Search

The sheep case in Analects 13.18 has generated a heated debate in contemporary Chinese philosophy for more than a decade. One side in this debate criticizes Confucius' view in the sheep case and the other side defends Confucius' position. Neither side's reading of 13.18 is satisfactory. I argue that something important in the text has been overlooked and this omission may explain why neither side gives a satisfying reading. I offer in this essay a new reading of the sheep case which pays attention to what the existent interpretations have overlooked in the text. This new focus will give us a new perspective to reframe the issue in question and to defend the Confucian position in a more convincing way. On the new interpretation, Confucius' position in the sheep case suggests a sensible and reasonable way for the state to balance some important social interests which the state seeks to protect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon Confucian ethical insights extracted from the Analects, this essay argues that principlism suffers from fundamental theoretical flaws. Its four principles do not genuinely capture universal principles, because they distort the practice-embedded nature of authentic moral norms found within actual moral cultures, as elucidated by Confucian insights. Specifically, Confucianism highlights the importance of a reflective equilibrium between constitutive rules and regulative principles. Principlism, in reality, represents an abridged version of modern Western liberal ethical norms, as it retains their significant regulative principles while excluding their specific constitutive rules. The essay also employs prominent examples to illustrate the practical ineffectiveness of principlism. Given that diverse cultures either adhere to different regulative principles that diverge from the four principles or are obligated to specify them with their distinct constitutive rules, relying on the four principles as a uniform starting point falls short in providing and justifying universal solutions to the bioethical dilemmas confronting contemporary societies. In addition, the essay delves into the underlying factors that have led to the seemingly widespread adoption of the four principles across different regions worldwide. Lastly, the essay introduces the concept of regioglobal bioethics as an alternative to principlism for global bioethics, outlining a general Confucian endorsement of this proposal and providing a brief response to potential objections, aiming to pave the way for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this essay is to review and evaluate chapters in Fan and Cherry's Sex Robots: Social Impact and the Future of Human Relations. In this edited volume, the authors of the various chapters present dialogues from the East and West to explore the social and cultural implications of sex robots. They also discuss whether sex robots have a positive, negative, or neutral impact on society and human relationships. This essay examines the key ideas presented in the book's chapters, evaluates their arguments, and identifies research directions for the ethics of sex robots in the future. Specifically, this essay provides a detailed analysis of certain schools of thought, including the capability approach, Confucianism and Daoism, and their relevance to the topic of sex robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any moral algorithm for autonomous vehicles must provide a practical solution to moral problems of the trolley type, in which all possible courses of action will result in damage, injury, or death. This article discusses a hitherto neglected variety of this type of problem, based on a recent psychological study whose results are reported here. It argues that the most adequate solution to this problem will be achieved by a moral algorithm that is based on Confucian ethics. In addition to this philosophical and psychological discussion, the article outlines the mathematics, engineering, and legal implementation of a possible Confucian algorithm. The proposed Confucian algorithm is based on the idea of making it possible to set an autonomous vehicle to allow an increased level of protection for selected people. It is shown that the proposed algorithm can be implemented alongside other moral algorithms, using either the framework of personal ethics settings or that of mandatory ethics settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that a phenomenological notion of "lived body" emerges in the Zhuangzi's 莊子 critique of the Confucian body of ritual and morality. It also argues that a philosophical account of body cannot be reduced to a Sinological account. This article draws on the phenomenological distinction between "object body" and "lived body," especially the "three ontological dimensions" of Jean-Paul Sartre to argue that the Zhuangzi criticizes the Confucian body of ritual and morality as being a "body-for-others" and that it maintains a concept of "lived body." Finally, it argues that through such methods of cultivation as "sitting and forgetting" a liberation of the body is achieved where one is connected to dao 道 and achieves a state of heightened experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confucian culture is an important traditional culture in China, which has a profound influence on the daily behavior and thinking of university students. However, it is not clear how Confucian culture affects Chinese university students' online self-disclosure behavior, and how it acts through the mediating role of life satisfaction. We use the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the bootstrapping analysis method to explore the relationships among the three variables.According to an empirical analysis of 795 college students randomly collected from the internet questionnaire platform "Credamo", we have reached the following conclusions: (1) Tolerance- altruism in Confucianism positively predicts life satisfaction level(γ = 0.15, t = 3.58, p < 0.001); (2) Introspection (on affairs, on myself)in Confucianism positively predicts life satisfaction (γ = 0.23, t = 3.71, p < 0.001;γ = 0.24,t = 3.93, p < 0.001); but introspection on the others has no effect on life satisfaction(γ = 0.00,t = 0.06, p > 0.01); (3) Life satisfaction positively predicts less online self-disclosure (β = 0.12, t = 2.88, p < 0.01).