Lu Jiuyuan (Lu Xiangshan)

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Lu Jiuyuan (Lu Xiangshan)

1139–1193

A first way ina deliberate simplification – the portrait says more

The principle of everything is not out there in books and objects but in your own mind – so look inward first.

Placement

East Asian Philosophy · East Asia · Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics

Zhu Xi’s great opponent: principle is not found by studying things outside but lies in one’s own heart-mind – “the universe is my mind”.

Key ideas

Heart-mind is principle (xin ji li)
Goose Lake debate with Zhu Xi
Establishing the great foundation

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Influence

Influenced by 2

Mengzi (Mencius)

influenced by
Lu Jiuyuan said he learned the Way by reading the Mencius on his own, taking from it the original mind (benxin) and the rule of securing first what is greater in us. Lu Jiuyuan, Xiangshan quanji, recorded sayings; W.-t. Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963)
Evidence: AI draft
Mengzi (Mencius) › c. 372–289 BCE
Cheng Hao

influenced by
Lu Jiuyuan named Mencius, not the Cheng brothers, as his source; Feng Youlan (1934) read Cheng Hao as forerunner of Lu’s learning of the mind (xinxue). Feng Youlan, Zhongguo zhexue shi II (1934), tr. D. Bodde, A History of Chinese Philosophy II (1953)
Evidence: AI draft
Cheng Hao › 1032–1085

Influenced 1

Wang Yangming

influenced
Prefacing Lu Jiuyuan’s collected works (1520), Wang Yangming declared that the learning of the sages is the learning of the mind, placing Lu in its line. Wang Yangming, Xiangshan wenji xu (1520); W.-t. Chan, Instructions for Practical Living (1963); SEP “Wang Yangming”
Evidence: AI draft
Wang Yangming › 1472–1529

Criticism

Mutual critique 1

Zhu Xi ⇄ mutual

criticised
Lu Jiuyuan held that Zhu Xi’s path of study and investigating things was fragmented, since the mind itself is principle (Goose Lake meeting, 1175; letters of 1188). Lu Jiuyuan, Xiangshan quanji; W.-t. Chan, Chu Hsi: New Studies, 1989
Evidence: AI draft
criticised by
Zhu Xi faulted Lu Jiuyuan for neglecting study and the investigation of things and for leaning towards Chan Buddhism, as at the Goose Lake meeting of 1175. Zhu Xi, Zhuzi yulei 124; W.-t. Chan, Chu Hsi: New Studies, 1989
Evidence: AI draft
Zhu Xi › 1130–1200

Position

Lu Jiuyuan held that the heart-mind is principle (xin ji li): moral principles are not outside things to be studied piecemeal but are fully present in the original mind that, as Mencius taught, everyone has. Hence his saying that the universe is my mind, and my mind the universe. The task is to “establish the great foundation” by recovering this mind; study is secondary – the classics, he said, are footnotes to the self. At Goose Lake he called Zhu Xi’s method fragmented, while Zhu found Lu’s approach too simple and close to Chan Buddhism. Wang Yangming took up his teaching, hence the Lu–Wang school.

Life & context

Lu Jiuyuan was born in 1139 in Jinxi (Jiangxi), the youngest of six brothers in a large family that kept a common household. He passed the jinshi examination in 1172 and soon attracted many students. In 1175 he debated with Zhu Xi at the Goose Lake Temple. From 1187 he taught on Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan), which gave him his name; he died in 1193 as prefect of Jingmen.