Viewing the Thoughts on Governance from the Perspective of “Serving Heaven”: On the Late-Ming Confucianist An Shi-feng’s Notes on Honoring Confucius
Author: Chun-wei Lin
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
This paper aims to analyze the Late-Ming Confucianist An Shi-feng’s Notes on Honoring Confucius (尊孔錄), and shows his thoughts on governance and its features. The main argument of “Serving Heaven,” which is a vision that differs from the existing landscape about the Ming-Qing transition of intellectual history, is the fundamental principle to reflect problems of governance. Not only can “Serving Heaven” become a discourse to govern, but it also presents a different perspective for criticizing Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism (理學). Simultaneously, another essential principle of “Serving the Emperor,” which is cognate with the discourse of “Serving Heaven,” is discussed to show the relationship between the emperor and the officials.
Keywords：governance、Heaven-Man Relations、Serving Heaven