【Special issue: Confucian ethos: Etiquette & Vernacular life】The Philological Method of Ogyu Sorai and Dai Zhen

Author: Tsang-Long Liu (Department of Chinese, National Taiwan Normal University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 59, No. 1
Date：March 2014
Pages：25-42
DOI：10.6210/JNTNULL.2014.59(1).02

Abstract：

Ogyū Sorai (1666~1728) and Dai Zhen (1724~1777) both used the same method of philological hermeneutics to interpret ancient Confucianism in the pre-Qin period. Their conclusions are similar, with one exception: Sorai does not think that the concept of Qi（氣）did exist during the Spring and Autumn Period (770~476 B.C.). If this is the case, then Dai Zhen might have made the same mistake as the Song Confucians: interpreting Confucianism in foreign terms; otherwise we can assume that the concept of Qi can be traced to ancient classics such as Yi（易）, Zuozhuan（左傳）, and Guoyu（國語）, which were written during the Spring and Autumn Period. We seek to determine whether Dai Zhen’s theory of Qi-based human nature can be interpreted using his own system of philological hermeneutics. The discourse of both thinkers is compared to examine the objective validity of their methods, and to establish why they reached distinct conclusions by using the same methods.  

Keywords：method, philosophy, Ogy Sorai, philology, Dai Zhen

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