(4) Life satisfaction can mediate between Confucianism(Tolerance- altruism, Introspection on affairs, Introspection on myself) and less online self-disclosure (δ1 = 0.02,t = 2.25, p < 0.01;δ2 = 0.03,t = 2.28, p < 0.01;δ3 = 0.03,t = 2.33, p < 0.01). Therefore, Confucian cultural inheritance and promotion play an important role in college students' psychological health and their perception of life happiness, and it will weaken the depth and breadth of online self-disclosure. Meantime, it can avoid college students 'excessive dependence on online communication and improve their satisfaction with face-to-face communication in real life.It can offer insights for the research on positive psychology and adolescent internet addiction behavior, and further promote in-depth research on the differential expressions of cultural values on online-self disclosure behavior in different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's northern Fujian, as one of the spatial carriers of renowned traditional Chinese cultures such as Minyue, Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism, tea, and porcelain, has preserved a wealth of tangible cultural relics, showcasing a profound cultural heritage and possessing strong research value and development potential. This study employs GIS spatial statistical analysis and map visualization technology to unveil the evolutionary processes of cultural heritage sites in northern Fujian, focusing on their spatial types, forms, and densities across different historical periods. Based on this foundation, the research further delves into the intrinsic relationships between the spatial distribution characteristics of cultural heritage sites in northern Fujian during various historical periods and the local natural and cultural environment. The results indicate that: (1) the spatial distribution of cultural heritage sites in northern Fujian varies across different historical periods, with the highest concentration and quantity observed during the Ming and Qing periods. In contrast, the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties period exhibits the lowest quantity and a more dispersed distribution. (2) Cultural heritage sites in northern Fujian are mainly distributed in the relatively flat terrain below 400 m above sea level, including middle to low-altitude mountain basins, river valleys, and low hills. In terms of distance from rivers, cultural heritage sites exhibit a clear distribution pattern along rivers, with a large number of them located within 0–6 km from the riverbanks. (3) The spatial distribution of cultural heritage sites in northern Fujian is influenced not only by macro-environmental factors such as topography, altitude, and rivers but also by micro-shaping from social and cultural elements like Minyue culture, tea and porcelain ancient road culture, Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism culture, religious beliefs and customs culture, and red revolutionary culture across different historical periods. This study contributes to the establishment of a model correlating cultural heritage sites with historical periods and provides an interdisciplinary methodological framework to understand the relationship between cultural heritage sites and the geographical environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dialogues of Confucius (Kongzi Jia Yu 孔子家語) is an unexplored resource for the philosophy of Confucius. In this article, I make a first attempt at mining its riches. Focusing on Chapters 21 and 32, I reconstruct a multilevel theory of governing that is a cyclic process proceeding from the moral psychology of the individual to social organization, to the society as grounded in natural processes, and to the metaphysics of the natural processes themselves, thus adumbrating a metaphysics of morals from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic. This movement between macrocosmic and microcosmic levels encompasses moral psychology, economics, politics, aesthetics, and metaphysics. The metaphysical forces that account for the blowing of the wind and the motivation of human behavior are forces that flow when functioning properly and that otherwise stagnate. Maintaining that flow is the task of the leadership. Once that task is accomplished, and the flywheel spins of its own momentum, the people become self-governing. This multilevel cyclic process is compared to contemporary Western economic and political theory that is based on the unimpeded individual, aggregated into majoritarian democratic rule, based on the social contract, and vulnerable to the tragedy of the commons. Contrary to current Confucian-based correctives to democracy that seek to limit the power of the people, this Confucian argument empowers the people via a frugal, caring, well-regulated leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of shu, or considerateness, in Confucian ethics. It compares the negative formulation of shu with the positive formulation of the golden rule in other cultural traditions and discusses different interpretations of the two formulations. The author argues that Confucius advocated two versions of the golden rule: the negative version of shu for interpersonal relations and the positive version of ren for self-cultivation. The article also examines the etymology and definition of shu, emphasizing its role as a common ethical principle for maintaining interpersonal relationships and social order. Additionally, the text discusses the concept of ren in Confucianism and its relationship with the concepts of zhong (loyalty) and shu (reciprocity). The author argues that while zhong and shu are important ethical principles for interpersonal relationships, they should not be equated with ren. Ren, or humaneness, is presented as a higher moral virtue that involves caring for and helping others. The author suggests that Confucius proposes two versions of the golden rule: a negative version using shu for general interpersonal relations, and a positive version using ren for individuals to cultivate themselves. Finally, the text discusses the interpretation of the concept of ren in Confucian philosophy. Scholars have often misunderstood ren as being synonymous with the practice of shu, which involves treating others as one would like to be treated. However, ren is actually about caring for and helping others as one cares for and helps oneself and one [Extracted from the article]

