An epistolary composition on the 400th anniversary of dialogue with Wang Chuanshan, in order to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Wang Chuanshan’s birth
Wang Yangming (1472-1529), named Shouren, courtesy name Bo'an, and Yangmingzi was his nickname, was from Yuyao, Zhejiang.
Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692) was a thinker, historian and scholar in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The courtesy name Ernong and the nickname Jiangzhai were from Hengyang, Hunan Province. In his later years, he lived in Shichuanshan, Zhengzuo, Xiangxi, Hengyang for a long time, so scholars called him Chuanshan and Mr. Chuanshan.
The modern philosopher Xiong Shili once said that he admired the study of two kings (Yangming and Chuanshan). In terms of Neo-Confucianism, I dare not talk about the pros and cons, as I have never read them carefully. Some people admire Yangming, some admire Chuanshan, and some admire both.
And today, although there is a legend about Chuanshan, very few people see it. There are many books about Yangming, and they are read by many people. Among the entrepreneurs I know, there are also those who have carefully studied Yangming's "Traditional Records" and respected it as the spirit of their enterprises. In addition to Neo-Confucianism, Wang Chuanshan also made considerable achievements in poetry ("Jiang Zhai Poetry Talk", etc.) and history ("Du Tongjian Lun", etc.). But people today are not doing specialized research, so they probably don’t know much about it. Yangming's poems and articles, I remember there are two in "Gu Wen Guan Zhi". I don’t know much about poetry, let alone its calligraphy.
Mr. Chuanshan's writing is obscure, and it would be difficult to understand it if he didn't put some effort into ancient Chinese prose. Therefore, it is difficult for people to understand the value of his articles.
Most people today probably know Yangming and Chuanshan more than those who admired Chuanshan. This is not only due to their contributions to Neo-Confucianism, but the main reason is probably due to Wang Yangming’s military achievements. In terms of the comprehensive achievements of historical figures, Yangming should be better than Chuanshan. Wang Yangming is the master of mind science, and his and Lu Jiuyuan's academic achievements are collectively known as "Lu Wang's Mind Science". His Lu Wang Xinxue had many followers and developed multiple schools, which had a great influence on the late Ming Dynasty. As mentioned before, Wang Yangming is a rare all-around great Confucian in Chinese history. He combines the three traditional Confucian principles of "establishing moral character, establishing words, and performing meritorious deeds" into one person. He can be called a thinker, philosopher, writer, military strategist, etc. Of course Wang Chuanshan was also very powerful. He was one of the three famous thinkers in the late Ming Dynasty. He proposed the famous idea of "following the rule of the world". He, Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu were collectively known as the three major enlightenment thinkers in the late Ming Dynasty.