ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Grateful acknowedgement is made to the sponsors of the conference in which this work was thought through and brought to realization. These include The International Society for Metaphysics, for which this volume constitutes the continuation of an extensive sequence of investigations which represent the cutting edge of contemporary sensibilities in metaphysics.

In the realization of the present volume the assistance of The Chang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, The United Daily News Cultural Foundation and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China has been most generous. The National Chengchi University, Taipei, provided exceptionally fine working space. Its faculty and students extended excellent assistance in enabling a broadly international group of scholars to come together, have the working materials in hand and accomplish serious work within a brief span of time. This work was contributed to as well by faculty and students from the National Taiwan University and Fu-Jen Catholic University, to all of whom a special debt of gratitude is owed.

Above all, of course, the volume is the work of scholars who have devoted their life to understanding more deeply the Chinese tradition and unfolding its significance for life in our times. The volume suggests the long years of dedicated study and research by this team of scholars and their colleagues in carrying out the pioneer work required for the progress of peoples.

Acknowledgement is made to the University of Hawaii Press for permission to use materials included in chapter VIII. In the preparation and correction of the manuscript the work of Mrs. B. Kennedy and Carol Dupré has been essential, as has been the continuing work of the James A. McLeans in the ongoing work of the project on Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Life.