Jiang Qing’s Political Confucianism

Abstract

It is an honor to comment on Jiang Qing’s work. Professor Jiang has written the most systematic and detailed defense of political Confucianism since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. It also requires a great deal of courage to put forward such views in present-day China. I share his view that political transitions must draw on already existing cultural resources if they are to achieve long-term political legitimacy (p. 39).¹ In the case of China, it would mean drawing on the tradition of “political Confucianism” – the most politically influential of China’s traditions – and Jiang offers an interpretation of this tradition meant to be appropriate for China in the future. The tradition offers relatively concrete ideas for social and political reform, and it is a clear alternative to the political status quo as well as to Western-style liberal democracy.

An earlier version of this essay was published as Appendix 2 in my book China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society (Copyright © Princeton University Press, 2008). This updated version is reprinted with permission of PUP, which we greatly acknowledge.