Wang Yangming
Family name: (姓)	Wang (王) (Pinyin: Wáng)
Given name: (名)	Shouren (守仁) (Pinyin: Shǒurén)
Courtesy name: (字)	Bo'an (伯安) (Pinyin: Bo'an)
Hào 號: (號)	Yangming (陽明) (Pinyin: Yángmíng)
Posthumous name: (謚)	Wencheng
	(Ch: 王文成公 ; Py: Wang Wenchenggong)
Title: (封號)	Xinjianbo (新建伯) (Pinyin: Xinjianbo)
Styled:	Master Yangming
	(Ch: 陽明子, or 陽明先生;
	Py: Yángmíngzǐ, or fr. Yángmíng Xiānshēng;
Romanised as "Wang Yangming".

Wang Yangming,1st Earl of Xinjian, (1472–1529) was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Zhu Xi. He was known as Yangming Xiansheng or Yangming Zi (both mean "Brilliant Master Yangming") in literary circles. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... A Chinese surname, also called a clan name or family name (姓, pinyin: x ng; or 氏, shi), is one of the over seven hundred family names used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cha can also refer to a Latin American dance, also called the Cha-cha-cha. ... A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name, is an extra name that could be used in place of the given name. ... Japanese name Kanji: Hiragana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Vietnamese name Quốc ngữ: Hán tá»±: A posthumous name (諡號) is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in some cultures after the persons death. ... // The King, or Wang (Chinese: 王 or 國王; wáng), was the title of the Chinese head of state until the Qin dynasty. ... A style of office, or honorific, is a form of address which by tradition or law precedes a reference to a person who holds a title or post, or to the political office itself. ... Languages can be romanized in a variety of ways, as shown here with Mandarin Chinese In linguistics, romanization (or Latinization, also spelled romanisation or Latinisation) is the representation of a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language... February 20 - Orkney and Shetland are returned by Norway to Scotland, due to a defaulted dowry payment Possible discovery of Bacalao (possibly Newfoundland, North America) by João Vaz Corte-Real. ... Events April 22 - Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... In philosophy, idealism is any theory positing the primacy of spirit, mind, or language over matter. ... Neo-Confucianism (理學 Pinyin: Lǐxué) is a term for a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang dynasty. ... Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (born October 18, 1130, Yuxi, Fujian province, China – died April 23, 1200, China) was a Song Dynasty (960-1279) Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. ... A Confucian temple in Wuwei, Peoples Republic of China. ... This article is not about continental rationalism. ... For other uses, see Dualism (disambiguation). ... in Christianity: Eastern Christianity Oriental Orthodoxy Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy by country in Judaism: Orthodox Judaism Modern Orthodox Judaism Jewish organisations: Orthodox Union Categories: ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...

Life and times

Born Wang Shouren (守仁) in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, his courtesy name was Bo'an (伯安). His father was an earl and a minister of civil personnel. He earned the "recommended person" degree in 1492 and the "presented scholar" degree in 1499. He served as an executive assistant in various government departments until being banished for offending a eunuch in 1506.^[1] However, his professional career was later ensured when he became the Governor of Jiangxi.^[2] Yuyao (simplified Chinese: 余姚; pinyin: Yúyáo) is a city in Zhejiang province, China, capital of Yuyao district, Ningbo. ... Zhejiang (Chinese: 浙江; pinyin: Zhèjiāng; Wade-Giles: Che-chiang; Postal System Pinyin: Chehkiang or Chekiang) is a eastern coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Cha can also refer to a Latin American dance, also called the Cha-cha-cha. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-hsi; Postal map spelling: Kiangsi) is a southern province of the Peoples Republic of China, spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south. ...

Wang became a successful general and was known for the strict discipline he imposed on his troops, repressing several rebellions. In 1519 AD, while being governor of Jiangxi province, he repressed the uprising of Prince Zhu Chen-hao, and made one of the earliest references in using the fo-lang-ji in battle, a breech loading culverin cannon imported from the newly-arrived Portuguese venturers to China.^[2] While governor of Jiangxi he also built schools, rehabilitated the rebels, and reconstructed what was lost by the enemy during the revolt. Though he was elevated to an Earldom, he was ostracized for opposing Zhu Xi.^[1] Breech from Russian 122 mm M1910 howitzer, modified and combined with 105mm H37 howitzer barrel An interrupted screw style breech plug in the M109 howitzer An animation showing the loading cycle for a large naval breech-loader. ... A culverin is a cannon that fires an 18-pound solid round shot. ... For other uses, see Cannon (disambiguation). ... Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (born October 18, 1130, Yuxi, Fujian province, China – died April 23, 1200, China) was a Song Dynasty (960-1279) Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. ...

