Constructive Realism
"Why Ancestor Is Possible" in Zhu Xi's Religion View
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3133655 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Linqiang Quan (0009-0001-0908-7347, Wuyi University, corresponding author), Xiaodong Xie (0000-0003-2163-2667, Xiamen University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1025 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16081025 |
| OpenAlex | W4413131765 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
Traditional Chinese ancestor worship implicitly raises a fundamental question: How are ancestors possible? This question was formally articulated in the Zhu Xi' philosophy. Qi holds ontological status: the "birth" of things arises from the aggregation of qi, while their "death" means the dispersion of qi-a clearly naturalistic proposition. Yet, paradoxically, Zhu Xi also asserts that during sacrificial rituals, deceased ancestors can exist in some form, reflecting a realist stance toward religious objects. These two propositions appear contradictory. To resolve this contradiction, He implicitly proposes "constructive realism", suggesting that whether ancestors "exist" can only be meaningfully considered when the ritual participant possesses a state of chengjing gange
Ancestor · Constructive · Contradiction · Epistemology · Naturalism · Proposition · Realism · Chinese history and philosophy · Computer Science · History · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |