called Li a "villain". One of the important reasons is that Li Zhi inherited Xu Luwang's legacy, not only inclined to Zen, but also converted to Buddhism and indulged in Zen. Feng Qi, the etiquette minister in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty, said that Li Zhi "misled the world and slandered the people" and accused Li Zhi of "abandoning Confucius and Mencius and slandering them", but what South China and Zhu Xi said was religious and competitive. Take reality as emptiness, take emptiness as reality, take famous teachings as shackles, and take Ji Gang as warts. It is magical to speak loudly, and it is vast to clean up the rules and eliminate the sense of shame. Those who hold Buddhist scriptures with slightly similar words and minds rush into the sacred words, and those who hold empty and wordless bibles are better than Zen Buddhism. Tao is a refutation, text is not a chapter. The world has collapsed in the tide, and the classics are ignorant. [3](P66 1) This is something that Gu Shen agrees with.
The statue of Huang Zongxi
From the academic origin, both Huang Zongxi and Li Zhi are descendants, but Huang did not regard Li Zhi as a case study of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty. The reason is that Li Zhi deviated from the teacher's theory and went to crazy Zen, while Huang Zongxi tried to correct Wang Xue and tried his best to eliminate the Zen elements in Yangming's mind. The difference between the two is very obvious. In the early Qing Dynasty, due to the different academic inheritance, both Wang Fuzhi and Gu tended to classify Yao Jiang's Wang Xue as Zen, in an attempt to exclude Yangming's mind from Confucianism. However, in Huang Zongxi's view, Yangming's theory of mind is not Zen, but there is a phenomenon that the last stream of consciousness is mostly Zen. In the case of Confucianism in Ming Dynasty, he tried to expose Wang Xue's Zen tendency in his later period, and tried to distinguish Confucianism and explain the boundaries. He said: "Mr. Yang Ming's learning is popular all over the world in Taizhou and Longxi, and it is gradually lost because of Taizhou and Longxi. Taizhou and Longxi were always dissatisfied with their teacher's theory, and the teacher who returned from Gotama's secret became Zen. ..... After Taizhou, many of its people were able to beat dragons and snakes with their bare hands and spread them to Yan and He, which was beyond the reach of major famous religions. " [4](P703) As can be seen from the case of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zongxi's attitude is very obvious on the issue of "Zen" and "non-Zen". First, people are opposed to putting the disadvantages of queen learning on Yangming's head; Secondly, some people in Queen's Studies betrayed Yangming Studies, and the basic point shifted to the position of Buddhism and Zen, so they should try their best to make oral attacks. Third, some people are influenced by Zen, but the basic point is Confucianism. Huang Zongxi hated Buddhism very much and exposed the hypocrisy of Buddha lanterns, relics and hell in many places. He believes that the reincarnation theory of Buddhism obliterates the human ethics, cuts off the concept of filial piety, and "hurts justice." [8] (P158) The first heresy is to "cast a witch to drive out the Buddha". [8](P4 1) Li Zhi is a crazy Zen. In Huang Zongxi's view, his basic position has shifted to Zen and can no longer be regarded as Confucianism. It is no accident that Huang Zongxi is Li Zhi's good friend and Geng Theorem, as well as Li Zhi's teachers and friends Geng Orientation, Wang Ji, Luo Rufang and Pan Shizao. , to promote their ideas, but only left out Li Zhi. Huang Zongxi once analyzed the ideological differences between Geng Dingxiang and Li Zhi, from which we can see some reasons why Huang did not set up a study case for Li Zhi. He said: "Mr. (referring to Geng's orientation) advocates crazy Zen, and scholars don't want to follow suit, so they often focus on the field and try their best to save the world, but they drag their feet, doubt Buddhism, and finally can't subdue Zhuo Wu." [4](P8 15) Li Zhi was a crazy Zen monk. He was naturally excluded from the case of Confucianism in Ming Dynasty, which summarized the development of Neo-Confucianism in Ming Dynasty. Geng instructed everyone to be influenced by Zen Buddhism, "believing in Buddhism but not Buddhism", and his basic position was not divorced from Confucianism, so he was qualified to file a case.
three
The third reason why three thinkers criticized Li Zhi in the early Qing Dynasty was that they had different opinions on historical figures. When evaluating historical figures, Li Zhi didn't take the right and wrong of Confucius as right and wrong, but dared to break through the stereotypes and re-recognize some criticized historical figures. For example, in the collection of books, he rehabilitated Shang Yang, calling Qin Shihuang the first emperor, Zhuo Wenjun choosing a good wife and Wu Zetian the queen. In particular, Feng Dao, who worked all his life for the four emperors and was a lawyer of Qidan in the Five Dynasties, praised him as a "hermit", who could put the survival of the people above the monarch and his own honor and disgrace, and at the same time saved the people from the pain of whitewashing. These views on him, especially on Feng Dao, are absolutely unacceptable to the three great thinkers in the early Qing Dynasty.
