Li Zhi (philosopher)

Li Zhi (1527–1602), often known by his pseudonym Zhuowu (which means, “I who am smart”), was a Chinese philosopher, historian and writer of the late Ming dynasty.

A critic of the Neo-Confucianist views espoused by Zhu Xi, which was then the orthodoxy of the Ming government, he was persecuted and committed suicide in prison.

Lin Nu visited Hormuz in Persia in 1376, converted to Islam upon marriage to a Semu girl ("娶色目女") (who was most likely either Persian or Arab), and brought her back to Quanzhou.

In 1602, after being accused of deceiving society with heretical ideas by Zhang Wenda and other officials of the Censorate, he was arrested and imprisoned, where he committed suicide.

Li Zhi's philosophy was based upon Neo-Confucianism, though he was a staunch critic of the then-orthodox Cheng-Zhu School, and indeed identified himself as a heretic.

Although someone of a childlike heart-mind was once considered to be someone “naive, immature, and inexperienced in the ways of the world” – and thus “bound to come to a bad end” – Li uses the term in a different sense, as evidenced by his reference to the 13th-century play The Western Chamber (Xixiang ji).

[5] In referencing this, Li argues for the ideals of the lovers in the Western Chamber, the “spontaneity, genuineness, abundance in feeling, and passionate desire”.

"[5][6] Pauline Lee, however, rejects this interpretation, arguing instead that Li's work is useful in allowing us to understand the cultural milieu in which he lived, and that his “philosophical vision” bears great “intrinsic value and power”.

[5] “Zhen xin” is found in the Buddhist text the Platform Sutra, in which it is said to be analogous to the “deep concentration of oneness,” something to practice while also maintaining a lack of attachment to things.

[5] The childlike heart-mind is lost when anything from the outside – be those “aural and visual impressions” (even of the “Principles of the Way”), “knowledge and perceptions,” or the favor of a good reputation while masking a bad one – interferes with it.

"[5] Li felt that the childlike heart-mind's “genuine feelings and desires,” as well as the expression of these, could “connect one to an abundant and powerful source” which is too great for “phony” individuals to comprehend.

This seems contradictory, given that it was the sages themselves who wrote the books of these teachings that, when read and studied, would cause the students to lose their childlike heart-mind.

[5] For Li, writings such as the Analects and the Six Classics were not to be understood as the “ultimate standard for thousands of generations,” because, he proposed, these texts would not then be direct products of the childlike heart-mind.

Li did not believe in rule-based ethics, but in using one's innate and sensitive “faculty of knowing” (or the “child-like heart-mind”) to read and evaluate each situation as it came and to determine from this which action to take.

[7] Li Zhi once wrote to his friend Kong Ruogu regarding his own death, saying, “Under no circumstances should you leave my bones for others to take care of.

According to Kongzi, such a death is “genuine in feeling” (therefore not “deceptive”), occurs with friends and loved ones around, and is “supported by relations and rituals constructed by culture,” not alone and away from people and social customs.

"[5] Though Li does not employ the importance of ritual, “formality,” “social relations,” and “reverence” as part of his own ideas on the “good death,” he does incorporate some Confucian aspects of it, namely the qualities of genuineness and “sincere generosity."

[5] However, Li acknowledged the roles of culture and social relationships in people's daily lives, and so also believed that this single quality was not enough to secure a good life.

For instance, when he returned home to bury both his grandfather and second eldest son, he expressed to Kong Ruogu his guilt over having delayed the burial of his great-grandparents by fifty years.

[5] However, Li writes as if unfazed by the idea, saying that, should he die “on the road” (already an unfavorable death by Confucian standards), he should like for his body to be cremated or thrown into a river.

[5] Having been arrested in Tongzhou for behaving as a heretic and a traitor (such as by bathing with prostitutes and inviting high-class women to attend his various philosophical discussions), Li ultimately decided to die as he awaited his trial.

Believing that people are controlled their whole lives – and even after death (such as in burial) – Li chose to break free of this restraint by adopting the tonsure rather than returning home.

[5] Confucian feminism focused mainly on self-cultivation as a means of approaching patriarchal issues, primarily through “reading classical texts, writing poetry, engaging in discourse and debate,” and “meditation”.

[7] Li also challenges the hierarchical notion of the five essential Confucian relationships (father-son, ruler-subject, husband-wife, old-young, and friend-friend), all of which, aside from friendship, were based on power imbalance.

[7] Although the popular belief at the time was that women could not understand the Way due to their supposedly inherent “shortsightedness,” Li Zhi disagreed.

[8] A farsighted person, however, considers what is beyond that, “transcending” not only the body but also the “superficial appearances of life and death” while also turning their attention away from mindless chatter and prejudices and toward the teachings of the sages, which encouraged a more unbiased perspective.

Li illustrates this point by describing a hypothetical situation in which there is someone with “a woman's body and a man's vision,” someone who is both female and not only values engaging in conversation of the “transcendent,” but also understands that attachment to the ever-changing things of the material world is not worthwhile.

[8] By Li's own advice, it cannot be read by those who possess “eyes of flesh” (a Buddhist term indicating the “most mundane form of vision” characteristic of someone unenlightened).