Excerpt

In recent decades, environmental writers have been turning to Chinese traditions of thought for ecological wisdom. Challenging the anthropocentric worldview that privileges human dominion over nature, they have recovered from Chinese classics alternative concepts regarding humanity's reciprocal relations with the natural world. Buddhism and Taoism, the most suitable candidates for this search, articulate cosmologies in which all life forms are embedded, interconnect, and circulate. Confucianism, conventionally seen as a moral doctrine centered on familial and kinship relations, has also become a treasure trove for advancing ecological worldviews. To Mary Evelyn Tucker, Confucian ecological thought may provide an alternative environmentalist view…