A Comparison Between the Thought of Wei Yuan and Xunzi

Xiaofei MA

Abstract


The thought of Wei Yuan has a lot in common with that of Xunzi. First of all, Wei Yuan and Xunzi both care more about modern times instead of ancient times. Secondly, these two philosophers focus a lot on practical administration and value utility, which is considered to be utilitarian. Thirdly, Wei Yuan usually uses exegesis of The Book of Odes as a vehicle for political commentary just as Xunzi does. The similarity results from similar social background of the late Qing and Warring state periods; the revival of the Modern-text School which in 19th century served as the most important camp for the tradition of focusing on practical administration developed by Xunzi, as well as the popularity of study of Xunzi in the Qing Dynasty. However, with his mind deeply rooted in the cultural tradition of China, Wei Yuan failed to step further into modernity.

Keywords


Wei Yuan; Xunzi; Thought; Modernity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bentham, J. (2005). An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Chen, Q. T., & Liu, L. X. (2005). A critical biography of Wei Yuan. Nanjing: Nanjing University Press.

Chen, Y. N. (1985). Xunzi and Wei Yuan. Qiusuo, (5), 62-64.

Feng, Y. L. (1976). A short history of Chinese philosophy. New York: The Free Press.

Kuhn, P. A. (2002). Participation and authority in the thought of Wei Yuan. Origins of the Modern Chinese State (p.48). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Kuhn, P. A. (2002). The thought of Wei Yuan. Origins of the modern Chinese state (pp. 27-54). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Liang, Q. C. (1985). A brief introduction of the scholarship in Qing Dynasty. In The collection of two books on the history of scholarship in Qing Dynasty by Liang Qichao (W. Z. Zhu, Ed., pp.1-91). Shanghai: Dudan University Press.

Liu, Z. H. (2008). The history of political thought in pre-qin period. Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe.

Luo, J. Q. (2005). The studies of ancient philosophers in the thought history of Qing Dynasty. Anhui Shixue, (3), 5-16.

Qian, M. (1997). The history of Chinese scholarship in the late three hundred years. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan.

Shi, G. X. (2006). Talking about the rise of the studies of ancient philosophers in the Late Qing Dynasty. Shixue Yuekan, (2), 38-45.

Tang, K. L. (1987). Talking about the ethical thought of Wei Yuan. In Studies on the Thought of Wei Yuan (S. Z. Yang and L. Y. Huang, Eds.). Changsha: Hunan Renmin Chubanshe.

Wang, R. B. (2015). The modernity of China. Guilin: Guangzi Normal University Press.

Wang, X. Q. (2012). The collection of interpretation of Xunzi (X. H. Shen and X. X. Wang, Eds.). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.

Wei, Y. (1976). The collected works of Wei Yuan. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.

Wei, Y. (1976). The preface of collections of verse named Yinxin Shiwu by the emperor. The Collected Works of Wei Yuan (pp.244-245). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.

Wei, Y. (1994). Treatise on scholarship and government (L. X. Zhao, Ed.). Shenyang: Liaoning Renmin Chubanshe.

Xiao, G. Q. (2010). The history of Chinese political thought. Beijing: Xinxing Chubanshe.

Xunzi (1988). Xunzi: A translation and study of the complete works (J. Knoblock, Trans.). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Yu, Y. S. (2006). The general introduction of Chinese philosophy and the revolution of the study of history. In Modern Scholars and Scholarship (Z. J. Shen, Ed., pp. 287-296). Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/12420

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2022 Author(s)

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Reminder

  • How to do online submission to another Journal?
  • If you have already registered in Journal A, then how can you submit another article to Journal B? It takes two steps to make it happen:

Submission Guidelines for Canadian Social Science

We are currently accepting submissions via email only. The registration and online submission functions have been disabled.

Please send your manuscripts to css@cscanada.net，or css@cscanada.org for consideration. We look forward to receiving your work.

 Articles published in Canadian Social Science are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).

 

Canadian Social Science Editorial Office

Address: 1020 Bouvier Street, Suite 400, Quebec City, Quebec, G2K 0K9, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138 
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net; Http://www.cscanada.org 
E-mail:caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net

Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture