Liang Shuming

Early Life and "The Last Confucian"

Liang Shuming was born on 18 October 1893 in Beijing and was largely self-taught, without a formal university education. In 1917, at Cai Yuanpei's invitation, he became a lecturer in Indian philosophy at Peking University, and in 1921 published his influential work Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophies, a systematic comparison of Chinese, Western, and Indian civilizations that made him a key forerunner of modern New Confucianism.

The Rural Reconstruction Movement and Political Career

In 1931, Liang launched the Rural Reconstruction Movement in Zouping, Shandong, attempting to rebuild grassroots Chinese society through education and local self-government — one of the most influential social reform experiments of the Republican era, cut short by the outbreak of war with Japan. In 1941 he helped found the China Democratic League (initially the League of Democratic Parties), working to mediate between the Nationalists and Communists. After 1949, he served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, but his independent views kept him largely outside the political core.

Public Clash with Mao Zedong in 1953

In September 1953, at an enlarged meeting of the Central People's Government Council, Liang directly criticized Mao over the gap between rural and urban living standards, saying policy had left "peasants down in the ninth circle, workers up in the ninth heaven." Mao rebuked him sharply on the spot, calling him a pretender and hypocrite. Liang asked to be allowed to finish speaking; the request was denied, and the confrontation continued for several days. For nearly three decades afterward he was effectively excluded from the political core, though he retained his position and salary as a CPPCC member.

Refusing to Criticize Confucius During the Campaign

In 1974, at age 81, Liang was ordered to join in criticizing Confucius within the CPPCC's directly affiliated study group. He stated publicly: "I will only criticize Lin, not Confucius. The criticism of Confucius arose out of the criticism of Lin, and I see no connection between Lin Biao and Confucius, so I will not criticize Confucius." On 22 February he delivered a lengthy address to the group titled "How Should We Evaluate Confucius Today," spending two half-days laying out his independent views on Confucian thought. He was then subjected to seven months of criticism — six months of small-group sessions followed by two months of mass meetings. On 23 September, when the session's chair pressed him for his reflections, he quoted the Analects: "The commander of three armies may be seized, but the will of a common man cannot be taken from him" — signaling that criticism could not shake his independent thinking, a rare public act of intellectual resistance in the Cultural Revolution's later years. Mao later referenced Liang in an endorsement on a document, suggesting a degree of understanding toward him.

Later Years and Legacy

In the 1980s Liang was rehabilitated and returned to active academic and public life, serving as a standing committee member of the CPPCC and giving numerous interviews in his later years recalling his experiences, later compiled into the book Liang Shuming Wenda Lu (Liang Shuming: Questions and Answers). He died in Beijing on 23 June 1988, aged 95. For his independent thinking at several historical turning points, he came to be known as "the last Confucian of China."