Evidential Commentary on the Meanings of Terms in the Mengzi

Introduction

Dai Zhen, a leading scholar of Qing-dynasty “evidential learning” (kaozheng), which demanded philological proof for every claim about the classics, completed this book in 1777, the year of his death. In question-and-answer form he examines terms such as principle (li), the Way (dao), nature (xing), ability and the virtues, and argues that in Mencius principle means the inner order of things and of human feelings, not a separate entity lodged in the mind. The Neo-Confucian opposition between heavenly principle and human desires, he argues, allows the powerful to condemn others in the name of principle. Dai Zhen’s philosophy attracted wide attention mainly in the twentieth century, when Hu Shih and others presented him as a forerunner of modern thought.

Connections

Builds on

• Mengzic. 300 BCE · Mengzi (Mencius)

Criticizes

• Commentaries on the Four Books1190 · Zhu Xi