Moral ontology is a theory of cardinal significance in Confucianism, and it is also the topic that Mou Zongsan paid special attention to throughout his life after he was taught by Xiong Shili. However, due to the limitations of perceptualrational dichotomy, Mou Zong san’s elucidation still presents some weak points.If the thought is put into the framework of the trichotomy of zhixing, renxing and yuxing from Shengsheng Ethics of Confucianism, the situation will be significantly changed. According to the trichotomy, renxing (benevolence) and zhixing (intelligence) play different roles in in moral ontology. Renxing is responsible for the creation of moral ontology which is achieved through presentation; however, its way of thinking is not Mou Zongsan’s unique interpretation of Kant’s concept of intellectual intuition. Zhixing is responsible for cognition, and the cognition can not only explain why moral ontology is realized by the presentation of renxing through inner knowledge, but also prove the existence of external objects through outer knowledge, thus explicating the problem of moral ontology clearly.

Mou Zongsan; renxing; zhixing; moral ontology; Shengsheng Ethics of Confucianism