Chinese Human Rights Reader Entry Summary

Here are excerpts from two chapters of Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophies, a widely read book by Liang Shuming (1893–1988). An excellent biography of Liang identifies him as “the last Confucian,” but no single label can encompass Liang’s distinctive viewpoint. It is true that he famously sought to defend China’s culture, and Confucianism in particular, from many foes. He keenly appreciated some of the central ethical and psychological insights of classical Confucianism, and strove to incorporate these ideals into a program of reform and education that would suit his new age. At the same time, though, Liang was an avid student of the sundry Western ideas that were being debated by his peers, and there can be no doubt that these ideas played roles in shaping his proposals and philosophy. Liang was as much a socialist as he was a Confucian . . . and then again, later in life he identified himself as a Buddhist. It is fascinating to note that he explicitly endorses many of the criticisms of Confucianism posed by Chen Duxiu, on which see Text 11. The central idea of Liang’s book is that there have been three major cultural paths: the Western, Chinese, and Indian. He argues that each is appropriate at a certain stage of the evolution of human civilization. For Chinese of his day, his summary proposal is: “First, reject the Indian attitude without any reservation. Second, accept entirely the Western culture but modify its foundation; that is, change its attitude. Third, critically salvage the original Chinese attitude” (p. 202). This means, among other things, that rights must be recognized and fought for, but he thinks this can be done without falling prey to the problems that he (like many in his day) saw plaguing Western societies. After the publication of Eastern and Western Cultures, Liang set out to put his ideas into practice. He was one of the instigators behind the liberal reform manifesto “Our Political Proposals,” on which see the introduction to Text 14, and subsequently made even more concrete efforts by promoting rural reconstruction and education. He discusses rights again in later writings, but much more critically: he seems to have lost confidence that rights can be insulated from the more problematic consequences of Western culture.

The Chinese Human Rights Reader:

17. Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophies (1921)

Liang Shuming