HUANG TSUNG-HSI

born Sept. 24, 1610, Y-yao, Chekiang province, China died Aug. 12, 1695, Y-yao Pinyin Huang Zongxi, also called Huang Li-chou one of the foremost Chinese scholars and reformers in the early Ch'ing period whose major contribution was a critique of the excessive authoritarianism of the Chinese political system. Study of his works was revived by Chinese reformers around the beginning of the 20th century. The son of a prominent scholar-reformer of the Ming dynasty, Huang refused to serve the subsequent Ch'ing dynasty. He fought with the last Ming resisters in South China and after their defeat retired to a life of scholarly pursuit. Although his range of interests included mathematics, geography, calendrical science, literature, and philosophy, he is best known as a historian and founder of the eastern Chekiang school, which attempted to develop objective rather than personal and moral standards for historical study. The school also insisted on the study of recent history as opposed to the traditional Chinese belief that value lay solely in ancient studies. Huang's first major work, the Ming-i tai-fang lu (1662; Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince), was a critique of despotism in Chinese history. He proposed that the office of prime minister, which had been in existence in ancient times, be revived as a way for the emperor to share his power with his high officials. He suggested reforms of the Imperial court and of education, civil-service examination, military, and taxation systems. He also recommended reforms of the legal code that would have made the law the impersonal embodiment of justice rather than the arbitrary dictates of despotic regimes. His Ming-ju hseh-an (1676; Survey of Ming Confucianists) is considered to be the first systematic history of Chinese philosophy. His Sung Yan hseh-an (1846, posthumous; Survey of Sung and Yan Confucianists), although unfinished, attempts the same kind of systematic study of Chinese thought for the Sung (9601279) and Yan (12061368) periods.