Li Zhi, Confucianism, and the Virtue of Desire

1. Introduction

1 C H A P T E R O N E Introduction I. LI ZHI’S LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH YEAR OF THE WANLI REIGN (1590) Li Zhi 李贄 (1527–1602), widely known as one of the foremost iconoclastic thinkers in Chinese history, was born in the commercial southern district of Jinjiang 晉江 in the port city of Quanzhou 泉州, the southern province of Fujian, in the sixth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming period (1527).1 In the course of his lifetime, he came to participate actively in a wide and passionate discourse of his time that centered around a cluster of notions, including “desire” (yu 欲), “feeling” (qing 情), and “genuineness” (zhen 真). Critical voices from this period—Li Zhi himself, Yuan Zhongdao 袁中道 (1570–1624),2 Jiao Hong 焦竤 (1541–1620),3 Tang Xianzu 湯顯 祖 (1550–1616),4 to name just four—differed, often times quite radically, in their focus, conception, and philosophical positions regarding these related ideas. The terrain of this discourse was complex and varied, and disputes were sustained, wide-ranging, and passionate. Much recent scholarship has drawn attention to this widespread discourse among literati in the late-Ming and referred to voices within it as forming a “cult of feeling” or “qing.”5 The late-Ming,6 of course, is not the only period in Chinese history when we find such intense and feverish debate regarding the spontaneous expression of the self.7 But the period spanning the 16th and 17th centuries is certainly one of the highpoints in Chinese history on this subject and offers a distinctive variation on this broader theme.8 In Li Zhi we find one of the most compelling and subtle expressions of this general point of view and a developed philosophical vision that is relevant and significant to contemporary ethics. Li argues for a rich and philosophically viable account of the good life as the spontaneous expression of genuine feelings. He was one of the most 2 Li Zhi, Confucianism and the Virtue Of Desire central, celebrated, and creative thinkers within the late-Ming “cult of feelings,” and significant aspects of his view remain both viable and interesting today. The titles of Li Zhi’s major works reveal much about his bold and iconoclastic character: A Book to Burn (Fenshu 焚書) and A Book to Hide (Cangshu 藏書).9 The letters (generally in fascicles 1–2), miscellaneous writings including essays (fascicles 3–4), historical commentaries (fascicle 5), and poetry (fascicle 6) from the former work comprise a six fascicle, or chapter, book commonly considered the most controversial and imaginative of Li’s works. In the preface to this collection, Li Zhi explains the title of his book: A Book to Burn includes responses to questions written to me by my dearest of friends (zhi ji 知己). Because these letters come so close to what gives sustenance to contemporary scholars, and since these letters strike at the heart of their chronic diseases, if these scholars were to read these letters they would certainly wish to kill me. Therefore I desire to burn this book. I say that I must burn and discard it. I cannot keep it. . . . When I declare that I desire to burn this book, I say so because the book grates upon people’s ears. When I declare that I desire to engrave the blocks for this book, I say so because the book speaks to people’s hearts (ru ren zhi xin ye 入人之心也).10 As for those who find my work grates upon their ears, they most certainly will succeed in killing me, which is something that merits fear. But I am sixty-four sui.11 If one of my essays speaks to the heart of another, then perhaps I may find somebody who understands me! I take joy (xing 幸) in those few who might understand me and therefore have carved these printing blocks.12 Historian Timothy Brook helpfully calls on the metaphor of the changing seasons to schematically illuminate the socio-historical developments in Ming China. The period begins in the winter, a time of stability, strict adherence to role-specific duties, and careful attention to farming. Spring, from the mid 1400s through the 1550s, brings emerging social mobility and economic prosperity. In summer, from the mid 1500s through the fall of the period in 1644, mobility and prosperity yield to corruption and greed.13 Li Zhi’s life spans both the spring and summer. Throughout his writings, there exists boundless evidence of Li’s frustration with what he referred to...