1001Philosophers

Mou Zongsan Quotes

Mou Zongsan was a Chinese philosopher and one of the principal representatives of the New Confucian movement of the twentieth century. After studies at Peking University and a long teaching career in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he produced a vast philosophical corpus that reread classical Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist sources in dialogue with Kant. The quotes below are attributed to Mou Zongsan, organized by topic.

Mou Zongsan on God

  • Attributed to Mou Zongsan:

    “Confucianism is, in its deepest sense, a moral religion.”

Mou Zongsan on Knowledge

  • Attributed to Mou Zongsan:

    “Without intellectual intuition there can be no Chinese philosophy.”

Mou Zongsan on Mind

  • Attributed to Mou Zongsan:

    “The moral subject is the foundation of Chinese philosophy.”

Mou Zongsan on Truth

  • Attributed to Mou Zongsan:

    “There is a two-level ontology: the phenomenal and the noumenal, both accessible to the moral subject.”

Read all Mou Zongsan quotes on Truth

Mou Zongsan on Virtue

  • Attributed to Mou Zongsan:

    “The sage is the one who has fully realized the moral subject.”