英文摘要 |
From the perspective of Han Confucians, the image of Confucius (551-479 B.C.) was mainly that of a sacred king, who served to facilitate the understanding of the Five Classics. They emphasized the general implications of the Classics, linking practice to ethical conduct and political participation. Following Buddhism’s introduction into China, its followers established a distinction between internal and external teachings, and designated Confucianism as an external teaching. As a result, the practice of promoting Confucius as sacred came to be doubted. Buddhists moreover claimed an alternative understanding of practice, which identified the realization of mind as the primary realm of practice. In an effort to establish itself as an internal teaching, Neo-Confucianism, which emerged in the Song dynasty and flourished thereafter, reinterpreted the image of Confucius from that of sacred king to “one who finds joy in the dao.” Under such circumstances, their practice focused on the realization of mind and the cultivation of ethical conduct in daily life. This alternative image of Confucius impacted the understanding of Confucian practice for subsequent generations of Confucians, changing the way they interpreted the Confucian classics, and even shifting their method of practice. |