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The Study of Confucianism in the late 20th Century– Patterns, Paradigms, and Methodology –

Wang Zhong -jiang*

I. Introduction

As intuitively witnessed, the study of Confucianism in China in thelate 20th century has been more active than any other areas of Sinology.It was unimaginable even ten or twenty years ago that the study ofConfucianism in China would be given as much attention. It was quitenatural that the overall academic and cultural trend of China, at the endof the century (or the 1990s), has been characterized by a boom innational classics or in Confucianism. In fact, the word boom contained aphenomenal meaning, but it surely reflected the general situation thatConfucianism, which had been re g a rded as pedantic learning, has beenstudied as a universal subject of concern. It is irrelevant to the topic ofthis essay to figure out why the study of Confucianism has re s u r f a c e dand regained its position as a pedantic lesson. In short, it was a result ofmany factors. As one of the objective factors, Confucianism was fre ef rom criticism when China met a new era and moved ahead with areform plan and an open-door policy. The tendency of re i n v i g o r a t i n gtraditional culture of China as an ideology in the 1990s pro v i d e dChina’s major leading tradition of Confucianism with room for furtherdevelopment. Besides, the study of China’s Confucianism and neo-Confucianism overseas (especially that of Tu Weiming) has contributed

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Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001, pp. 60-82.

© 2001 by the Academy of East Asian Studies, the Sungkyunkwan University.

* Professor at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

g reatly in the revival of the study of Confucianism on mainland China.1

Thus, the Chinese view of Confucianism, after explaining the popu-larity of Confucian studies in China and the major objective factorswhich exercised influence over the phenomenon.

II. Two Different Paradigms

The academic trend, position, and patterns of the Confucian studyin China in the late 20th century had diversity and abundance whichhad not been found pre v i o u s l y. From the viewpoint of both basic andmajor academic goals and values, the seemingly complicated andintricate study of Confucianism in China can be categorized within twod i ff e rent paradigms; One, a paradigm from the perspective of historyand the other, a paradigm of value.

The paradigm of history re g a rds Confucianism as a historicalexistence which has become an objective target of study, and pro c e e d sto make diverse re s e a rches on Confucianism. Thus, this type of studywill have a lion’s share of various types of Confucianism studies onChina at the turn of the century. This then became a major symbol ofConfucianism’s revival in China.

Some of the most brilliant accomplishments in the study of Confu-cianism, as a historical object, were the studies of various themes, histori-c a l f i g u res, and categories in diff e rent academic fields of the 1990s. Thethemes here included the philosophy of divination, the way of govern-ing with Confucian benevolence, the study of principles, the study ofmind, contemporary neo-Confucianism, the bamboo documents ofConfucianism found in Guo Dian郭店, the study of Confucian classicsand the comparative study of Confucianism. Historical figures whow e re studied included Confucius, Mencius, Zhu Xi朱熹, Wang Ya n g -m i n g王陽明, Kang Yo u - w e i康有爲, Liang Shu-ming梁漱溟 and Feng Yo u -

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1 . With regard to the situations from the fall to the revival of Confucianism in themainland China, Mou Zhong Jian has finished a comprehensive research onthe subject. You may refer his book The Fall and the Rise of Confucianism inthe 20th Century (Book I and II). Kongzi Yanjiu孔子硏究 (Study of Confucius)1998, the third term.

l a n馮友蘭. The categories here included the heaven and the man, thes a c red, virtue, humanity and justice, proprieties and music, principles,the golden mean, harmony, sincerity, mind and nature. Of these, I havee n d e a v o red to compare neo-Confucianism in the contemporary period,the bamboo documents of Confucianism found in Guo Dian, the historyof Chinese classics study and the comparative study of Confucianism inEast Asia. In general, scholars have collaborated on the study of severalthemes, which have been influential in many areas. Some scholars inChina have been more inclined to preserve the totality of Confucianism.Although not a popular trend, others pre f e r red to adopt a macro s c o p i ca p p roach to Confucianism. So, what attracted the attention of scholarswas the history of Confucianism from the perspective of a completehistory covering all facts of time and space.

Whether it is the detailed study of Confucianism or the general andc o m p rehensive study, the re s e a rch shows that the historicity of Confu-cianism has become an objective target of study. We may believe that theera of Confucianism has ended or may hope for a new future of Confu-cianism. That, however, has nothing to do with Confucianism as a his-torical existence. Even if the age of Confucianism is over (although Idon’t think so), Confucianism which has already existed is still a history.Even if Confucianism would see a new development, it would re m a i nas a history in the flow of time. So, the re s e a rch of Confucianism as ahistorical existence focuses on what is the main interest of Confucianismand what is the reason for it. It is concerned with all the facts related toConfucianism and the interrelations among these facts. This is descrip-tive and analytical. This re s e a rch usually objectifies the target of study,and tries to face Confucianism from a viewpoint of an onlooker or ofthose who stand neutral. This re s e a rch neither re g a rds the study of Con-fucianism as a means of providing necessary value, nor let Confucian-ism become a value system or a necessary commentary. This reminds usof the study of old documents and classics and the philologico-biblio-graphical study of Chinese classics among old Chinese studying prac-tices. This also reminds us of the fact that Hu Shi胡適 once discussed thephilologico-bibliographical study of Chinese classics in comparisonwith the scientific method which stresses evidentiary and concrete facts.The academic re s e a rch of the contemporary era has changed from thet rust in the old style (of the traditional school) to the suspectation of the

62 The Study of Confucianism in the late 20th Century Patterns

old style (of the school of speculating old history) and again to the inter-p retation of old style of Feng You Lan. It, however, will not be a matterof concern if we discard our mere belief and seek for the trust in the oldstyle and for the interpretation of the old style based on actual facts. Thep roblem is the poverty of facts and the belief in mere value. The inter-p retation of the old style should be based on facts and historical docu-ments. The authentication of the old, based on ancient pro d u c t sunearthed by archaeologists, has now become one of the new tenden-cies in the study of Chinese history. I do not want to be involved in thedispute over the methodology of the historical study. Some may opposeto historicism and even deny the objectivity of the historical science. Butif the study of Confucianism should not cherish historical facts anddocuments, it would be questionable whether Confucianism wouldremain as a major branch of science. Fortunately, the study of Confu-cianism in China in the 1990s has had the characteristic of science in astrict sense of the word .