Thirty-eight years after his death, he was given the titles Marquis and Completion of Culture. In 1584 he was offered sacrifice in the Confucian Temple, the highest honour for a scholar.^[1] Apricot Platform in the Confucian Temple at Qufu. ...

Philosophy

Wang was the leading figure in the Neo-Confucian School of Mind, which championed an interpretation of Mencius (a Classical Confucian who became the focus of later interpretation) that unified knowledge and action. Their rival school, the School of Li (principle) treated gaining knowledge as a kind of preparation or cultivation that, when completed, could guide action. Mencius (Romanization; 孟子, pinyin: Mèng Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Meng Tzu; most accepted dates: 372 – 289 BCE; other possible dates: 385 – 303/302 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself. ... For other uses, see Knowledge (disambiguation). ... Action, as a concept in philosophy, is what an agent can do, as for instance humans as agents can do. ...

Innate knowing

Out of Cheng-Zhu's Neo-Confucianism that was mainstream at the time, Wang Yangming developed the idea of innate knowing, arguing that every person knows from birth the difference between good and evil. Such knowledge is intuitive and not rational. These revolutionizing ideas of Wang Yangming would later inspire prominent Japanese thinkers like Motoori Norinaga, who argued that because of the Shinto deities, Japanese people alone had the intuitive ability to distinguish good and evil without complex rationalization. His school of thought (Ōyōmei-gaku in Japanese, Ō stands for the surname "Wang", yōmei stands for "Yangming", gaku means "school of learning") also greatly influenced the Japanese samurai ethic. Neo-Confucianism (traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: )/(traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Sung Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... For other uses, see Evil (disambiguation). ... Intuition has many meanings across many cultures, including: quick and ready insight seemingly independent of previous experiences and empirical knowledge immediate apprehension or cognition knowledge or conviction gained by intuition the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference. ... Rational may be: the adjective for the state of rationality acting according to the philosophical principles of rationalism a mathematical term for certain numbers; the rational numbers the software company Rational Software; now owned by IBM, and formerly Rational Software Corporation This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which... Motoori Norinaga (Japanese: 本居宣長; 21 June 1730–5 November 1801) was a Japanese philologist and scholar during the Edo period. ... Shinto ) is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ... For other uses, see Samurai (disambiguation). ...

Knowledge as action

Wang's rejection of the investigation of knowledge comes from the fact that at the time the traditional view of Chinese thought was that once a person gained knowledge, they had a duty to put that knowledge into action. This presupposed two possibilities:

• That one can have knowledge without/prior to corresponding action.
• That one can know what is the proper action, but still fail to act.

Wang rejected both of these which allowed him to develop his philosophy of action. Wang believed that only through simultaneous action could one gain knowledge and denied all other ways of gaining it. To him, there was no way to use knowledge after gaining it because he believed that knowledge and action were unified as one. Any knowledge that had been gained then put into action was considered delusion or false.

Mind and the world

He held that objects do not exist entirely apart from the mind because the mind shapes them. He believed that it is not the world that shapes the mind, but the mind that gives reason to the world. Therefore, the mind alone is the source of all reason. He understood this to be an inner light, an innate moral goodness and understanding of what is good. This is similar to the thinking of the Greek philosopher Socrates, who argued that knowledge is virtue. For other uses, see Mind (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Reason (disambiguation). ... This page is about the Classical Greek philosopher. ...

In order to eliminate selfish desires that cloud the mind’s understanding of goodness, one can practice his type of meditation often called "tranquil repose" or "sitting still" (靜坐 py jìngzùo). This is similar to the practice of Chan (Zen) meditation in Buddhism. PY, Py or py may stand for: Pinyin, a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Mandarin Chinese used in the Peoples Republic of China. ... For other uses, see Zen (disambiguation). ... Buddhism is a variety of teachings described as a religion[1] or way of life. ...

