Xiong Shili's Understanding of Reality and Function, 1920-1937

Abstract

Xiong Shili 熊十力 (1885-1968) was one of the most influential Chinese philosophers of the twentieth century, and he made a major contribution to the development of both Confucian and Buddhist thought. He is generally considered to be a founding figure of New Confucianism, and had a great influence on later New Confucians. Xiong’s metaphysics focuses mainly on the concepts of Reality (ti 體) and Function (yong 用). This pair of concepts is one of the key conceptual polarities in traditional Chinese philosophy. Generally speaking, Reality refers to the ontological realm, the intrinsic reality of things, while Function refers to the phenomenal world, the external manifestation of things. There have been many Chinese thinkers in Chinese philosophical history who contributed to the understanding and interpretation of this pair of concepts. Xiong developed his understanding of Reality and Function drawing on traditional accounts of the ti-yong polarity.

This thesis is a study in the intellectual history of modern Chinese philosophy. Xiong’s mature ti-yong philosophical system was established and consolidated in the 1930s, with its early formative process beginning in 1920. Clarifying this process of development can help us understand Xiong’s overall philosophical development more accurately. Scholars have tended to focus on the mature stage of Xiong’s philosophy while overlooking how it was developed over an extended period. In contrast, my study examines Xiong’s understanding of Reality and Function between 1920 and 1937. It pays particular attention to how his thought changed and developed over this period, and also to the sources on which he drew to elucidate his ideas. This study will provide a more comprehensive basis for studies on the later periods of Xiong’s philosophical thought. Given Xiong’s important status in the modern New Confucian school, while contributing to a fuller understanding of Xiong’s metaphysics, this study also contributes to our understanding of New Confucian philosophy and its early development.