ZHENG, Zemian

Associate Professor

B.Engineering (Wuhan University), M.Phil.(Wuhan University), Ph.D (CUHK).
Rm 424A
39437154
zemianzheng@cuhk.edu.hk

Brief Biography

Zemian Zheng’s research field is Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism. His M. Phil. Thesis is on Dai Zhen’s criticism of Song-Ming Neo-Confucian ethics. His Doctoral Dissertation is on Zhu Xi’s moral psychology. After he received his PhD from CUHK, he went to Berlin twice for two post-doctoral research projects at Dahlem Humanities Center of the Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin). He was a visiting scholar at the Department of Philosophy at UC Berkeley (April 2018- Feb 2019). He has taught Chinese Philosophy at Wuhan University for several years, the courses included “History of Philosophy (from Song to Qing dynasty),” “Introduction to the Confucian ‘Four Books’, ” “Introduction to Laozi and Zhuangzi,” “Seminar on Pre-Qin Philosophy,” etc. At CUHK, He teaches courses such as “History of Chinese Philosophy (Pre-Qin and Han)”, “Pre-Qin Confucian Philosophy,” “Seminar on Chinese Philosophy,” etc. He is the author of the monograph The Sincerity Pass: Reconstructing the Narrative of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism from later Zhu Xi to Wang Yangming (《誠意關：從朱子晚年到王陽明的哲學史重構》), Renmin Chubanshe (人民出版社), 2022. He has published papers on sincerity, self-deception, and the notion of oneness, the interaction between Chan Buddhist and Confucian philosophy, etc., in Chinese and English journals.

Research Interests

  1. Zhu Xi
  2. Wang Yangming
  3. Dai Zhen
  4. Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism
  5. History of Chinese Philosophy
  6. Comparative Ethics

Selected Publications

“Sincerity and Self-Deception” Research Project 「誠意關」系列論著：

  1. Zheng, Zemian. The Sincerity Pass: Reconstructing the Narrative of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism from later Zhu Xi to Wang Yangming (《誠意關：從朱子晚年到王陽明的哲學史重構》), by Renmin Chubanshe (人民出版社), 2022. (for Introduction and Table of Contents, see:《誠意關》引論與目錄)
  2. Zheng, Zemian. “Wang Yangming, Descartes, and the Sino-European Juncture of Enlightenment,” Asian Philosophy, 2021, 31(3).
  3.  “Zhu Xi and Later Neo-Confucians,” in Ng, Kai-Chiu, Huang, Yong, eds., Dao Companion to Zhu Xi’s Philosophy. 2020.
  4. “An Alternative Way of Confucian Sincerity: Wang Yangming’s Unity of Knowing and Doing as a Response to Zhu Xi’s Puzzle of Self-deception,” Philosophy East and West 2018, 68(4).
  5. “Self-deception, Sincerity (cheng) and Zhu Xi’s Last Word,”International Philosophical Quarterly, 2015 September.
  6. “Dai Zhen’s Criticism and Misunderstanding of Zhu Xi’s Moral Theory,” Dao: a Journal of Comparative Philosophy, 2015 September.
  7. <王陽明良知學中的「先天」與「經驗」>(“A priori” and “Experience” in Wang Yangning’s Theory of Liangzhi)，《新亞學報》 (New Asia Journal), 2020, vol.37.  （轉載於網頁版，期刊網站下載）
  8. <從朱熹的誠意難題到王陽明的知行合一——重構從理學到心學的哲學史敘事>(Reconstructing the History of Philosophy from Later Zhu Xi to Early Wang Yangming).《哲學動態》(New Studies in Philosophy), February 2021（轉載於網頁版）。
  9. <朱子晚年誠意思想考論>(Later Zhu Xi’s View of Sincerity)， 《中國哲學與文化》(Chinese Philosophy and Culture)，2017年, 第14 輯（轉載於綱頁版：academia.org 或 图片版）。
  10. <從王陽明的戒慎恐懼工夫看良知學的形成>（Wang Yangming’s View of Cautiousness and its Relation to the Genesis of the “Learning of Liangzhi” 《人文論叢》 (Humanities) 2017年第2期（轉載於網頁版）。
  11. <王陽明的「良知見在」說與儒家時間意識的突破>，《文史哲》2022年第2期（轉載於綱頁版，期刊官網免費下載）

Research on the Interaction between Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism 「重勘儒佛疆界」系列論著：

  1. <「傳己之心」與「向上一路」 ——心傳與道統的話語競爭作為鵝湖之會的「後傳」>，《現代哲學》2023年第2期（轉載於網頁版）。
  2. <謝靈運的詩與玄——從《辨宗論》中的「宗極」與「憑無」讀謝公山水詩>，《哲学研究》2022年第7期（轉載於網頁版）。
  3. <王陽明的「良知見在」說與儒家時間意識的突破>，《文史哲》2022年第2期（轉載於綱頁版，期刊官網免費下載）。
  4. <從宗密的「靈知」到朱熹的「主宰」：儒佛思想影響史的方法論反思與新發現>,《國立政治大學哲學學報》第四十七期(2022 年 1 月) ，頁1-49。（From Zongmi’s Divinatory Knowing to Zhu Xi’s Sovereignty of Moral Agency: New Findings and Methodology about the Interaction between Buddhism and Confucianism）（轉載於網頁版，期刊官網免費下載)。
  5. <從朱子與陸象山的字號看儒禪之代興——經典世界中如何察名>，《中山大學學報》（社會科學版），2022年第1期(The Traces of Chan Buddhism in Zhu Xi’s Courtesy Name and Lu Jiuyuan’s Art Name: A Method for Investigating Names in the Classical World)（轉載於網頁版）。
  6. <「將第八識斷一刀」 ——論大慧宗杲對朱熹晚年的真知與誠意思想的影響>，《中國哲學史》2021年第6期。（轉載於網頁版）
  7. <「以心求心」與「以禪抑禪」——論大慧宗杲思想對朱熹批評湖湘學派的影響>，(“Seeking Heart by Heart” and “Refuting Chan by Chan”: Dahui Zonggao’s Influence on Zhu Xi’s Criticism of Huxiang School)，《東吳哲學學報》(Soochow Journal of Philosophical Studies), vol. 43. February 2021.（轉載於網頁版，期刊官網免費下載）

“Oneness and Perception in Neo-Confucianism” Research Project「萬物一體」系列論著：

  1. “Love and the Paradoxes of Unity: Zhu Xi’s Debate with Followers of Cheng Hao over ‘Perceptual Oneness,’ Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 2017, 12(3).
  2. “Thinking through the Heart of a Child: Luo Jinxi on Body and Rituals,” Ming Qing Studies, 2016.
  3. “Two Kinds of Oneness: Cheng Hao’s Letter on Calming Nature in Contrast with Zhang Zai’s Monism,” Philosophy East and West, 2015 October, 65(4).

Other journal articles on Pre-Qin Philosophy 先秦哲學散論：

  1. <荀子論欲望與人的自我轉化──性、情與欲的道德心理學詮釋> (Xunzi on Desire and Self-transformation: a moral psychology of xing, qing and yu) 《哲學評論》(Wuhan University Philosophical Review), 2014 April, (12).
  2. <告子思想淵源考──兼論“求則得之”作為孟子倫理學的思想起點> (the Source of Gaozi’s Thought and the Starting-point of Mencius’s Ethics)，《武漢大學學報》(Journal of Wuhan University), 2013：66(324).