N o w, here appears a problem with a substratified motive for tryingto understand Confucianism as a historical existence. Why do we haveto study Confucianism? Based on the habitual argument of knowledgefor knowledge’s sake, the study of historical Confucianism is funda-mentally Confucianism for Confucianism’s sake and does not embodyother unacademic re q u e s t s .2 This conforms with academic autonomy asa norm of science and, at the same time, becomes academic commonsense. For a long period, academic autonomy has become an extrava-gant desire for Chinese scholars. Such academic reasoning has been re c-ognized as too abnormal. What is interesting is that the standard ofmeasuring abnormality not only has reached the standard of class dis-tinctions but also of the unity of science. For this reason, the very sciencewhich generally is characterized by its objectivity has come to destro ysaid objectivity.

The study of Confucianism in China in the 1990s, from the perspec-tive of academicism, said farewell to the unacademic science (or criti-cism of Confucius) of the 1980s. It also diff e red from the unsubstantial

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2 . This does not mean that value and interest have nothing to do with the choiceof our research subjects and study items, but suggests that value and interestshould not be included in the objects of study.

study of the 1980s, which had culturalism (or cultural boom) as its back-g round. Compared with the studies of the 1980s in China, the studies ofthe 1990s have become more profound and precise. Major trends of thisperiod included that academic achievements of such masters of classicalChinese Learning such as Wang Guo-wei王國維 and Chen Yin-que 陳寅恪

w e re cherished, that the history of science became a major concern, andthat the academic norm was discussed. Undoubtedly, the period of the1980s was that of a transition from the unacademic to the academic. Oneof the major characteristics of this transitional period is that China cameto have academic autonomy, free from the collaboration of the politicsand academism, and came to emphasize the scientific character, fre ef rom social class distinctions and political consciousness.3 Cai Shang-si蔡尙思, in his writing, called for the necessity of distinguishing real Confu-cius from unreal Confucius.4 His aim was to recover a genuine andauthentic figure of Confucius who is more apt to the historical facts, byreplacing the image of Confucius of the past, which had been utilizedwith unacademic and political intentions. Since the 1980s, there also hasbeen a movement of emphasizing academicism for academicism’s sake.T h e re was caution against unacademic elements which intended toenter into the academic area. In other words, the motive of purificationhas constantly existed in the study of pure science in the 1990s. Mean-while, there aroused problems of inner principles and inner norms ofacademicism in the 1990s. For this reason, the study of Confucianism,which had been one of the major academic fields of China in the 1990s,has succeed in coping with real academic motives and academic norms.At the same time, the study of Confucianism played a role in pro t e c t i n gand establishing academic motives and academic norms. The reason for placing much emphasis on academic common sense is because this common sense had a special meaning in China. The study of Con-fucianism in China and its historicity has become very substantial andm e a n i n g f u l .

In the study of Confucianism in China in the late 20th century, the


3 . Some regard the academic changes from the 1980s to the 1990s as the changefrom the thinkers to academicians. The problem is whether the 1980s was reallythe age of thinkers or not.

4 . Cai, Shang Si, “Real or Unreal Confucius Major Problems in the Study of Con-fucius,” Overseas edition of Renmin Ribao (The People’s Daily), Sept. 22, 1987.

paradigm of value had an inclination which was diff e rent from theparadigm of historicity. The paradigm of value paid attention to thep roblem of value, the good and what should be. So the relativity of thehistoricity paradigm can be compared to the relativity of facts andvalue, the authentic and the good, and what is right and what shouldbe. The paradigm of value in the study of Confucianism means atendency toward value, and is the start of value, the good and whatshould be. The paradigm of value saw Confucianism as a potentialvalue and re g a rded the discovery of a new value as its direct motiveand intention. This might have easily aroused confusion. When we findvalue in the history of Confucianism, the value can still be a historicalfact. Such as value has been a kind of value even in history. In otherw o rds, the historical value can still be a history and can be exposedt h rough the description of history. The value in history could be ahistorical paradigm of study. The paradigm of value, however, is funda-mentally diff e rent from the above context. The paradigm of value notonly finds a value in history but believes that it is important and willcontinue to remain as a value. For this reason, the paradigm of valuefinds in the history of Confucianism study not only what should bementioned by the old generation but also what should be of the pre s e n t .Besides, the paradigm of value wants to change the historical facts,which had not been a value, into a real, direct value, based on the needof the people of today and tomorro w. Let me explain this situation mored e e p l y. I will mention major contents of the value that we have found inConfucianism and have tried to reassess in the 1990s. In an ideal society,t h e re are such values as not only the unity of the heaven and the manwhich centers round a harmonization and union, but also harmoniousconsultation, neutralization, harmonizing but not compro m i s i n g ,h a r m o n y, peace, righteousness, impartiality, and harmony among all thecountries of the world. In a political sense, there are such values asf reedom, democracy, human rights, equality, fairness, Confucian poli-tics, and governing with benevolence. On the economic side, there existConfucian business, management, and the theory of uniting justice andreason. On the ethical or moral side, there are such values as philan-t h ro p y, proprieties, sincerity, limitations, eminent virtue, and filial pietyand respect. Whether these values are native to the Confucian traditionor are transformed, they all are what should be of the present and the

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f u t u re. They also are the norms and the ideal that we should realize andestablish. According to the paradigm of value, Confucianism will helpsolve the problem of not only what is Chinese but also of what is global.The value of Confucianism has an effect on modern times and has auniversality for the future. Based on the recognition and prediction ofthis value, Confucianism has garnered the best reputation and honorduring the past century, and at the same time, has taken charge of thisu n p recedentedly important task during the same period. Although thestudy of Confucianism’s value paradigm is solemn and serious in mostcases, there surely are some exaggerated aspects. Some studies even losttheir academic characteristics, and so remained proclaiming the merevalue of Confucianism. The academic value of Confucianism also weak-ened as the voices on value became louder. We, however, can induce theparadigm of value from the factors. The paradigm of value is the valuebestowed by Confucianism, and has an entirety which could cover allthe characteristics and break away from partial boundaries. Confucianview from the paradigm of value can be called the theory of saving theworld with Confucianism. In this context, we can call ConfucianismConfucianism of faith.

Since the period of the May Fourth movement, Chinese peoplef reely criticized both tradition and Confucianism. During the CulturalRevolution, they brought a political charge against Confucianism whilecriticizing it. With the lifting of an ideological ban in the 1980s, Chinacriticized traditional culture and dismissing Confucius. Confucianisms u ff e red denial and contempt, although it diff e red in degree andpatterns, with re g a rd to its value as if it had had an original sin. It wasre g a rded as having no special value and was a major symbol of nega-tion. It was seen as a source of problem and predicament in China, andwas conceived as an obstacle for future growth of China. So, it may be asurprise to see the development in the study of the value paradigmunder the atmosphere of saving the world through Confucianism.H o w e v e r, it will not be so difficult to understand this situation. China’spolicy to promote traditional culture provided a healthy surro u n d i n gfor the revival of Confucianism as a major Chinese culture, and from theperspective of academic changes, the paradigm of value in Confucian-ism had the meaning of a watershed during the 1980s compared withthe paradigm of historicity. The paradigm of value in Confucianism of


the 1990s appeared as a reaction to the trend of the Chinese academy,p h i l o s o p h y, and culture of the 1980s. Then the major trend of the 1980swas freedom of ideology, openness, pluralism, cultural boom, a studyon diff e rences between Chinese and Western culture and on the superi-ority or inferiority. In a general sense, it was a kind of new enlighten-ment movement, which was similar to the May Fourth Movement ofChina. The source and background of the enlightenment came, naturally,f rom the We s t .5 The enlightenment movement re g a rded the We s t e r nvalue as a central and universal. For this reason, the new enlightenmentmovement was mainly Western, as was the May Fourth Movement.This also corresponded with an anti-traditional move, and traditionagain became a scapegoat for China’s predicament. So, tradition andmodernity newly confronted each other. The severe anti-traditionalcharacter and culturalism of the new enlightenment movement came tohave a more radical style. Intense frustrations on the part of the Chineseintellectuals in the late 1980s have become a major motive for them toobjectively reconsider academicism, thoughts and culture of the 1980s.T h e re was an grand objective of promoting traditional Chinese culture .It was natural for the Chinese intellectuals to choose tradition andConfucianism as they had hoped to seek for mutual agreement andalternative and to be free from fretfulness and uneasiness under thesec i rcumstances. As a result, there appeared new positions and attitudesas Chinese style, specialism, neo-traditionalism, neo-conservatism andnationalism which, unlike the case of the 1980s, were characterized bythe tendencies of Westernization, new enlightenment, modernization,universalism, and new radicalism. Philosophical basis changed fro mrationalism and absolutism (especially that of Hegel) of France andGermany to empiricism of Britain, and especially to conservatism ofBurke and Friedrich A. von Hayek.

I have summed up the changes from the 1980s to the 1990s andmentioned major trends and characteristics, but did not intend to say

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5 . We can see this trend from the trilogy of Zouxiang Weilai Congshu ( S i c h u a nPeople’s Press), 20th Century Collection of Works (Huaxia Press), Culture, Chinaand the World (Sanlian Shudian) which has hit the shelves and brought about asensation. I would like to add that I have not been opposed to the Westerniza-tion within a certain boundary. Rather, I want to use the word moderniza-tion—modernization in a general sense.

that there were no voices of enlightenment, universalism, and mod-ernism in the 1990s. In fact, the problem is more complicated. Even inthe paradigm of value, there is an intention of universalizing theconcept of value and faith. Such intention can be found both in thestudy of relationship between Confucianism and the general ethic, andin a strong desire for relating Confucian view of harmony and grandalliance with globalization and pacifism. More o v e r, the utilization of theConfucian value lies in coping with the modernization of Confucianvalues. Questions concerning the entirety of Confucian values aro s ef rom two diff e rent angles. One came from the perspective of ideologicallegitimism, and the other, from liberalistic enlightenment. In otherw o rds, the revival of Confucianism itself had two diff e rent ideologicalb a c k g rounds. Legitimism, which itself was part of an ideology, attempt-ed to confine Confucianism within a certain boundary. It re g a rd e dConfucianism as an outcome of feudalism under reasoning that Confu-cianism stressed the social re a l i t y.6 This shows that there exists a flaw inthe ideology itself, in this area. In the meantime, this also explains thatt h e re is a kind of tension between the revival of Confucian values andi d e o l o g y. Liberalistic enlightenment does not admit the answer withre g a rd to the modernization of Confucianism’s value paradigm. Liberal-istic enlightenment still re g a rds the modernization of the West as ad i rect re s o u rce of Chinese modernization, and endeavors to realize neo-conservatism which could restrain Confucianism.7 All the afore m e n-tioned re p resent the reactions of the paradigm of value in the study ofConfucianism at the turn of the century to academic thoughts and cul-t u re of the 1980s, while this explains that we are faced with complex sit-uations of the 1990s.

