All Things are Integrated, and the Metaphysical and the Physical are not Dual: the Reshaping of the Metaphysical Theory of Neo Confucianism During the pre-Zhu Xi Period

In order to revitalize the core values of Confucianism and effectively respond to Buddhism, Taoism and utilitarian mathematics, Neo Confucianism in the pre-Zhu period, centered on Zhang Zai, Er Cheng and his disciples, established a metaphysical theory that all things are integrated and the metaphysical and the physical are not dual. Zhang Zai used the “Taixu is Qi”, and Er Cheng and his disciples used the change of “Li (Yi) Qi”. On the one hand, it revealed that heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, people, objects (things) all come from the same source and are one, and all things coexist. On the other hand, it revealed that the natural laws of heaven and earth, human nature, and social personnel principles follow the same universal law. The nature of heaven and earth is the same as social personnel, and the Neo-Confucianism (Tao), and the above and below are not dual. The metaphysical theory of Confucius and Mencius Confucianism, which was shaped by Neo Confucianism scholars during the pre-Zhu period, laid the foundation for the “self-satisfied” human relations and politics which were the core value of Confucius and Mencius Confucianism. Because they firmly believed in the unity of all things and the unity of the metaphysical and the physical, they consciously had the universal responsibility of human relations and politics and resorted to self-cultivation and self-acquisition. It is precisely this Confucian spirit that criticizes the idea of Buddhism and Taoism becoming a monk, the idea of reclusive thought, and the idea of utilitarian mathematics being trapped in the secular world. Mining this spiritual resource will help promote the current socialist core values to cope with materialism and nihilism.