On Zhu Xi’s Distinction between Heavenly Principle and Human Desire

Abstract

Zhu Xi’s distinction between heavenly principle and human desire (理欲之辨) has been more often than not criticized by modern men, either as asceticism or as “demolishing humans with heavenly principles” (以理殺人). It should be acknowledged that errors are bound to occur should one employ modern languages to re-interpret ancient thoughts. For one thing, the discourse system internal to ancient times presupposed a self-evident premise that is different from that in modern times, a difference which, if ignored, will surely lead us to misinterpretations and misunderstandings. As a matter of fact, such misinterpretations and misunderstandings can be seen at the various levels of a modern reading of Zhu Xi’s distinction between principle and desire. In recent years, misunderstandings on such concepts as human desire (人欲), human mind (人心), or partial profit (私利) have received certain attention among scholars, an attention that has far to go yet in order to free itself from the shackles of modern contexts. By way of contrast, misunderstandings of other concepts, such as heavenly principle (天理) and the sage (聖人), have not received due reflection so far. Misinterpretations offered by such scholars as Feng Youlan (馮友蘭) and Mou Zongsan (牟宗三) are still popular among modern students of Zhu Xi, thus showing in a nutshell a coarse distortion of ancient ideas in modern contexts. These misunderstandings have not only hidden from view the profound meanings of Zhu Xi’s arguments, but also the intension of Zhu Xi’s theory of principle as a whole. This article attempts to offer a clarification of Zhu Xi’s distinction between principle and desire, through examining the different contexts of ancient and modern times and the self-evident premises therein, so as to reveal an alternative path of exploring the profound ideas in Zhu Xi’s Theory of Principle.