We have discussed two comparative paradigms of Confucian viewsin China at the turn of the century. The distinction between the two par-adigms is undoubtedly relative. They can be dealt with by re s e a rc h e r s .They can also coexist in the same project. There are diff e rences betweenstudying Confucianism with an interest in history and doing it with ani n t e rest in value. The former is mainly the description of history and the


6 . Marxism and Confucianism, Dangdai Zhongguo Press, 1996.7 . Struggle of Liberalism and Division of Chinese Philosophical Circles: From the Perspec -

tive of an Intellectual, Shidai Wenyi Press, 2000.

l a t t e r, the appeal to value. These are two major patterns of Chineseviews of Confucianism in the 1990s.

III. Paradigm8 and the Methodology

I have distinguished the paradigm from the methodology in thestudy of Confucianism. By using the paradigm, I will now summarizethe concept and the general view which can be utilized in the study ofConfucianism in a more direct and concrete way. By using this method-o l o g y, I will epitomize the indirect and general mode of thoughts in thestudy of Confucianism. What I want to emphasize is that this distinctionis very relative. I cannot explain how many re s e a rchers of Confucianismand paradigms used in the 1990s. Also it is unnecessary to do so. Those,which have overall impacts, will be noted.

We cannot say that tradition and modernism and post-modernisma re the paradigms which have their own principles. Before post-modernism arrived in China, it was modernism or post-modernism thatcontrasted with tradition. With the introduction of post-modernism inChina, tradition came to have post-modernism as its new counterpart.Thus, tradition came to face both modernism and post-modernism. Theopinions of Chinese scholars on modernism and post-modernism, aswell as on tradition, could not easily conform. (Things may be the samein the West.) In China, modernization is still a major target value.9 F o rthis reason, post-modernism of the West, which was aimed at re c o n s i d-ering and overcoming the problems of today, is re g a rded in China as afollow-up value, a sequence of modernism, or a supplement ofmodernism. It is not a value which is opposed to modernism. Overall,China in the 1990s did not accept tradition and modernism as bothe x t remes that could confront each other and could not agree with eacho t h e r. Newly created relations of tradition and modernism were notcharacterized by their confrontation. Here, we can imagine the re l a t i o n-

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8 . This essay uses the term paradigm in two different senses of conception andv i e w .

9 . Even though we retrospect Wang Hui汪暉 with regard to his concept of moder-nity, we do not deny modernity. Selections of Wang Hui, Guangxi Teachers’College Press, 1997.

ship of Confucianism, as a major force of traditional culture, withmodernism and post-modernism. For those who studied Confucianismin the 1990s, Confucian tradition is not only a counterpart of modernismand post-modernism, but also a major re s o u rce of modernism and post-modernism. Modernism in the study of Confucianism is one of the keyw o rds as they are used as the titles of books or essays. Tradition andModernization, have even become a title of a periodical, and ChuantongYu Xiandaihua (Tradition and Modernization) published by ZhonghuaS h u j u中華書局 is one of the most influential. When Confucianism isconnected with modernism and post-modernism, this is not a pro b l e mof the paradigm which utilizes modernism. This is not a problem ofrationalizing and justifying the value of Confucianism after finding itand its adaptability to modernism and post-modernism. Substantially,this proves that the harmony of Confucianism and modernism, andpost-modernism in a general sense. What is interesting is that, accord i n gto the re s e a rch of Guy S. Alitto, Liang Shu-ming梁漱溟, who re p re s e n t sneo-Confucianism of today, advocates Confucianism on the one handand expresses anti-modernization on the other.1 0 We cannot say thatLiang Shu-ming is always in favor of anti-modernization. But one mustadmit that Liang emphasizes and advocates the value of Confucianismby distinguishing the future image of Confucianism from modernism ofthe West. Another view is that, even though there is no modernisticvalue in Confucianism, this does not mean that Confucianism wouldnot admit the opposite or similar kind of value.11 Thus, this pro b l e membodies certain complicated elements. Even though we may say thatConfucianism is diff e rent from the values of today or that there does notexist any contemporary value in Confucianism, it does not concludethat we ignore Confucianism. The overall trend of the 1990s saw Confu-cianism as a major re s o u rce of modernism and post-modernism, but didnot see it as a counterpart.

The logic of We b e r, economic ethic, Confucian business andmanagement can be interpreted as a paradigm which is connected with


1 0 . Guy S. Alitto, Anti-Modernization Trend in the Boundary of the World, GuizhouPeople’s Press, 1991.

1 1 . Chen Lai, “Confucian Ethic and Value of Human Rights,” International Confu -cianism Research, the sixth volume, Chinese Social Science Press, 1999.

the goal of economy and business. The logic of Weber I mention re f e r sto two theses. One is to see the Protestant ethic as a main factor ofreinvigorating capitalism of the West, and the other, to see Confucian-ism as a factor to prevent China from developing capitalism on a volun-tary basis. We b e r’s concrete sense of problem is the Protestant ethic andConfucianism. The two make a diagnosis of why capitalism flourishedin the West and why China failed to develop capitalism, re s p e c t i v e l y.We b e r’s sense of problem, however, has a general meaning of admittingthe correlations between moral value and ethical view and capitalismand economy. In the 1990s, several re s e a rchers of Confucianism inChina accepted the general meaning of We b e r’s logic. They were notopposed to We b e r’s diagnosis on the development of Western capital-ism from the perspective of We b e r’s Protestant ethic. They, however,refused to admit We b e r’s diagnosis on the relationship between theConfucian ethic and capitalism. They instead, related the Confucianethic with the rise of underdeveloped capitalism in East Asia. Theybelieved that Confucianism played a positive role in it. The fundamen-tal reason why they conceived the economic ethic and Confucianbusiness is interpreted as an attempt to combine economy, which seemsi r relevant to morality, which seems irrelevant to economy. By connect-ing Confucianism and business, which used to enter into the state oftensions in the past, they tried to make morality, especially Confucianm o r a l i t y, a norm to bind together economy and commercial activities.T h rough this process, they had hoped to overcome immorality andd i s c redit of economic and commercial activities which used to scar thepeople’s heart.1 2 Other re s e a rchers tend to interpret this problem as aunited paradigm of righteousness and interest. The Analects of Confu-cius and Abacuses (written by Shibusawa Eiichi 澁澤榮一), which I trans-lated, contains this paradigm. China still attaches greater importance tothis book. Management here refers to economic management. Peopletry to develop proper re s o u rces for the management of a modern econo-my in Confucianism through the paradigm of binding Confucianism tom a n a g e m e n t .1 3

