| 英文摘要 |
The school of principle of Japanese Sinology understands there to be a continuous principle running through philosophy. Confucianism provided a standard of absolute truth as the ruling ideology amidst changes in the Ming-Qing era and the emergence and development of modern ideas. This standard of truth brought forth an ideology of the public sphere within which essential substances could be identified. Based on an exposition and analysis of a case of soul stealing in the Qianlong era, the paper looks at how the various layers of power were able to use public discourse under the umbrella of absolute truth. The paper also argues that this sphere of absolute discourse impeded the growth of rational groups and prevented the formation of a social ideology that would be able to uphold the rights of minorities. Moving to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the use of fixed descriptions such as Chinese, Western, revolutionary or conservative applied to it, the paper looks at the implicit essentialism of these descriptions. The case of the Taiping movement shows how a muddled combination of Chinese and Western ideas leads to an oversimplified division into two essences: Chinese and Western. Finally the paper looks at the seemingly Westernised ideas of democracy and science which were important in modern China and at how China imparted a special sense to them, which was a result of China's traditional mode of absolute truth. This mode of thought still holds sway in China today. |
