Educated his pupils later liang 1989a p 61 influenced

educated his pupils later” (Liang 1989a, p. 61). Influenced by his teacher, Liang
Qichao “admired the learning of Wang Yangming”, too, believing the “proposition
Master Wang Yangming had promoted that the attainment of liangzhi
良知
(goodness in conscience) is a key for learning through history, and the only way
to reject Philistinism and secure sainthood.” (Liang 1989b, p. 24). Many members
of the revolutionary parties during the 1911 Revolution also canonized the
learning of Wang Yangming. One such person was Song Jiaoren. He thought that
the xinxue of Wang Yangming achieved only “part of the Dao of the saints”, that
is, only the doctrine of the mind instead of objects, but “following the principle
that the Dao of the saints is consistent, we can work on the aspect concerning the
mind first, and in this manner, the learning of Master Yangming is sufficient for
us to follow and keep in mind.” (Song 1981, p. 575) Liu Shipei also affirmed
Yangming’s learning of the mind. In his work known as the Zhongguo Minyue
Xingyi
中国民约精义
(Kernel of Customs Among Chinese People) he asserted that
Yangming’s doctrine of conscience was identical with Jean-Jacques
Rousseau’s
idea of natural rights, thinking that the doctrine of natural rights claimed that
human beings’ right to liberty came from nature, while conscience also came
from nature. In this sense, Liu Shipei thought that the “conscience is in fact the
right to liberty” and that “although Yangming’s works did not discuss the principle
of civil rights, the profound principles of equality and freedom can be reached if
one reasons from the basis of his doctrine of conscience. Now I think there is no
other way but to promote Yangming’s doctrine of conscience if we want to revive
the learning of China!” (Liu 1997a, p. 585) As he said in an article entitled the
Wangxue Shiyi
王学释疑
(Explanation of Questions About the Learning of Wang
Yangming),

8 GONG Shuduo
“Yangming was a great worthy man or a saint emerging after the decline of
scholarship and both his virtues and merits have been noteworthy throughout
the past 300 years. When it prospered, his learning was popular all over China
indeed; but even after several generations when the followers of the Cheng
Brothers and Zhu Xi went to great lengths to denigrate it, comparing it with
harmful floods and fierce animals, it is still like a tall tree in defiance of the
attack of ants.” (Liu 1997b, p. 333)
Cai Yuanpei also praised Yangming’s learning of the mind, stating that
“One can understand better Confucius’ doctrine that “I will be benevolent
if I want to” and Mencius’s saying that everyone could be a Yao or Shun if he
understands Yangming’s theory. What Yangming relied upon were different
from the words of the ancient classic books, but considering the bad habits of a
weakened academia, his remarks and doctrines do not have to be consistent
with the established ones, and what he stressed were not the conformity as a
matter of course. Considering the originality of his attempt, his achievement is
undeniable as his intention was to correct the mistakes of the degraded learning