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1 2 . Liu Xiao-feng, ed., Economic Ethic and Modern & Contemporary Chinese Society ,Hong Kong Zhongwen University Press, 1998.

1 3 . In the Management Philosophy of Confucianism (Guangdong Higher Education

It becomes most controversial when freedom, democracy, equalityand human rights are applied to Confucianism.1 4 B e f o re the 1990s,Chinese people tended to be against relating such modern politicalconcepts to Confucianism. In the 1990s, however, such trends haveweakened. It became a more popular trend to study Confucianism byintentionally adopting these the political concepts. With re g a rd to theutilization of the concepts, people were interested in a consistencybetween Confucianism and the paradigms of them. People also paidattention to the diff e rences and the possible confrontations between thetwo paradigms.1 5 When the paradigm of liberalism is applied to Confu-cianism, it can become not only an angle for viewing Confucianism butalso an intention to change Confucianism. When someone suggestsConfucian liberalism, one not only expresses another form of liberalism,f ree from the boundary of a simple paradigm, but also expresses thepossibility that Confucianism could transform some liberalistic patterns.Although some people say that Confucianism and the wisdom of con-temporary politics collide, it is still an attractive method to view Confu-cianism by utilizing the wisdom of contemporary politics. I have heardthat Sanlian Shudian三聯書店 is now editing a special series on Confu-cianism and Liberalism under the collaboration of Harvard Universityand Yenching Institute.

The revival of Confucianism in China in the 1990s has the meaningof challenging universalism (to put it more concre t e l y, to challenge theWest). Some scholars hope that Confucianism could define its own iden-tity anew with the awareness of traditional culture and value, and couldfind its own place. For this reason, in the process of reaching an agre e-ment between traditional culture and Confucianism, not only its pecu-liarities but also its superiority or inferiority could be explained. It couldp rovide Confucianism with the equal rights of participating in conver-sations. The appeal to traditional culture and value, though diff e rent ind e g ree, ignores the descriptive method of western universalism and


Press, 1993), Li Hong-lei deals with this issue in a broader sense.1 4 . This discussion was started from Yan Fu.1 5 . You may refer Deng Xiao-jun’s, Confucianism and Democratic Thoughts ( S i c h u a n

People’s Press, 1995), Xiao Bin’s, Confucianism and Two Concepts of Freedom(Social Science, 1997, the third term), Chen Han-ming’s, Confucianism andModern Democracy (Tianjin Social Science, 1998).

criticizes the trend of globalization. It emphasized the necessity ofnationalism, recognition of the Chinese mainland (or arrogance ofSinocentrism), and cultural relativism. Another seemingly confro n t i n gnew trend has voluntarily and directly challenged the paradigms ofglobalization and universalism (universality). Pacifism, a new tre n dafter the Cold Wa r, and ecology have both exerted influences as newparadigms. People used to adopt these paradigms into the study andthe observation of Confucianism. As a result, Confucianism showed thepatterns of universalism (or universal ethic), pacifism and the ecology.Among others these paradigms reillustrated, the unity of the heavenand the man, harmony, and grand alliance. Continental scholars take acritical attitude toward the clash of civilizations theory of SamuelHuntington. An attitude which is based on the idea that diff e re n tcivilizations can make conversations, understand, and harmonize witheach other. Another attitude is to observe Confucianism from the pointof universalism. This attitude views that Confucianism has a universalvalue and cannot be a source of confrontation. The application ofuniversalism and specialism to Confucianism reflects that people searc hfor diff e rent forms of the self in Confucianism.

Humanitarianism and humanism of the late 1970s and the early1980s had a motive of explaining the freedom of human nature and thef reedom and value of individuals, in opposition to political dogmatism.Meanwhile, the humanistic spirit and value and humanism of the 1990sa c q u i red a space of existence by opposing economic dogmatism charac-terized by instrumentalism, utilitarianism, and secularism. Also theysought non-market and non-utilitarian human spirit, human value, andideal. Such concepts as concern over the ultimate, transcendence, andreligion are included in the latter type of consciousness. This type ofconsciousness has, at the same time, become a paradigm of observingConfucianism. Basically, disputes do not exist in understanding Confu-cianism with humanism. It becomes complicated when we try to under-stand Confucianism with the paradigms of the concern over theultimate, transcendence, and religion. The problem is that these con-cepts have the Western culture as a background. There exists a bigd i ff e rence in Christian religion and Chinese Confucianism. People,h o w e v e r, have found a way for a solution. It is to endow Confucianismwith the general meaning of this paradigm while having a special

Wang Zhong-jiang 73

meaning of this paradigm, when we try to understand Confucianismwith the paradigm of the concern over the ultimate, transcendence andreligion. For example, it is like a situation where neo-Confucianismi n t e r p rets Confucian characteristics of transcendence and re l i g i o u scharacter with intrinsic transcendence (contrary to outer transcendence)and religious spirit.1 6 Understanding Confucianism through using this


