Abstract:

The academic mainstream in the period of late Ming and early Qing transformed from the doctrine of mind to the doctrine of textual criticism. The internal drive of the transformation was rooted in the critical trend of thought in then intellectual circles which renounced the declining Neo - Confucianism. At that time the country was going through a historical turn from the fall of the Ming Dynasty to the establishment of the Qing. As a result a national rejuvenation gave way to a national salvation, and the focus of enlightenment turned from political reforms to nationalism. Intellectually, in the process of criticizing the empty and even useless doctrine of mind advocated by the Ming Neo - Confucianism the doctrine of textual criticism began to rise as an ideological weapon in opposition to the Qing Dynasty.

Key words: the doctrine of mind, Chen and Zhu Neo - Confucianism, the doctrine of textual criticism, the social critical trend of thought