Feng Youlan, a famous philosopher, was born in Tanghe, Nanyang, Henan. 1924 received his doctorate from Columbia University. He has served as Zhongzhou University (now Henan University), Guangdong University, Professor yenching university, Dean of Tsinghua University College of Literature and Head of Philosophy Department, Professor of Philosophy Department and Dean of College of Literature of National Southwest Associated University, Chairman of Tsinghua University School Council, and Professor of Philosophy Department of Peking University. His philosophical works, as the discipline construction of China's philosophy history, have made great contributions and are praised as.
Feng Youlan (1895 ~ 1990) was born in tanghe county, Henan. China is a famous contemporary philosopher and educator.
Color photos of scholar Feng Youlan [1]
A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy is well-known all over the country, and The Realm of Life and Mr. Cai Yumin, whom I know, have been compiled into middle school textbooks. After graduation, he was admitted to Peking University. After graduation, he taught in a middle school in Kaifeng, and soon he was admitted to the graduate school of Columbia University. After returning home, he taught the history of China's philosophy in yenching university. During the Anti-Japanese War, he was Professor The National SouthWest Associated University, and the school song of Southwest Associated University was also written. He has taught in Tsinghua University for a long time, served as dean of the School of Arts of Tsinghua and National Southwest Associated University, and chairman of the School Affairs Committee of Tsinghua, and made great contributions to the study of modern philosophy in China. In order to study, I have collected tens of thousands of Chinese and foreign books, including many rare books of ancient books. In particular, the collection of Chinese and foreign philosophical historical materials is relatively systematic, and most of them are literature and history works. 1994, according to Mr. Wang's wishes, his relatives donated his books to Tsinghua University for collection, and established Feng Youlan Library in Tsinghua University Library. The library mainly collects Mr. Feng Youlan's works and research materials on the history of Chinese and Western cultural thoughts, with more than 7,000 books. He is the author of dozens of works, such as Neo-Confucianism, New World Training, New Primitive Man, New Original Road, New Edition of China's Philosophy History, A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy, Selected Works of China's Philosophy History, Forty Years' Review, First Draft of Historical Materials of China's Philosophy History, and Modern Philosophy History of China. [2]
Middle school period
Feng Youlan's photography portfolio (20 photos)
Feng Youlan was born on February 4th, 1995 in Qiyi Town, tanghe county City, Henan Province.
Feng Tai was born in Gaoping County, Shanxi Province, and his ancestor Feng Tai came to Qiyi Town, Tanghe, Henan Province for business in the fifty-fifth year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (17 16), and then settled here. In the past 100 years, he has developed into a local aristocratic family. Grandfather is famous for his jade prose. He has no intention of becoming famous all his life. He is good at writing poems, such as Mei Cun Poetry Draft. Father Feng Taiyi, whose name is Shu Hou, is Fu Zhai. Born in Tongzhi of Qing Dynasty for 5 years (1866), was born in Guangxu 15 years (1889), and was once the head of Shi Chong Academy in Tanghe. In the 24th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1898), palace examination, a member of the Reform Movement of 1898, ranked at the bottom of the top three list. He is a scholar. He went to Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, to help with the westernization. He used to be the general accountant of Wuchang Dialect School, and later served as the magistrate of Chongyang County, Hubei Province. In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), he died anywhere.
Feng Youlan's early education is no different from that of most China scholars. When I went to school at the age of seven, I read the Book of Songs first, then the Analects of Confucius and Mencius, and then the University and the Doctrine of the Mean, and memorized them from beginning to end. Because his father is busy with official business, the burden of educating his children naturally falls on Feng's mother, who can't read much. Fortunately, at that time, children valued memory more than understanding, so he finally finished reading the Book of Changes, the Book of Changes and Zuo Zhuan. In the thirty-third year of Guangxu (1907), the Feng family specially hired teachers to take charge of Feng Youlan's education, and formally set up classical Chinese, arithmetic, writing, composition and other subjects. Because the course is relatively easy, Feng Youlan often reads some new books and periodicals hidden by his father in his spare time and begins to get in touch with some world knowledge. At about the age of 12, Feng Youlan's father Feng Taiyi died suddenly due to illness, so he moved back to his hometown Tanghe with his mother and continued to hire teachers to teach. During this period, he began to read democratic books, such as Ming Yi Waiting for an Interview by Huang Zongxi. Two years later, she was admitted to the county high school according to her mother's instructions, and then she was admitted to Kaifeng No.5 Middle School with excellent results. 19 12 winter, Feng Youlan was admitted to the preparatory class of Shanghai No.2 Middle School with excellent results. At that time, all the courses in Shanghai No.2 Middle School used the original English textbooks, and one of the teachers also used Ye Fang's Logical Outline as an English reading material. Because of this, Feng Youlan became interested in formal logic, which aroused his interest in philosophy.
