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China and Inner Asia
Organized Panel Session
Wang Yangming’s career as a Ming official assigned to quell rebellions in south China proved that he strengthened the state. The numerous policies he implemented were designed to reestablish order by constructing institutions from the ground up and by extending the state’s reach. Those who argue that he sought to reorient political focus from the centralized bureaucratic state to the people who made up communities underestimate the extent to which his policies and the ethical program informing them were wedded to his understanding of the government’s role. Furthermore, although his doctrine of good knowing (liangzhi) seems to lend itself to fostering the moral autonomy of the individual and thus to the decentering of structures of authority, when viewed from the perspective of Wang’s understanding as to how it accounted for his political actions, liangzhi too strengthened the state.
What is stated here has been discussed in scholarly literature. However, two developments make revisiting this history timely and a definitive statement necessary. First, publication of a new edition of his Collected Works in 2012 has brought to light more official communications. Second, as a component of its revival of Confucianism, the People’s Republic of China is promoting the study of Wang’s life and thought. Hence, the volume of scholarship on him has grown. In light of this latest scholarship, this paper provides a critical synopsis of both how Wang Yangming’s policies strengthened the Ming state and the debate over the connections between his ideas and his political actions in south China.
George Israel
Middle Georgia State University