Since China entered the Xi Jinping Era, the CPC has formally put forward a series of significant theories on China's future development path, including Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. These theories have sparked active discussions and responses within both domestic and international academic and theoretical circles. This paper argues that when analyzing the major relationships between Chinese civilization and other civilizations worldwide, the Chinese path to modernization and the modern civilization of the Chinese Nation, and Chinese culture and its constituent ethnic cultures, we should further elucidate relationships and adhere to the three foundational principles: subjectivity, the contemporaneity of Chinese culture, and the arterial and leading attributes of Chinese culture, which encapsulate the core issues in fostering the modern civilization of Chinese Nation. A proper understanding and nuanced handling of these issues not only bolsters the perpetuation and evolution of China's excellent traditional culture but also propels the trajectory of the Chinese path to modernization and the overarching construction of the modern civilization of Chinese Nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Communist Party of China (CPC) achieved a series of military successes in revolutionary wars. Based on new county-level panel datasets from China, this study uses the shocks brought about by a civil and foreign war to test the impact of Confucianism on the war mobilization capacity of the CPC. We find that, during the civil war, Confucianism did not significantly affect CPC's war mobilization; however, during the foreign war, it significantly improved CPC's capacity to mobilize people. This demonstrates the differentiated effects of Confucianism by war type through three different mechanisms: "loyalty," "just war," and "patriotism." Our findings shed light on the role of native cultural norms in collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article clarifies the relationship between moral personhood and moral management in ethical leadership from a Confucian perspective. Drawing from four Confucian classics, this study integrates the leader's ethical values and activities undertaken to promote virtues in followers. The harmonisation of moral personhood and moral management is facilitated by two cardinal Confucian beliefs: innate human nature and moral self-cultivation. From a Confucian viewpoint, all human beings are endowed with a good nature that enables them to become virtuous persons and leaders. Ethical leaders subdue their selfish desires and extend their natural moral feelings of true goodness, righteousness, propriety and wisdom to others. Moral personhood and moral management are inseparable because to cultivate oneself morally is to help others to become moral persons. By synthesising moral personhood and moral management, a Confucian worldview of ethical leadership contributes to leadership studies in two main ways: safeguarding against the leader's abuse of power, and advancing organisational change through path-shaping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I argue that the phenomenon of hypocrisy appears in many passages and connects to multiple ideas in the Analects: exemplary persons (junzi 君子), petty persons (xiaoren 小人), the village worthies or the village pleasers (xiangyuan 鄉愿), embellishment/concealment (wen 文), rituals (li 禮), the equilibrium aimed at between what is naturally given and how it is cultivated (wen zhi bin bin 文質彬彬), the madly ardent (kuang 狂), and the cautiously restrained (juan 獧). The discussion of hypocrisy in the Analects and its further development in the Mengzi 孟子 can be detected in three different forms: (1) speech-action mismatch, (2) inner-outer mismatch, and (3) the village pleasers, those who try to please everyone and seek their own survival and success irrespective of any objective moral principles. My hope is to clarify what Confucius and Mengzi did say about hypocrisy in order to "clear the ground" so that readers of Confucianism do not jump to a conclusion that reads Confucianism itself as hypocritical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantify the influences of Confucianism on gender inequality in present-day Vietnam. We use the number (or density) of the most successful test takers in the Vietnamese imperial examinations (1075–1919) in a given district as a proxy for mastering the subject of Confucianism. Using an instrumental variable approach based on the historical expansion of Vietnamese territory and distances to the test venues, we consider the effects on labor, health, and educational outcomes for females relative to males. We find that Confucianism has long-lasting negative impacts on gender inequality in all considered aspects. However, the results also suggest that when present-day females pursue more years of schooling, they tend to perform better than males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's discursive combination of nationalism and international engagement with its maritime neighbours seems self-defeating. To explain why this narrative strategy has been deemed apt, previous studies have predominantly followed a realist approach and contended that China's international engagement is pure statecraft to help its national rejuvenation efforts. As the merits of Confucianism increasingly affect contemporary Chinese socialism, this paper interprets the internarrativity of left Confucian ethics, Chinese nationalism and international engagement in East China Sea geopolitics. It argues that China tends to identify itself as a contributor to common material interest in the international community. With the notion of graded love, the contribution to the people of the world does not undermine the self-interests. China's national defence is often allegedly conducted alongside the defence of the existing order enabling its contribution. China does not aim to challenge the order per se, but it challenges the US and its allies' collective interpretations of it. This situation leads to antagonistic peace when the US-led alliance is unstable. However, if the US's geopolitical alliance is strong enough to withstand the solipsistic interpretation of the order, the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation can be better realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of Confucianism on corporate poverty alleviation (PA) participation. We argue that firms in regions with more Confucian temples are more likely to participate in government-initiated PA programs because Confucianism emphasizes common social welfare. This positive relationship is stronger for firms with chief executive officers born in Confucian regions and for firms that are under high media pressure, as the trade-off between social welfare and firm interest is in favor of Confucianism. Using a sample of Chinese-listed firms, we find evidence supporting our arguments. Moreover, we find consistent evidence that firms influenced by Confucianism are motivated to pay long-term attention to PA activities and improve corporate PA efficiency, highlighting the substantive role of Confucianism in a PA campaign. Our study contributes to the business ethics literature by introducing Confucianism into research on corporate social activities and provides practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnam as a nation is deeply rooted in the wet-rice agricultural civilization, which is characterized by the Yin (female) principle and the religion worshiping Mother Goddess. However, Chinese Confucianism significantly influenced Vietnam throughout the feudal dynasties (10–19th centuries). Confucian kingship propagates symbols of virtuous women to establish the moral order of a male-dominated society. In contrast, by practicing lived religion and spreading folk narratives, Vietnamese people turn virtuous women into Mother Goddess with a liberal, creative and patronage identity. This study, thus, examines the position of women in Confucian Nguyễn Dữ's The Young Woman from Nam Xuong, a canonical story reconstructed from legend. It is important to address the main concern about metaphors of a duality culture and a conflict discourse of Confucian politics and Vietnamese lived religion through the issue of Goddess spirituality. This article uses an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate that resistance to Chinese Dominance and anti-Sinicization were significant issues of Vietnamese medieval literature and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, women who are childless or have children outside of heterosexual marriage are generally stigmatized. Consequently, Chinese sexual minority women are challenged for their willingness to have children. This study explored how multiple (structural-interpersonal-individual) levels of sexual minority stigma are related to parenting desire among Chinese sexual minority women. Furthermore, it examined the mediation mechanism of individual stigma and the moderation effect of outness to one's family in the link between structural/interpersonal stigma and parenting desire. Participants (265 lesbian and 193 bisexual women) completed online measures of structural stigma (adherence to Confucianism), interpersonal stigma (discrimination events), individual stigma (internalized homophobia and rejection sensitivity), outness to one's family, and parenting desire. Lesbian women reported lower structural and individual stigma and parenting desire levels than bisexual women. Sexual minority women's high adherence to Confucianism, internalized homophobia, and rejection sensitivity were positively associated with their increased parenting desires. Notably, adherence to Confucianism and discrimination events were associated with parenting desire through internalized homophobia, but not rejection sensitivity; moreover, outness to one's family buffered the direct link between adherence to Confucianism and parenting desire and strengthened the direct link between discrimination events and internalized homophobia and the indirect link between discrimination events and parenting desire. This study contributes to a robust understanding of how sexual minority stigma is connected to parenting desire among sexual minority women in Chinese sociocultural contexts, providing cultural-specific evidence to support theories of stigma and minority stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indeed, what emerges out of these diverse intellectual quests is not a unified notion of Confucian political theory, but Confucian political I theories i with different methodologies, audiences, conceptions of Confucianism, and their limits.[1] Against this backdrop, the author discerns an urgent need to survey the changing dynamism of Confucian political theories. 10.1017/CBO9780511800887 Footnotes 1 This article adopts an expansive view of Confucian political theories, which can be 1) a direct pursuit of normative Confucian visions, 2) a methodological discussion of Confucianism, or further still 3) a theory which primarily targets Confucian theorizing but nevertheless does not share Confucian normative visions. The Value and Dilemma of Invoking Confucianism in Confucian Political Theories For those non-Confucian supporters of "fitness" who agree with the empirical observation of Confucian culture, however, these Confucian conditions call forth less Confucianism and more of the individualistic ethos to sway the conditions to such an extent that a new, liberal philosophy can fit in. [Extracted from the article]

In making political meritocracy a viable alternative to democracy and appealing to all under heaven, Bai is determined to make Confucianism "thin enough" to render it competitive vis-a-vis democracy. Is Confucian Political Meritocracy a Viable Alternative to Democracy? Tongdong Bai's new book, B I Against Political Equality: The Confucian Case i b , with the Confucian political meritocracy occupying its central stage, firmly takes this stand.[4] Throughout the book, Bai is careful to make clear what he means by democracy, that it is a "one person, one vote" system. Small wonder Bai maintains in the book that moral paternalism can be good, hierarchy is not always detestable (87), and "idealistic totalitarianism" can be conducive to the common good of mankind.[19] The difficulties Bai runs into are thus: first, how to align the liberal claim to universality embedded in liberal equality with the Confucian substantive understanding of man, and second, how to promote political meritocracy (or democratic inequality) in a context that is shaped by the hypothesis of equality. [Extracted from the article]

This study focuses on the early years program at International School Hong Kong (ISHK), a school with an explicit mission towards global mindedness. The program aims to move beyond narrow conceptions of us/them, north/south, and east/west binaries. Instead, ISHK urges children to view the world holistically through a range of perspectives. Within the context of ISHK, the early childhood program encourages children to understand the concept of interdependence through strong relationships and caring for others and the environment. The school draws from both Deweyan and Confucian philosophies in an effort to blend ideas of the East and West. Confucian ideals, in particular, support the need for a child to become junzi (君子, an exemplary person) through harmonious relationships, respect and appreciation of differences, coexistence with others, and compassion for the natural world. Deweyan views of democratic relationships support children in learning to work together and find common ground with others. Findings from this study suggest that children at ISHK learn to engage with and challenge peers, encounter and respect cultures other than their own, and investigate ways to conserve the planet. Through this program, children appear to be building early competencies for long-term global engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs readers about Ni Peimin's book "On the Philosophy of Confucian Gongfu," Topic include which explores the concept of gongfu in Confucianism, expanding its meaning beyond the cultivation of mind and human nature to encompass "the art of life" and "philosophy as a way of life." This research broadens the areas for philosophical inquiry, and provides a fresh perspective on philosophy, emphasizing the practical, artistic, and pragmatic aspects of life.

