Liao Ping 廖平

Liao Ping 廖平 (1852-1932), original name Dengting 登廷, original courtesy name Xugai 旭陔, later Jiping 季平, style Siyi xiansheng 四益(譯)先生, Wuyi Xiansheng 五譯先生, Liuyi Xiansheng 六譯先生, from Jingyan 井研, Sichuan, was a late Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar and philosopher.

In 1874, Liao Ping entered the county school as a government student (zhusheng 諸生), and in 1876, he was accepted as a stipend student (linsheng 廩生). Zhang Zhidong 張之洞 (1837-1909), then overseeing education in Sichuan, recognised his scholarly talent and selected him for admission to the Zunjing Academy 尊經書院. The academy was headed by Wang Kaiyun 王闓運 (1833-1916), a noted advocate of the Gongyang School (Gongyang xuepai 公羊學派), and Liao Ping became one of his most outstanding disciples. In 1889, Liao earned the degree of jinshi. He was appointed to serve as a district magistrate, but in order to care for his aging parents, he chose instead to work as an education officer. He went on to teach in various locations in Sichuan, with the longest tenures being at the Zunjing Academy in Chengdu and the Jiufeng Academy 九峰書院 in Leshan 樂山. After the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, he held teaching positions at several schools in Chengdu. Throughout his life, he was devoted to the study of Confucian Classics (jingxue 經學).

Liao Ping was renowned for his intellectual flexibility in scholarship. In his early years, he studied Song learning (Songxue 宋學, i.e., Neo-Confucianism), but later, under the influence of Zhang Zhidong, he turned to Han learning (Hanxue 漢學), which is research on the Han-period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) interpretation of the Classics. Eventually, studying under Wang Kaiyun, he shifted again to the New-Text tradition (jinwen 今文) of Classical studies. He advocated that the purpose of studying the Confucian classics should be to grasp their "greater meaning" (da yi 大義), and that philological work, such as textual interpretation and word glossing, should serve only as a means to understand the classics.

Over the course of his life, Liao Ping's approach to classical learning went through six major transformations. In his first transformation, he balanded the Old- (guwen 古文) and New-Text Versions. Drawing on materials from the book Wujing yiyi 五經異義, he argued that the essential distinction between New-Text and Old-Text classical studies lay in their respective understandings of ritual systems. While the New-Text tradition emphasized the "Institutions of Kings" (Wangzhi 王制), the Old-Text tradition was rooted in the ritual classic Zhouli 周禮. In the second transformation, Liao elevated the New texts by asserting that the Old-Text School originated with the forgeries of Liu Xin 劉歆 (d. 23 CE). Only the New-Text school represented the authentic transmission of Confucius' teachings. In his third transformation, Liao viewed the Spring and Autumn Annals as the blueprint for governing China (the so-called "minor unity", xiaotong 小統), while the Zhouli offered a framework for governing the world ("great unity", datong 大統). The fourth transformation categorised the Spring and Autumn Annals as "human learning" (renxue 人學), whereas the Classics Shijing 詩經 "Book of Songs" and Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes" were labeled as "Heavenly learning" (tianxue 天學). According to the fifth transformation, Heavenly learning and human learning formed the major branches of Classical studies, with New-Text learning representing the minor unity (xiaotong) and Old-Text learning the great unity (datong). Finally, Liao Ping use the theories of the "Five Movements and Six Energies" (wuyun liuqi 五運六氣) to interpret the Shijing and Yijing.

Among Liao Ping's six transformations in classical learning, the first, which reevaluated the relationship between the Old- and New-Text traditions from the perspective of the history of classical studies, was the most academically significant. His second transformation had the greatest social impact at the time, represented by two works: Zhishengpian 知聖篇 "On understanding the Sage", and Pi Liu pian 辟劉篇 "On refuting Liu [Xin]". These texts laid the foundation for later works such as Kang Youwei's 康有為 (1858-1927) Xinxue weijing kao 新學偽經考 "The forged Classics of the New-Text School" and Kongzi gaizhi kao 孔子改制考 "Confucius as a reformer", which expanded upon Liao's ideas. As a New-Text Confucian scholar, Liao Ping was unique among his peers in that he began his studies with a deep engagement with the Guliang Commentary (Guliangzhuan 穀梁傳) before turning to the Gongyang Commentary.

Liao was convinced that the difference between the Old- and New-Text schools was lying in institutions and transmitted teachings, and not in wording (gujin yitong, duan zai zhidu, shishuo, bu zhi wenzi 古今異同，端在制度、師說，不指文字). He carefully analysed and differentiated the Old- and New-Text Classics and advanced arguments for identifying the forgeries among the Old-Text scriptures. In doing so, he made significant contributions to both classical studies and historiography.

Liao Ping wrote more than 150 books, the most of which are included in the series Liuyiguan congshu 六譯館叢書. The most important of his texts are Jin-guxue kao 今古學考 and Guliang guyi shu 榖梁古義疏.