On CHENG Hao’s Yi-ology

Seldom has the academic circle mentioned CHENG Hao’s Yi-ology. Departing from his propositions such as “the producing and reproducing Yi is just the Dao (Way)”,“the heaven and human are but one”,“the heart itself is the heaven”,and his“discriminations between physics and metaphysics”, this paper clarifies his thought on Yi. CHENG Hao regards Yi as the Dao and thinks that contents of the Dao is producing and reproducing and thereby producing and reproducing is the substance of the Dao, which represents the Idea of heaven. Departing from the universal Dao, i.e. the Idea, he set forth:“heaven and human are but one, inseparable and without any difference”. For the relationship between heaven and human, CHENG Hao stresses human’ value, holding“without human, the heaven and earth will not be seen”,“human is the heart of the heaven and earth”,“human heart itself is the heaven”. Meanwhile, for the relationship between the Dao and utensils, regarding the Dao and Idea of heaven as the basis, he explicated clear demarcation and real correlation between them, and attached more importance to the unity between them.