英文摘要
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Ouyang Nan-ye was a philosopher of nouslogy during the mid-Ming dynasty. This paper uses a approach of life history, by looking at how Ouyang practiced his thought in life to analyze the essense of his nouslogy. Ouyang became genuinely perplexed with life at a very young age, twice choosing not to take the imperial examination in his search for the life meaning, and becoming one of Wang Yang-Ming's favorite disciples. Later on he passed the imperial examination and served in Liuan, where he encountered substantial problems in the experience and practice of nouslogy; in four letters with Wang he clarified four main concepts: first, that one's conscience is not fully dependent on what one experiences in life, but life experiences can nevertheless become an inspiration for one' s conscience; second, that conscience is not the same with contemplation, but all thoughts contemplated out of conscience correspond to Heaven' s truths, sharing the same characteristics of being "natural, clear, and simple", and as such are called "realizations"; third, that life in society and one's inner nurturing should not be treated separately, and one should face all the complexities of social life regardless of physical or mental discomfort to ceaselessly experience the unfolding of conscience, which is the only path to the realization of conscience; fourth, that the realization of conscience will summon advance premonitions in the dealings with others in daily life, yet one need not presuppose fraudulent or untruthful attitudes in conducting one' s actions, since sincerity will naturally bring out the innate good, which functions like a omniscient mirror beholding all the beauty and ugliness of the world. Ouyang Nan-ye practiced these four concepts in his life, and became a leading figure in nouslogy after Wang's death. When Ouyang entered service in the central government, he found that the political environment was a hindrance to the development of nouslogy, and as a result renounced social activities to immerse himself in his books. Through his extensive reading, he became immensely acquainted with the official protocols and rites of the Ming court, and in infusing the essence of nouslogy into study of rituals, he countered the impropriety of the Jiajing Emperor on several occasions, thus gaining the trust of the emperor in taking on the protocols and rites of the court. By correcting what was improper at the court, Ouyang managed to reverse the rejection of nouslogy in his political environment. Since he was in charge of education in the central government at both Beijing and Nanjing, his disciples were spread across China, and a seminar held at Beijing's Lingji Palace with other nouslogy comrades attracted five thousand participants, making the topic of conscience highly discussed in Beijing. In his many years serving in the central government, Ouyang brought his own realizations in thought into his principle of "following conscience", the essence of which is to be completely truthful to oneself: one's actions are merely how one faces his own consciousness, and as long as one has a clean and polished consciousness, conscience will also shine brightly to facilitate all actions in life; consequently, all training of matters are ultimately attributed to training of sciousness. Ouyang believed that one could not find salvation by renouncing the world, as everyone holds fundamental responsibility for the purification and elevation of his own life, in which lies his own life meaning.
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