A New Study on Zhang Taiyan's View on Freedom based on His Discourse on Chinese Traditional Thoughts

Freedom is one of the key concepts in discourses on modernity.Zhang Taiyan,a major thinker during the Xinhai Revolution,establishes his view on freedom through brooding about Chinese traditional thoughts.For him,freedom,in ontological terms,means wudai(depending on nothing).In his great work Explication on Qi Wu Lun,he establishes his ontological conception of freedom and equality by arguing how I exist and disappear.In the area of epistemology,through discussing Xunzi,Zhuang Zi and Buddhism,etc.,Zhang Taiyan provides his own unique views on issues such as the mechanism whereby humans acquire their epistemological freedom,the human cognitive ability,truth and scientific principles.But on the other hand,he seems to have led the discussion on real epistemology away and onto unreal mind construction due to his Buddhist stance.In the area of ethics,Zhang Taiyan discusses how to develop free personality.He focuses on how to derive the principle of depending on oneself,not others,from traditional thoughts.He also tries to revive traditional morality to cope with the modern situation.