The “Last Buddhist”: The Philosophy of Liang Shuming

Abstract

The reference in my title to Liang Shuming 梁漱溟 (1893–1988) as the “last Buddhist” is a not too subtle reminder that we cannot assume that Liang was, in fact, a Confucian. Guy Alitto’s 1986 publication, The Last Confucian: Liang Shu-ming and the Chinese Dilemma of Modernity (hereafter, The Last Confucian) has provided considerable currency for this assumption in the West. In this chapter, I will explore an alternative portrayal of Liang, asking whether it is more valid to categorize the spirit, views, and philosophy of Liang Shuming as Buddhist rather than as Confucian or New Confucian. This question has been a controversial topic in Chinese academic circles for a number of years.2 Many mainland Chinese commentators who categorize Liang as a Confucian rather than as a Buddhist often regard him to be the founder of New Confucianism, and identify his Dong-xi wenhua ji qi zhexue 東西文化及其哲學 (Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophies [1922]; hereafter, Eastern and Western Cultures) as a seminal work of the New Confucian “school.” Liang, as it were, began it all, while Xiong Shili 熊十力 (1885–1968), Feng Youlan 馮友蘭 (1895–1990), He Lin 賀麟 (1902–93), and others carried it on.3 Other scholars are even more forthright in claiming Liang as a New Confucian.KeywordsWestern CultureCultural IdealExternal WorldEthical ReasonChinese CultureThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.