In the late Qing and Republic of China, how to interpret Chinese cultural tradition became an unavoidable step to seek reconstruction the system of Chinese civilization for the modern scholars. The different positions held scholars have led to the different paths of converting academic tradition. It is important to sort and evaluate the Confucianism of Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties. The analyzing of the Confucianism and Taoism, the interpreting of the controversies over Mencius and Xun Zi and the clarifying the doctrine of Spring and Autumn ram reform became the key to determine if Neo-Confucianism in Qin and Han Dynasties is a metamorphism or a development. Hu Shi believed that the Neo-Confucianism of Qin and Han Dynasties was a mixture of Confucianism, Mohism and Alchemists, which gradually became religious, and Guo Moruo regarded it as a complete metamorphism. Li Yuancheng pointed out that it was a key element in the academic evolution of Zhou and Qin to reconcile Mencius and Xun Zi and to integrate Confucianism and Taoism into, thus it established the perfect Neo-Confucianism. According to Yi Chuan and Dai Ji, based on cosmology and life theory, Qian Mu suggested the Neo-Confucianism of Qin and Han Dynasties integrated Confucianism and Taoism, which was the important hub in the history of Chinese academic thoughts;Dong Zhongshu tempered and compromised various thoughts, proposed the reform theory, but went astray; Gu Jiegang regarded the historical truth as the inner layer and core of Chinese culture, and thought Dong Zhongshu inherited the theories of Yin and Yang and Five Elements to serve the Han Dynasty. And Gu also addressed the current academic innovation should absorb the criticism of Song and Qing learning research, and transcend the dispute of Jinwen and Guwen. During the period of the Anti-Japanese War, a new trend of Neo-Confucianism had arisen in the academic field. He Lin emphasized that China should not lose its cultural autonomy to fall into the cultural colonies. Through connecting Confucian ethics and the political system, Confucianism and Historiography, Meng Wentong tried to illustrate that ″Neo-Confucianism of Qin and Han Dynasties″ had developed the doctrines of the Mencius and supported the revolutionary thought of Jinwen classics. Having proposed these new theories, Meng Wentong aimed at subverting outdated thoughts and promoting new ones for the future. Facing the great changes of modern Confucianism, the scholars had been able to reconstruct the subjectivity of Chinese civilization and to integrate the Chinese and the Western, the new and the old based on their traditions, positions and their care of Yili. If taking breaking down the old tradition as innovation or drawing far-fetched analogies between Chinese attached Western doctrines, it will inevitably separate the tradition from the reality, the value from the knowledge, and will not be able to escape the fate of the cultural colony. The probes of the sources and purposes of the scholars in the historical context of the republic of China will further reveals multiple paths of integrating the Chinese and the Western, the new and the old. Blending together the various methods and purposes may carry forward and transform Chinese cultural morality, system and historical facts by the way of the modern knowledge and academic system, further build dynamic relationship between cultural spirit, historical traditions and civilization and realize the revival of civilization in practices.
张凯. “秦汉新儒学”与近现代儒学之重建[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2018, 4(2): 202-213.
Zhang Kai. Neo-Confucianism of Qin and Han Dynasties and the Reconstruction of Confucianism in Modern China. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2018, 4(2): 202-213.