Intellectual Trends in the Fifteenth Century

The intellectual history of the fifteenth century has long been one of the understudied aspects of Ming history. Books on the general history of Chinese philosophy or thought almost as a rule start with Wang Yang-ming (1472–1529), whose philosophy matured only in the sixteenth century. Occasionally, Ch'en Hsien-chang (1428–1500), the most original thinker of the fifteenth century, is also mentioned, chiefly as the immediate forerunner of the School of Mind which became prominent in the following century. In general, Ming thought of the fifteenth century is presented as a mere continuation of the Neo-Confucianism represented by Chu Hsi (1130–1200) and his predecessors, Ch'eng Hao (1032–1085) and Ch'eng I (1033–1107). It was not until Wing-tsit Chan's 1970 article, “The Ch'eng-Chu School of Early Ming,” that early Ming thought was shown to have actually undergone “significant changes, assumed a definite direction, and in these ways anticipated the rise of the School of Mind that culminated in Wang Yang-ming.” Analyzing the thought of four Neo-Confucian masters, Ts'ao Tuan (1376–1434), Hsüeh Hsüan (1392–1464), Wu Yü-pi (1391–1469) and Hu Chü-jen (1434–1484), Chan argues that the important change seen in these thinkers is that, unlike their Sung predecessors, “the intellectual element [in their thought] has become subordinate” so that “the mind occupies the central position,“ to the extent that one (for example, Hu Chü-jen) “closely tied together the investigation of things and the preservation of the mind.” What was valued was “personal demonstration instead of intellectual speculation,” and “seriousness in personal cultivation took precedence over the extension of knowledge.” This point is reinforced by Chien Yu-wen's study on Ch'en Hsien-chang's “philosophy of the natural.” These thinkers are thus presented as incrementally building up an important new trend of thought.