Mind, Liangzhi, and Qi in Wang Yangming’s view that “nothing is external to the mind”

Abstract

Although I agree with Jeeloo Liu that Wang Yangming is not a subjective idealist, this does not rule other possibilities of idealism. Wang Yangming equates the mind to Dao and equates liangzhi to the Dao of Change. This suggests that the mind is not just a subjective mind. It can denote the all-encompassing universal mind. In his “blossoming tree” dialogue about the theme “nothing is external to the mind,” Wang Yangming alludes to the Book of Change. The underlying idea is that there is an undifferentiated unity before the calculative deliberation divides the subject and object. This idea of oneness also underlies Wang Yangming’s view of qi. I have reservations about using “naturalism” and “realism” to categorize Wang Yangming’s philosophy.