Abstract:
“Gods” as an old philosophic category were varyingly defined, such as gods as the realistic existences, gods as the creators, gods as the role-players, in Chinese classics, including the “Book of Songs” and the “Four Books”. Down from the Song to the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Zai’s theory of “gods” mainly interpreted the characteristics, function and part of the subject of the heaven. Zhang’s discussion about “gods” aimed to upgrade the subject and establish a Confucianist ontology of heavenly law to answer back the Buddhist challenge. Meanwhile he intended to guide people to heavenly law in pursuit of the sage realm.
