An Exploration of the Methodology of Dai Zhen’s Interpretation of the Confucian Classics: Centered on “A Letter Discussing Academics with Shi Zhongming”   

Li Changran

Abstract: The methodology of interpreting the Confucian classics of the Qianjia School on textual criticism was represented by Dai Zhen’s “A Letter Discussing Academics with Shi Zhongming”. With the help of hermeneutic and modern linguistic theories, we can reveal the strict structure and wide theoretical adaptability expressed through the outline of interpreting the classics. Dai was consciously aware of the logic presupposition that the Confucian classics conveying Tao, so he took the classics as the authoritative basis to quell arguments, and devoted himself to the objective interpretation of the classics. He pursued to manage complicity with simplicity (i.e. the judgment), and attached more importance to the hermetical joint between viewpoints and materials (i.e. the accuracy). The proposition of “understanding the discourse from the words” put forward in the letter means the semantic interpretation to deduce the specific text from abstract character, which was misunderstood as induction in classical hermeneutics. The letter did not fully discuss the idea of “understanding Tao from the discourse”, but the proposition of “meeting with the mind” by Jiang Yong and Dai Zhen which had the pragmatic meaning indicated that understanding the man and his times was just the implementing rule for interpreting the text according to its meaning. Although Dai wanted to terminate the endless arguments by the “classics”, he forgot that he had already shaken the authority of “dictionary”.