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On the Rhetoric of Defining Confucianism as a Religion tackles the perennially controversial question of whether Confucianism is a religion and proposes a holistic and contextual approach to the issue.
Since the mid-1980s, Taiwan and mainland China have witnessed a sustained resurgence of academic and intellectual interest in ruxue—“Confucianism”—variously conceived as a form of culture, an ideology, a system of learning, and a tradition of normative values. This discourse has led to a proliferation of contending conceptions of ruxue, as well as proposals for rejuvenating it to make it a vital cultural and psycho-spiritual resource in the modern world. This study aims to show how ruxue has been conceived in order to assess the achievements of this enterprise; to identify which aspects of ru thought and values academics find viable, and why; to highlight the dynamics involved in the...
Expanding Process explores how comparative philosophy expands our understanding of the critical themes of process, change, and transformation. John H. Berthrong examines how notions of process manifest and shape the classical Confucianism of Xunzi, the early medieval Daosim of the Liezi, and Zhu Xi's Song Dynasty daoxue (Teaching of The Way). Berthrong links these various Chinese views of process and transformation to contemporary debates in the American process, pragmatic, and naturalist philosophical movements. Stressing how our pluralistic world calls for comparing and even appropriating insights from diverse cultural traditions, Berthrong contends that comparative philosophy and theology can broaden the intellectual frontiers and foundations of any serious student of contemporary global thought.
The contributions to Concepts of Philosophy in Asia and the Islamic World reflect upon the problems implied in the received notions of philosophy in the respective scholarly literatures. They ask whether, and for what reasons, a text should be categorized as a philosophical text (or excluded from the canon of philosophy), and what this means for the concept of philosophy. The focus on texts and textual corpora is central because it makes authors expose their claims and arguments in direct relation to specific sources, and discourages generalized reflections on the characteristics of, for example, Japanese culture or the Indian mind. The volume demonstrates that close and historically informed readings are the sine qua non in discussing what philosophy is in Asia and the Islamic world, just as much as with regard to Western literature Contributors are Yoko Arisaka, Wolfgang Behr, Thomas Fröhlich, Lisa Indraccolo, Paulus Kaufmann, Iso Kern, Ralf Müller, Gregor Paul, Lisa Raphals, Fabian Schäfer, Ori Sela, Rafael Suter, Christian Uhl, Viatcheslav Vetrov, Yvonne Schulz Zinda, and Nicholas Zufferey.
Topic of this publication is "popular belief in contemporary China". It focuses on the positions of participants in the Chineselanguage discourse rather than taking the current state of research in the Western world as the starting point for its exploration. This study lays open the discursive thread in the People’s Republic of China about indigeneity and the critical reception by Chinese academics of Western research approaches. Many Chinese authors have begun to question the ability of Western theories to adequately explain phenomena in China. This book also deals with discursive strategies of Chinese academics aimed at the legitimation of popular belief and in support of a scientific treatment of popular belief in the People’s Republic of China. The author gives a comprehensive overview of the broad range of positions within this rapidly unfolding social and academic sphere.
This study in German offers profound insights into the life and thoughts of Wang Guowei (1877-1927). Like many intellectuals who strongly perceived the necessity of reforms in the waning years of the Late Qing dynasty, i.e. after the Opium wars, Wang sought to strengthen China's position against foreign, in particular Western, powers. Contrary to earlier approaches, which either advocated a close adherence to Confucian traditions or tried to adapt only elements of Western material culture, mainly industrial and military technology, Wang Guowei aimed at reviving traditional Chinese culture by analysing its source texts using a modern scientific approach (and thereby started the discipline of guoxue [national studies]) and simultaneously adapting compatible elements of Western immaterial culture. Thus, Wang became known as an authority on Chinese paleography as well as on German philosophy, especially Kantian epistomology.
"A vast and complex tradition foundational to East Asian civilizations, Confucianism continues to be a cultural force of global significance. The Oxford Handbook of Confucianism is a collection of 38 essays that explore the variety, complexity, and richness of Confucianism over time and across regions. These essays are written to be of value to the educated public while presenting new scholarship and fresh perspectives from leading scholars in Confucian studies. Using a range of critical approaches, the volume is divided into four parts. Confucianism presents unique problems to study and interpretation, and the introductory section offers three essays exploring the history and criticism of E...
Thirty major scholars in the field wrote this new, authoritative guide to the main features and development of Daoism. The chapters are devoted to either specific periods, or topics such as Women in Daoism, Daoism in Korea and Daoist Ritual Music. Each chapter rigidly deals with a fixed set of aspects, such as history, texts, worldview and practices. Clear markings in the chapters themselves and a detailed index make this volume the most accessible key resource on Daoism past and present.
This close analysis of Kang’s conception of a compatible and complementary relationship between scientific knowledge and ‘true religion’ exemplified by his Confucian religion (kongjiao) contributes to a richer understanding of this subject in China and in a more global context.