The three great thinkers in the early Qing Dynasty were in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and suffered the pain of national subjugation. They are full of national consciousness, and in order to maintain "integrity", they vowed not to be an official in the Qing Dynasty. The special historical period makes their perspective on historical figures completely different from that of Li Zhi.
Wang Fuzhi revered national heroes all his life, taking loyal ministers such as Liu Kun, Yue Fei and Wen Tianxiang as models, and despised and spurned those scum who betrayed their official surnames, especially Feng Dao in the Five Dynasties. "Feng guide as prime minister, like a woman who lost her virginity. After 20 years, she is suitable for 5 people and everyone is cheap. " [6] (P1147) Li Zhi should pay more praise to such a person who has missed the festival, which Wang Fuzhi can't tolerate. He said: "Since ancient times, little people have been addicted to favors and have no sympathy for their loved ones. They have just done everything, dare not openly flaunt what they have done, and their conscience is solid. Since Longxi secretly explained Zhongfeng's theory, he treated wisdom with greed and ignorance, confused the world and slandered the people. Li Zhi benefited from his evil flame, rewarded Qiao Zhou and Feng Dao, and vilified Fang Zhengzhi scholars. Those who are particularly evil in the current situation rely on this plan to settle down. If you are crazy, you are telling the world without shame. " [2](P648) He thought that Li Zhi rewarded Feng Dao because Feng Dao was "fantastic", "praising what he didn't want to praise" and "belittling what he didn't deserve", which not only didn't play a role in promoting gentlemen and restraining evil spirits, but also misled people, which was tantamount to a scourge. He said, "If Li Zhi is modern," people are full of plans, customs are full of obscenity, righteousness is full of praise, and shame is full of shame. ".[ 10](p 1 1 1 1)
Huang Zongxi studied history to praise loyal people, especially those who died in battle and those who failed to serve the government. In his view, loyalty is "the vitality of heaven and earth." In peacetime, "Tao is Tao, making meritorious deeds" for the people; In the period of great historical change, showing loyalty or integrity is a kind of spirit. [9](P505) Li Zhi admired Feng Dao, and what he admired was incompatible with Huang Zongxi. Gu, like Huang and Wang, insisted on national integrity, insisted on the surrender of the Qing court, and lived a life of adherents who did not cooperate with the Qing court. He also regarded Li Zhi's praise of Feng Dao as a great sin. Gu quoted zhangwenda's impeachment of Li Zhi from Li Ke during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, saying that Li Zhi's "taking Feng Dao as an official" was "furious". [3](P667) In the early Qing Dynasty, Gu was an important figure who advocated the integrity of scholars. His scholarship is based on "being knowledgeable in literature and being ashamed of himself", and he pays special attention to the scholar's virtue and shame. In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu despised Feng Dao in the Biography of the New Five Dynasties History in Feng Dao, because he could not keep his integrity regardless of courtesy, righteousness and shame. He commented: "Courtesy and righteousness are the road to governing people; Shame is a great festival for people. Cheap, don't cover, take everything, don't feel ashamed, do everything. If people do this, they will be ruined and ruined. If you are a minister, you can take everything and do everything. Isn't that a world without chaos and an immortal country? " Gu appreciated this very much, and recorded this passage in the History of Japanese Knowledge, and further pointed out that "the shamelessness of scholar-officials is a national shame". [3](P482) Feng Dao's four surnames and ten gentlemen are the most shameless and despised by Gu. Li Zhi praised Feng Dao and belittled Feng Dao. There is a clear difference between one praise and one insult.