The article discusses Daniel A. Bell's autobiography, "The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University," Topic include insights into the academic world, particularly the study of Liberalism, Confucianism, Communism, and Communitarianism, and explores intersection of these ideologies in contemporary Chinese society, highlighting the dynamic nature of Chinese-style Confucianism and its compatibility with other political philosophies like Communism and Liberalism.

This essay suggests that a narrative genre of "kill stories" has a prominent philosophical function in the Zhuangzi 莊子. Kill stories depict the domestication and disciplining of "wild" living beings eventually resulting in their death. They typically show an incongruity between the moral attitude of the perpetrators and their destructive deeds. Thereby, they illustrate a critique of a broader sociopolitical "master narrative" associated with the Confucian tradition that had a strong impact on ideology and ethical values in early China. In the diagnosis of the kill stories, ritual practice and civilizational ordering inevitably produce discontent and unease. A second narrative genre that I call "survival stories" corresponds to the kill stories and connects with the medicinal orientation of the Daoist tradition. As therapeutic allegories, the survival stories reflect strategies for maintaining sanity and ease within society. Rather than advocating escapism or a return to a primitivist state, they promote the cultivation of immunity against consumption by social demands and pressures based on an insight into the inescapability and contingency of social roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confucianism provides a specific view on the world held by many people living in several Asian societies. It offers views on humans and nature that generally differ from other traditional or Western modern views. The paper presents a systematic analysis of the literature in education with a focus on science education about the connection of Confucianism with education for sustainability. It suggests a framework for how education for sustainability can be operated in the foreground of Confucian societies taking concepts from the international literature into consideration. This critical review provides justification for a stronger reflection about how to include ideas from Confucianism into education for sustainability in the teaching and learning of science. It suggests that Confucian thinking offers a rich and authentic context for science learning in Confucian societies and and also provides a chance to reflect on views of humans, nature, and science in science education in other societies, potentially contributing to the development of more balanced and holistic worldviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marcus William Hunt argues that prepositional gratitude to God is metaphysically impossible. This is because a fitting target of prepositional gratitude should be able to be benefited in return. Having the maximum well-being, God cannot be benefited in return and fails to be a fitting target. This view is debatable as some argue that God's well-being can be increased in some peculiar sense. This paper proposes that Zhu Xi (1130-1200), a Confucian philosopher in China, can offer some plausible perspective. The ultimate reality in Zhu, while perfectly good itself, can be in a better state of being when it has more manifestations (namely, when humans fulfill their moral nature.) This can serve as a parallel to suggest alternative conceptualizations of God and of his well-being, which always guarantee his maximum well-being in an intensive sense, while allow for an increase in his well-being in an extensive sense. In other words, we can uphold God as perfectly good per se while admit his having varying degrees of external well-being, which can account for his relationship with things, especially human beings, in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, most of the discussions in Confucian political theory have concentrated on whether Confucianism is compatible with local political practices, such as liberal democracy. The question of how Confucians view global distributive justice has not yet received critical attention. This essay aims to fill this gap. I will first describe a contractualist methodology, which aims at deriving substantial political principles from a formal conception of the person. Then I will discuss what conception of the person Confucianism assumes. Finally, I will use the contractualist methodology to derive three principles of global distributive justice. These three principles form a distinctive conception based on ideas that are usually ignored in the current discussions of global justice, such as virtues, community, and rituals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Edward Said's concept of positional superiority, this article examines the International Relations knowledge production of Sino-Vietnamese relations. It argues that while the relations do not involve the West as a subject, the knowledge reproduces Orientalism's positional superiority. Furthermore, the Orientalism of IR essentializes Sino-Vietnamese relations as well as China and Vietnam as individual countries by seeing their relations as antagonistic and static. The article concludes with a potential alternative interpretation of Sino-Vietnamese relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Top-down RJ reforms in mainland China are criticized for remaining a "thin" version of RJ which lack deep roots in civil society support of "bottom-up" social movement excellence (Zhang, [27]; Zhang & Xia, [26]). The large mediation system for civil and minor criminal cases in Taiwan has a legal basis that can date back to the 1930s, the same root of mediation in mainland China (Huang & Chang, [9]). China arguably accommodates the world's largest and perhaps the most diverse RJ programs (Braithwaite, [2]; Braithwaite & Zhang, [3]; Cloke, [5]). Restorative justice (RJ), as a relatively new justice initiative, has attracted significant attention from academia, the criminal justice system, and across international civil society. [Extracted from the article]