1 6 . Let me explain some details about the serious discussions on the relationsbetween Confucianism and religions, which lasted for a long time. In a sense,Confucianism has both religious spirit and religious character. It is hard,however, for us to expect all the people to understand Confucianism as acomplete religion today. It is difficult to make people to have a completelysame understanding on religion. The question of whether or not Confucianismis a religion could be answered more easily, if we do not confine the concept ofreligion to that of the existing religious denominations which have an overallimpact on all over the world and which officially are recognized by the peopleas a religion. What I want to emphasize is that some of the major religionsfamiliar to us have a great number of devotees and have been sustained bythem until now. Then how about Confucianism? In China alone, we cannot saythat Confucianism is a kind of religion that the people believe in, comparedwith the situations of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Taoism. In China,Confucianism has been called one of the three great teachings along withBuddhism and Taoism. It is not easy to call Confucianism as a religion in astrict sense, like we do Buddhism or Taoism. In the 20th century, nobody takesissue with whether Taoism and Buddhism are religions or not, except a rarecase. In case of Confucianism, however, its religious adaptability has been anissue, which makes us think a lot. We regard historical Confucianism as ateaching or a self-righteousness because Confucianism has basically played a r o l eof a political ideology or an education of secular ethic and morality. It is theresult of the systematization of Confucianism as an Establishment. Once it losesthe support from the Establishment, Confucianism can easily be downgradedas a mere learning or teachings of a school. Thus, we can understand whyConfucianism and the study of Confucianism have been rapidly downgradedwith the collapse of traditional society and politics in the later period of QingDynasty. Kang You-wei康有爲 insisted that China should adopt Confucianism asa national religion. His intention was to unite various teachings and to restruc-ture the consciousness of Confucian politics and value in the face of the West-ern learning. Only Confucianism and Confucian school can be regarded as ateaching or an ideology. This is much like the case of Marxism in China. (Ofcourse, Confucianism has a more perpetual history than Marxism has.) I reallyhope that Confucianism would be recognized as a religion. Then Confucianism

paradigm was one of the most important positions and views of theConfucianism study in the 1990s, whether such a method was univer-sally accepted or not.

C o m p a red with the diversity of the paradigms, the methodology ofthe Confucianism study in China in the late 20th century did not bearmuch fruit. The study succeeded in providing a diversity of methods,but it was not so diverse in content. It is hard to find a case where amethod is creatively utilized in the study of Confucianism. In thisrespect, there was a limited number of such typical figures as Hu Shi胡適, Feng Yo u - l a n馮友蘭, Zhang Dai-nian張岱年. They were equipped witha high standard of self-awareness with re g a rd to the methodology andcould typically operate their own methodology. Zhongguo ZhexueshiFangfalun Fafan (The Methodology of the History of Chinese Philoso-phy) was one of the precious books on the methodology of the historyof Chinese thoughts.

The method of study with the positivistic character of history andobjectivity as its motives has come from the scientific method or thepositivistic method which were combined with elements of both theEast and the West. They included the scientific method, positivism,philologico-bibliographical study, and the method of seeking for thet ruth based on the reality as it is in the 1990s. This is basically one of themajor methods in each division of the studies of Chinese history. One ofthe major characteristics of this method is the exemplification based onw o rds and discussions. The ground and the evidence mostly come fro mthe documents or the articles which have been excavated. Quotationsa re aimed at proper reasoning and verification. The degree of quota-tions diff e r, but they have the aim of seeking evidence in most cases.They are the way of making a theory and the way of criticism (forexample, on lack of ground for certain views). This method is usedmany times in the study of Confucianism and has given birth to adescriptive study of Confucianism.

Wang Zhong-jiang 75

will be able to become a religion of Chinese people and the spiritual principle.Unfortunately, that does not fit reality. However, it does not mean that Confu-cianism cannot become a typical type of a religion eventually, although Confu-cianism or Confucian teaching had not been a religion in the past. If we wouldmake Confucianism or Confucian teaching a universal religion, we shouldcarry out a consistent ad hoc movement or neo-Confucian movement.

It is the hermeneutics which has diff e rent aspects from the above-mentioned positivistic and scientific characters and even is contrary tot h e m .1 7 This method refuses to believe that historical texts based onhistoricism have essential or original meaning, and stresses the stru c t u reof understanding, foresight and bias which can be attained thro u g hunderstanding or interpretations. It stresses the function of tradition,a u t h o r i t y, history, and language, which are some of the concrete expre s-sions of foresight, in our interpretation. It stresses understanding, expe-rience, interest, historical effect, and harmony of visibility in the pro c e s sof understanding. In an overall sense, the method of the hermeneuticshas the characteristics of relativism. Not all the re s e a rchers of Confu-cianism who are more inclined to the hermeneutics, however, have aspecial awareness with re g a rd to this method. Their understandingmight be too phenomenal. One common characteristic is that they havecomplaints about the methods of science and positivism, and insteads t ress the diff e rences between the humanistic science and the naturalscience. They do not believe that an effective method in natural sciencedoes always apply to the humanistic science, but think that humanisticscience has its own method. Some call this method a subjective work incomparison with the traditional Song-style studying method and thei n t e r p retations of the six classics, thereby distinguishing them from theobjective method of Chinese studies.1 8 Based on our limited understand-ing, such a method in the Confucianism study focuses on value,c o m p rehension, compassionate understanding, and openness of themeaning. Researchers of Confucianism who use this method do neithercompletely do away with the method of science and positivism nordeny objectivity. They are just opposed to the suggestion that this is theonly effective method.1 9

The logical analysis or the analytic method re p resented by FengYou-lan and Zhang Dai-nian of Beijing University have influencedmuch the study of the history of Chinese philosophy. They are called the


