Xiong Shili

Xiong Shili was a modern Chinese philosopher whose major work ''A New Treatise on Consciousness-only'' is a Confucian critique of the Buddhist "consciousness-only" theory popularized in China by the Tang Dynasty pilgrim Xuanzang.

Born in Huanggang, Hubei, Xiong was a participant in the that ended the Qing Dynasty and ushered in China's first republic, left politics in 1917 in disgust over corruption and what he termed "latent feudalism" among the revolutionaries.

Offered a sinecure as a school teacher, Xiong stopped in Nanjing to listen to lectures at the Buddhist China Institute for Inner Learning , Buddhists refer to metaphysics as 'inner learning' and science as 'outer learning.'. Xiong remained at the Institute as a student of Ouyang Xiu, the Institute's learned lay teacher.

In the 1920s, the Chancellor of Peking University, Cai Yuanpei, stopped in Nanjing to visit Ouyang Xiu. Cai Yuanpei asked Ouyang Xiu to recommend someone to teach Buddhist Logic at the Philosophy Department at Peking University. Ouyang Xiu recommended Xiong and passed Cai Yuanpei a rough draft of Xiong's ''New Treatise on Consciousness-only''. Impressed with the Xiong's work, Cai Yuanpei invited Xiong to Peking University where Xiong published his major work ''A New Treatise on Consciousness-only'' in 1932.

Major works

* ''A New Treatise on Consciousness-only''
* ''A Refutation of the Refutation of the New Treatise on Consciousness-only''
* ''Origins of Confucianism''
* ''Essay on Substance and Function''
* ''Essential Sayings of Shili''
* ''First Continuation of the Essential Sayings of Shili''
* ''Essentials for Reading the Classics''
* ''A Comprehensive Explanation of Buddhist Terms''
* ''On Change''
* ''Conservative Buddhist Clandestine Opposition to Xuan Zang During the Tang Dynasty''

Outline

A. Childhood and Early Education

B. The 1911 Revolution
#He Zixin and Wang Han
#The Science Study Group
#Wang Han’s Assassination Attempt on Tie Liang
#Society for the Daily Increase of Knowledge
#Xiong Shili on the 1911 Revolution
#Xiong Shili After the 1911 Revolution
C. The Buddhist Scholar
#The Institute for Inner Learning
#Xiong’s Early Interest in Buddhism
#Xiong at the Institute for Inner Learning
D. Professor of Philosophy
#Peking University
#Liang Shuming and Lin Zaiping
#Ma Yifu
#A Student’s View of Xiong
#The Research Institute of Chinese Philosophy
#Xiong’s Academic Career