four
From the above three aspects, the three thinkers' criticism of Li Zhi is mainly based on ideological differences. This ideological difference is closely related to the academic origin and the changes of the times. Li Zhi lived in the late Ming Dynasty, and the social environment he faced was very different from that of the three great thinkers. Li Zhi gave full play to the viewpoint of Taizhou School that "common people should be the way of daily use", and emphasized human desires to the extreme, especially affirmed personal selfish desires. He believes that all people are running for desires and interests, and unilaterally emphasize desires and private to the exclusion of reason and public. He believes that "the world is at the intersection of the market and the road", and social interpersonal relationships are nothing more than that. This is obviously out of place when Confucian festivals and national spirit are particularly needed in Ming and Qing Dynasties. None of the three thinkers opposed human selfishness, but they all opposed the expansion of selfish desires, hoping to restrain people's material desires with the "righteousness" of benevolence, righteousness and shame. For example, Gu believes that scholars should not be confused with the general public, and should not seek personal gain like businessmen. Instead, they should, like the heroes after the change of Jingkang in the Northern Song Dynasty, "focus on benevolence and righteousness, sacrifice their lives for righteousness, and the wind and rain are gloomy, and chickens crow endlessly", "honor is supreme, honesty is supreme" and "face difficulties" [these are exactly what Li ignored. Similarly, Li Zhi's comments on historical figures are often thought-provoking, and his comments on Feng Dao are also quite intriguing. However, due to the ethnic contradictions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it is an era that needs integrity for intellectuals who deeply understand the great meaning of Spring and Autumn Annals. Feng Dao, as a "second minister" in history, is naturally to be blamed. Li Zhi's admiration for Feng Dao will naturally be criticized by three thinkers who witnessed the fall of officials in the late Ming Dynasty.
In the early Qing Dynasty, in view of the historical lessons of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the three great thinkers began to promote the original academic spirit by reflecting on political gains and losses, and made academic criticism with historical criticism. They are deeply aware of their death, and the last stream of Neo-Confucianism is better than the rule of Tao, which is beyond reproach. So I began to analyze the academic mistakes of Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism and Wang Lu Neo-Confucianism, which have dominated since the Song and Ming Dynasties, and especially criticized the phenomenon that Neo-Confucianism was spread from man to Zen. They deeply felt that Lu Wang's theory of mind changed from Confucianism to Buddhism, and his words were sincere, and his learning style was empty, which deepened the crisis of Confucianism. Eliminating Buddhism and restoring the true colors of Confucian classics is a major event related to the life and death of Confucianism. Li Zhi's "obsession with interpretation" corrupted the style of study, which was naturally unacceptable to the three thinkers who reflected on psychological mistakes.
Therefore, we have to reflect on some problems in China's early enlightenment thought.
First of all, China's early enlightenment thought has the characteristics of stages with the changes of the times, and the inheritance and development of enlightenment thought lacks a conscious continuity. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, China's social commodity economy flourished, capitalism sprouted obviously, and some new production relations appeared. The concept of "industry and commerce are the foundation" prevails, the life of citizens is gradually extravagant and corrupt, excessive etiquette and system often occur, and landlords who abandon agriculture and business and literati who abandon Confucianism and business appear in large numbers. In this case, Li Zhi began to re-evaluate the traditional values, affirmed the rationality of people's pursuit of material enjoyment, advocated "selfish desires", respected Buddhism and Zen, and made a new evaluation of history. In short, the traditional view of right and wrong has been reversed, showing a new trend of thought. By the time of Ming and Qing Dynasties, the seeds of capitalism in China were destroyed by the replacement of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the drastic changes in history highlighted the idea of anti-national oppression in Xia Dynasty. At this time, although the demand for wealth from the rising citizen class since the middle of the Ming Dynasty is endless, the actual situation of dynasty change is more important. Thinkers have to face dual value choices. As a result, people began to reflect on the mistakes of the ideological circles in the late Ming Dynasty. From the standpoint of summing up the lessons of the Ming Dynasty, the three great thinkers accused Li Zhi of advocating "selfish desires" and instead emphasized "Dagong" and even "justice". Oppose Buddhism and Zen and alcoholize Confucianism; Hold high the integrity and denounce the "two ministers". This change is a new topic put forward by the drastic changes of the times. This shows that China's early enlightenment thought is greatly restricted by the external environment, with poor maturity and stability, and lacks a conscious and consistent ideological inheritance and rational identity. At least between the three great thinkers and Li Zhi. Almost all the categories, concepts and values used by Li Zhi have been denied and criticized by the three thinkers. Facing the reality, the three great thinkers put forward different value thoughts from Li Zhi. Their enlightenment is rooted in the ideological development of traditional academic theory, and it is easy to be covered up under the traditional academic spirit without careful analysis.