Hartmut Rosa argues that our modern and post-modern societies can be understood through the notion of dynamic stabilization—institutions require growth to maintain themselves. Part of the impetus behind the acceleration that drives dynamic stabilization is the desire to make the world more available, attainable, and accessible. On both the institutional and individual levels, this is translated into making the world more within our reach, more engineerable, predictable, and controllable. Paradoxically, success in these areas is often accompanied by the world becoming increasingly silent, cold, and unresponsive. We feel alienated or that our world relation has failed. Rosa's solution is to reestablish resonance with the world. In this paper, we argue that his notion of resonance depends on a degree of atomic agency that muffles its own efficacy. The Confucian notion of ritual offers a more dispersed notion of agency. Rather than seeing oneself, others, and the world as distinct agents or indivisible entities, a ritualized approach sees them as mutually constitutive. It is true even on the level of agency, which drastically changes our relationship with the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong's Covid-19 epidemic circumstances have given us a valuable opportunity to reflect on Hong Kong's elderly care policies. This essay argues that Hong Kong should learn from the West and provide a subsidy to family caregivers for proper elderly care. We rebut the social and moralistic reasons for not introducing such a subsidy in Hong Kong. We indicate that providing cash subsidy to family caregivers does not monetize or tarnish Confucian filial obligation to take care of elderly people, but enable adult children from low-income families to undertake this obligation effectively. In addition, we contend that providing such a subsidy would not significantly affect the job market in Hong Kong and that incurred financial and manpower costs for monitoring family care are controllable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the literature exploring Chinese international student engagement with critical thinking in Western universities draws on reductive essentialisations of 'Confucianism' in efforts to explain cross-cultural differences. In this paper I review literature problematising these tendencies. I then shift focus from inferences about how philosophy shapes culture and individual students, toward drawing on philosophy as a 'living' resource for understanding and shaping the ideal of critical thinking. A cross disciplinary approach employs historical overview and philosophical interpretation within and beyond the Confucian tradition to exemplify three types of criticality common in Chinese philosophy. These are criticality within tradition, criticality of tradition, and critical integration of traditions. The result is a refutation of claims or inferences (intentional or implicit) that Chinese philosophy is not conducive to criticality. While this paper focuses on types of criticality, it also reveals a common method of criticality within Chinese philosophy, in the form of 'creation through transmission'. This resonates with recent research calling for less confrontational and more dialogical engagement with critical processes. However, I also draw attention to examples of confrontational argumentation within Chinese philosophy, which may provide valuable resources for educators and students. Finally, I conclude careful and explicit consideration is needed regarding the types of criticality sought within Western universities to prevent educators and students from 'speaking past' one and other instead of 'speaking with' one and other in critical dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "social-political-hierarchical" qualifications have long been identified as the essential features of the Confucian golden rule. This essay challenges this prevailing characterization by revealing the relation and differences between Confucius' original shu 恕 and a series of post-Confucius reformulations in ancient Confucianism. Specifically, the premise of equality, which underlies Confucius' formulation of shu in correlation with ren 仁, rendered shu incompatible with asymmetrical relationships. Besides the advantage of overcoming this limitation by adapting the golden rule structure of shu to specified asymmetrical relationships, the post-Confucius formula, especially "the measuring square" in the Great Learning, was devised to guide one to infer universalizable rules of conduct for various roles in diverse relationships. On this basis, I demonstrate a pivotal shift in the golden rule practice of ancient Confucianism—a shift of focus from its correlation with ren to its conformity with li 禮 as the system of rules of conduct and the principle of "discriminations." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of respect is central to many moral requirements in daily life. In the Western philosophical tradition, there is a tendency to explore the nature of respect based on the nature of the object of respect. The Kantian account of respect for the moral law is one representative of this approach. In contrast, the classical Confucian notion of jing 敬 not only has a meaning similar to the Western notion of respect but also emphasizes the value of having a respectful state of mind. Both Sin Yee Chan and Pengbo Liu argue that jing, the Confucian conception of respect, has significant theoretical and practical value for obtaining an adequate understanding of the role of respect in moral life (Chan 2006, Liu 2019). However, their discussions primarily focus on the distinction between Western and Eastern views of respect. In this essay, I will focus on revealing the theoretical and practical value of combining the two perspectives on respect. I aim to demonstrate that by borrowing insights from each side, we will gain a deeper understanding of the nature of respect and what it requires in terms of proper treatment of other individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on ethical leadership in organizations has been largely based on Western philosophical traditions and has tended to focus on Western corporate experiences. Insights gained from such studies may however not be universally applicable in other cultural contexts. This paper examines the normative grounds for an alternative Confucian virtue-based ethics of leadership in China. As with Western corporations, organizational practices in China are profoundly shaped by their own cultural history and philosophical outlook. The ethical norms guiding both the practice and theory of leadership in China are underpinned by indigenous Chinese wisdoms imbued in their own traditions and China's collective psyche. Focusing on three fundamental aspects of Confucian virtue ethics: ren (仁 benevolence), yi (义 righteousness) and li(礼 ritual propriety), this paper proposes that an ideal Confucian leader regards self-cultivation as a first priority; status and material gain, whilst important, are not the foremost concern. S/he exemplifies the virtuous role model, exudes moral charisma and influences others by shaping an organization's ethical culture through the process of ritualization. The paper concludes by claiming that amplifying the explicit discourse around Confucian virtue ethics will help contribute to the development of better ethical leadership in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an award-winning essay, Shu-Shan Lee discusses scholarly commentary about obedience to the emperor, focusing on public and hidden records of protest. The thesis of Lee's essay is that the relationship between authority and subject in imperial Confucianism was built on a conditional obligation of obedience, despite traditional accounts of it as absolute. On his account, the obligation of obedience should be conceived through