Calligraphy & Literature

Wang is also a well-known calligraphist and poet in history.

Influence

• Wang Shouren is regarded one of the four greatest masters of Confucianism in history along with Confucius, Mencius and Zhu Xi (孔孟朱王).

• Wang Yangming founded the Yaojiang School (Chinese: 姚江學派) or Yangming School of Mind (Chinese: 陽明心學), which became one of the dominant Confucian schools in China's middle and late Ming periods and Qing period. Typical figures who came from this school after Wang were Wang Ji (王龍溪), Qian Dehong (錢德洪), Wang Gen (王艮), Huang Zongxi (黃宗羲), Li Zhuowu (李卓吾) and Liu Zongzhou (劉宗周). Wang Gen formed the Taizhou School (泰州學派), which promoted a leftist version of Wang Yangming's thought. During the late Ming period, Wang Yangming's thought wielded a great deal of influence in China and became a popular form of learning.

• The Japanese Admiral of the Russo-Japanese War, Togo Heihachiro, was influenced by Wang, and made a stamp which read, "One's whole life followed the example of Yangming" (一生低首拜陽明). In Japan, many scholars and politicians (this group of people is named in Japanese as: 陽明学者) came from Wang Yangming's school (Ōyōmei-gaku) in history, including Kumazawa Banzan (熊沢蕃山), Saigō Takamori (西郷隆盛), Takasugi Shinsaku (高杉晋作) and Toju Nakae (中江藤樹). Toju Nakae is regarded as the founder of Japanese Ōyōmei-gaku.

• Chiang Kai-shek named a national attraction in Taiwan, Yangmingshan, after Wang.

Confucius (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu), lit. ... Mencius (Romanization; 孟子, pinyin: Mèng Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Meng Tzu; most accepted dates: 372 – 289 BCE; other possible dates: 385 – 303/302 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself. ... Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (born October 18, 1130, Yuxi, Fujian province, China – died April 23, 1200, China) was a Song Dynasty (960-1279) Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. ... The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daicing gurun; Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China expanded into China proper and the surrounding territories of Inner Asia, establishing the... Huang Zongxi (黃宗羲, 1610-1695) was the name of a Chinese political theorist, philosopher, and soldier during the latter part of the Ming dynasty into the early part the Qing. ... Combatants Russian Empire Principality of Montenegro [1] Empire of Japan Commanders Emperor Nicholas II Aleksey Kuropatkin Stepan Makarov â€  Emperor Meiji Oyama Iwao Heihachiro Togo The Russo–Japanese War (Japanese: Nichi-Ro Sensō, Russian: Russko-Yaponskaya Voyna, Chinese: RìézhànzhÄ“ng, February 10, 1904–September 5, 1905) was a conflict... Admiral Togo at the age of 55, shortly before the Russo-Japanese War Fleet Admiral Count Tōgō Heihachirō (東郷 平八郎 Tōgō Heihachirō OM, January 27, 1848 - 30 May 1934) was a Japanese Admiral and one of Japans greatest naval heroes. ... Kumazawa Banzan Kumazawa Banzan ) (1619-1691) a famous adherent to the the school of the mind that applied the introspectiveness of the school of mind to political theory in Japan following the Edo Period. ... Saigō Takamori 23 January 1827/28 — 24 September 1877), one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history, lived during the late Edo Period and early Meiji Era. ... Takasugi Shinsaku (高杉 晋作 1839-1867) is a samurai who contributed to the Meiji restoration. ... Tōju Nakae (21 April 1608–11 October 1648) was a Japanese Confucian philosopher known as the sage of ÅŒmi. Nakae was a feudal retainer who lived during the Tokugawa shogunate. ... Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was the Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. ... Seven Star Mountain with hot springs on the side Closer view of hot springs on Seven Star Mountain Yangmingshan (陽明山) refers to the Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園) and its surrounding area. ...

Notes

References

• Chan, Wing-tsit (translated and compiled). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 7. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Antonio S. Cua (1982). The Unity of Knowledge and Action: A Study in Wang Yang-ming's Moral Psychology. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-0786-3. 
• Wang Yang Ming in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

See also

• Neo-Confucianism
• Tu Wei-Ming
• Zhu Xi
• Huo Long Jing