1909年嗰陣，牟宗三喺山東省棲霞縣牟家疃出世，祖籍湖北省公安縣。佢喺9歲嗰陣就入私塾讀書，11歲入新制小學，15歲入棲霞縣立中學。1928年，考入北京大學預科，兩年後就升讀哲學系，1933年畢業。大學時代先後受張申府、金嶽霖嘅教育，但係就受熊十力影響嘅最大，特別係《新唯識論》嘅義理，佢感到相當震撼，於是就同為熊十力維持咗幾十年嘅師生情誼。
At that time in 1909, Mou Zongsan was born in Mu Jiatuan, Qixia County, Shandong Province, and his ancestral home was Gong'an County, Hubei Province. He entered a private school at the age of 9, a new elementary school at the age of 11, and a Qixia County High School at the age of 15. In 1928, he was admitted to the preparatory department of Peking University, and two years later he went on to study philosophy, graduating in 1933. When he was in college, he was educated by Zhang Shenfu and Jin Yuelin, but he was most influenced by Xiong Shili, especially the righteousness of "New Consciousness", he felt quite shocked, so he maintained a teacher-student friendship for Xiong Shili for decades.