Mr. Chen Yongzhe has been teaching China's philosophy in the United States for more than 50 years, and his academic activities have different emphases in different periods. In the forties and fifties of last century, because the study of China in the United States was still in its infancy, Chen Yongji's works mainly focused on the general exposition of China's philosophy, art and religion, and he was once praised by European and American academic circles as "the most complete China scholar who introduced oriental philosophy and culture to the West".
In the last 20 years of Mr. Chen Yongjie's life, all his academic concerns were almost focused on Zhu's research and the promotion of Zhu's research career. From 65438 to 0982, the "International Zhu Conference" organized, prepared and hosted by Chen Yongjie was held in Honolulu, Hawaii, which brought together famous Zhu research experts from the East and the West. The successful convening of this congress not only greatly promoted the study of Zhu, but also further enhanced Chen Yongjie's reputation in international academic circles. After 1982, most of Zhu's research works published in Yongji Zen are in Chinese, including Zhu Zi Scholars, Zhu Zhu Research Essays, Zhu Zi's New Exploration, and Notes on Recent Thoughts. In addition, Chen Yongjie's essays on Neo-Confucianism and the Concept and History of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties published by Shirley Institute in China are also essays mainly related to Zhu.
In the book China published by H.F.MacNair in Berkeley in 1946, a chapter was written by Chen Yongji, which was the beginning of the post-war narrative neo-Confucianism and Zhuzi thought in the west. From 65438 to 0957, he published two articles, Neo-Confucianism Eliminating Evil and China's Thought on Science and Technology. The English version of The Source of China Tradition, edited by Chen Yongzhe and Chen Yongzhe, was published in 1960, including seven chapters of Neo-Confucianism, one of which was written by Mr. Chen Yongzhe. 1963, Chen Yongji's China Philosophical Information Book was published, in which the Neo-Confucianism section has 13 chapter and Zhu Zizhan has one chapter. At that time, there were no scholars studying Neo-Confucianism and Zhu in western academic circles. Mr. Chen Yongji was a pioneer in the study of Zhu in Europe and America after the war.
From the age of 60 to 80, Mr. Chen Yongzhe devoted himself more and more to the study of Zhuzi. The achievements of this period are reflected in two Chinese works published by 1982: One is Zhuzi Scholars, which makes a detailed textual research on the number composition, geographical relationship, social background and academic contribution of Zhuzi scholars. The contribution and position of this outstanding book is comparable to that of Zhuzi studies in the world sinology. Secondly, Zhu studied Zhu's anthology, such as Zhu's Anthology of Neo-Confucianism, On Zhu's Benevolence, Zhu's Recent Thoughts, and Zhu Lu's Communication Details. It is very helpful to enhance the understanding of Zhu thought, which fully reflects Mr. Chen Yongzhe's research characteristics of attaching importance to the emergence of new materials on Zhu studies. These two first-class Zhu research works and the holding of the international Zhu conference have established Mr. Chen Yongzhe's leading position in the world Zhu research field. 1986, at the age of 85, Mr. Chen Yongzhe completed the Chinese masterpiece A New Exploration of Zhu Zi, which was published in 1988. Most of the contents in the book have never been discussed by scholars in China, Japan and South Korea, involving various topics of Zhu Xi's life, thoughts, related figures and deeds, and excavating a large number of new materials that were ignored in the past, greatly refining and deepening Zhu Xi's research topics. There is no doubt that this book shows that Mr. Chen Yongjie's profound attainments in the study of Zhuzi have reached the state of perfection. Mr. Chen Lao also thinks that this book represents the highest achievement of his academic research.
1990, The Series of World Philosophers, written by Taiwan Province Province, was published by Mr. Zhu, which absorbed his related achievements for many years and made further contributions in semantic analysis and data collation. 1992 published a collection of detailed notes and comments on recent thoughts. The Annotations Collection of this book collects more than 800 pieces of information about Zhuzi's works, such as genre, anthology, four books' annotations or problems, from China 18 annotations, North Korea's 37 annotations and North Korea's 48 annotations, and quotes the annotations of Zhang Boxing, Mao Xinglai and Jiang Yong. This book lists the sources of all 622 materials contained in The Book of Recent Thoughts, and more than 300 comments quoted by/kloc-0 also list their sources, which is very convenient for scholars to consult. In the "Detailed Notes" part of this book, the ancient books, terms, quotations, names of people and places involved in this paper are annotated in detail. The book is extensive and profound, complete in content and rich in information, surpassing predecessors and making great contributions to the study of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty.
In addition to the above-mentioned Chinese works on Zhu, Mr. Wang has also written works on Zhu studies in English, such as: Selected Works of Recent Thoughts and Neo-Confucianism, Interpretation of Neo-Confucianism Words: the Meaning of Beixi Ci, Zhu's Life and Thoughts, Zhu's New Studies and Zhu and Neo-Confucianism. The contribution of Mr. Chen Lao's English Zhu works is undoubtedly second to none in the study of Neo-Confucianism in the English field.
Mr. Chen Yongji's learning method emphasizes the analysis of conceptual history, but does not ignore historical research. He is profound in western learning, but he advocates interpreting Zhu with Zhu, paying attention to original materials, transcending the portal view, and paying special attention to using the research results of Japanese and Korean scholars. He observed the development of thought from the historical context and discussed the evolution of the school from the analysis of concepts. His style of study is simple and meticulous, and his scholarship is rigorous and rigorous. His research style and method is a well-deserved model for studying Zhuzi.
Mr. Chen Yongji is recognized as the authority of China philosophy by European and American academic circles in the second half of the 20th century. He is a leading figure in the study of China philosophy in the English-speaking world, and also a leading figure in the study of Neo-Confucianism and Zhu in international sinology. The United States did not attach importance to the study of neo-Confucianism before and at the beginning of the war, and it changed from the 1970s to the 1970s. Focusing on Columbia University and Harvard University, Neo-Confucianism and Zhu Studies have been on the rise for a while. 1977, on the 40th anniversary of Mr. Chen Yongjie's overseas teaching, he wrote three poems, the second of which is recorded here:
Overseas teaching and research is busy, climbing the wall and looking forward to the church.
Writing, singing, preaching, sleeping less and dreaming are all about Zhu.
The desert has been lonely for twenty years, and now Neo-Confucianism is suddenly popular.
Righteousness and benefit can be heavy, but bitterness and joy in hometown are difficult to share.
"The sudden popularity of Neo-Confucianism now" refers to the changes in the study of China Thought in the United States in the 1970s, which also reappeared in Chinese mainland, China after the reform and opening up. "Writing, singing, speaking, sleeping less and dreaming" vividly shows his admiration for the sages of Neo-Confucianism. I think that in the last 20 years of Mr. Chen Yongjie's life, all he saw in his dreams was Zhu, and the study of Zhu undoubtedly became his ultimate concern.
Mr. Chen Lao was 85 years old when I met him. When he was 90 years old, he was still hale and hearty, walking as usual, with quick thinking and vigorous writing, so his friends always believed that he would live to be 100 years old. He likes my research with Zhu. His approachable, open-minded, unabashed and encouraging young scholars still deeply touched me. Today, I have the honor to preface his collection of works, and my heart is full of deep nostalgia for him, and I can't be calm for a long time.
Chen Yongzhe's Zhuzi Prose Series: Prose of Zhuzi Disciple and Zhu Xi, Notes on Recent Notes, and New Exploration of Zhuzi.