Abstract
While Qian Mu intentionally avoided systematic philosophical arguments, his references to memory, language, and emotions, as expressed in a book he wrote in 1948, were suggestive of new interpretations of traditional Chinese, and especially Confucian, ideas such as human autonomy, mind, human nature, morality, immortality, and spirituality. The foremost contribution of Qian’s humanist synthesis rests in its articulation of the idea of the person. Across the context of memory, language, and emotions, the tiyong dynamics of mind and human nature recreate, in modern terms, the traditional Chinese concept of the person who is individually unique and simultaneously interrelated. Avoiding the extreme polarities of individualism and collectivism, he stresses rather their coexistence. His synthesis explains to the Chinese people something about who they are, the meaning in life in the framework of their culture, and how their (revitalized) way of life is at its best in the most important area, that of human relations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bergson, Henri. 1910. Matter and Memory. New York: The Macmillan Company.
Bloom, Irene. 1985. “On the Matter of the Mind: The Metaphysical Basis of the Expanded Self.” In Individualism and Holism: Studies in Confucian and Taoist Values. Ed. By Donald J. Munro. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies.
Chan, Wing-tsit, trans. and comp. 1973. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton. N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Cheng, Chung-ying, and Nicholas Bunnin, eds. 2002. Contemporary Chinese Philosophy. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell.
Dewey, John, 1973. Lectures in China, 1919–1920. Trans. and ed. by Robert W. Clopton and Tsuin-chen Ou. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii.
Hu, Shih (Hu Shi). 1981. “Immortality—My Religion.” In Chinese Essays on Religion and Faith. Trans. by Douglas Lancashire. San Francisco: Chinese Material Center.
Isay, Gad, C. 2000. The Philosophy of the View of Life in Modern Chinese Thought. Ph.D. Dissertation. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Liu, Shu-hsien. 2003. Essentials of Contemporary Neo-Confucian Philosophy. Westport: Praeger.
Makeham, John, ed. 2003. New Confucianism: A Critical Examination. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Qian, Mu 錢穆 2001. Quiet Thoughts at the Lake 湖上閒思綠. Taipei 臺北: Lantai Chubanshe 蘭臺出版社.
Solomon, Robert C. 1995. “The Cross-Cultural Comparison of Emotion.” In Emotions in Asian Thought: A Dialogue in Comparative Philosophy. Ed. by Marks Joel and Roger T. Ames. New York: State University of New York Press.
Streng, Frederick J. 1991. “The Transcendental in a Comparative Context.” In Culture and Modernity, East-West Philosophic Perspectives. Ed. by Eliot Deutsch. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Thompson, Kiril. 2003. “Qian Mu.” In Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy. Ed. by Antonio S. Cua. London: Routledge.
Zhang, Hao 張灝, 1999. “The Age of Transition in Modern Chinese Intellectual History 中國近代思想史的轉型時代. Twenty First Century 二十一世紀 52 (April): 29–39.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Isay, G.C. A Humanist Synthesis of Memory, Language, and Emotions: Qian Mu’s Interpretation of Confucian Philosophy. Dao 8, 425–437 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-009-9137-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-009-9137-6