A CONSERVATIVE REFORMER IN T'ANG CHINA: THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF HAN YU (768-824) (BIOGRAPHY, CONFUCIANISM).

Abstract

Han Yu is famous in Chinese history both for his literature and for his defense of Confucianism at a time when it was being seriously challenged by Buddhism and religious Taoism. Although his influ- ence was limited during his own lifetime, in later times Han Yu came to symbolize the conservative Confucian values that are often identi- fied with the traditional Chinese state. This study examines Han Yu's life and thought in an attempt to determine to what extent his later image as an ideal Confucian was or was not justified. A chapter on the historical background provides the context for Han Yu's biography, which is divided into five chap- ters. This is followed by a chapter discussing the intellectual back- ground of Han Yu's thought. Two further chapters discuss, first, the basis of Han Yu's conservative image, and, second, a number of his writings which illustrate the limits of his conservatism. Han Yu's ideas are related to the political and social circumstan- ces of his times, and it is found that while he is indeed a conservative and a Confucian, the extent of both his conservatism and his Confucian orthodoxy have been exaggerated.