Secondly, some scholars believe that if Li Zhi is regarded as an early enlightenment scholar and a progressive thinker, then the three thinkers who denounced Li Zhi cannot be regarded as enlightenment scholars, and their thoughts are reactionary and retrogressive. In fact, this simplifies the problem. Just because the latecomers criticized the predecessors does not mean that the latecomers' thoughts have no enlightenment significance. Times have changed, and so have the manifestations of the Enlightenment. Li Zhi's thought is radical. He sharply criticized the hypocrisy and corruption of society and tried his best to destroy and break the absolute and idolized orthodoxy. The revelation is self-evident. However, because this kind of "heresy" thought does not estimate the power of orthodox thought, it is too advanced and does not have too much social foundation, so it can not arouse the psychology of any class or stratum in society, but only shows the individual's struggle against society. The difference between the three great thinkers and Li Zhi lies not in whether people are willing or not, but in their grasp of the degree of human desire. Li Zhi advocated laissez-faire, and the three thinkers even emphasized the need to preset a boundary of order, affirm the rationality of desire and not expand selfish desires. The three thinkers also criticized the autocratic system mercilessly, not only opposing feudal rules and prohibitions, but also considering people's ideological characteristics under special historical conditions during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so they advocated both public interests and the perfection of moral personality. The criticism of the existing social system and the expectation and exploration of the future society are organically linked, which embodies the maturity of an enlightenment thought. Because their thoughts can better grasp the pulse of the times in essence and have a broader social foundation, it is easier to arouse the emotions of the literati class. It can be said that the thoughts of Li Zhi and the three great thinkers are of historical significance.
Thirdly, if we go deeper, we will see that although the three thinkers severely criticized Li Zhi, their thoughts still coincide with Li Zhi's, or their thoughts sublate the reasonable factors in Li Zhi's theory. Although this coincidence is not a conscious inheritance, it still shows us the coincidence when enlightenment thinkers think about problems. For example, in the view of reason and desire, on the surface, the "public desire" advocated by the three great thinkers is opposite to Li Zhi's "selfish desire". In fact, public desire is also an affirmation of human desire, which is based on the affirmation of everyone's selfishness. Without the affirmation of selfish desire, public desire will lose the basis of argument. For another example, when the three thinkers criticized feudal autocracy, they all made their arguments on the basis of affirming the selfish theory of human nature, which coincides with Li Zhi's "everyone is selfish". Taking this as a logical starting point, Huang Zongxi exposed the sin that feudal monarchs deprived people of their private rights in order to satisfy their own selfish desires, and put forward that "without monarchs, everyone has to be selfish, and everyone has to be selfish". [8](P3) From the perspective of satisfying people's selfish humanity, it is necessary to abolish and change the autocratic monarchy system. Gu put forward that "the private interests of world cooperation are the public interests of the world" is also based on the recognition of personal interests. Li Zhi put forward the theory that "everyone is selfish", and expressed his affirmation of personal self-interest, personal existence and its value through the dense network of patriarchal clan system. Three thinkers tried to criticize feudal absolutism from the selfish theory of human nature and expressed their yearning for an ideal society based on maintaining selfishness. This logical consistency is obvious.
References:
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[2] Wang Fuzhi. Chuanshan Quanshu (12) [M]. Changsha: Yuelu Bookstore, 1992.
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[5] Li Zhi. Book collection [M] Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1959.
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[7] Gu. Poems of Gu [M]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1983.
[8] Huang Zongxi. Complete Works of Huang Zongxi (Volume I) [M]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985.
[9] Huang Zongxi. Complete works of Huang Zongxi (Volume 10) [M]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 1993.
[10] Wang Fuzhi. Read the theory of tongjian [M]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1975.
[1 1] Wang Fuzhi. Chuanshan Quanshu (V) [M]. Yuelu Bookstore, 1993.
[12] Wang Fuzhi. Chuanshan Quanshu (IV) [M]. Yuelu Bookstore, 199 1.
Published in Journal of Henan Normal University, No.6, 2002