- Liang Shuming
Liang Shuming (zh-cp|c=梁漱溟|p=Liáng Shùmíng,
October 18 1893 —June 23 1988 ), born Liang Huanding (梁焕鼎),courtesy name Shouming (寿铭), was a Chinesereformer in the lateQing Dynasty and early Republican eras ofChinese history .Born in Guilin, Guangxi, Liang was the son of a famous
intellectual who committedsuicide apparently in despair at the state of the Chinese nation. He had a modern education and exposure to Western writings.In 1917 he was recruited by
Cai Yuanpei to the philosophy department of Beijing University, where he produced an influential book based on his lectures entitled "Eastern and Western Cultures and their Philosophies", which introduced some of the doctrines of modernneo-Confucianism . He also displayed the influence ofHenri Bergson , then popular inChina , as well asBuddhist Yogacara philosophy.Regarding
Western civilization as doomed to eventual failure, Liang did not advocate complete reform and adoption of Western institutions. He nonetheless believed that reform was needed to make China equal to the rest of the world. It was his view that the required prerequisites for these institutions did not exist in China, so they would not succeed if introduced. Instead, he pushed for change to socialism starting at the grassroots level. To this end, he founded the Shandong Rural Reconstruction Institute and helped to found the Democratic League.Liang was famous for his critique of
Marxist class theory, stating that, despite obvious disparities of wealth, Chinese rural society could not be unambiguously classified along class lines. One and the same family (particularly the large patriarchallineages found in many regions) would commonly have some members among the "haves" and others among the "have-nots". The class struggle advocated by the Maoists would necessitate kinsmen attacking each other.After the Sino-Japanese War, he mediated disputes between the Communist and Nationalist parties. After the victory of the Communists in 1949, he was occasionally persecuted in ideological campaigns, but refused to admit any error. He died in
Beijing ee also
*
Chinese philosophy References
*Alitto, Guy. "The Last Confucian: Liang Shu-ming and the Chinese Dilemma of Modernity" 2nd ed. 1986, University of California Press.
*de Bary, Wm. Theodore, ed. "Sources of Chinese Tradition," Volume II (Second Edition) New York: Columbia, 2000.
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