1 7 . This method is based on the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer.1 8 . Feng Tian-yu馮天瑜, Zhongguo Zhexue (Chinese Philosophy), the seventheenth

volume, Yuelu Shushe Press. 1996.1 9 . You can refer Tang Yi-jie’s, Problem of Chinese Hermeneutics, Chinese Social

Science, 2000, the first term. and Chinese Tradition of Humanistic Science and theSense of Hermeneutics, Tianjin Social Science, 1994, the third term.

analytic school of Beijing University. The two scholars have achievedoutstanding accomplishments by using this method and have passed onthis method to others. Some of the most prominent scholars in the fieldof Chinese philosophy were their direct or indirect disciples. Thismethod delves into the complex elements of Chinese philosophy andthoughts through a step-by-step approach on the concepts of philoso-p h y, boundary, propositions, and systems. This method was well uti-lized by the study of Confucianism. Yixue Zhexueshi (The History of thePhilosophy of Changes) written by Zhu Bo-kun朱伯昆 is re m e m b e red asone of the successful cases of using the method of Ma You Lan andZhang Dai Nian. This method is also questioned, though as critics saythat the theory, abstraction, logic, and partially the Western analyticmethod of the West are not apt to the study of Chinese philosophy,which is characterized by intuition and experience. This method wasre g a rded as destroying the whole aspect of Chinese philosophy. Asmany other methods had relativistic characters, the analytic methodwas not necessarily a cure-all. The best option is to focus on analyticmethod itself and to use other methods as supplementary. However wedo not deny all these methods.

F i n a l l y, let me distinguish the methodology of the sociology ofknowledge from that of the materialistic conception of history (or thehistorical materialism). Represented by M. Scheler and K. Mannheim,the sociology of knowledge is concerned with the society which con-tains knowledge, conception, world view, and conviction, and stre s s e sthat all these are restricted by the social existence. In this context, it triedto come in contact with thoughts and ideas in history. Its concern wasthe social basis of thoughts and ideology. It sought for social conditionand social situation where thoughts aroused. Researchers of Confucian-ism in China in the 1990s were relatively insensitive to the sociology ofknowledge re p resented by M. Scheler and K. Mannheim. Theypublished the Chinese translation of Ideology and Utopia written by M a n-heim, which has now become a classic. Most re c e n t l y, The Sociology o fKnowledge by Scheler has been published in China. But not a fewre s e a rchers of Confucianism in China have been sensitive to KarlMarx’s historical materialism, which was related to the sociology ofknowledge. One of the re p resentative figures was Hou Wa i - l u侯外廬

who wrote Zhongguo Sixiang To n g s h i中國思想通史 (The History of Chinese

Wang Zhong-jiang 77

Thoughts) by utilizing the method of historical materialism. His schoolwas called the methodology school of historical materialism. Hou hasworked for a house of the Chinese philosophical history affiliated with ahistory re s e a rch center at the Chinese Academy Social Sciences. Thishouse, however, has not produced any results which utilized the materi-alistic conception of history. The three volumes of Song-Ming Lixueshi宋明理學史 (A History of Song and Ming Studies of l i) published in the1980s failed to fully utilize the historical materialism. The historicalmaterialism of this school, however, has been politically abused and itsfame and vigor damaged. As was mentioned before, people tended tokeep their distance from this method.2 0 Thus, we could not expectfurther development in the study of Confucianism using this method.

I V. Problems and Prospects

We have discussed several views on Confucianism in the process ofcarrying out the study of Confucianism in China in the late 20th century.If we would compare this discussion to a large complexity of the Confu-cianism study in China in the 1990s, however, such a discussion wouldnot be able to sum up the contents of the study so eff i c i e n t l y. I hope thatthis discussion will be of some help in understanding the study ofConfucianism in China in the 20th century.


2 0 . Let me briefly explain the relationship between Confucianism and Marxism.We cannot openly say that the study of Confucianism in the 1990s was notdirected by Marxism. Such a possibility of direction was inherent in theChinese society. Thus the relationship between Confucianism and Marxismwas characterized by its complexity in China. For this reason, some define thesituation as three different relations confrontation, coexistence and harmony.(See “The Study of Relationship between Marxism and Confucianism in the1990s” written by Ruan Qing in Kongzi Yanjiu, 1998. The relationship betweenConfucianism and Marxism has come to have a special characteristics in China.It was natural to raise the issue under the current surroundings of China. Butthis is not a universal issue but a special issue. The universal issue deals withhow Confucianism of the mainland China could open itself to all the thoughtsand culture and how can it have conversations with diverse fields of culture.The relationship between Marxism and Confucianism, which has existed as aspecialty in China, is a very delicate problem.

As you know, not only Confucianism’s birthplace of China but alsoK o rea, Japan, and other East Asian countries, which have their ownConfucian backgrounds, have established their own traditions ofre s e a rch. Researchers of Chinese classics in the non-traditional culturalbloc of Europe and America, have come to establish their own traditionas long as Confucianism is concerned. Now, at the end of the century,the academic communities of the Chinese classics around the world areattempting to have conversations with each other on the subject of EastAsian studies and Confucianism, with a view to present their own acad-emic traditions and characteristics in a broader sense. This will help usunderstand and know each other. It is as if we examine our tools fro mtime to time in order to get better results in future tests. We can makethis a new opportunity to change our study patterns by re c o n s i d e r i n gour tradition of study. The Chinese classics’ community of Japan is char-acterized by minuteness and accurateness in re s e a rch, while that of theUnited States by paradigms and freshness. Chinese classics in Euro p ecenters around some specific areas (such as language and literature) toseek a bre a k t h rough. I am sure that Korea has her own tradition ofstudying Chinese classics, and I do not think that we want to adopt onetype or mode of study. Chinese classics in Japan is gaining attentionf rom people in reflecting its own tradition. Mizoguchi Yu z o溝口雄三 o fthe Tokyo school has contributed greatly in this are a .2 1 The Chinesestudies section of Aichi University in Japan is ambitious to challenge thepast tradition of Chinese classics in Japan with its own style.2 2 Since the1990s, the Chinese classics communities of Europe and America andJapan have commonly focused on the history of society and the historyof culture with re g a rd to the study of Chinese thoughts.2 3 They are turn-ing their attention from mere thoughts and ideology to social andcultural conditions, background and interrelations of thoughts, andi d e o l o g y. Some Chinese re s e a rchers have been influenced by the materi-alistic conception of history which states, social existence determines

