Abstract
This dissertation centers on Lin Xiyi's Integration of Taoism and Literature, explaining his status in the synthesis and development of Neo-Confucianism in the late Southern Song Dynasty. In addition to Neo-Confucianism, Lin Xi-yi has his own unique interpretations of and position in literature, Zen, practical studies, philology, and linguistics. The study of Neo-Confucianism in the late Song Dynasty has not yet received the attention of the academic circles. It is hoped that the study of Lin Xi-yi can make further understanding and contributions in this field.
Lin Xi-yi belonged to the Ai Xuan School, which is characterized by its focus on literary style. As a school of Neo-Confucianism in Putian, Fujian Province, Lin Xi-yi’s theory is also different from that of Fujian School represented by Zhu Zi. Through the case study of Lin Xi-yi, I intend to figure out how local elite literati in the late Song Dynasty fought for their own right to discourse in Neo-Confucianism and developed their own characteristics. Lin Xi-yi’s interaction with the scholars and his daily writing not only test his identity, but also reflect the differentiation and collective memory of the scholars in the late Song Dynasty. Lin Xi-yi consciously integrated the text and Taoism, and paid attention to writing skills, which is different from most Neo-Confucian, who emphasized Taoism over literature and paid little attention to writing skills. Through the functionality of the text to scrutinize poets’ poems and Taoist poems, he could achieve enlightenment and understanding the meaning of "Tao." Lin Xi-yi possessed three identities—official, scholar, and poet—and the inclusiveness and integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism allows his identity as a neo-Confucian to be acculturated and developed under the succession of the Ai Xuan School. Classified as “vagabond poet,” Lin Xi-yi gave the identity of "poets" in the Song Dynasty a new definition. He paid attention to the artistry of literature and integrated diverse schools of poetry in the late Song Dynasty, demonstrating the deeper thinking of Neo-Confucians in their concepts of literature and Taoism.
The scholar-bureaucrats of the Southern Song Dynasty paid special attention to the study of "inner sage," personal inner cultivation, which is also reflected in Lin Xi-yi's definition of "inner sage and outer king" as “from ontology to practice.” Lin Xi-yi's Neo-Confucian thought is characterized by emphasizing "learning from the heart." On the premise of taking Confucianism as the foundation, he also used the concept of Zen enlightenment as the feature of synthesis, and used "heart" as an important medium to integrate the thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. He put forward the theory of "non-persistent mind" epiphany. Taixuan (Canon of Supreme Mystery) and Kaogongji (Book of Diverse Crafts) annotated by Lin Xi-yi reflect his political ideals and the systematic construction of human relations and order, and are also the concrete representation of his theory of morality and cultivation. Therefore, its connotation of "gewuqiongli" (study the phenomena of nature to gain understanding) is also different from that of the predecessors. It reflects that under the influence of Confucian rationalization and morality, the scholars of the Southern Song Dynasty carried out a new understanding and interpretation of the physical world. As for Lin Xi-yi's emphasis on iconology, he explained the world of all kinds of utensils and physical "things" through the investigation of "gewuqiongli," but with new concepts, which boil down to Neo-Confucians’ understanding of "Tao as Being" and "Tao in practice".