In this volume, renowned Confucian scholar Chun-chieh Huang analyzes various East Asian contexts to identify the central pillars of the Confucian humanist spirit: a continuum between mind and body, harmony between oneself and others, the ...

This article discusses the “contextual turn” in the interpretation of Chinese classics: the contextuality of Confucian classics in China was latent, tacit, and almost imperceptible; however, it became salient and explicit once the Confucian classics were introduced to Tokugawa Japan. Many a Japanese Confucian took ideas and values expressed in the Chinese classics and transplanted them into the context of Japanese politics and thoughts, in light of which the Japanese scholars staked out new interpretations of the classics. This “contextual turn” (...) involved issues of two levels: the material political order (especially the Chinese-barbarian distinction) and the abstract political thought (especially the ruler-subject relation). It is pointed out that the Chinese empire was the Japanese Confucians’ “political foreign country” and “cultural homeland,” and the tension was evidenced by their interpretations of the term “Zhong’guo” appearing in the Confucian classics. The usual strategy adopted by the Japanese Confucians in interpreting Chinese classics was to “de-contextualize” them and then to “re-contextualize” them in their own Japanese environment. (shrink)

Imbued with profound historical consciousness, the Chinese people are Homo historiens in every sense of the term. To be human in China, to a very large extent, is to be historical, which means to live up to the paradigmatic past. Therefore, historical thinking in traditional China is moral thinking. The Chinese historico-moral thinking centers around the notion of Dao, a notion that connotes both Heavenly principle and human norm.In view of its practical orientation, Chinese historical thinking is, on the one (...) hand, concrete thinking and, on the other, analogical thinking. Thinking concretely and analogically, the Chinese people are able to communicate with the past and to extrapolate meanings from history. In this way, historical experience in China becomes a library in which modern readers may engage in creative dialogues with the past. (shrink)

This volume features in-depth philosophical analyses of major Japanese Confucian philosophers as well as themes and topics addressed in their writings. Its main historical focus is the early-modern period (1600-1868), when much original Confucian philosophizing occurred. Written by scholars from the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, and China and eclectic in methodology and disciplinary approach, this anthology seeks to advance new multidimensional studies of Japanese Confucian philosophy for English language readers. It presents essays that focus on Japanese Confucianism, while (...) including topics related to Buddhism, Shintō, Nativism, and even Andō Shōeki (1703-1762), one of the most vehement critics of Confucianism in all of East Asia. The book builds on the premise that Japanese Confucian philosophy consists in the ongoing engagement in critical, self-reflective discussions of and speculative theorizing about ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, political theory, and spiritual problems, as well as aesthetics, cosmology, and ontology. (shrink)

This article discusses the 17 th century Japanese Confucian I tō Jinsai’s interpretation of Mencius. It is argued that I tō Jinsai grinds the Mencius with an axe of Japanese “practical learning.” In his representation of Mencius, the government of “Kindly Way” is upheld as the core value in Mencius’ thought. Although there is a clear spirituality in his own philosophy, he stressed the political aspect of Mencius’ thought at the expense of the transcendental aspect of his theory of human (...) mind and nature. (shrink)

This article argues that the core value of “humanity” (ren 仁) in the Confucian tradition may serve as a resource for global ethics in the 21st century. After presenting three major questions raised by the COVID-19 pandemic, it proposes a “reconciliation” between Confucian and Western traditions for a solution to the challenges of the pandemic. Confucian “humanity”, based on the idea of interpenetration between what is inside and what is outside, may pave the way to a true “reconciliation” in our (...) era. (shrink)

This article argues that the core value of “humanity” (ren 仁) in the Confucian tradition may serve as a resource for global ethics in the 21st century. After presenting three major questions raised by the COVID-19 pandemic, it proposes a “reconciliation” between Confucian and Western traditions for a solution to the challenges of the pandemic. Confucian “humanity”, based on the idea of interpenetration between what is inside and what is outside, may pave the way to a true “reconciliation” in our (...) era. (shrink)

This article argues that the core value of “humanity” (ren 仁) in the Confucian tradition may serve as a resource for global ethics in the 21st century. After presenting three major questions raised by the COVID-19 pandemic, it proposes a “reconciliation” between Confucian and Western traditions for a solution to the challenges of the pandemic. Confucian “humanity”, based on the idea of interpenetration between what is inside and what is outside, may pave the way to a true “reconciliation” in our (...) era. (shrink)

This article argues that Mencius’ education is ‘holistic education’ that aims at igniting the ‘silent revolution’ from within one’s inner mind-heart to be unfolded in society, state, and the world. Mencius’ educational philosophy is based on his theory of human nature and his theory of self-cultivation. Mencius affirms the totality of human life because he insists that the ‘personal,’ the ‘socio-political,’ and the ‘cosmic’ form a continuum. On the basis of ‘totality’ of one’s life, Mencius regards the educational process as (...) the prompting of the overall awakening of the learner’s subjectivity. Moreover, Mencius considers that the human mind-heart is the creator of values and that human life is endowed with innate capacity to make moral judgments. Mencius holds that the most effective educational methodology is a sort of cultivation of the mind-heart through internal self-reflection. Moreover, Mencius insists that the principles of teaching are to be according to the student’s talent and that the teacher has to make oneself as a paradigm. In conclusion, Mencius’ educational philosophy reminds us of the importance of ‘emic’ approach of education and the true goal of education in this age of increased quantification, standardization, and commercialization. (shrink)

This chapter examines the tension between philosophical construction and classical interpretation. It analyses Zhu Xi’s very specific philosophical interpretations of early classics, such as the Four Books. As an example of the cross-cultural disputes among the East Asian Confucians, Huang introduces the middle-Tokugawa Confucians’ criticisms of Zhu’s abstract interpretations.