Pan Pingge (; 1610–1677), was a notable Chinese philosopher during the late-

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and early-

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

period.

Biography

Pan was born in Cixi City,

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...

in late Ming Dynasty in 1610. His

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

was Yongwei (用微). During the Shunzhi Era, Pan lived in Shanying (

Traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

: 山陰/山阴; current Shaoxing), Zhejiang Province for ten years. Later Pan became a lecturer in

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a strong pos ...

(昆山; current

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

Philosophy

Pan chronologically studied and inspected the philosophies of Cheng- Zhu, Lu-

Wang Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thailand ...

, and Buddhist philosophy (especially the Zen buddhism). Pan discovered some subtle conflicts between these philosophical schools, and thought the

Neo-confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Wa ...

developed in

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

, Yuan and Ming dynasties were quite derivatives from the original thoughts or principles of

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

and

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...

. Pan criticized that Neo-confucianism mixed too much Zen buddhism, thus called those confucian scholars the "Monks of the

Confucian Temple A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of t ...

". Pan considered that Cheng-Zhu School philosophically debated with Lu-Wang School is a kind of using

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

to attack

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

(以老攻佛), and vice versa (以佛攻老). Pan's philosophy was ''searching for the humanity'' (求仁), and he emphasized to search

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...

or true knowledge from daily living and practice. Pan proposed the theories of ''one integrated mass'' (渾然一體/浑然一体) and the ''sight from the true mind'' (見在真心/见在真心).

Works

Books: * ''Searching for Humanity'' (《求仁录》) * ''Summary of Pan's Searching for Humanity'' (《潘子求仁录辑要》), 10 volumes, by his students * ''Innovations of the Four Classics'' (《四书发明》) (The four classics stand for the Four Books of Confucianism, namely the ''

Great Learning The ''Great Learning'' or ''Daxue'' was one of the "Four Books" in Confucianism attributed to one of Confucius' disciples, Zengzi. The ''Great Learning'' had come from a chapter in the ''Book of Rites'' which formed one of the Five Classics. I ...

'', the ''

Doctrine of the Mean The ''Doctrine of the Mean'' or ''Zhongyong'' is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and a central doctrine of Confucianism. The text is attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), the only grandson of Confucius (Kong Zi). It was originall ...

'', the '' Analects of Confucius'', and the ''

'') * ''The Critique of Two Schools'' (《辨二氏之学》) (Two schools are two main Neo-confucian schools, the ''Cheng-Zhu School'' and the ''Lu-Wang School'')

Main references

Biography of Pan Pingge, from Ningbo civic archive of Qing Dynasty

Brief Biography of Pan Pingge, from Huaxia.com
Papers:
Religious Dimension of the Xiaojing Discourse in the Late Ming
by Miaw-fen Lu

by Pan Qizao 1610 births 1677 deaths Ming dynasty philosophers Writers from Ningbo Qing dynasty philosophers Ming dynasty essayists Qing dynasty essayists Philosophers from Zhejiang 17th-century Chinese philosophers {{Confucianism-stub