Abstract:

In mid-late Ming Dynasty， when Wang Yangming's theory of mind was prevalent， Li Yuanyang， a Bai scholar born in Dali， Yunnan， claimed to be a disciple of Wang Yangming's school and believed in his theory firmly. Therefore， he often communicated with Wang's disciples to learn from each other，no matter when he worked as a government official orreturned to his hometown to be a lecturer after retirement. He also insisted on interpreting Wang's theory through letters and articles. Of particular importance to his achievements， however， was the break-through on Wang's theory and proposed his ontology of human nature， which were borrowed from the thoughts of Buddhism and Taoism， and inherited the multiple interpretations of human nature. The process fromhis pure absorption， interpretation to theoretical breakthroughof Wang's theory seems to reflect the history of the spread of mind theory in ethnic areas.

Key words:

Li Yuanyang, Wang Yangming's theory of mind, interpretation, the ontology of human nature