关键词: 魏源, 经世, 历史意识, 体用论, 净土, 乌托邦

Abstract: As a representative of New Text Confucianism in the late Qing Dynasty, WEI Yuan has always been examined in Confucian history of the debate between Old Text Confucianism and New Text Confucianism. Although influenced by New Text Confucianism, WEI has also provided new insights through absorbing Taoism and Buddhism. Taking the idea of administering state affairs as the backbone, WEI tries to understand the categories of substance and function in a new way, enrich the Confucian tradition of his time with the dao in Laozi and the Book of Changes and promote the Gongyang practice of discovering deep meanings expressed with sublime words. As a natural result of his seeking for dao, WEI’s conversion to Buddhism does not mean he withdraws from society in his late ages. However, limited by his historical consciousness, WEI fails to develop the radical element of Utopia in his concept of “pure land” in the context of human secular history, although this concept is absorbed in the Huayan doctrine of the unity between things and principles. Similarly, he has not developed from the Buddhist concept of “pure land” an idea of great harmony characterized by Utopian, which can be seen in KANG You-wei.