Abstract:
Ch'en Pai-sha (also known by the names Po-sha and Hsien-chang, 1428-1500) has been claimed as one of the most original thinkers of the Ming dynasty, and officially appraised as one of the most important Confucian scholars in China's history. He briefly held some court appointments in his early days, but soon returned to his native village where he spent the rest of his life as a recluse. This natural and idyllic environment was his paradise where he discovered the beauty, tranquillity and meaningfulness of Nature, and regarded them as the manifestations of his inner resources. An individualist, he never published any books, but composed more than two thousand poems, expressing his own joyous, spontaneous and creative experiences: experiences that would have been unattainable through intellection alone. His life was characterized by a constant process of self-realization. This study begins with a survey of the historical and intellectual background of his time, followed by an account of his life. The bulk of the thesis is devoted to tracing the development of his methods of personal cultivation, and the evolution of his philosophy, Ch'en Pai-sha devoted more than ten years to the practice of meditation and this resulted in his discovery of the "substance" of mind. The last chapters examine his belief in the "union of man and universe" and his experience of spontaneous creativity. His mode of thought provided not only an insight into the problems of man's existence, but also a solution for the conflicts which existed in traditional rival schools of thought: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
