Wang Yangming, whose real name is Wang Shouren. Together with Confucius, Mencius, and Zhu Xi, this man is known as the master of Confucian psychology. He insisted on advocating the theory of the unity of knowledge and action throughout his life. He always believed that if a person cultivates his body, he must first cultivate his mind. If the heart is clear, everything will be peaceful. His theory had a profound impact on later generations, and the philosophy of mind founded by him was another peak in the development of Confucianism.
Wang Yangming’s philosophy of mind is a philosophy of life that tells people the attitudes and values ??they should have in life. It is a worldview and a methodology. It is both epistemology and practice theory. The most important point in Yangming's philosophy of mind is to teach people how to cultivate their minds. Only when the mind is bright can the future be bright.
Yangming’s philosophy of mind emphasizes that the mind is the principle, which leads to the unity of conscience, knowledge and action. The foundation is that the heart is the principle: "The heart is the principle. There are things outside the heart and principles outside the heart." The conscience is the backbone: "The heart will naturally know; when you see your father, you will naturally know your filial piety; when you see your brother, you will naturally know your brother-in-law." When you see a child falling into a well, you naturally feel compassion. This is conscience, and you don’t seek anything from outside. If conscience arises and there are no obstacles from selfish intentions, it is the so-called ‘compassionate heart, but benevolence cannot be used.’” The unity of knowledge and action is the practical method of Yangming Xinxue, "Someone once said that knowledge is the idea of ????action, and action is the effort of knowing." Yangming Xinxue is the real study of cultivating the mind.
Wang Yangming has longed to become a saint like Confucius and Mencius since he was a child. When he was studying, he heard that his teacher regarded obtaining fame as the first priority in his life. Wang Yangming immediately denied it. He believed that becoming a sage was the ultimate pursuit of life. It was under his pursuit that Yangming's philosophy of mind was established and gradually improved. Therefore, the core content of Yangming's philosophy of mind is how to become a sage.
Let us enter Wang Yangming’s world and embark on a journey of spiritual purification.
Wang Yangming longed to become a saint throughout his life. In traditional Confucian theory, a person who can restrain his selfish desires and become a mature person is a saint. From the Taoist point of view, anyone who can abandon distracting thoughts and achieve selflessness outside the heart can be called a saint. But through the ages, there are only a few people who can do it. After all, humans are creatures full of desires. It is precisely because Wang Yangming finally achieved it that he is so highly regarded by the world.
In the 13th year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty (1518 AD), Wang Yangming led troops into Longchuan, Guangdong to suppress bandits. In just a few months, the banditry that had been a scourge for decades was quelled. ?"It is easy to break thieves in the mountains, but it is difficult to break thieves in the heart. It is no different to just cut off the rats and thieves in one area. If all the wise men sweep away the bandits who are close to them, so as to clear up the enemy, this will be a great achievement of a sincere man." After the banditry was eliminated, Wang Yangming This is what he said in the letter to his disciples. It is not difficult to exterminate the thieves in the mountains in Wang Yangming's heart, but getting rid of the demons in the heart is the real factor that hinders people's progress. That is to say, I believe that the power of the human heart can overcome the harsh external environment. People who can see others clearly are called smart, and people who can see themselves correctly are truly wise.
Wang Yangming’s Psychology originated from the “Chen Zhan Psychology” of Chen Xianzhang and Zhan Ruoshui. In the process of the development of mind science in the Ming Dynasty, Chen Xianzhang can be said to be a pioneer. He opened the beginning of mind science in the Ming Dynasty. Zhan Ruoshui further improved the theory of mind science on the basis of Chen Xianzhang. It was not until the time of Wang Yangming that it was truly the culmination of concentrated study.
Wang Yangming, Confucius, Mencius, and Zhu Xi are collectively known as "Confucius, Mencius, Zhu, and Wang." Confucius founded Confucianism, and Mencius was the master of Confucianism. In the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi developed Confucian Neo-Confucianism on this basis , that is, emphasizing the normative effect of external forces on people and advocating the investigation of things to achieve knowledge. After an in-depth study of "Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism", Wang Yangming found that there were shortcomings in Neo-Confucianism. In his view, Neo-Confucianism overemphasized the role of external forces and ignored people's subjective initiative, failing to integrate knowledge and action. In Wang Yangming's view, everything is meaningless if it cannot be felt by people's hearts.
