Xiong Shili's Critique of Yogacara Thought in the Context of His Constructive Philosophy

This chapter focuses on Xiong Shili’s 熊十力 (1885–1968) Xin weishi lun (New Treatise on the Uniqueness of Consciousness). The chapter argues that Xiong’s Confucio-Buddhist syncretism was developed dialectically on the basis of a critique of Yogācāra thought, and as an elaboration of the Mahāyāna doctrines of conditioned arising and the inherent emptiness of conditioned phenomena. The chapter consists of two parts. The first part introduces Xiong’s radical monism and his related critique of Yogācāra philosophy as ontological dualism and pluralism. The second part adduces a range of evidence drawn from the New Treatise to show that the Huayan Buddhist doctrine of nature origination (xingqi 性起) played a central role in Xiong’s constructive philosophy, in which he integrated concepts, problems, and themes from traditional Chinese philosophy with elements emblematic of Sinitic Buddhist philosophy to articulate an ambitious philosophical syncretism.