University period
19 15 In September, Feng Youlan was admitted to Peking University and began to receive systematic philosophy training. At that time, Peking University was the birthplace of the New Culture Movement, which opened Feng Youlan's eyes and was deeply influenced. In the last year of graduation, Hu Shi and Liang Shuming came to teach at Peking University. One is an important master of the new culture movement, who advocates the theory of total westernization under the banner of Dewey's pragmatic philosophy; One is the mainstay of the Oriental Culture School. As soon as he entered Wuchang Chinese School, he declared that "I am here to do nothing but play for Sakyamuni and Confucius", aiming at reviving Chinese culture. According to their respective forums, two young and brilliant gentlemen started a big debate about the eastern and western cultures. Feng Youlan was lucky enough to meet them and benefited a lot, which has a profound inspiration for his future study of Chinese and Western philosophy, especially thinking about the relationship between Chinese and Western cultures.
marry
Feng Youlan returned to Kaifeng after graduating from Peking University. The first thing he did was to get married and start a family. He took the first step in his life.
Feng Youlan's marriage, like the philosophical creation of philosophers, has the color of modern enlightenment. His marriage seems to have broken the feudal system of "parents' orders and matchmakers' words". In 19 14, when Feng Youlan was studying in Shanghai No.2 Middle School, he was engaged to Ren Kun, a fellow villager in Xincai, Henan Province, through the introduction of his classmates. Ren Kun is the third daughter of Ren Zhiming, the pioneer of the Revolution of 1911. Her father first advocated women's liberation in Henan and sent Ren Kun and other three daughters to Beijing Women's Normal School, the highest institution for women at that time, for modern education. When Feng Youlan and Ren Kun got engaged, it was when Ren Kun was studying in a women's normal school, so the two families met: Ren Kun could get married after graduation. 19 18 In the summer, Feng Youlan graduated from the Philosophy Department of Peking University, and Ren Kun just finished all the courses in Beijing Women's Normal School. Both of them got diplomas from two universities and went back to Kaifeng to get married together. At this time, Feng Youlan was 23 years old and Ren Kun was 24 years old.
As a philosopher, Feng Youlan often thinks about society, life and philosophy in his mind. The burden of family life falls entirely on Ren Kun, who comes from a famous family and has received higher education. Therefore, Feng Youlan's achievements cannot be separated from this wife and mother-like woman. It is because of such a good wife and mother that Feng Youlan devoted himself to creation. During the "Cultural Revolution", Feng Youlan was repeatedly robbed and bullied. Thanks to Ren Zaikun's various protectors, Feng Youlan had a corner of spiritual security. It was when the Gang of Four and Feng Youlan's criticism were crushed that Ren Zaikun died suddenly because of ineffective treatment of lung cancer. She passed away with all kinds of helplessness and desolation. From the summer solstice of 19 18 to the autumn of 1977, the couple, who can really be called * * * *, have traveled a long way for 59 years. Fifty-nine years ago, Feng Youlan would never have thought of such an ending. Because for this philosopher, love, marriage, family and anything else have a process, but their essence is stable. In Feng Youlan's mind, "the noumenon of love", the noumenon of life, has long been integrated with the noumenon of his life and become an eternity, so what else will there be? Zong Pu, a Second Life woman writer.
Start publishing
19 18 In June, Feng Youlan graduated from Peking University and returned to Kaifeng. Soon after, the May 4th Movement broke out and quickly spread throughout the country. Although Feng Youlan didn't come in person, he responded positively and founded a publication called Voice with several friends. In the preface he drafted, he clearly pointed out: "The purpose of this journal is to import foreign ideas and express opinions on conscience, with a view to breaking the stereotypes in society and education, awakening their dreams, pointing out the way for the future and promoting their progress" (Preface to Sansongtang). At that time, The Voice became the only publication in Henan Province to promote the new culture movement. The May 4th period was one of the most intense periods of cultural conflicts and wars between China and the West in modern China. With the victory of Russian October Revolution, Marxism was quickly introduced into China and widely spread by Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai and others. Dewey and Russell's lectures in China, together with Hu Shi and Ding Wenjiang's vigorous advocacy, expanded the influence of pragmatism, Mahism and neo-realism, which became a temporary phenomenon. At the same time, other socialist and anarchist ideas also poured in. In the face of the influx of western ideas, some feudal conservatives also set up the banner of retro, stuck to local culture and rejected foreign ideas. For a while, the situation will be spectacular, various ideas and schools will confront each other head-on, and Chinese and Western cultures will compete in an all-round way. Where is China going? Where is the outlet of China culture? Such a question has been put forward in an unprecedented sharp form, which has caused a wide range of debates, and everyone is seeking answers in exploration.
