Abstract
The rise of lixue/daoxue (neo-Confucianism) as one of the key topics in Chinese intellectual history has been thoroughly discussed by historians. Coeval with the rise of lixue was a transition of political forms during the Song dynasty. Since Qian Mu’s discussion of the rise of monarchism during the Song, crucial frameworks in Song history have reflected on this issue, including the “turning-inward” theory of James T. C. Liu, the “local-turn model” of American historians specializing in Song, Yuan, and Ming history, and the detailed analysis of the dynamic process of Song lixue/daoxue history by Yu Yingshi and Hoyt Tillman. During the transition from the Northern Song to the Southern Song, the relationship between Confucian authority and monarchical power underwent profound changes. How did lixue scholars present themselves in their wrestling match with monarchical power? In my reading of Song intellectual texts, I find that lixue scholars were fond of the term “sacred learning.” The same term was also used by Song scholar-officials in referring to the Song emperors’ private learning. Through an analysis of the two different kinds of “sacred learning” in Song history, especially during the transition period from the late Northern Song to the early Southern Song, this study reveals the influence of monarchical power in shaping lixue history. Hence, it examines the political factor in the construction of lixue and adds a new dimension to historians’ understanding of the Song intellectual landscape.
Keywords
sacred learning, imperial lectures, neo-Confucianism, Cheng Yi’s students, monarchical power
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