Wang Fuzhis Reconstruction of Confucianism

Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), a Ming loyalist, was forced to find solutions for both cultural and political crises of his time. In this book Mingran Tan provides a comprehensive review of Wang Fuzhis understanding of historical events and his interpretation of the Confucian classics. Tan explains what kind of Confucian system Wang Fuzhi was trying to construct according to his motto, The Six Classics require me to create something new. He sought a basis for Confucian values such as filial piety, humanity and ritual propriety from political, moral and cosmological perspectives, arguing that they could cultivate a noble personality, beatify political governance, and improve social and cosmological harmony. This inspired Wang Fuzhis attempt to establish a syncretic blend of the three branches of Neo-Confucianism, i.e., Zhu Xis (1130-1200) philosophy of principle , Wang Yangmings (1472-1529) philosophy of mind and Zhang Zais (1020-1077) philosophy of qi (material force). The most thorough work on Wang Fuzhi available in English, this study corrects some general misunderstanding of the nature of Wang Fuzhis philosophy and helps readers to understand Wang Fuzhi from an organic perspective. Building upon previous scholars research on Wang Fuzhis notion of moral cultivation, Tan gives a comprehensive understanding of how Wang Fuzhi improves social and cosmological harmony through compliance with Confucian rituals.