the rubric of imperial Confucianism as being conditional on fulfillment of reciprocal obligations. As part of my response, I suggest that there is a third way to understand the obligation of obedience through the Confucian lens, which is less transactional than reciprocal obligation, while also providing a plausible alternative to absolute obligation as the correct understanding of imperial Confucian thinking about obedience to the emperor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My response to Stephen C. Angle focuses on his question: "Can the People (min 民) ever grow up?" I conclude that the people-centered approach developed in "What Did the Emperor Ever Say?" (Lee 2020) does not rule out the idea of commoners becoming politically mature. With its focus on textual evidence specifically addressing the commoners and with its attentiveness to their political agency in historical China, the approach has the potential to help scholars find room for a more progressive theory in the Confucian tradition. In response to Manyul Im, I clarify the meaning of paternalistic gratitude, specifying it as a reciprocal obligation toward the nontransactional benevolence received from the emperor. I then critically examine Im's nonreciprocal theory of existential obligation. I argue that the existential obligation, as defined by Im, presents no check on an abusive relationship and therefore cannot withstand the test of textual evidence. Upon reflection, I conclude that the theory of paternalistic gratitude remains a plausible understanding of Confucian political obligation. For one, it accurately reflects the Confucian reciprocal idea that the commoners' political obligation is conditional upon the ruler's noncontractual benevolence. For another, it contains the feature of endurance which, as Im reminds us, is an essence in the parent-child relation and its political application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, I find much to admire and little to disagree with in Shu-Shan Lee's use of James Scott's "public transcript" framework to excavate a theory of political obligation that applies to common people in premodern China. I offer some ways to further explore the implications of Lee's analysis, in part by connecting Lee's essay to related work on the obligations of elites. I then build on Lee's own suggestions of connections to contemporary empirical attitudes and contemporary normative views, asking in what ways Lee's account of public obligation might be able to make room for the idea that the people, as political children, might one day be able to grow up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the conversations surrounding moral cultivation in Confucianism often focus on the debate regarding the starting point of moral learning (and corresponding features of the learning process) that is inspired by the disagreements between the Mengzi 孟子 and the Xunzi 荀子, there is another group of scholarship on moral cultivation which tends to the experiential qualities felt by the learning agents. This essay participates in the latter group of scholarship. The majority of discussions regarding the learning experience center around mental states such as an 安 (tranquility or equanimity) and le 樂 (happiness, joy, or pleasure) of a special kind. There is, nonetheless, a minor trend that emphasizes the significance of you 憂 (worry or distress). In this essay, I raise attention to the significance of you and argue that in the Analects, an indispensable and significant part of Confucian moral cultivation is to learn to worry well, which involves learning to worry broadly about society in general, and to worry deeply about particular individuals standing in important relationship to us. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the experiences of vulnerability of women who lived in rural and in other parts of Vietnam and migrated to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City to earn money. In particular, it explores social vulnerabilities and their causes from a broadly feminist perspective using the concept of hegemonic masculinity. Data was gathered by means of in-depth life story interviews with 15 women migrants who work in the informal sector. In HCM City, these women migrants lacked household registration, lived far away from their families, and lacked an ability to establish social networks within these new urban communities and with the local people who inhabit them. Given this social detachment, they experienced feelings loneliness, hopelessness, and inferiority. Their experiences were also interpreted within in a wider context of the norms of Vietnamese society that are reproduced as part of the migrant women's cultural matrix of traditional rules that have given power to the men whose role in society and family is always more valued than that of a woman. Moreover, due to the influence of Confucianism, Vietnamese women migrants believe that this is their fate. Viewed through the lens of hegemonic masculinity, the participants' behaviour was found to be constrained, if not controlled, by these cultural or social norms at two levels: social and institutional levels. It was found that the dynamics of social and institutionalised gender imbalances and a hegemonic masculinity overladen by Confucianism combined to contribute to the social vulnerability of the Vietnamese women migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In traditional Confucianist culture in China, marriage and offspring are highly valued, placing sexual minority adults under tremendous pressure to marry an opposite sex partner. This study explored how Confucianism and stigma were associated with the intention to pursue a heterosexual marriage among Chinese sexual minority individuals as well as the moderating mechanisms of gender and age. Cross-sectional data were collected from 747 participants via online social networks from March to June 2020. Items assessed Confucianism values (communalism, filial piety, traditional gender roles); stigma (rejection sensitivity, social discrimination); and heterosexual marital intention (HMI). A total of 1.7% (n = 12) participants had ever been married, 11.6% (n = 87) planned to marry a different-sex partner, 60.4% (n = 451) had no intention to pursue a heterosexual marriage, and 26.4% (n = 197) had no specific marital plan. Bisexual participants scored significantly higher than homosexual individuals in HMI. Sexual minority adults with high levels of Confucianism and stigma were more likely to intend to marry. Importantly, both individual stigma (rejection sensitivity) and interpersonal stigma (social discrimination) partially mediated the relationship between Confucianism and HMI. Confucianism had a stronger impact on HMI for men than women, and age moderated the influence of Confucianism (including communalism and filial piety) on HMI, with a stronger impact for younger than older generations. This study contributes to a better understanding of how Confucianism and stigma may be connected to the intention to pursue a