The original meaning of the word "Xuan" is a deep red color that is almost black, so Xu Shen's Shuowen is interpreted as: Xuan, you are far away. The word "Xuan" comes from Laozi's Tao Te Ching. "Xuan is both mysterious and mysterious, and it is deep and subtle. The origin of the name "Metaphysics" is precisely because the speakers in the Wei and Jin Dynasties called three books Zhouyi, Laozi and Zhuangzi, so the name "Metaphysics" came from this.
From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, it was more than 200 years of troubled times. With the disintegration of the unified dynasty in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Confucianism, which ruled the ideological circle for nearly 400 years, began to lose its charm. Scholars are generally tired of the tedious style of study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty, the grotesque and shallow divination, and the platitudes of the three cardinal guides and the five permanent members, so they turn to find a new foothold and indulge in metaphysical philosophical debates. This argument is like the salon of later generations, where elegant celebrities (the famous "seven sages of bamboo forest" represented by Ji Kang and Ruan Ji are the embodiment of Wei and Jin Dynasties) get together to talk about metaphysics, which was called "talking clearly" or "talking about metaphysics" at that time.
According to the Twenty-two Histories written by Zhao Yi, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, this way of speaking began in the zhengshi period of Wang Cao Fang, and its founder was Wang Bi. They were all aristocrats and celebrities at that time, and under their influence, they became a generation of ethos. The so-called "beginning sound" in the Book of Jin also refers to the metaphysical atmosphere that runs through Wei and Jin Dynasties.
There is a fashion among talkative people, that is, waving their tails smartly while talking to Kan Kan. Generally speaking, the topics discussed are all around the three mysterious and profound books: Zhouyi, Laozi and Zhuangzi. The content of the talk mainly involves metaphysical issues such as existence or not, life and death, movement and quietness, famous religion and nature, sage's affection or ruthlessness, sadness and joy in voice, and whether words can do their best. In the view of orthodox scholars, such talk has nothing to do with the national economy and people's livelihood, so there is such a saying as "talking about the wrong country". For example, Confucian scholar Fan Ning said, "He Bi is more guilty than Jie Li and Zhou."
Yan He and Wang Bi advocated "attaching importance to whatever", saying that "everything in the world has no roots" (Biography of Wang Jinyan) and put forward the theory that "Ming Jiao" originated from "nature". Later, Ruan Ji and Ji Kang advocated that "the more famous, the more natural" ("Break up with Shan Juyuan"). Ji Kang combined "taking the Six Classics as filth and taking benevolence and righteousness as stink" (Difficult to Learn Nature) and "Not Tang Wu but Thin Kong Zhou" (this sentence is also from Breaking Up with Shan Juyuan), which can be generally regarded as Ji Kang's declaration, even the declaration of the second and third sons in Wei and Jin Dynasties at that time, but I think it is to let Sima Jia know his own ideas, but it is actually. Later, it was completed by Guo Xiang, who wrote the annotation of Zhuangzi. As soon as this book came out, metaphysics flourished. "The traces of Confucianism and Mohism are contemptible, and the words of Tao are prosperous" (The Book of Jin Guo Xiang Biography). Guo Xiang advocates that everything can't be born, saying that "the creator has no owner, and things are formed separately" (note on the Theory of Everything) and that "Ming Jiao is nature". Metaphysics does not completely exclude Confucianism, but tries to explain Confucian classics in Taoist language, that is, "introducing the old into Confucianism" and reconciling Confucianism and Taoism. Yan He wrote The Analects of Confucius, Wang Bi wrote Notes on the Book of Changes, Examples of the Book of Changes and Explanations of the Analects of Confucius, and Guo Xiang wrote The Analects of Confucius, all of which tried their best to integrate metaphysics with orthodox Confucianism. Metaphysics also respects Confucius as a saint, but metaphysics Confucius. For example, Wang Bi thinks Confucius is precious, and Ji Kang says Confucius is good at keeping in good health. In fact, even metaphysicians who attack etiquette attach importance to Confucian concepts. Ruan Ji said that "the distinction between the superior and the inferior, the difference between the superior and the inferior, is called etiquette." Ji Kang advocated Confucian morality at home, saying, "Don't be humble, but humble; There is no need to be a little ashamed, but a big concession. "
Generally speaking, metaphysics was a group of intellectual elites who jumped out of the traditional way of thinking at that time. After the serious crisis of orthodox Confucian belief, they made philosophical reflections on the universe, society and life in order to find a spiritual home for literati. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism expounded Buddhism in the language of metaphysics. Some metaphysicians were good at talking about Buddhism, and metaphysics made sense. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, metaphysics has been integrated with Buddhism, and metaphysics, as a trend of thought of the times, has gradually "laughed without saying a word".
Up to now, there seems to be no metaphysical university like you want to ask, but it seems that some universities have Feng Shui in their architecture departments!