Li Zhi was deeply influenced by the "Taizhou School", a tributary of "Yangming Studies", and regarded himself as a "heretic". In view of the fact that the official schools and intellectuals at that time only regarded Confucian Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as the authority, they denounced Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as pseudo-Taoism and proposed that "the right and wrong of Confucius should not be regarded as right and wrong." Most of the poems and essays criticize the ideas of the first seven sons and the second seven sons to restore ancient times, and believe that "The Romance of the West Chamber" and "Water Margin" are "the most ancient and modern texts". The three Yuan brothers of the Public Security Faction were deeply influenced by it. In his later years, he was quite good at history. He compiled "Collection of Books" based on the official history of past dynasties, and extensively collected materials from the Ming Dynasty to write "Extended Collection of Books", which made a breakthrough in traditional historical views.

Li Zhi admitted personal selfish desires, "Selfishness is the human heart. People must be selfish and then their hearts will see." "Heaven regulates the world through communication", which believes that exchange relationships and commercial transactions between people are in line with the laws of nature.

Anti-traditional Confucianism

Li Zhi regarded himself as a "heresy" of the traditional Confucian and Mencius Confucianism. He denounced and criticized feudal feudal male superiority, false Taoism, social corruption, and corrupt officials. He advocates "reforming the old and creating new ideas" and opposes ideological confinement.

In terms of literature, Li Zhi put forward the "childlike innocence theory", advocating that creation should "absolutely avoid falsehood and return trueness" to express his own opinions. "The head can be severed and the body cannot be humiliated" without flinching. Li Zhi also advocated "sincerity" in his poetry writing style and opposed the "copying the ancient" style of writing that was popular at the time. This tendency of his had an important impact on the literature of the late Ming Dynasty. Influence.

Progressive View of History

1. Li Zhi expressed great contempt for the Six Classics, The Analects and Mencius. It is believed that these writings were written by ignorant disciples at that time, and most of them were not the words of saints. Even if they were words of saints, they were just temporary medicines and could not become "the words of all things"

2. It opposes the historical conservatism’s view of historical development that advocates “moving with the times.” “The debate between right and wrong is like the passage of time, the change of day and night, and they are not consistent. Yesterday was true but today is not, so how can we suddenly determine the business law?" He proposed that "as the world changes, its path must be followed." It is believed that the Spring and Autumn Period replaced the three dynasties, and the Warring States Period replaced the Spring and Autumn Period. It is a normal historical development phenomenon. < /p>

3. People-oriented thinking. Although Mencius has long proposed that "the people are the most important, the king is the most important, and the country is the second", it has not actually become a political practice among the rulers of the past dynasties. Li Zhi boldly put forward the idea that "the emperor is established by heaven for the people", showing his dissatisfaction with the autocratic imperial power, and became the forerunner of the people-centered thought of the enlightenment thinkers in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

Political Thought

In the process of opposing political corruption and Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties, Li Zhi formed his political thoughts, which mainly include:

① Advocating the liberation of personality and freedom of thought. Li Zhi fought for the liberation of personality and freedom of thought throughout his life. He despises traditional authority and dares to criticize authority. He has been stubborn and difficult to change since he was a child. He believes that a person should have his own political opinions and thoughts and should not blindly follow them. People look up to him. If you do not adapt to yourself but adapt to the way of others, even Bo Yi and Shu Qi are both licentious and eccentric. Not knowing what to do for oneself, but to do things for others, even though Yao and Shun were both dust and chaff" ("Book Burning·Continued Book Burning·Reply to Zhou Lu"). He believed that in order to obtain individual liberation and freedom of thought, we must break the Tao of Confucius and Mencius and its variants in Song and Ming Dynasties The monopoly of Neo-Confucianism broke through various ideological forbidden areas set by feudal classics. Li Zhi first pointed the finger of struggle at Confucius, believing that Confucius was just an ordinary person, and his words were not all time-honored principles, and his right and wrong should not be used. Everyone should make their own right and wrong. In order to break the standards of right and wrong proposed by Confucius, Li Zhi wrote "Collection of Books" and "Extension of Collection of Books" to re-evaluate historical figures according to his own standards of right and wrong.

