Book review
Philosophy Guides Life
——A Book Review about the Short History of Chinese Philosophy
Feng Youlan put forward his own philosophical definition in the book called the short history of Chinese philosophy: "it is a systematic reflection on life". The word philosophy often has some obscure and complicated color. Based on this, I didn’t have interest in reading philosophy until the novel coronavirus pneumonia broke out. When reading philosophy, we must calm down and try to understand the essence and depth of predecessors' thoughts. Additionally what impressed me most was the brilliant philosophy of the predecessors as well as the cultural confidence emerged during the reading process.
First of all, when it comes to content, Mr. Feng Youlan has systematically combed and displayed the principles and development paths of traditional Chinese philosophy, which created huge convenience for the readers’ subsequent understanding of the development history of traditional Chinese culture and thought. Next, in terms of language style, the style of this book is not too literary, professional and obscure, but relatively plain, simple. There is no doubt that it makes the audience of this book objectively have the possibility of expansion.
What I highly recommend is Feng Youlan's statement on the function of philosophy: "The function of philosophy is not to enhance positive understanding, but to improve the mind of human, transcend the real world, experience the value higher than morality". This makes me reflect on what I can get from it. First of all, I hold a view that this book needs to read slowly, accurately, carefully and repeatedly. The first reading experience may just achieve the effect of general browsing. But what I got from reading is the spiritual washing and sublimation, and the improvement of reading and thinking ability. The essence of Chinese philosophy spirit is both coming out of the world and entering the world. It is both idealism and realism. It stresses reality rather than superficiality. This kind of spirit internalizes into daily behavior life, and also provides methodological guidance for our life.
Putting this methodology into my study and life, I have got enlightenment: " To set up a mind for heaven and earth, to set up a life for the living people, to continue to learn for the saints, and to open peace for all the world." Set up a high degree of feelings of nation and country, and take this as one of the driving forces of learning to achieve the "unity of knowledge and practice" situation. In the process of learning, we should guard against arrogance and impetuosity, stick to the solid understanding of knowledge, and achieve the integration of "whatever nature" and knowledge with yourself. These insights are the accumulation of the essence and understanding of scholars in the past dynasties, which will be valuable ideological wealth for China and even the world and also an important capital for our cultural self-confidence.
There are still many misunderstandings in this classic book for the first time reading. To understand the essence of China's philosophy is still a long way to go. In the future, I will continue to learn the essence of China's traditional philosophy and apply it to the life, hoping that I can have a deeper understanding later.
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