Mou Zongsan is a major figure of Contemporary New Confucianism, but his philosophy is by no means confined to Confucianism. Chinese Buddhist thought plays an important role in his system of philosophy. Through the assimilation of Tiantai Buddhism, Mou not only systemized the philosophical aspect of Chinese Buddhism, but also developed his own doctrinal classification of Chinese philosophy. The concept of doctrinal classification derived from Buddhism is vital for him. This side of Mou’s philosophy has been neglected by researchers for a long time.

This paper explores Mou’s philosophy in the context of doctrinal classification. The introduction gives a brief but concrete overview of Mou’s exposure to Buddhism and social ties to Buddhists by presenting his relevant works, letters...[ Read more ]

Mou Zongsan is a major figure of Contemporary New Confucianism, but his philosophy is by no means confined to Confucianism. Chinese Buddhist thought plays an important role in his system of philosophy. Through the assimilation of Tiantai Buddhism, Mou not only systemized the philosophical aspect of Chinese Buddhism, but also developed his own doctrinal classification of Chinese philosophy. The concept of doctrinal classification derived from Buddhism is vital for him. This side of Mou’s philosophy has been neglected by researchers for a long time.

This paper explores Mou’s philosophy in the context of doctrinal classification. The introduction gives a brief but concrete overview of Mou’s exposure to Buddhism and social ties to Buddhists by presenting his relevant works, letters and interviews. His enlightenment through Buddhist music at the age of fifty is significant to his mature thoughts. Chapter 2 discusses the origin and development of doctrinal classification in Buddhism and introduces Mou’s basic standpoint as regards Chinese Buddhism. In Chapter 3, we see how Mou inherits and transforms Tiantai doctrinal classification by textual analysis of Buddhist sutras and also the interpretations of Zhiyi and Mou. Chapter 4 illustrates the ontological approach Mou adopts and the “ontological shift” in his judgment of Tiantai Buddhism.Mou established a kind of “New Tiantai Doctrinal Classification”, and its methodological foundation is analyzed in detail in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 focuses on the concept of “chaoyue”(transcendent) which is one of Mou’s favorite words in Chinese philosophy and explores its background in Kantian philosophy as well as Tiantai Buddhism. In Chapter 7, we examine Mou’s ontological system on the foundation of doctrinal classification. With the help of Buddhist ontology, Mou put forward his two-fold ontology within the Buddhist context and also explored its universal meaning beyond Buddhism. The conclusion chapter summaries Mou’s assimilation of Tiantai Buddhism and its impact on his research towards Chinese philosophy.