Thom H. Fang, Tang Junyi and Huayan Thought

In Thom H. Fang, Tang Junyi and Huayan Thought, King Pong Chiu discusses Thom H. Fang and Tang Junyi, two of the most important Confucian thinkers in twentieth-century China, who appropriated aspects of the medieval Chinese Buddhist school of Huayan to develop a response to the challenges of scientism, the belief that quantitative natural science is the only valuable part of human learning and the only source of truth. As Chiu argues, Fangs and Tangs selective appropriations of Huayan thought paid heed to the hermeneutical importance of studying ancient texts in order to be more responsive to modern issues, and helped confirm the values of Confucianism under the challenge of scientism, a topic widely ignored in academia.