China Studies Research Centre, La Trobe University
2:00-3:30pm, Thursday 26 October
Room 318, Education 2 (ED2), La Trobe University
Xiong Shili 熊十力 (1885-1968) was one of the most influential Chinese philosophers of the twentieth century, and he is generally considered to be a founding figure of New Confucianism. Xiong’s metaphysics focuses mainly on the concepts of Reality (ti 體) and Function (yong 用) – one of the key conceptual polarities in traditional Chinese philosophy. His mature ti-yong philosophical system was established in the early 1930s, and represented by his 1932 work, Xin weishi lun 新唯識論 (New Treatise on the Uniqueness of Consciousness). Although the 1920s was a key period in the formation of his ti-yong philosophical system, the significance of this period has tended to be overlooked by scholars. In this seminar, I will introduce Xiong’s understanding of Reality and Function in the 1920s.
About the speaker
Yu SANG is a PhD scholar in the School of Culture, History and Language of the Australian National University, and is in the final stage of completing a thesis on the philosophy of Xiong Shili. She holds an MA awarded by the University of Sydney (2011).