The Philosophical Implication Of Liang Shuming's "Conversion From A Buddist To A Confucian"

Liang Shuming's academic orientation has always been a controversial issue.There are many views on it,such as considering him a Confucian,or both a Buddist and a Confucian,or first a Buddist then a Confucian,or a person who abandoned Buddhism and returned to Confucianism.All these judgments have their foundations,but all have one thing in common,that is "the pursuit of appearances".For this limitation,they can't reach to the essence of Confucianism and Buddhism.In particular,these views on Buddhism are still based on Theravada.To judge his belonging,they take the criterions of whether he is married or not,whether he speaks the language of Buddhism,and whether he has the image of Buddha,which certainly don't conform to the essence of Buddhism.Based on the historical event of Liang Shuming's "conversion from a Buddist to a Confucian" in the 1920 s as the research object,and the combination of history,Confucianism and Buddhism as the dimension,taking facts as the basis,and the essence of Confucianism and Buddhism as the criterion,this paper systematically expounds the essence of Liang Shuming's "conversion from a Buddhist to a Confucian",that is the accordance with the mahayana bodhisattva doctrine firmer and firmer.It is appropriate to consider Liang Shuming as "the external a Confucian and the internal a Buddhist" or "behaving as a Confucian with a Buddhist heart",and improper to consider him as "converting from a Buddhist to a Confucian",or "abandoning Buddhism and returning to Confucianism",or "first a Buddist then a Confucian","both a Buddist and a Confucian".The basis of this article is mahayana real Buddhism,especially the one-vehicle Buddhism,and is not based on the principle of being a monk,but on the principle of the essence of Buddhism.The essence of Buddhism lies in the spirit,not in the words or the form.Liang Shuming's learning and behavior completely conform to the standard of mahayana Buddhism,that is to say,judging him as " converting from a Buddhist to a Confucian" by his marriage,is a point of view that is deluded byappearances and ignores the essence.By systematizing the academic research results on Liang Shuming's academic orientation,and on account of history and Buddhism(especially mahayana Buddhism),the main contribution of this paper is,profoundly elaborating the essence of Liang Shuming's Buddhism,and returning the true nature of his academic identity.Secondly,combined with the current international and domestic reality,this paper also expounds the significance in the history of ideology to research on Liang Shuming's "conversion from a Buddist to a Confucian",and its referential value for the construction of socialist spiritual civilization with Chinese characteristics in the new era.