In order to prove his theory, Wang Yangming once compared flowers: when you see a flower, it is beautiful and real; the same flower, when you don’t look at it, , it ceases to exist and loses its meaning. The core of this theory is that in all things, only the human heart has the real decisive role. The quality of the world depends on how people view it. When people have a clear mind, the world is also beautiful. If people lose their conscience, the world will fall into darkness. Wang Yangming's thoughts are far inherited from Mencius. As early as thousands of years ago, Mencius believed that the value of life is to find one's lost conscience.
Throughout the ages, saints have had two tasks: one to save the world; the other to save people’s hearts. In Wang Yangming's view, the human heart is the world, so saving the human heart is saving the world.
The most basic part of Wang Yangming’s theory of mind is that mind is reason. Wang Yangming believes that the value of the mind as principle lies in being virtuous, being close to the people, and striving for perfection. He emphasized people's own subjective initiative and asked people to consciously regulate their words and deeds and be a moral person.
To be clear about virtue, to be close to the people, and to strive for perfection are the three principles of Confucianism. From "Book of Rites·University": "The way of a university lies in Ming Ming De, in being close to the people, and in striving for perfection."
The so-called Ming Ming De, the first Ming is a verb, which means to carry forward and magnify , the second Ming is an adjective, meaning bright. Therefore, Ming Ming De means: carrying forward good virtues. It is a very important part of Yangming's theory of mind, in which the key to achieving Mingming's virtue is to get rid of one's own selfish desires. Wang Yangming believes that overcoming selfish desires is an important character of a person, and its importance even exceeds a person's original moral character.
Since ancient times, self-denial and serving the public have always been the way of a wise minister. If you want to become a sage, restraining your own desires becomes an indispensable character. Self-denial is to find one's original intention, put aside all distracting thoughts, and externalize one's inner conscience between heaven and earth. This is the so-called unity of knowledge and action.
In Wang Yangming’s theory of mind, the unity of knowledge and action is an extremely important component. The so-called unity of action means resolutely abandoning evil thoughts and actively doing good "at the point where a thought is initiated". Wang Yangming believes that in practice, evil thoughts are easy to eliminate, but the most difficult to eliminate are the evil thoughts in people's hearts. Therefore, if you want to eliminate evil deeds from the source, you need to establish the concept of doing good in your mind, and maintain a heart of benevolence, justice, etiquette, and wisdom in real life.
The theory of conscience believes that the fundamental task of life is to transform one's conscience into good behavior. In this way, there is only theory without practice, which separates the relationship between knowledge and behavior. In Wang Yangming's theory of mind, the fundamental task of cultivating conscience is to be a saint within and a king outside. A person's conscience is innate, so cultivating conscience is to combine the concept of self-cultivation with the behavior of self-cultivation. The heart is the foundation of all things. If you want to regulate people's behavior, you must first educate people's hearts. If you want to cultivate your body, you must first cultivate your heart.
The unity of knowledge and action was once advocated by Wang Yangming throughout his life. However, when Wang Yangming reached middle age, he rarely mentioned it again. The reason is that the theory of the unity of knowledge and action has been integrated into the more concise concept of "developing conscience". among the propositions. Conscience is a theory, and practice is a practice. Conscience is the unity of knowledge and action.
Summary:
Wang Yangming is the master of the Xinxue. He devoted his life to the development of the Xinxue. Through his efforts, the Xinxue has become an indispensable part of the Confucian school. knowledge. He has established the lofty ideal of becoming a saint since he was a child. In practical life, he regulates himself according to the requirements of saints and becomes a "perfect man" recognized by the world. He has practiced his theory throughout his life and is a living textbook. He spent his life proving the rationality of his theory and truly achieved the unity of knowledge and action. Wang Yangming's thoughts on psychology and his spiritual quality are still worth studying and studying.