heterosexual marriage, suggesting culture-modified theories of stigma and sexual minority stress are needed to explain the experiences of sexual minority people in contemporary China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of the self and its relation to moral action is complex and subject to varying interpretations, not only between different academic disciplines but also across time and space. This paper presents empirical evidence from a cross-cultural study on the Buddhist and Confucian notions of self in SMEs in Vietnam and Taiwan. The study employs Hwang's Mandala Model of the Self, and its extension into Shiah's non-self-model, to interpret how these two Eastern philosophical representations of the self, the Confucian relational self and Buddhist non-self, can lead to moral action. By demonstrating the strengths of the model, emphasizing how social and cultural influences constrain the individual self and promote the social person leading to moral action, the paper extends understanding of the self with empirical evidence of the mechanisms involved in organizational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jiwei Ci's Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis (Ci 2019) presents an extraordinarily rich set of ideas regarding the important subject of the prospect of democracy in China. The book argues that it is in the interest of the Chinese Communist Party to immediately begin to prepare China for democracy, as that is the only way to save the party and China from imminent crises of legitimacy, governance, and stability. Drawing upon Tocqueville's discussion of equality of conditions in America, Ci argues that as China has already more or less become a society of equality of conditions, it already has a democratic society, which will inevitably exert enormous pressures for political democratization, thereby creating serious legitimacy and stability crises for the regime. In my view, Ci overstates the relevance of Tocqueville's America for China, and his claim that there is a democratic society in China is disputable. In grounding his case for democracy in China, Ci also appeals to a larger species of argument—the argument from social circumstances to political regime, of which Tocqueville's argument is an example. This is the argument that once a kind of society has become entrenched and is no longer amenable to a political regime's effort to remake it, it is the political regime that must make itself fit the state of society. I argue that this argument is also problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The established view in Confucian scholarship today is that Confucian political order serves to promote the material and moral well-being of ordinary people (min 民). Loubna El Amine turns this view on its head by arguing that Confucian political order revolves not around the interest of the people but the demands of security, stability, and prosperity. Min are expected to be virtuous only to the extent that they help to sustain such an order. As such, Confucian politics does not follow from ethics in any straightforward manner. In this article, I argue against her revisionist reading. I argue that her account not only lacks arguments for her core thesis of the ethics/politics division, but also goes against Confucians' concern over the universality of humanity, popular welfare, and the integrity of Confucian thought. I also draw on discussion on political realism to flesh out the sense in which classic Confucianism is realist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reason why Confucius and Mencius emphasize a humane and righteous government is that under the governance of an unjust government, the people will naturally become unjust. Finally, have I in any way failed to practice what is taught to me?" ( I Analects i : 1.4)[3] Confucius said: "To guide a state of one thousand chariots, be respectful in your handing of affairs and display trustworthiness..." ( I Analects i : 1.5) Confucius also said: "A young person should be filial when at home and respectful of his elders when in public. This echoes Confucius' view that an orderly state and society cannot be established if the government cannot gain trust from the people. Confucianism has always valued trustworthiness and trust, even in some way above the law.[1] Why is I xin i so important? Confucius said, "The virtue of a superior man is like the wind, and the virtue of a humble man is like the grass - when the wind moves over the grass, the grass is sure to bend" ( I Analects i : 12.19). [Extracted from the article]

The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of Confucianism on health behaviors, health outcomes and medical decisions. The research was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, CINHAL, PsycINFO and Web of Science, without restrictions of language and year of publication. The search process identified 833 publications matching the search criteria, and after the review process, 40 articles were included. Family is a central aspect of Confucianism, and it seems to affect participation in medical decisions, taking care of relatives, ethical dilemmas and mental health problems. Although most Confucianist influence seems to be positive, some ways of thinking could increase suffering, burnout and a delay in healthcare seeking. Understanding these values could help health professionals to deal with the growing contingent of patients with different cultures and religious beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taoism and Confucianism both exited simultaneously as philosophies of living in dynastic China. Although there has been an increasing popularity in scientometric studies, religion and health (R&H) literature lacks a holistic evaluation investigating articles relevant to Taoism and Confucianism. All publications produced in Taoism and Confucianism literature and indexed in Web of Science (WoS) databases between 1975 and 2018 were included in this study. Database search on health and Taoism literature retrieved 199 documents from WoS databases. Main research areas were Psychology, Religion and Behavioral Sciences (24.121, 21.608 and 20.603, respectively). The USA ranked first with 38 papers followed China, Taiwan and the UK (n = 35, 20 and 6 documents, respectively). Hong Kong Polytechnic University from China was the most contributor institution in health and Taoism literature. A total of 448 documents were published in health and Confucianism literature between 1975 and 2018, and original articles covered 93.08% of all literature. China was leading country with 126 articles followed by the USA, South Korea and Taiwan (n = 97, 35 and 35 items, respectively). The most productive institutions were City University of Hong Kong (China), Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and University of Hong Kong (China). Researchers from developing and least developed countries should be encouraged to carry out novel scientometric studies in R&H literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]