Lecture Title: “To Discuss Human Nature and Destiny, One Must Return to History”: Huang Zongxi and the Historical-Cultural Dimension of Late-Period School of Mind 

Speaker: Chen Yun, Professor, Department of Philosophy, East China Normal University 

Moderator: Liu Zengguang, Professor, School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China 

Time: 10:00 AM, May 19, 2025 

Location: Room 600, Humanities Building, Renmin University of China 

Speaker Bio: 

Chen Yun holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and is a professor at the Department of Philosophy, East China Normal University. He was recognized as a Distinguished Professor (2022) and Young Scholar (2016) under the Changjiang Scholars Program, and was selected for the Ministry of Education’s Program for New Century Excellent Talents (2009). He is also a member of the “Master Scholars” Group under the Luminary Plan for Chinese Classics.

His authored works include: The Civilizational Approach to the Philosophy of History, “Ying Di Wang” in the Zhuangzi and Guiding Political Philosophy, Reflections on Freedom: An Interpretation of “Free and Easy Wandering” in the Zhuangzi, The Rites of Zhou and the Kingly System of “All Under Heaven”: Focusing on “On the Institutions of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties”, The Thought of the Doctrine of the Mean, and Return to Reality: An Interpretation of Wang Chuanshan’s Philosophy. He has also published more than 200 academic papers in domestic and international journals. His research focuses on Confucian philosophy and Taoist thought.

Introduction:

“To discuss human nature and destiny, one must return to history”. This phrase, coined by Zhang Xuecheng, characterizes the intellectual ethos of the Eastern Zhejiang Literary School represented by Huang Zongxi. Yet its significance extends to understanding the paradigm shift in Chinese scholarship during the Ming-Qing transition. Huang Zongxi’s personal academic evolution—from moral metaphysics to the construction of a historical-cultural cosmos—epitomizes this broader intellectual transformation.

This shift is vividly embodied in The Records of Ming Confucians (Mingru Xue’an), particularly in how its significance is interpreted. In his later years, while composing the preface to this work, Huang Zongxi developed a profound critique of the limitations of moral metaphysics. Centering on the idea of “one principle manifesting in myriad particulars” (yi ben wan shu), he reconceptualized the relationship between ontological substance and practical cultivation, the Tao and humanity, the study of human nature/cosmic order (xingming zhi xue), and historical-cultural inquiry, offering a systematic alternative to the traditional metaphysical framework.

His approach redirected the unfolding of the Tao from an introspective, transcendent experience of consciousness toward an expansive praxis oriented by cultural creativity. By revitalizing “dead ontology” (si benti) into a “living ontology” (huo benti) through lived practice, Huang Zongxi sought to restore Confucianism’s pragmatic character (jingshi pin’ge) and its grand vision of “connecting heaven, earth, and humanity” (tong tiandi ren).

This reorientation not only redefined philosophical inquiry but also mirrored the Ming-Qing era’s intellectual turn—from abstract speculation to historically grounded, action-oriented learning.