< p> ② Promote human equality. Li Zhi believes that according to the principle of the unity of all things, there is no distinction between high and low in society. The common people are not humble and have their own respectability; the nobles are not noble and have their own despicableness. place. He said: "The principle of unity is that the common people are neither inferior to the princes nor the nobles. Among the common people, they can be said to be noble, but to the princes, they can be said to be humble." ("Li's Series·Laozi's Interpretation, Part 2")

③ Oppose feudal ethics.

Li Zhi also criticized the Confucian classics, which were regarded as golden rules by the feudal rulers. He believed that the Six Classics of Confucian classics, such as the Analects and Mencius, were not all the words of saints. They were formed through the praise and exaltation of later generations and should not be regarded as The truth that remains unchanged forever. He opposed discrimination against women. When someone said: "Women are short-sighted and cannot learn Taoism," he refuted that people's knowledge is determined by the environment in which they live, and is not innate. He pointed out: "The couple does not leave the realm, but the man shoots his arrows in all directions. It goes without saying that there are advantages and disadvantages. ... Therefore, it is okay to say that people have male and female, but how can it be said to see that there are male and female? It is said that there are men and women. How can it be said that a man's view is as long as a woman's view is as short as a woman's view is short?" ("Burning Book·Reply to Women's Learning of Taoism as a Short Book of Views") He advocated freedom of marriage and enthusiastically praised Zhuo Wenjun and Sima Xiang. Like a love story.

④ Oppose empty talk in Neo-Confucianism and advocate utilitarianism. Li Zhi exposed the ugly face of Taoists and pointed out that they are all hypocrites, "named mountain people, but their hearts are like merchants, they talk about morality, but they aim to get through" ("Book Burning·Continued Burning Book·Xia Jiao Ruohou") , benevolence, righteousness, and morality are just masks to cover up their despicableness. “They originally wanted to be rich and noble, but they pretended to be unwilling to do so. In fact, they wanted to use this as a ladder to their own glory, and they also adopted morality, benevolence, and righteousness to cover themselves up.” (Same as above) . He disagrees with the statement propagated by Taoists that "to be righteous without seeking benefit, to understand the way without counting merit", and believes that any action of human beings has its purpose of profit and merit. Dong Zhongshu's propaganda of "righteousness" and "clarification of the truth" was also for utilitarian purposes. From a utilitarian point of view, Li Zhi advocated enriching the country and strengthening the army. He criticized the behavior of Neo-Confucianists who "talked about life and life, talked about mysteries, turned a blind eye to the sufferings of the people of the world, and regarded financial management as dirty". He pointed out: "Those who do not talk about financial management will never be able to rule the world" ("Comments on the Four Books·University"). In view of the phenomenon that Confucianism separates civil and military affairs and that Confucian scholars do not understand military affairs, he emphasized the importance of military affairs and believed that "the general who knows the military is the commander of the people and the master of the country's security" ("Li's Series·Sun Tzu Shen Tong"). He advocated farming and fighting, and believed that "farming and martial arts should not be neglected" ("Li Zhuowu's Commentary on Huang Ming Tongji"), saying, "If there is a living thing, there must be something to support it, food. If there is a body, there must be food." Those who have to defend this body are soldiers" ("Burning Book·Continued Burning Book·Army and Food Theory"). In response to the proposition of orthodox Neo-Confucianists that "natural principles exist to destroy human desires," he proposed that "clothing and eating are human ethics and physics." He believed that "reasons" existed in the daily lives of ordinary people, posing a challenge to orthodox thinking.

⑤ The political ideal of "the ultimate path of inaction". In response to the corrupt politics of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zhi put forward the political ideal of "the best way is to do nothing, the best governance is silent, and the best teaching is silent". He believed that the reason why human society often experiences turmoil is the result of rulers' interference in social life. His ideal "governance by people" is "based on people", in line with nature, and in line with the secular people's sentiments, that is, "because its government does not change its customs, and its nature does not interfere with its abilities." It has a positive impact on human society. Live a non-interfering or less interfering life.