Liang Shuming's Moral Idealism

Liang Shuming is an important thinker and social activist in modern times. His thought and activity is one of the most powerful notes in that time. His gentle moral idealism wears deep brand of that era. Meanwhile, he has embedded himself in that time. Therefore, the understanding and appraisal of Liang's refer to not only the whole course of modern history, but also the present and the future.By using cultural analytical method, the article dates from the social roots of his moral idealism and his personal experience concerning it. Furthermore, it elaborates the general and individual characters of the idealism, which embody on Liang Shuming, as well as his concrete way reaching to his ideal country. Therefore, the article makes some new understanding and explanation in the content and meaning of Liang's moral idealism. According to the article, Liang's moral idealism is gentle moral idealism. Its fundamental defect is that he puts moral reason to the extreme and obliterate the real motive force of the development of society, which determines his failure of uniting the real and the moral. On the other side, due to his ideal country, especially the one that he tries to realize is not absolutely perfect, and his way is also gentle, nonviolent, and based on voluntary, which guarantees the complete consistency between the aim and means, and makes his ideal country have certain possibly realizing worth, at least not dangerous.The attempt of Liang shuming is constructive, but not destructive. Like his genius inspiration in culture, his idea and practice of his ideal country possess not only modem meaning, but also eternal value.