Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophies: Commercial Press Collection

Author: Liang Shu-mu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-09-01
Features: After my book was published in the autumn of the 10th year of the Republic of China, I soon realized some regrettable mistakes in it. Therefore, when it went to the third edition in the 11th year, I wrote a preface to clarify these issues. Later, my regrets grew deeper, not just realizing errors in specific places, but also recognizing a fundamental flaw. As a result, in the spring of the 15th year, I sent a letter to Commercial Press requesting them to stop printing the book. That's why it has been difficult to find this book in recent years. The book's ideas are largely rooted in Confucianism, so the explanations of Confucianism within it are naturally important. Later, my new insights, which led to regret over past mistakes, also mostly concern this aspect.
In summary, there are two fundamental issues: first, the psychological insights I used to interpret Confucian thought were flawed; second, my methods for explaining Confucianism were lacking, or to say, incorrect. Generally, any ethical school or ethical thinker must be based on a certain psychology. All their ethical theories and propositions stem from their views on human psychology. In this book, I particularly enjoyed using modern psychological terms to explain Confucian thought. Looking back now, most of these explanations were wrong. At the time, I failed to clearly grasp the human psychological perspective of Confucianism and indiscriminately cited modern psychology as a basis without realizing the fundamental incompatibility between the two. Moreover, the various schools of psychology I cited had different approaches, making it another mistake to lump them together. It wasn't until after the 12th year that I realized that critiquing modern psychology was not the solution—I needed to clarify the human psychological perspective of Confucianism to discuss its life philosophy. Between the 13th and 14th years, I gradually came to this understanding, deciding to stop printing this book and instead draft The Human Mind and Human Life. I planned to republish this book after The Human Mind and Human Life was released. The flaws in this book were not minor errors but fundamental issues, making it impossible to revise it directly. Thus, the two books were published simultaneously, with the latter serving as a correction to the former.
The other fundamental issue was the lack of a method for explaining Confucianism, a realization that came even earlier. The preface to the third edition in the 11th year already hinted at this. The passage reads, "My initial interpretation of 'investigation of things' was the same as many predecessors—I inserted my own preconceived notions into the term." Generally, ancient books revered by people, like religious classics or texts with equivalent authority, often have conflicting and chaotic interpretations. Not only are they diverse, but they even contradict each other, leaving no clear standard. This is partly because the ancient authors cannot be resurrected, the social context of their time is lost, making it difficult to determine their reasoning and the intended meaning of their words. Moreover, the texts may have been falsified, altered, or corrupted, further complicating textual and . On the other hand, later interpreters, each following their own biases, lack methods or principles, intentionally or unintentionally forcing connections and distorting the truth. I've heard that someone has studied hundreds of different interpretations of the Great Learning's 'investigation of things' throughout history. If so, how can we trust any of them? Therefore, besides the urgent need for historical and textual and , the most important thing is for everyone to refrain from arbitrary interpretations and instead seek a methodical approach as a standard. This way, we can avoid adding yet another unreliable interpretation to the hundreds already in existence, hoping for clarity and precision.
I deeply felt that my explanations of Confucianism in this book lacked a method and were no different from those of my predecessors. That's why I wrote The Essence of Confucianism, hoping for some new success. I once lectured on it for the Peking University Philosophy Department between the 12th and 13th years, and the shortcomings in this book are also meant to be corrected by the new work. However, since the 15th year, my focus has shifted, and both new works are now eighteen years old and still unfinished. Meanwhile, the book I recently completed, The Future of the Chinese Nation, is almost ready for publication. This book examines the future of the Chinese nation through the lens of the differences between the Chinese and Western peoples, and the so-called "Chinese-Western differences" are entirely based on the differing life philosophies discussed in this book. Thus, the two books are thematically connected. For this reason, a new edition of this book is now necessary.
There was a time when I was so confident in my own insights that I couldn't help but say, "Wait a hundred generations, and my words will not change." The core arguments and speculations about Eastern and Western cultures in this book have an irrefutable foundation. Despite its many errors, biases, and omissions, the fundamental principles are established, providing a basis for further research by later generations. The so-called fundamental issues I mentioned were actually the result of hard-won insights, not superficial. Leaving them for others to see is not without purpose. However, since The Human Mind and Human Life and The Essence of Confucianism cannot be published together, I can only use this preface to explain my recent reflections and revisions, so that readers can be aware and make their own choices. This is also an unavoidable measure. The new content and insights of the revisions cannot be presented here for the readers' guidance. I deeply apologize for this!