Feng Youlan, who was born at this time, also seriously thought and explored this kind of problem. As he said in his later memories: "Since I was a student in Wuchang Chinese School in 19 15, I have written several books and many articles for more than 60 years. Generally speaking, the problem discussed is the cultural problems between the East and the West centered on the history of philosophy. I was born in an era of cultural contradictions and struggles. How to understand this contradiction, how to deal with this struggle, and why I am in this struggle are all questions that I have solved and answered positively. " Throughout Feng Youlan's life, the study of the history of philosophy and the evolution of philosophical thoughts are all around the cultural issues between China and the West.
It is with the idea of finding the answer to this question that Feng Youlan went to the United States in 19 19 to study under the neo-realist Meng Dage and the pragmatist Dewey. Because Bergson's philosophy of life was popular in China at that time, Feng Youlan was also interested in this school of philosophy, and specially wrote two articles, Bergson's Philosophical Method and Spiritual Power, to introduce Bergson's philosophical thoughts to domestic ideological circles. At the same time, he also used Bergson's philosophical point of view to write the article "Why there is no science in China", pointing out that; The reason why there is no modern science in China is not that China people are stupid, but that they can't do it, but they can't. Because China tradition pays attention to what people are, that is, character cultivation, rather than what people have, that is, knowledge and power; China's philosophy pursues inward, aiming at the perfection of human nature; Western philosophy, on the other hand, explores outward, with the ultimate goal of understanding nature and conquering the outside world. It is the different ideals and pursuits of Chinese and Western philosophy that have caused the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, which led to China's not lagging behind in modern science. During Feng Youlan's visit to the United States, he was also fortunate to meet Tagore, an Indian scholar who was visiting and giving lectures in the United States. He discussed some problems of eastern and western cultures together, and organized conversation record into a paper "Conversation with Tagore in India" (a comparison between eastern and western civilizations), which was published in the second issue of the third volume of China New Wave. At the same time, he also pays close attention to domestic academic circles. 192 1 year, Liang Shuming published the book "Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophy", arguing that the cultural dispute between China and the West is not a dispute between ancient and modern times, but a fundamental difference of "desire" as the root of culture, and based on this theory, he launched an all-round comparative study of eastern and western cultures. Feng Youlan agreed with this book at that time, and immediately wrote Liang Shuming's "Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophy" in English to introduce Liang's works and thoughts to American academic circles.
Return to China after graduation
1923, under the guidance of Dewey and others, Feng Youlan completed his doctoral thesis "Comparative Study on Life Ideal" (also known as "The Gain and Loss of Heaven and Man"). In this paper, Feng Youlan divides world philosophy into three categories: the first category is the loss of Tao; The second category is Yi Dao; The third category is the middle way. The difference between these three schools of philosophy stems from different views on "nature" and "man-made". He believes that there are only two things that human beings experience: one is "natural" and the other is "man-made". "Let it die, be kind to others, this is a natural thing. Man-made things, their existence will depend on people, which is just the opposite of nature. " Some philosophers saw the beauty of nature, but opposed the artificial environment, which damaged Taoist thought. For example, Laozi and Zhuangzi, who advocated "abandoning wisdom", "abandoning righteousness" and "abandoning profit" in ancient China, are typical; Some philosophers have seen the beauty of the artificial realm and advocated transforming the natural realm for the benefit of Taoism. For example, the western philosophy that advocates transforming and conquering nature and the China Mohist school that "human power overcomes nature" belong to this category; On the other hand, some philosophers hold a conciliatory and eclectic attitude and advocate that both nature and man are beneficial. This is an intermediate school, and this school should be represented by Confucian philosophers who advocate "the unity of man and nature". For these three schools, Feng advocated a tolerant attitude and let them go their own way, but his preference for Confucianism made him obviously biased towards the Confucian philosophy of the middle school. Feng Youlan's comparative view of Chinese and western philosophy is different from Liang Shuming's "three-way theory of culture", but the basic spirit is the same, which cannot be said to be influenced by Liang's cultural theory. The difference is that Liang takes Indian culture as the ultimate destination of mankind, while Feng takes Confucian culture as the destination. With the deepening of research, Feng Youlan finally surpassed this view. 1923, Feng Youlan visited China.
