Liang Suming was one of the most infuential thinkers of the 20th century in China.
In his childhood, he received enlightening Western-style education. He finished schooling in Shun Tian Middle School, the very earliest modern school set up in Beijing, then joined in Tianjin Branch of the anti-Qing Dynasty Comrades' League, became a correspondent for the famous newspaper Republic and the secretary to the Attorney General of the Cabinet of the United Northern and Southern China. Because of his diligence and intelligence and his unique comprehension of Buddhist doctrines, Mr Cai Yuanpei afforded him the post for teaching Indian philosophy when he was only twenty-four. During May 4th Movement, his "Cultures and philisophies of the east and West" brought the discussions of eastern and Western Cultures of that period to a climax. This book has remained as one of the most famous and most infuential books discussing eastern and Western cultures and won him the status as the main fgure of eastern and Western Cultures School. Since then, he was regarded as the forefather of Contemporary Neo-Confucianism. Beginning from the mid-1920s, he devoted himself to a series of social projects, advocating rural reconstrution and for this purpose setting up schools in Guangdong, Henan and Shandong. He wrote Theories on Rural Reconstruction and other books and thus laid down the theoretical foundation for the rural reconstruction of China. Among those places where he carried out his social projects, Zouping County is a place where he had worked for a longest time, therefore it was the most infuential place which won him the fame as one of the major fgures of the rural reconstruction movement. After the anti-Japanese War broke out, he became a member of National Political Consultative Conference and in this capacity he visited Yan' an. Later on he initated organizations such as Society for National Unification and Reconstruction and the League of Chinese Democratic Political Parties. He went to Hong Kong and set up the newspaper Light, thus gradually becoming a well-known character between politics and scholarship. In the political struggles between the Chinese Communist Party and Kuomintang, he acted as a go-between. In his capacity of Secretary-General to the Democratic League, he actively involved himself in political mediation, and thus became an important fgure of a 'third Party'. In the early years of the People's Republic, he was Chairman Mao's regular guest. After that famous dispute between him and Mao in 1953, he was severely criticized and remained anonymous for nearly 30 years. Although in the 'Movement of Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius' during the 'Cultural Revolution', he astonished everyone with his bold remarks against such a movement and thus is remembered by history, in these 30 years, he remained almost in oblivion. Not until the mid-1980s, when discussions about culture were in vogue, did he once again become the focus of attention; and his books were published or reprinted. He participated in the establishment of Chinese Academy of Classical Learning, so attention was once again drawn to his thought and opinions and his personality was universally praised.
Based on an account of Liang Shuming's colourful life as outlined above, this book lays great emphasis on disclosing the development of his thought and his unique and creative contributions as a master of national learning to 20th-century Chinese culture and philosophy.
Early in his life, Liang was a pious Buddhist and deeply engrossed in the study of Buddhist doctrines. With his On Ontological Inquiries and Perplexities in Life (Jiu Yuan Jue Yi Lun), he established himself in the academic circle and started to lecture on Indian philosophyand Yogacara. Later on he converted to Confucianism and took the developing of Confucius' thought as his own responsibility, teaching Confucianism and comparative culture, and eventually became well-known as a contemporary neo-Confucian. He was deeply influenced by Western thinkers too, Bergson in particular. The present book offers a detailed analysis of the interactions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Western learning in Liang's thought and provides an important account of his approaches to expounding eastern learning and exploring and conserving the cream of national learning. As a Confucian of action, Liang was not only a master scholar but also a social explorer. His thought has exerted a significant influence on the politics, culture and sociological theories of contemporary China. From an academic point of view, this book reveals the theoretical value of Liang's social practice, which has left so much for posterity to contemplate. For an understanding of the complex relationships between scholarship and politics and between theory and practice, the profound insight provided by Liang's experience may well be regarded as one of the most typical and most influential examples of this century. As a master scholar who underwent and happily survived the political vicissitudes of the 20th century, Liang has enjoyed an unusual prominence for his academic conscience and personalitypower, of which the present book attempts to offer a truthful evaluation.
As an academic biography, this book puts much emphasis upon the thought of the biographee, disclosing his unique spirit and disposition. It therefore differs from those biographies which have already come out and rely heavily on his life story. On the other hand, due to the thematic requirement of the Masters of National learning Series, this book pays special attention to the biographee's achievements in national learning and naturally other aspects of him receiving relatively less attention or even being omitted.