Abstract

This article is a study of Liang Shuming’s 梁漱溟 (1893–1988) work during Mao’s period, especially Renxin yu rensheng 人心與人生 (Human Mind and Human Life) published in 1984. One of the most significant features in Liang’s work during this period is his conspicuous acknowledgement of the Marxist ideology and his sincere anticipation of the realization of communism on earth. While most of the Confucian scholars who left mainland China after 1949 expressed their worries about the continuation of traditional Chinese culture in the mainland, Liang, on the contrary, thought that the essence of traditional Chinese culture could facilitate the development of socialism. In this article, I argue that Liang accepted the ideology of Marxism, but also treasured the value of Confucianism and Buddhism and sought a reconciliation between these three schools of thought. Human Mind and Human Life was thus his attempt at threading these schools of thought together by highlighting and interpreting the core concept of “zijue” 自覺 (self-consciousness) in all three of them. He understood self-consciousness to be an important component of the human heart-mind (renxin 人心), providing it with the ability to extricate itself from specific constraints and pursue spiritual liberty, making it possible for human beings to attempt to eliminate the differentiation between oneself and others as well as between oneself and nature, and even to eliminate the delusive consciousness of one’s mind.