Hsi K'ang the Neo-Taoist and Li Chih (1527-1602) the Mescellanist shared one thing in common. They were both descended from ancestors who had offended against high officials, and had settled far away from their native place after changing their surnames. Li's surname should have been Lin, just as his spiritual comrade Ho Hsin-yin (1517-1579) should have been against some wicked authoritarians and hypocritic scholars, Hsi, Ho and Li were persecuted to death. Like Socrates, Li never attempted to escape. On the contrary, he preferred to obey the law of the land as if martyrdom could enhance immortality. Among the T'ai-chou School of Wang Yang-ming's disciples, Li Chih was most heterogeneous in thought. Some of his forefathers were Muslims. He met Matteo Ricci thrice, the first time in 1598. But he did not understand or accept Islam or Catholicism. Refuting Mencius's severe structures on Moh Tzu, he supported the Mohist doctrines of universal love and funeral frugality. There are four main dimentions to his philosophy:
1. Confucianism--He enjoyed reading the Book of Changes at night with his bosom friend, Chiao Hung, who also revolted against the Ch'eng-Chu School of Neo-Confucianism. Li's Confucianism was more idealistic than rationalistic. Although he greatly admired Confucius, Mencius and Hsun Tzu, he denied the absolute authority of Confucius and the total reliability of the Confucian Classics. Still he accepted Mencius's theory of inherent goodness (hsing-shan) and Hsun Tzu's ethico-political realism. In an essay On the Child's Mind, he eulogized the original goodness of human nature. It was fame and profit that led scholar-officials toward avarice and brutality. But total freedom from selfishness was self-deception. Even sages could not help giving consideration to fame and benefit. Tung Chung-shu showed his pedantry in contrasting righteousness with profit, because righteousness should be determined according to universal welfare or the common good. Li's pragmatic and utilitarian approach probably encouraged the Yen-Li School of the Ch'ing dynasty. No wonder he preferred Yeh Shih and Ch'en Liang to Ch'eng I and Chu Hsi. For Li, it was possible to commit oneself without expecting beneficial consequences. Only pseudo-moralists refrained from mentioning profit. In Northern Sung, Fan Chung-yen urged Chang Tsai to study Confucianism instead of military strategy. Li Chih accused Fan of belittling military art, indispensable for national defence, and superior in importance to food and even trustworthiness. Sung Neo-Confucians regarded as petty and inferior those whose talent surpassed their moral virtue. Li valued talent to the extent of praising Ts'ao for treasuring talented but ugly people. Confucian officials withdrew from office to their parent's graves to observe the three year mourning. Like Mohist, Li condemned this practice as excessive. He revered Wang Chi, Wang Ken and Lo Chin-hsi among the Yang-ming School. Lo condemned the doctrine of "natural liang-chih" which overstressed easiness and simplicity at the expense of prolonged moral cultivation and industrious application. Lo returned from Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism to Yang-ming's moral idealism, but Li became a Ch'an Buddhist.
2. Taoism--Like Lao-Chuang, Li objected to strife after fame. It was stupid to sacrifice one's precious life to enhance one's status in the eyes of others, or to admonish sovereigns who were most unlikely to accept advice. However, he went against Taoism in ranking the heroic sacrifice of one's life as supreme among his so-called "five types of death". Despite this, his literary and artistic criticisms were naturalistic rather than moralistic. He admired Juan Chi the Neo-Taosit only as a quasi-authentic recluse as he left traces behind in his withdrawal from the community. It was Feng Tao who attained perfect withdrawal without trace. Confucians denounced Feng for serving the rulers of four dynasties and one barbarian chief wit
