SOURCE: “A Comparison of Li and Substantial Form,” in Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Vol. 9, No. 1, March, 1982, pp. 45-71.

In the essay that follows, Hatton compares Chu Hsi's conception of li with the Western notion of “substantial form.” Hatton traces the origins of this debate, and challenges those critics who have suggested that li and substantial form are equivalent.

I. Introduction

The concept of li^a is central in the philosophy of the Sung Dynasty Neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi^b (1130-1200). In discussions of his philosophy by Western or Westernized interpreters, li has often been compared with substantial form. Indeed, it might be said that there has been a simmering conflict for the last fifty years as to whether li is equivalent to substantial form. The first skirmish, as it were, occurred in 1923, the year of the publication of the 2nd edition of Stanislas Le Gall's Tchou Hi: Sa...