In the world outlook, Dai Zhen put forward the proposition that "gasification is popular and endless, which is also its way". Like all ancient materialists from pre-Qin to Ming and Qing dynasties, he regarded "heaven" as a natural "heaven", inherited the tradition since Zhang Zai, and thought that heaven was formed by material qi.
At the same time, he put forward a very incisive famous saying, "When the ancients said Tao, they should always take care of Qi", pointing out that "Tao", as the ontology of the universe, includes both material Qi and the movement law of Qi-Reason. He believes that Qi is the "entity of Tao" and reason is the "hard rule" of Qi's movement, development and change. This accurately and satisfactorily solved the relationship between Tao, Reason and Qi in the history of China's philosophy, and blocked the loopholes that confused Tao and Reason and gave idealism an opportunity.
Dai Zhen also has the shortcomings of the old materialist, explaining social phenomena with the view of nature, and equating the class-divided human society with endless nature. He believes that "reason" in nature and "reason" in society are essentially the same, so they can depend on each other. In the preface of "The Original Goodness", he thinks that this metaphor is "similar in meaning, brilliantly entrusted, the way of heaven and man, and learned from it". Dai Zhen's philosophy and theory of good nature are embodied in Mencius' Word Meaning. Mencius' explanation of the meaning of words is based on his earlier Three Volumes of Yuanshan. The so-called "goodness" in the original goodness, in Dai Zhen's view, is not only a natural law, but also a social law and a human moral law. As a person's morality, it specifically refers to benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom.
In Dai Zhen's theory, benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are both human nature and human morality, which corresponds to the natural order and order. This is Dai Zhen's theory of good nature. Dai Zhen's theory of good nature is similar to Mencius' theory of good nature in appearance, but different in essence. Dai Zhen's moral concepts such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom, or kindness all come from real life (human relations and daily use), while Mencius' "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are rooted in the heart" holds that people's morality is innate and is in people's hearts at the same time of birth. This difference is the difference between simple materialism and subjective idealism in the history of China's philosophy. Benevolence theory In Dai Zhen's theory of benevolence, the state in which the matter (Yin and Yang) in the universe moves, changes and develops regularly is called benevolence. The normal and continuous state of human life is also called benevolence. Benevolence is the general law of the movement and development of nature and human society. He said: one yin and one yang, the change of heaven and earth is infinite, and the Tao is also. One yin and one yang, its life! It is natural and organized! Therefore, seeing the sum of heaven and earth means that one yin and one yang are the Tao. Life, benevolence, lifelessness and disorganization.
Benevolence is not only the criterion of the development of all things ("endless life"), but also the highest criterion of human morality. He said, "The noble are the benevolent." He also said: "Benevolent people are born with virtue, and' the quality of the people, the daily diet' is nothing more than humanity, so the living. One person is born, pushed to the world, and also benevolent. " Regarding intelligence, Dai Zhen believes that it is a kind of perception and cognitive ability of human beings. Although people and things (referring to other creatures) have the ability to feel, people can grasp the inevitable laws from natural phenomena, but other things can't. Therefore, people have wisdom, and things only have "feelings". This is because people's ability greatly exceeds that of other animals. The fourth volume of "Original Goodness" says that "the quality of human talents is far from things". Like all progressive thinkers since the Song and Ming Dynasties, Dai Zhen believes that correctly handling human desires is natural justice. He refuted Rusong's statement: "Sexual desire is indispensable. Restraint depends on the sky, not on the sky, but on human desires. " His definition of justice is that those who are justified by justice abstain from lust and are not poor. Therefore, you can't be poor, you must have it. Restraint is unnatural, so that there is no emotion, no emotion.
This is a very clear and thorough progressive theory on the issues of justice and human desires, which opposes the "preserving righteousness and destroying human desires" of Song Confucianism, advocates the rationality of human normal desires, and affirms that "correctly understood personal interests are the basis of morality".
Therefore, Dai Zhen's conclusion is that there is no one who thinks that "reason lies in the heart" and "reason is not out of desire", and there is no one who does not harm the world without taking opinions as reason. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, there have been more and more evils in this feudal society, and the harm has become more and more serious. People always disclose them in words. Dai Zhen's systematic and comprehensive theoretical analysis has become the center of his philosophical thought, which is undoubtedly his important contribution in the history of thought. Textual research in Qing dynasty made a comprehensive and in-depth study of ancient Chinese characters, phonology, group classics and philosophers, and made great achievements in literature. The emergence of this academic trend of thought, in addition to social and political reasons, also inherited and developed the academic and cultural traditions since the Song and Ming Dynasties. Jiao Xun said: "The writings of this dynasty wash away the ugliness of Yuan and Ming Dynasties", which is the characteristic and achievement of textual research in Qing Dynasty. As for being divorced from reality and approaching complexity, that is another aspect of textual research as a historical thing. Dai Zhen was the backbone and giant of textual research in Qing Dynasty, and was recognized by his contemporaries and future generations. The principles of Dai Zhen's textual research are as follows:
First, gain understanding step by step. He said: "Those who learn from it are also enlightened. So is Ming Dow's words. Therefore, words are also words. From word to word, from word to channel, there must be step by step. " He also said: "Ancient teachings are ancient classics, and ancient classics are wise and righteous. Those who feel the same way in their hearts are all clear." He also said: "From writing to language, from language to the hearts of ancient sages ... can't wait." This is the general method of textual research.
