Yangming’s Philosophy of Heart-Mind and Heart-Nature Management

Yangming’s Philosophy of the heart-mind encompasses not only the study of “cultivating the roots and consolidating the essence” but also the study of “true understanding,” which is oriented towards life itself. From the fundamental ideas of Yangming’s philosophy, it is evident that everything possesses a mind, and nothing exists beyond the mind, which is clear and sincere. All problems ultimately boil down to the relationship between humans and the world, to the issue of transforming the world and achieving self-realization. As the unity of knowing and acting, we can understand the essence of “change and adaptation,” which is vividly exemplified in daily life. There must be a set of rules for management, which necessitates strict discipline and systems. However, in practical operation, rules are flexible and often “adhere to changes”: one must be good at “flexibility” and “adapting to changes with the same.” In fact, there is a principle of high degree of change, and this principle is ‘the Mean’.

Zang Fengyu (臧峰宇) is a distinguished service professor and the Dean of the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of China. He obtained his Ph.D. from Tsinghua University. His primary research interests include Marxist philosophy, modern political philosophy, and comparative philosophy. He has published six books, such as An Introduction to Marx’s Political Philosophy, On the Study of Marx’s Political Philosophy in the Context of Text Interpretation, and A Road to Wisdom. Additionally, he has edited several books, including Comparative Philosophy and Innovation of Contemporary Chinese Philosophy; Enlightenment, Historical View, and Marxist Dialectics, and Our Philosophical Sculpturing, among others.