A Glimpse of Evaluations

 

  1. “…. one of the great scholar-teacher of our time.  As a philosopher he exemplified his own ideal of the combined personages of poet, prophet, and sage.”[1]

 

---- Lewis E. Hahn, Editor, Library of Living Philosophers; awarded “Man of the Year in Philosophy” (1967); “Lifetime Achievements” (1998), APA (American Philosophical Association);

 

  1. “Whatever our conclusion, we are deeply indebted to the great philosophical labors of Professor Thomé Fang who helped us to understand the ingenuity and greatness of Chinese philosophy.  His lofty generalizations make clear as never before the mountain peaks and river valleys of Chinese culture.”[2]

 

---- Dale Maurice Riepe, formerly Professor and Chairman, Philosophy Department, State University of New York at Buffalo, NY; Visiting Professor of Philosophy, University of Moscow, Soviet Russia.

 

  1. “Professor Thomé Fang is one of the great philosophers of contemporary China; unfortunately, too little of his works has been translated in the West.”[3]

 

---- Fredreick von Hayek, Nobel Prize Winner for Economics, 1975.

 

  1. “Professor Fang treats the most difficulty problems of Mahªyªna Buddhism with admirable facility!”[4]

 

---- Kenneth K. Inada, formerly Professor of Philosophy, & Director of Asian and Comparative Philosophy Project, State University of New York at Buffalo, NY.

 

  1. “Of all the presentations to the 1964 East-West Philosophers’ Conference I am most impressed with Professor Fang’s as the best.”[5]

 

---- D. T. Suzuki, the world’s leading authority on Zen Buddhism, Kyoto, Japan.

 

  1. “Of all Chinese scholars of my generation few have exerted such a great impact as Professor Fang.”[6]

 

---- Wing-tsit Chan, the late Anna R. D. Gillespie Professor of Philosophy and Chinese Culture, Chatham College, PA.

 

  1. “The West, or the United States, recognizes that Taiwan has philosopher, because Taiwan has Thomé H, Fang.”[7]

 

---- Antonio Cuo, Professor, School of Philosophy and Theology, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C .

 

  1. “Professor Thomé Fang is the last great classical poet China has ever produced!”[8]

 

---- Qian Zhongshu, scholar, poet, novelist, literary critic, Beijing, China.

 

  1. “Though never to be able to see each other again in this life, I am deeply impressed with  Professor Thomé Fang’s style as scholar and philosopher; I only wish there will still be opportunities for me to show such a style as typical of China, so that our Japanese scholars would have a model to reflect upon and to learn from.”[9]

 

---- Hajime Nakamura, President, Eastern Society, Tokyo, Japan.

 

  1. “Never could I imagine it possible for an Easterner to present Chinese philosophy to the West in such elegant and classical English to be rarely found among the British and American scholars of our time.”[10]

 

---- Ian McMorran, Professor of History of Chinese Thought, Oxford University, England, and University of Paris, France.

 

  1. “Not until now do I know who is the greatest philosopher of China.”[11]

 

---- Charles Moore, the late Chairman, Philosophy Department, and Founder of East-West Philosophers’ Conference, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI.

 

 


Notes

 

[1] Cf. Lewis E. Hahn, “Thomé H. Fang and the Spirit of Chinese Philosophy,” in The Philosophy of Professor Thomé H. Fang, Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Thomé H. Fang, Taipei: The Youth Culltural Enterprise, Inc., 1988, p. 5; Lewis E. Hahn, Enhancing Cultural Imterflow between East and West, ed. & tr. George C. H. Sun (Mobile: The Thomé H. Fang Institute, 1998), p. 88.

 

[2] Cf. The Philosophy of Professor Thomé H. Fang, p. 193.

 

[3] Cf. Universitas, A Monthly Review of Philosophy and Culture, Vol. II, No. 12, Taipei, 1975, 16.

 

[4] Professor Inada’s Letter to the Executive Committee, First International Symposium on Thomé H. Fang.

 

[5] According to Professor Chung-yuan Chang, a disciple of D. T. Suzuki, during the 5th Anniversary Symposium on Wang Yang-ming, 1972, Honolulu, HI.

 

[6] Professor Chan’s Letter to the Executive Committee, First International Symposium on Thomé H. Fang.

 

[7] According to Professor Antonio Cuo at the Award Reception for the Thomé H. Fang Institute, given by the Foundation of Promotion of International Education and Culture, at School of Philosophy and Theology, Catholic University of Amercia, Washington D. C., 1991.

 

[8] According to Professor Qian Zhongshu in a conversation with Mr. I-chuan Chen in Washington D.C., 1987.

 

[9] Cf. The Philosophy of Thomé H. Fang, p. 384.

 

[10] Cf. Universitas, A Monthly Review of Philosophy and Culture, Vol. II. No. 6, Taipei, 1975, 7.

 

[11] Cf. Ibid., 51.