There is no doubt that Fung Yu-lan (Feng You-lan) has been the most outstanding philosopher in China in the last thirty years. He was already on the way to sure prominence when he published his two-volume History of Chinese Philosophy in 1930, 1934. With the publication of his Xin Li Xue in 1939, his position as the leading Chinese Philosopher was firmly established. It is the most original Chinese philosophical work in this century. And it is also the only work in twentieth-century China presenting a person's comprehensive philosophical system. Significantly, Fung's system is a reconstruction of rationalistic Neo-Confucianism. Fung explicitly said that his system is derived from, though does not follow, Neo-Confucianism. Aside this, his system is new in the sense that he incorporated i...[ Read more ]

There is no doubt that Fung Yu-lan (Feng You-lan) has been the most outstanding philosopher in China in the last thirty years. He was already on the way to sure prominence when he published his two-volume History of Chinese Philosophy in 1930, 1934. With the publication of his Xin Li Xue in 1939, his position as the leading Chinese Philosopher was firmly established. It is the most original Chinese philosophical work in this century. And it is also the only work in twentieth-century China presenting a person's comprehensive philosophical system. Significantly, Fung's system is a reconstruction of rationalistic Neo-Confucianism. Fung explicitly said that his system is derived from, though does not follow, Neo-Confucianism. Aside this, his system is new in the sense that he incorporated into the traditional rationalistic Neo-Confucianism the Western elements of realism and logic. He found that there is the same concern in Western philosophy and Chinese philosophy. That is the question of universal and particular. My study will mainly focus on the aspect of new realism in Feng You-lan's philosophy, relating it to his notion of xin li xue. I want to explore the following questions: What the influences have he got from his teacher, W. P. Montague, a major figure of American new realism? And what is the difference among the old realism, new realism and xin li xue? I wish what I do in my investigation would contribute to this research field.