LIANG SHUMING’S VIEWPOINT OF CULTURAL PATTERNS

Tingting Zhou

ABSTRACT

One hundred years ago, in his book The Oriental and Western Cultures and Their Philosophy published in 1921, Liang Shuming made a comparison between the western, Chinese, and Indian cultures and offered his prediction of the culture of the world. In 2015, When Professor Guy Salvatore Alitto was interviewed he said he believed Liang’s thoughts will continue to play a significant role during the next one hundred years. Like what Professor Alitto has put it, in this day and age Liang’s thoughts are still shining onto reality. The present study argues that in making the comparison and the prediction Liang also expounded his unique viewpoint of cultural patterns based on a psychological intention analysis: the western culture centers on the intention of pushing forward, making it a pattern driven into an impasse; Chinese culture centers on the intention of negotiating according to the golden mean, making it an ideal pattern for the world in the near future; Indian culture centers on the intention of reflecting and drawing-back, making it a pattern that will be an ultimate choice for the world in the far future.