Abstract:

In contrast to the school of textual research, ZHANG Xue-cheng argues that the way to achieve Dao can't be confined in textual research since what it can achieve is merely Dao in the Three Dynasties rather than Dao as a whole. Then he advocates "to be a sage by learning from common people": man can achieve Dao by exploring the traces of yin and yang in the daily lives of common people, overcoming the limitation of the subject and composing historical works. This way to achieve Dao, however, also seems to be a little narrow. It remains a problem how we can inherit Chinese tradition that everyone can achieve Dao in our knowledge-dominant age.

Key words: DAI Zhen, ZHANG Xue-cheng, textual research, history, Dao