Confucianism for the Contemporary World: Global Order, Political Plurality, and Social Action

306 Pages·2017·4.954 MB·English

by  Tze-ki Hon (editor), Kristin Stapleton (editor)

CONFUCIANISM
for the Contemporary World
SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
——————
Roger T. Ames, editor
CONFUCIANISM
for the Contemporary World
Global Order, Political Plurality,
and Social Action
Edited by
Tze‑ki Hon and Kristin Stapleton
Cover Image: “Shanghai Skyline” © cuiphoto / iStockphoto.com
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2017 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic
tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission
in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Dana Foote
Marketing, Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Names: Hon, Tze‑ki, 1958– editor. | Beyond the New Confucianism: Confucian
Thought for Twenty‑first Century China (Conference) (2012 : Buffalo, New York)
Title: Confucianism for the contemporary world : global order, political plurality, and
social action / edited by Tze‑ki Hon and Kristin Stapleton.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, 2017. | Series: SUNY
series in Chinese philosophy and culture | “This volume originated in an
April 2012 international conference sponsored by the UBCI: “Beyond the New
Confucianism: Confucian Thought for Twenty‑first Century China.” Tze‑ki Hon
and I organized the event. With the exception of one chapter, all of the essays in
this volume were originally presented and discussed at the 2012 conference in
Buffalo”—Preface. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016047191 (print) | LCCN 2016047800 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438466514 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438466521 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, Confucian—China. | Confucianism—China. |
Confucianism—Economic aspects—China. | Confucianism—Political aspects—
China. | Confucianism—Social aspects—China.
Classification: LCC B127.C65 C643 2017 (print) | LCC B127.C65 (ebook) | DDC
181/.112—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047191
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
Kristin Stapleton
Introduction: Confucianism for the Contemporary World xi
Tze-ki Hon
Part One: Capitalism and the Global Order
1. Global Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics 3
Fang Keli’s New Confucian Research Project (1986–1995)
Tze-ki Hon
2. Confucianism, Community, Capitalism
Chen Lai and the Spirit of Max Weber 19
Els van Dongen
3. Realizing Tianxia 45
Traditional Values and China’s Foreign Policy
Daniel A. Bell
4. Confucianism to Save the World 65
Tongdong Bai
Part Two: Political Plurality and Civil Society
5. Building Democracy 81
The Theory and Practice of Contemporary New Confucianism
Ming-huei Lee
vi / Contents
6. Self‑Restriction and Progressive Confucianism 91
Stephen C. Angle
7. Confucianism and Civil Society
The New Meanings of “Inner Sage” and “Outer King” 107
An-wu Lin
8. A Mission Impossible?
Mou Zongsan’s Attempt to Rebuild Morality in the Modern Age 117
Ke Sheng
9. The Challenge of Totalitarianism
Lessons from Tang Junyi’s Political Philosophy 131
Thomas Fröhlich
10. A Critique of Colonialism and Capitalism
Tang Junyi’s Views on Plurality and Openness 167
Hok Yin Chan
Part Three: Social Responsibility and Social Action
11. Worshipping Ancestors in Modern China
Confucius and the Yellow Emperor as Icons of Chinese Identity 183
Marc Andre Matten
12. The Chinese Media’s Campaign for Confucianism
Motivations, Implications, and Problems 209
Junhao Hong, Miao Liu, and Wen Huang
Epilogue
Beyond New Confucianism
Expanding the Contemporary Rudao 225
John H. Berthrong
Bibliography 243
Notes on Contributors 267
Index 271
Illustrations
Figure 11.1 Worship of Confucius at his tomb in March 2012. 195
Figure 11.2 Statues of Confucius in Qufu at Confucius
Research Institute, Qufu Normal University, and
Lunyu Garden. 196
Figure 11.3 Confucius sculpture in the Park of the Four Books
(Sishuyuan 四書苑). 198
Figure 12.1 Growth of Confucius Institutes (2004–2013). 213
Figure 12.2 Geographic distribution of Confucius Institutes. 217
Figure 12.3 Are you interested in learning about Chinese culture? 220
Figure 12.4 How do you feel about Chinese culture? 221
Figure 12.5 Why are you not interested in learning about
Chinese culture? 221
Figure 12.6 Where do you obtain your knowledge of
Chinese culture? 222
Figure 12.7 What is the most important element of China’s
soft power? 223
vii

Preface
Kristin Stapleton
Confucian teachings have been reinterpreted, expanded, and reassessed
continuously since the Sage himself walked the earth. The last twelve
decades, however, have been a particularly fertile time for debate about
their value and meaning. As a historian of Chinese cities and social life, I
am by no means an expert on the intellectual aspects of the struggle over
Confucianism set in motion by the crises at the end of the Qing. Like many
who have read and enjoyed modern Chinese literature, however, I have long
been familiar with the dramatic story of how basic Chinese understandings
of humanity and the world came under attack in the twentieth century. In
excavating the historical background of Ba Jin’s popular anti‑Confucian
novel Family, I have even contributed to the large body of scholarship on
the May Fourth Movement and its condemnation of Confucian thought as
“feudal.”
This book helps us piece together a different, but no less striking, story.
In his introduction, “Confucianism for the Contemporary World,” Tze‑ki
Hon calls this story a “cultural miracle”—the preservation and adaptation
of Confucian thought for the contemporary world, despite the attempts of
its critics to consign it to the dustbin of history. As the scholars whose work
is represented here make clear, even as Confucianism was being condemned
during the first decades of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a core
group of scholars outside of the PRC worked tirelessly to carry on the schol‑
arly tradition of careful mastery and exegesis of a huge body of sophisticated
texts. They also sought to find the terms through which Chinese philosophy
could engage with other schools of thought, and particularly with European
philosophy, which dominated—and still dominates—philosophical studies
in Western and Western‑style academies.
ix