刘定逌的理学思想与中国少数民族儒学

Liu Dingyou’s Neo-Confucian Thoughts and Confucianism of Ethnic Minorities in China

清代乾嘉年间的广西壮族进士刘定逌,官至翰林院编修,其“追踪濂洛关闽”,潜心性理之学,“细把工夫问孔颜”,于壮乡故里热心授徒、传扬儒学,在岭南少数民族儒学中独树一帜,为儒学在我国壮族哲学和文化中的传播影响、融合发展,做出了显著贡献。他以一位少数民族之儒的观念特色,发挥并继续产生着增强和铸牢中华民族共同体意识的思想资源意义。

Confucianism of the Zhuang-represented by the Neo-Confucianism thoughts of Liu Dingyou,an Imperial Scholar in the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods of the Qing Dynasty-appears to have constituted a significant part of Confucianism as embraced by ethnic minorities in the Lingnan area of China.Liu Dingyou devoted himself to the study of Neo-Confucianism and was able to develop a unique form of Neo-Confucianism suitable for ethnic minorities in China.Through maintaining a unity of Substance and Function,reconciling the thoughts of Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan,and valuing the use of these philosophies,Liu Dingyou arguably added considerably to the ideological and traditional resources of the Chinese national community as well as contributed to academic research on Neo-Confucianism of ethnic minorities in China.Well-versed in the Neo-Confucianism of the school of Zhu Xi,Liu Dingyou developed his own philosophies characterized ideologically by Zhu Xi’s thoughts,theoretically by the evolution of Neo Confucianism,and culturally by customs of the Zhuang region.Liu eventually became a Neo-Confucian scholar with Zhuang cultural traits,developing his subjective concept of“Co-Existence of Substance and Function”and“the unity of Substance and Function.”He also integrated the thoughts of Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan while reconciling the ideas of Zhu Xi and Wang Shouren.Moreover,this paper also attempts to show that Liu Dingyou pursued the methodology of“learning for the investigation of Li”and“learning for the Intuitive Knowledge,”and that Liu sought the spiritual sage realm of“quiescence,”“knowing one’s limit,”and“learning to be the wisest man.”Liu Dingyou’s ideas also seemed to reveal the influence of Buddhism and Taoism,showing the ideological characteristics of“wandering”among Confucianism,Buddhism,and Taoism.The concepts of“vacuity and void”of Buddhism,“sitting unconcerned”of Zhuangzi,and“being oblivious of oneself and one’s surroundings”were embedded in his poems.As a Confucianist of the Zhuang people-and like many others of ethnic minorities in China-Liu Dingyou imprinted“Confucian-Buddhism”or“Buddhist-Confucianism”on his mind,to some degree.Liu Dingyou,together with Zhang Pengzhan,Wei Tianbao,and Zheng Xianfu of the Zhuang from Guangxi during the Qing Dynasty,formed the core group of Confucianists of the Zhuang,making up a unique branch of Confucianism in Lingnan ethnic groups.Zhuang Confucianism-drawing cultural as well as regional characteristics of Zhuang ethnic group-constituted the important ideological part of China’s ethnic Confucianism,and had been echoing the Jiangmen School of Mind since the Ming Dynasty.Liu Dingyou’s Neo-Confucian system of thought,similar to the“rhizome”idea of the contemporary French philosopher Deleuze,arguably can be regarded as a new“rhizome,”allowing for a new type of relations generated from old ones based on heterogeneity and reproduction.In this sense,it actually may bring about a fusion and mutual identification among Chinese ethnic cultures;this imperceptibly could strengthen and cast an awareness of China being a multi-ethnic community in the spiritual aspect;it conceivably could also encourage cohesion and unification in the ideological field.