Wang Yangming (1472-1529), known as Wang Shouren, the word Yangming, the number Dingzhai, was a native of Shanyin County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province (now Shaoxing City). The great thinker, educator, and military strategist of the Ming Dynasty was also a master of science.
Wang Yangming was born in a scholarly family and has been smart since childhood. At the age of 20, he was promoted to the middle school, and then went to Beijing three times to take the examination, but failed. Later, he gave up the imperial examination and devoted himself to academic research. At the age of 30, he founded the "Xinxue" in the Yellow Crane Tower in Changsha, and put forward the outlook on life of "to conscience", which opened the atmosphere of Xinxue in the Ming Dynasty.
At the age of 32, Wang Yangming was recruited into the army to suppress peasant uprisings in various places. For more than 10 years after that, he actively promoted the idea of psychology in the barracks and improved the quality of the army. At the age of 40, Wang Yangming returned to his hometown to teach, and taught in his hometown, so that the idea of mental science was widely disseminated.
At the age of 45, Wang Yangming re-emerged, led the army to revive the border defense many times, and became the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department. However, he still insisted on learning and persuading others, and his lecture works continued to emerge. In 1529, Wang Yangming died of illness due to overwork at the age of 58.
Wang Yangming advocated the study of mind throughout his life, opened up the morale of the Ming Dynasty, and had a profound impact on later generations. He advocated the "unity of knowledge and action", emphasizing the conscience and the character, which became a monument in the history of Chinese thought. Wang Yangming was revered as "Mr. Yangming" by later generations and was a great thinker and educator in the history of our country.
The core theories of mind can be summarized as follows:
1.To the conscience.
Wang Yangming proposed that everyone can discover the inherent conscience in their hearts through introspection and introspection, and let conscience dominate their words and deeds. This is the famous idea of "to the conscience".
2.Knowledge and action are one.
Wang Yangming emphasized the unity of knowledge and action. True knowledge will lead to action, and action is the natural outpouring of knowledge. Knowledge and action are inseparable, and knowledge and action are one.
3.Gewu.
Gewu is the way to expand one's conscience. Wang Yangming believes that by observing objects and understanding reason, we can continuously improve the moral level of cognition and behavior, so that our conscience can be enriched and perfected day by day.
4.Unheard of.
Wang Yangming proposed that people can obtain knowledge that does not come from external experience through intuition or enlightenment, and this non-empirical intuitive knowledge can also constitute true knowledge.
5.Dedication.
Wang Yangming advocates that we should devote ourselves to doing things wholeheartedly and do our best regardless of the results. He emphasized that the process is better than the result, and the dedication is not intended to achieve results.
These theories formed the core content of the study of mind and had a profound impact on later Chinese thought. The study of mind emphasizes the awakening of the subject, which opens up the improvement of subjectivity in modern China.