Articles on Confucianism
Supporting Article
Rest? Is It Permitted?
Some Observations on Rest in the Chinese Cultural Context
What is the Chinese concept of rest? How does it interact with the Chinese values of shame and “face”? The author explores these topics and their interaction with the biblical teaching about rest.
Resource Corner
Resources for Learning More about Confucianism and Christianity
An annotated bibliography for further reading on this topic.
Lead Article
Contemporary Confucian Revival and Its Interactions with Christianity in China
Chinese society today has turned fairly religious with Protestant Christianity and Confucianism experiencing the most growth in recent decades. As these two traditions interact more and more, the tension and rivalry between them intensifies. Dr. Yao looks at the roles that each plays in today's China along with the place of the so-called New Confucian Movement. As the current Confucian revival represents an attempt to regain Confucian dominance in Chinese society, what is the response of Christianity?
Supporting Article
Confucian Comeback
An Interview with Fenggang Yang
Professor Fenggang Yang provides insightful answers to questions about Confucianism. His comments address topics such as the groups of people among whom Confucianism is growing, the influence of New Confucianists from overseas on Chinese society and thought, and concrete signs that Confucianism is growing in China.
Supporting Article
A Chinese Christian Critique of Confucianism
Chang provides a Christian understanding of the nature of Confucianism, its classics and the basic teachings of Confucius. This is followed by a critique of Confucianism from a biblical standpoint using classical theological categories (God, creation, man, sin and salvation and eschatology) to frame his comments. He also discusses a key component of traditional Confucianism, ancestor worship.
View From the Wall
Confucianism in Modern Chinese Society
First, the author takes his readers on a walk through a Chinese megacity to help us "see" how Confucianism is influencing modern Chinese society; then he goes on to discuss some of its influences in key areas of Chinese culture. Is Confucianism today the same as it was historically? What is its relationship with politics? What does it have to do with the Chinese identity? The article discusses these and other relevant questions.
Peoples of China
The New Confucianists
Contemporary Confucian Scholars
The revival of Confucianism in China comes from a variety of sources including scholars resident in mainland China, Taiwan and overseas. He Tianyi provides a brief introduction to some of these. They include scholars working to educate in the Confucian tradition, doing research on Confucianism, lecturing to spread traditional culture into the popular mainstream and focusing on the implementation of the Confucian view of life in the presence of modern materialism. He introduces us to one who specialize in the history of Western philosophy, cultural philosophy and Neo-Confucianism and to another who is working to promote greater mutual understanding between intellectuals in China and the West.
Book Reviews
China’s New Confucianism
Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society
Daniel A. Bell, China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-691-13690-5; hardcover; 340 pages, including two appendices, notes, and bibliography.
Reviewed by G. Wright Doyle