Wang Zhong-jiang 79

2 1 . Mizoguchi Yuzo, “Research of the History of Chinese Thoughts in JapanReform and Task,” Essays on Academic Thoughts, the third volume, 1998.

2 2 . Modern China Society of Aichi University, China 21 (Zhong Guo 21), ChineseSocial Science Press, 1998.

2 3 . Chen Lai, “The Challenge of Research of Chinese Philosophy at the Turn of theCentury,” History of Chinese Philosophy, 1999, the fourth term.

social consciousness. So, this method focusing on the history of societyand culture (or the method of the sociology of knowledge) seems to befamiliar to them. Because we cannot tell anything about the most eff e c-tive utilization of this method that is all that is attainable. Besides,simplification and political consciousness have distorted the methoditself and also conquered the objects of study. I hope that the sociologyof knowledge would display its exercise in the study of Chinese Confu-cianism. Also I hope that the study should be firmly established and beequipped with diversity based on new paradigms and methods.

R e s e a rchers of Confucianism in China generally tend to be aware ofboth value and ideal. This situation might have resulted from worriesabout China’s realities of life, anxiety about a common environment ofmankind and China’s own tradition itself. The re s e a rch of Chinesehumanities have almost been specialized. As the specialists of their ownfields, they are aimed at attaining academic results which could lastlong. Chinese scholars, though differ in degree, still re g a rd the philoso-phies of Socrates and Confucius as two of their main principles. They donot want to distinguish study from practical use completely or dividethe facts with the value. For them, enlightenment and the study forpractical use in favor of people is a natural extension of study. Theythink the real learning can be attained after it can contribute to theenhancement of morality. This does not conform with the rationaliza-tion and the intellectualism of academicism, a standard set up by We b e r.Academicism has already been specialized and become pro f e s s i o n a land we cannot not revert this trend. This reminds us of that Edward W.Said has attempted to bring the academicism to the amateur period ofthe past and re g a rded it as the emotion of life and the wisdom of societywhich relieve our difficulties in life. The problem is to find an equilibriumbetween academicism and social concerns. Chinese re s e a rchers ofConfucianism have not found the equilibrium. Social concerns andvalue awareness of the people, as I think, is too frivolous and are notused in proper place. We tend to neglect the historical facts from time totime, restrict our sense of problem by focusing on one subject, andconstrain our diversity and depth in thoughts. In the 1990s in China,t h e re aroused a boom of Zeng Guo-fan which was characterized by hispopular appeal to the public. Zeng’s books, especially those on family-conducted education, was selling like hotcakes. Researchers of Confu-


cianism, however, pretended not to know of these phenomenonalthough it contributed a lot in spreading the value of Confucianism in am o re practical sense. I hope that we should divide the study of Confu-cianism into several categories in order to acquire better results in thestudy of Confucianism and Confucian value. Will it be possible for us todivide the study of Confucianism into the basic one and secular one, aswe distinguish science from technology? People really expect that thestudy of the latter type could make the re s e a rch and value of Confucian-ism to get more closer to our daily lives. If not, it would be difficult forus to achieve socialization and popularization of Confucianism eventhough people call for socialization and popularization of Confucianismlike they call for the propaganda of political ideologies. Not a fewre s e a rc h e r s of Confucianism have come to be aware of the problems inthis are a .2 4 The Study of Contemporary Confucianism (affiliated withthe International Confucianism Society), of which Pang Pu龐朴 and MouZ h o n g - j i a n牟鍾鑒 oversee, have announced several projects for thisp u r p o s e .2 5 We will be able to expect further development in the study ofChinese Confucianism in the new era.

G l o s s a r y

Cai Shang-si 蔡尙思 Chen Yin-que 陳寅恪

Guo Dian 郭店 Hu Shi 胡適

Kang You-wei 康有爲 Liang Shu-ming 梁漱溟

Mizoguchi Yuzo 溝口雄三 Mou Zhong-jian 牟鍾鑒

Pang Pu 龐朴 Feng You-lan 馮友蘭

Sanlian Shudian 三聯書店 Shibusawa Eiichi 澁澤榮一

Song-Ming Lixueshi宋明理學史A History of Song and Ming Studies of l iWang Guo-wei 王國維 Wang Yang-ming 王陽明

Wang Zhong-jiang 王中江 Zeng Guo-fan 曾國藩

Wang Zhong-jiang 81

2 4 . Confucian Studies, Spread of Confucianism and Popularity, Wen Shi Zhe (Literature,History and Philosophy) 1999. Guo Qi-yong’s Reflections of Contemporary neo-Confucianism vs. the Problem of Religious Character in Confucianism, Development ofthe Hermeneutics on Chinese Philosophy Essays released on the occasion of the90th anniversary of Zhang Dai-nian’s birth. Beijing University Press, 1999.

2 5 . International Confucianism Association, 2000, the first-second term.

Zhang Dai-nian 張岱年 Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局

Zhu Xi 朱熹 Zhu Bo-kun 朱伯昆

Zhongguo Sixiang To n g s h i 中國思想通史 The History of Studies of l i in thesong and Ming period


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