Thomé H. Fang, Tang Junyi and the Appropriation of Huayan Thought

223 Pages·2014·3.56 MB·English

Thomé H. Fang, Tang Junyi
and the Appropriation of Huayan Thought

A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the Faculty of Humanities

2014

King Pong Chiu

School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents 2
List of Figures and Tables 4
List of Abbreviations 5
Abstract 7
Declaration and Copyright Statement 8
A Note on Transliteration 9
Acknowledgements 10

Chapter 1 - Research Questions, Methodology and Literature Review 11
1.1 Research Questions 11
1.2 Methodology 15
1.3 Literature Review 23
1.3.1 Historical Context 23
1.3.2 Thomé H. Fang and Huayan Thought 29
1.3.3 Tang Junyi and Huayan Thought 31

Chapter 2 – The Historical Context of Modern Confucian Thinkers’ Appropriations
of Buddhist Ideas 33
2.1 ‘Ti’ and ‘Yong’ as a Theoretical Framework 33
2.2 Western Challenge and Chinese Response - An Overview 35
2.2.1 Declining Status of Confucianism since the Mid-Nineteenth Century 38
2.2.2 ‘Scientism’ as a Western Challenge in Early Twentieth Century China 44
2.2.3 Searching New Sources for Cultural Transformation as Chinese Response 49
2.3 Confucian Thinkers’ Appropriations of Buddhist Thought - An Overview 53
2.4 Classical Huayan Thought and its Modern Development 62
2.4.1 Brief History of the Huayan School in the Tang Dynasty 62
2.4.2 Foundation of Huayan Thought 65
2.4.3 Key Concepts of Huayan Thought 70
2.4.4 Modern Development of the Huayan School 82
2.5 Fang and Tang as Models of ‘Chinese Hermeneutics’- Preliminary Discussion 83

Chapter 3 - Thomé H. Fang and Huayan Thought 87
3.1 Thomé H. Fang’s General Philosophy 87
3.1.1 The Life of Fang and Characteristics of his Works 87
3.1.2 Fang on ‘Scientism’ and the Failure of Western Culture 91
3.1.3 Fang on the Purpose of Philosophy and the Characteristics of Metaphysics 93
3.1.4 Introduction to the ‘Correlative Structure of Men and the World’ or ‘Blueprint’ 95
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3.1.5 The Force behind Self-Exaltation - Creative Creativity 101
3.1.6 ‘Comprehensive Harmony’ as a Criterion for Evaluation 105
3.1.7 Discussion of Fang’s Thought 106
3.2 Thomé H. Fang’s Interpretation of Huayan Thought – A Critical Review 111
3.2.1 Fang’s Overall Interpretation of Huayan Thought 111
3.2.2 Fang’s Criterion in ranking Buddhist Theories – Extent of Harmony 119
3.2.3 Insights and Limitations of Fang’s Interpretation of Huayan Thought 121
3.3 Conclusion 125

Chapter 4 – Tang Junyi and Huayan Thought 126
4.1 Tang Junyi’s General Philosophy 126
4.1.1 The Life and Works of Tang Junyi 126
4.1.2 Tang on the Purpose of Philosophy 128
4.1.3 The Existence of Mind as a Theoretical Prerequisite 131
4.1.4 The Characteristics of Mind 132
4.1.5 Introduction to the Theory of ‘The Nine Horizons of the Mind’ 135
4.1.6 ‘Universal Observation’ on universal observations 141
4.1.7 Theory of Practice: A Preliminary Discussion 144
4.1.8 Tang on the Failure of Western Culture 146
4.1.9 Conclusion: A Critical Review of Tang’s Thought 147
4.2 Tang Junyi’s Harmonization of Thomé H. Fang’s Thought 153
4.3 Tang Junyi’s Interpretation of Huayan Thought – A Critical Review 156
4.3.1 Tang’s Overall Interpretation of Huayan Thought 156
4.3.2 Tang’s Criterion in ranking Buddhist Theories: Harmonization of Values 167
4.3.3 Insights and Limitations of Tang’s Interpretation of Huayan Thought 168

