| Abstract: | 本論文聚焦於王肯堂（ 1549 － 1613）的知識與思想世界，以王肯堂為主，特別措意明末時期的知識人如何認識世界與自我這個問題。 王肯堂能夠聯合似乎無關的思想領域聯繫起來，比如：醫學， 意識哲學（唯識學）， 法律，耶穌會傳入的西學， 書法，詩歌理論， 倫理學等。 我論文以王肯堂對於「認識到世界」的理解為軸，以他如何探討視覺以及眼識為主要議題。 對王肯堂而言，人如何認識外世界、透過哪一些方法得到相關外在世界的知識，這個問題對他而言顯得十分重要，故此在他的著作裡，頻頻以哲學角度或 從醫學角度 或從西方傳入科學的角度來討論這些問題。
The dissertation centers on the figure of Wang Kentang - an outstanding late Ming scholar-official and polymath who contributed to the many fields of knowledge: Chinese medicine, Ming law, Buddhist studies, calligraphy, classical Confucian commentaries, and even the adaptation and spread of Western knowledge. The Late Ming intellectual landscape was a complex fusion of different intellectual trends, as late Ming literati frequently transcended the categories of classical Confucian rationalism. The social and cultural changes that late Ming society faced shaped literati’s quest for knowledge and tested the boundaries of a Confucian scholar, allowing him to adopt new socio-intellectual identities.
Wang Kentang has not yet received sufficient attention from modern scholarship, despite being a promising object for research. Even the fact that Kentang was officially recognized in the History of Ming (Ming shi 明史) as an outstanding physician and his rich textual legacy in this field did not sufficiently stimulate academic research of his medical thought.
The general leitmotif of the thesis is to understand the way late Ming literati thought of acquiring knowledge of the surrounding world, primarily through visual perception, how they envisioned the epistemological means and conditions for producing valid knowledge, and how these epistemological ideas were put into practice in the life and writings of such exemplary "man of époque" as Wang Kentang. To understand the way Wang Kentang (and late Ming literati in general) theorized on the means of knowing and perceiving the world and the way it influenced his "epistemological quest," I have chosen several `intellectual identities` of Wang Kentang, on which I focus my attention: unsuccessful scholar-official; famous physician, labeled as 儒醫 ruyi; lay Buddhist, who took an active part in Yogācāra revival effort of master Zibo Zhenke紫柏真可 and his circle; open-minded Chinese literati, who interacted with the first generation of Jesuits (namely, Matteo Ricci). Each of these identities represents a specific sociocultural process of late Ming society and reflects the trends of thinking and epistemological aspirations of late Ming literati.
The dissertation shows the close relationship between Wang Kentang`s sociocultural identities and the fields of knowledge he dedicated his efforts to. Furthermore, it helps to outline the consistency of Wang Kentang`s quest for knowledge despite the diversification of his scholarly attention. To make a bridge between Wang Kentang`s theorizing on the acquisition of knowledge and the practical application of epistemological theory, I explore his (and, through him - a broader picture of late Ming thinkers) ideas on visual sense and visual cognition. The topic of physiological and cognitive aspects of eyesight and visual perception, and even a discussion of a foreign perspective, allowed me to combine all major Wang Kentang`s identities and, therefore, the main fields of knowledge that his scholarship touched upon. |
