長期以來，學界都認為牟宗三的宋明理學的判教是通過援引康德的「自律」完成的。這樣的解釋並不算完全錯誤，但筆者更想揭示出牟宗三的宋明理學的判教在中國哲學史中的源頭：「如來藏思想」，呂澂將此種理論形態準確地概括為「性覺」。而牟宗三所闡述的「自律」概念也可以在「性覺」這個概念下得到更為充分的理解，其與康德之間的差異也可以得到妥善的處理。

Many scholars argue that Mou Zongsan’s assessment of Neo-Confucianism was inspired by the Kantian notion of “autonomy.” Such an explanation is not completely wrong; this article, however, argues that the origin of Mou Zongsan’s judgment of Neo- Confucianism had its roots in Chinese Buddhist thought. In particular, Mou Zongsan made use of the notion of “Tathāgatagarbha,” which has been accurately summarized as “xingjue” by Lü Cheng. The notion of “autonomy,” as used by Mou Zongsan, can be more fully understood through the notion of “xingjue.” This explanation also allows us to better understand the differences between Mou Zongsan and Kant.