He taught the history of China's philosophy from 65438 to 0925, and also taught Zhuangzi to the Chinese language school run by Americans. During this period, his main work was the publication of 1926 Philosophy of Life. The first half of this book is basically a Chinese translation of Comparative Study on Life Ideal, and the second half of Outlook on Life is written according to his lecture notes on life philosophy in Cao Zhou Sixth Middle School in the winter of 1923. Feng Youlan later recalled: "In my philosophical thoughts, pragmatism comes first, then neo-realism" (Introduction to Sansongtang), and his change from pragmatism to neo-realism is clearly reflected in Philosophy of Life. In this book, he claimed to hold the viewpoint of neo-realism, and tried to combine neo-realism with China's traditional philosophy, which was fully exerted in his later neo-Neo-Confucianism system.
During the period of 1928, Feng Youlan taught the History of China Philosophy (1927-1937), which was the period when Feng Youlan devoted himself to studying the history of China philosophy.
193 1 and 1934, his History of China Philosophy was published in two volumes. This book is another widely influential work on China's philosophy history after Hu Shi's Outline of China's Philosophy History, which represents the highest level of research on China's philosophy history in 1930s. This book was later translated into English by Von's American student Bud, and became one of the few western works that systematically understood China's philosophy. In this masterpiece, he calls himself "the school of interpreting the ancient", which is different from Hu Shi's "school of suspecting the ancient". He emphatically demonstrated the orthodox position of Confucian philosophy in the history of China's philosophy. This accumulated ideological materials and made necessary theoretical preparations for his later establishment of Neo-Confucianism.
Attend a philosophy conference
Feng Youlan was invited to attend the 8th International Conference on Philosophy held in Prague on 1934, and gave an academic report entitled "Philosophy of Modern China". After the meeting, he was allowed to visit the Soviet Union through application. With great interest and the psychology of exploring the truth, he set foot on the territory of the Soviet Union. Mr. Feng later recalled the situation at that time and said: "As for the situation after the Soviet revolution, some people described it as a paradise, while others described it as a hell on earth. I want to see for myself what it really looks like. " From what he saw and heard, he came to the following conclusion: "The Soviet Union is neither a hell on earth nor a paradise. It's just that human society is changing, which may lead to heaven, but it's not the time yet. " (Introduction to Sansongtang) Feng Shengxian's impression is relatively real, without any prejudice. He also reached another conclusion through horizontal comparison: feudal society is expensive, capitalist society is rich and socialist society is Shang Xian.
Arrested for interrogation
After returning home, Mr. Feng made two official speeches based on what he saw and heard. One is rambling about the Soviet Union; Another time, with the theme of "Historical Philosophy of Qin and Han Dynasties" and some thoughts of historical materialism as the basic elements, he put forward the "New Three Systems and Five Virtues Theory", focusing on the viewpoint that social existence determines social consciousness and social consciousness reacts on social existence. This speech caused official doubts and dissatisfaction. At the end of the following year1at the beginning of the month 1 1, he was arrested and interrogated by the Kuomintang government police as a political suspect. The Kuomintang's move caused a national uproar and people protested one after another. Forced by the national democratic forces, Feng was detained for a few days and then released. Regarding this incident, Mr. Lu Xun once said angrily in a letter: "Be like Feng Youlan. If you want to be caught, you can infer something else." (Lu Xun's Letters) This incident also shocked Feng, but he did not break with the Kuomintang because of it, but chose a more cautious road.
Create a new neo-Confucian system
1937 to 1946 This period is a crucial decade in Feng Youlan's academic career, and his new Neo-Confucianism system was founded here.
1937 After the Lugouqiao Incident broke out, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was in full swing. Although Feng Youlan is in the rear, he is always worried about the survival of the Chinese nation and feels sad. He stayed in Changsha for a period of time and wrote such a poem: "The Erxian Temple worships Zhang Zhu, and the class is beautiful for a while. The office can visit Nanyue, and half of the country is too bleak. " His concern for the country and people is beyond words! In May 1946, Feng Youlan wrote an inscription for the monument of the United Nations General Assembly. The inscription is magnificent, profound and brilliant. He Bingdi, a historian living in the United States, called it a masterpiece of the 20th century. Feng Youlan himself attaches great importance to this article. In his later years, he recalled: "The article was written more than thirty years ago. From today's point of view, this article is insightful, emotional, imposing, rhetorical and syllabic, and contains the antitheses of the six dynasties in the ancient prose of Tang and Song Dynasties. I am a middle-aged classical writer, so I chose this period. Inheriting the stream of generations, and depending on the changes of today, it has its own thing, so love and literature are born together, involuntarily. Rereading today, the emotion is embarrassing. "
Hope to adopt!