15 Facts About Xuanxue

1.

Xuanxue, sometimes called Neo-Daoism, is a metaphysical post-classical Chinese philosophy from the Six Dynasties, bringing together Taoist and Confucian beliefs through revision and discussion.

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2.

Xuanxue philosophers combined elements of Confucianism and Taoism to reinterpret the I Ching, Daodejing and Zhuangzi.

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3.

In modern Chinese, Xuanxue is taken to refer to astrology, geomancy and other popular religious arts.

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4.

Xuanxue arose after the Han dynasty in early Medieval China.

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5.

Two influential Xuanxue scholars were Wang Bi and Guo Xiang, editors and leading commentators on the Daodejing and Zhuangzi, respectively.

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6.

One of the major defining features of Zhengshi Xuanxue is the "Pure Conversation" gatherings that took place among political and intellectual elites from the 3rd century onward, through which intellectuals questioned tradition and shared their ideas during the Wei-Jin and Six Dynasties periods.

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7.

Much of Xuanxue had become divorced from the realities of life and afforded an escape from it.

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8.

Goal of Xuanxue is to bring to light the nature and function of Dao, which appears dark and impenetrable.

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9.

Rather than a school of set doctrines, Xuanxue is a broad, dynamic intellectual front.

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10.

Many Xuanxue scholars argued that "words cannot fully express meaning, " as meaning transcends the limiting confines of language.

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11.

Xuanxue seeks to bring together Confucian and Daoist ideologies with fresh annotation and discourse, working with the classical definitions, doctrines, and rules set by previous philosophers.

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12.

Rather, Xuanxue is the study of the mystery and darkness of the intangible.

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13.

Xuanxue aims at unlocking the mystery of the Dao, but should not be confused with a revival of preceding schools of Taoism.

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14.

Xuanxue is committed to analytic rigor and clarity in explicating the meaning of Dao, employing the new, contemporary language of the time.

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15.

Xuanxue is not a kind of scholasticism that pitches one school against another.

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