Chapter 5 – Fang’s and Tang’s Appropriations of Huayan Thought and ‘Scientism’ 171
5.1 ‘Scientism’ as an Issue: From the Point of View of ‘Ti’ and ‘Yong’ 171
5.2 Ancient Chinese Thought as a Means for Enhancing ‘Ti’ 174
5.3 Revisiting the Role of Huayan in Fang’s and Tang’s Response to ‘Scientism’ 175
5.3.1 Fang, His Appropriation of Huayan Thought, and ‘Scientism’ 176
5.3.2 Tang, His Appropriation of Huayan Thought, and ‘Scientism’ 179
5.4 The Writings of Fang and Tang in terms of ‘Chinese Hermeneutics’ 185

Appendices
1 Reply from the University of Wisconsin about Fang’s Status 189
2 Prolegomena to a Comparative Philosophy of Life: An Outline 190
Bibliography 193
Word Count (including footnotes): 93,550
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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1 – The correlative structure of men and the world by Thomé H. Fang 98
Table 1 - Comparison between Fang’s blueprint and Huayan thought 120
Table 2 - Summary of Tang Junyi’s Theory of ‘The Nine Horizons of the Mind’ 137

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Works by Thomé H. Fang

CMN Creativity in Man and Nature: A Collection of Philosophical Essays

CPSD Chinese Philosophy: Its Spirit and Its Development

CVL The Chinese View of Life

FDXY Fang Dongmei xiansheng yanjiangji 方東美先生演講集

HZ Huayanzong zhexue 華嚴宗哲學

KZR Kexue zhexue yu rensheng 科學哲學與人生

SSD Sheng sheng zhi de 生生之德

XRZSJ Xin rujia zhexue shiba jiang 新儒家哲學十八講

YRDZ Yuanshi rujia daojia zhexue 原始儒家道家哲學

ZDF Zhongguo dasheng foxue 中國大乘佛學

ZRZ Zhongguo rensheng zhexue 中國人生哲學

ZZJF Zhongguo zhexue jingshen ji qi fazhan 中國哲學精神及其發展

Works by Tang Junyi

DZZJ Daode ziwo zhi jianli 道德自我之建立

NZX Nianpu; Zhushu nianbiao; Xianren zhushu 年譜；著述年表；先人著述

RJZC Renwen jingshen zhi chongjian 人文精神之重建

RZT Rensheng zhi tiyan 人生之體驗

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RZTX Rensheng zhi tiyan xubian 人生之體驗續編

SCYXJ Shengming cunzai yu xinling jingjie 生命存在與心靈境界

WYYDL Wenhua yishi yu daode lixing 文化意識與道德理性

XWYR Xin wu yu rensheng 心物與人生

ZG Zhexue gailun 哲學概論

ZL Zhexue lunji 哲學論集

ZRDS Zhonghua renwen yu dangjin shijie 中華人文與當今世界

ZRDSB Zhonghua renwen yu dangjin shijie bubian 中華人文與當今世界補編

ZTS Zhi Tingguang shu 致廷光書

ZYDL Zhongguo zhexue yuanlun. Daolun pian 中國哲學原論．導論篇

ZYYD Zhongguo zhexue yuanlun. Yuandao pian 中國哲學原論．原道篇

ZYYX Zhongguo zhexue yuanlun. Yuanxing pian 中國哲學原論．原性篇

Others

DZJ Dazheng xinxiu dazangjing 大正新修大藏經

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ABSTRACT

This thesis examines the rationale behind the work of Thomé H. Fang 方東美 (Fang
Dongmei, 1899-1977) and Tang Junyi 唐君毅 (1909-1978), two of the most important
Confucian thinkers in twentieth-century China, who appropriated aspects of the medieval
Chinese Buddhist school of Huayan to develop a response to the challenges of ‘scientism’, the
belief, widespread in their times, that quantitative natural science is the only valuable part of
human learning and the only source of truth.

As the status of Confucianism in China had declined from the mid-nineteenth century,
non-Confucian ideas were appropriated by Chinese thinkers for developing responses to
‘scientism’, adopting the principle of fanben kaixin 返本開新 (going back to the origin and
developing new elements). Buddhist ideas from a range of schools played an important role in
this. Unlike other thinkers who turned to the schools of Consciousness-Only and Tiantai, Fang
and Tang, for reasons of their own, saw the thought of the Huayan school as the apex of
Buddhism and so drew on selected aspects to support and develop their own views.

Fang regarded Huayan thought as a fine example of the idea of ‘harmony’, since in its vision
of the perfect state all phenomena co-exist without contradiction. Interpreting the explanation
of this given by Dushun 杜順 (557-640) in his own way, Fang argued that human beings are
able to integrate physical, biological and psychic elements of the ‘natural order’ with values
such as truth, beauty and goodness which belong to the ‘transcendental order’. He thus
proposed that scientism’s view of humanity as matter could be incorporated without
contradiction but also without excluding ‘non-scientific’ aesthetic, moral and religious values.