Second, treat information realistically. After careful study, he thought that "more than 9,000 words of storytelling failed to integrate the ancient times, that is, elegance was not enough". He also said: "It is inevitable that there are omissions in the training of fonts and characters." And explain it repeatedly with examples. These are excellent opinions and scientific attitudes based on erudition.
Third, master the principle and don't blindly believe it. In a letter discussing with Lu the unreasonable vulgar words repeatedly used by the Six Dynasties in Da Dai Li, Dai Zhen said: "If the meaning of the Six Books is harmed, the Han people should change it, not to mention the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties." Explain that information should be treated according to its right or wrong, rather than blindly following the ancient times.
Because of the above principles, Dai Zhen has strict requirements for academic research. He once put forward that "knowledge is more valuable than expertise" and "it is better to know one thing than to know ten things that cannot be reached".
In phonology, Dai Zhen divided the rhyme endings of ancient sounds into 25 parts, and put forward the theory that Yang rhyme and Yin rhyme * * * are combined in the entrance part. He called it "the collocation of two pairs, with the entrance sound as the collocation hub." On this basis, Dai Zhen founded the theory of yin-yang transfer. Dai Zhen also studied the details of ancient theories in great detail. For example, Zhu Yizun said in the preface to Reprinting Guang Yun that "the study of phonology flourished in the Six Dynasties. Zhou Yong is divided into four tones with the holiness of the son of heaven, and he learns from Shen Yue. " Dai Zhen pointed out that Zhou Qing was the fault of Zhou She.
In a word, Dai Zhen's textual research is a typical representative of the heyday of textual research in Qing Dynasty, and the ancient classics he studied have reached the level of "seeking deeply between languages, even between the subtle existence of languages". Dai Zhen's mastery of western learning and his unique views in natural science are another outstanding contribution to his scholarship. Dai Zhen lived in an era that was spread by western missionaries in the late Ming Dynasty and was inspired by Jiang Yong in his youth, so he had many in-depth studies and new insights in natural science, which were comparable to his textual research. Ruan Yuan recorded Dai Zhen's achievements in astronomy and arithmetic with a long story of nearly 4,000 words. In his biography, he said: The books are carefully calculated and concise, and they are quasi-ancient authors ... Beggars have their own Dai family, but scholars in the world dare not speak lightly, but his Tao is first respected. However, Dai's achievements are in Xuancheng!
As mentioned above, Dai Zhen's contribution to arithmetic is not only the compilation of ancient arithmetic books, but also three books such as Gougu Remember when he was a teenager. It is recorded in Biography of Dai Zhen that Mei Wending's three books, Trigonometry, Graben and Blockage Measurement, and Millet Ruler in the Ring, are easy to be given new names.
Dai Zhen's astronomy has many original opinions, which make some practical contents of ancient astronomical records clear. Dai Zhen participated in the compilation of astronomy in Xuzhi, including Zhong Dan in the Dark of the Stars, Stay Twelve Times, Astrology, Zodiac Accommodation, Six Rooms in Seven Balances, Shadow is Short and Shadow is Long, Arctic Competition, Five Steps of the Sun and Moon, and Harmony.
Dai Zhen gave a concise and clear explanation of this concept with his rich knowledge and understanding of ancient books and astronomical knowledge imported from the West. He said: the so-called equatorial pole of modern people is the north star of Lu Lun, and the right north pole of Zhou Xie is also called the north pole pivot. Nowadays, the so-called ecliptic pole means that the North Pole is in Zhouxie, and Zheng Zaiyuheng in Shu is covered with an imitation of the ecliptic pole. Later, it was dropped, and there were different opinions. Private speculation was unfounded. In the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (1762), he was a juren and toured the capital. In thirty-eight years, he joined Siku Library as a compiler. The following year, he won a scholar and awarded it to Jishi Shu. He is knowledgeable and has made great achievements in astronomy, mathematics, history, geography, phonology, writing and exegesis. He is one of the representatives of the "Ganjia School". As the editor of Sikuquanshu, he faithfully performed his duties. The classification and summary of classics, geography, natural calculation and Chu Ci in the General Catalogue of Sikuquanshu are mostly from his hands, with unique comments and rigorous textual research. There is a rich collection of books. There is a library called Zhanzhan Hall, which collects and displays imperial edicts and books given by Emperor Qianlong. The hatchback of Zhanzhan Hall is the library. Tibetan seal says "repair lotus to disperse people", "White jade is town, Shi Lan is incense". These books and manuscripts were presented to the descendants of Kong in his later years, and Dai's suicide note was inscribed by Kong himself. Its library was renovated twice in 1950s and renamed as "Dai Zhen Memorial Hall" in 1982. The museum displays the manuscripts of Dai Zhen's works, The Four Ku Quanshu, various versions of his works and tens of thousands of books such as classics, history, books and collections. He is the author of Textual Research on Mao Zheng's Poems, A Brief Proof of Mencius' Word Meaning, Textual Research on Sound and Rhyme, Notes on Dai Shui's Classics, Notes on Examinations, Pythagoras and Yuan Zhu, etc. Later generations edited his work into Dai's suicide note.