Abstract:
Distinguishing between Confucianism and Buddhism is a very important topic in Zhang Zai’s philosophy, and questioning the origin of all beings and setting down the value of human life are the two key points.As far as the former is concerned, Buddhism advocates that “Tathagata”(真如) is the origin of all beings，but in Buddhism，Tathagata is a spirit entity, so this view is not compatible to the reason of human beings nowadays.According to Zhang Zai’s Confucian view, every being originates from Qi(气), and he defends his view by way of reasoning; As to the latter point, Buddhism advocates that the true value of human life is to achieve “Nirvana”(涅槃)，however, as Zhang Zai pointed out, this view is based on the view that“Tathagata”(真如) os the origin of all beings.If the former is wrong, therefore, the latter is also untrustable.Zhang Zai criticized the negative characteristics of Nirvana and its negative influence of participation, and elucidated the Confucian view of the value of human life, based it on the view that every being originates from Qi(气).