By contrast, Tang stressed the characteristics of Huayan’s theory of ‘doctrinal classification’,
as developed by Fazang 法藏 (643-712). Interpreting this to mean that different ideas could
be applicable in different periods, Tang argued that the worldview of ‘scientism’ may indeed
help solve problems in its own sphere, such as the desire for scientific development. Other
paradigms, however, are preferable in discussing moral issues. In other words, this Buddhist
theory allowed him to claim that both Confucianism and ‘scientism’ have their own value.
Neither of them should be negated in principle.

I argue that Fang’s and Tang’s selective appropriations of Huayan thought not only paid heed
to the hermeneutical importance of studying ancient texts in order to be more responsive to
modern issues, a concern hotly debated in the field of Chinese philosophical studies, but also
helped confirm the values of Confucianism under the challenge of ‘scientism’. In short, by
absorbing ideas from Huayan thought, both Fang and Tang, to different extents and in
different ways, provided responses to the challenge of ‘scientism’ which gave a place to
science without rejecting the importance of human faculties such as aesthetic appreciation and
moral judgment or asserting the dominance of perception and cognition over other human
faculties, the ultimate cause, as they saw it, of ‘scientism’.

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DECLARATION

I confirm that no portion of the work contained in this thesis has been submitted for any
degree or qualification of this or any other university. All the material, including translation,
is solely my own work unless indicated otherwise.

COPYRIGHT

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certain copyright or related rights in it (the ‘Copyright’) and he has given The University of
Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright including for administrative purposes.

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University’s policy on Presentation on Theses.

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A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION

1.) For authors with both Chinese and English works cited in the study, their names will be
shown in the Wade-Giles transliteration but not in pinyin, though their names in pinyin will be
in parentheses the first time their Chinese works appear. Charles Wei-hsun Fu 傅偉勳, for
example, is used in the study. However, Charles Wei-hsun Fu (Fu Weixun) 傅偉勳 will be
used the first time his Chinese work is cited.

2.) For authors with only Chinese works cited, their names will be in pinyin in the content of
the study.

3.) To make the transliterations consistent, the title of works which are written in Chinese will
be in pinyin, including Dazheng xinxiu dazang jing 大正新修大藏經, though its title is usually
shown as Taishō Revised Tripiṭaka in other scholarship.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My sincerest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr. Jacqueline Suthren Hirst, without whose
diligent guidance and continued patience this work could never have been completed. Her
concern for me is greatly appreciated. I would like to thank Dr. Francesca Tarocco for her
having interest in this topic, giving inspiring suggestions and providing useful materials.
Comments from Prof. Stefano Zacchetti and Dr. Stefania Travagnin are essential to the
completion of this work, to whom I am much grateful. I am also deeply indebted to Mr. Ian
Gasse for reading over this work twice and for helping me polish my writing.

I would also like to express my thankfulness to those who have provided comments, supports
and encouragement during the course of my study: Prof. Alan Williams, Prof. Peter Scott, Dr.
Scott Pacey, Prof. Kwan Tze-wan 關子尹, Prof. Lin Chen-kuo 林鎮國, Dr. Lau Kwok-keung
劉國強, Dr. Wong Kai-yee 王啟義, Dr. Wong Yiu-hong 王耀航, Dr. Tong Sau-lin 唐秀連,
Dr. Lau Kwai-piu 劉桂標, Dr. Kelvin Cheng Chi-kin 張志健, Ms. Ou Donghong 歐冬紅, Mr.
Ng Kwok-keung 吳國強, Dr. Chan Ngan-che 陳雁姿 and Prof. Roger T. Ames.

The topic of this work was initially inspired by Prof. Lao Sze-kwang’s 勞思光 (1927–2012)
comments on Tang Junyi. Although I do not know Prof. Lao in person, I appreciate his
inspiration to me. Prof. Lee Yun-sang’s 李潤生 advices about studying Buddhist thought
enhance my confidence in doing research on this topic, though I accept full responsibility for
the mistakes that remain in this work.

Finally, I dedicate this work to my dearest parents and my wife for their selfless support and
countless encouragement along the way. Words cannot express my gratefulness for
everything they have done for me.

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