The Analysis Of Tu Weiming’s Theory Of"the Third-stage Development Of Confucianism"

Tu Weiming is the representative of the third generation of modern Neo-Confucianism, mainly committed to the modernization of Confucianism. According to the many changes in the world and China, Tu Weiming proposed the theory of "the third-stage development of Confucianism", which inherited the Mou Zongsan’s idea. For the development of Confucianism, Tu Weiming reflected on the Enlightenment mentality and explained the diversities of modernization. To deal with the challenges from Western Civilization, Tu Weiming thought Confucianism should respond to four respects:First, scientific spirit; Second, transcend, which means religion tradition; Third, social politics, which includes western democracy and constitutional system; Four, psychology. Additionally, Tu Weiming took the industrial East Asia and the roles the Confucian tradition played in grassroots community for example, to prove the Confucianism’s values. Tu Weiming thought that the prospects of the third-stage development of Confucianism are built on the establishment of the self-consciousness for the public intellectuals of Confucian. The goal of Tu Weiming’s theory is to play the roles of Confucian Humanism in the development of global ethics.Compared to the two previous generations of modern Neo-Confucianism, Tu Weiming can handle the relationships between Eastern and Western cultures with a more open mind, and advocate cultural exchanges. And he built a more comprehensive Confucian Humanism. Meanwhile, he also took a more moderate approach to Marxism. In his study, Tu Weiming successively applied Analogy, Righteousness and Construction to deepen his theories. His reflection on rationalism, his ideas of modernization’s diversities and his emphasis on traditional culture benefit both the modern culture and society.Objectively speaking, Tu Weiming’s thoughts have some drawbacks. For example, his theories lack sufficient reflections on Confucianism, and make some unsatisfactory explanations for Confucianism. Additionally, the correlations between Confucian tradition and the industrial East Asia are questioned by many scholars. His methods of popularizing Confucianism are divorced from the masses. But Tu Weiming’s thoughts are still developing. The evaluations on his thoughts should follow the developments.