Abstract
This chapter argues in defense of Confucian politics, but rejects Jiang Qing's interpretation of Confucian constitutionalism. Jiang argues for a kind of Confucian constitutionalism that is grounded in “transcendent values” of the Han dynasty Gongyang school, but the chapter contends that the true spirit of Confucianism should be located in the earlier pre-Qin Confucians such as Mencius and Xunzi, who attempted to find a middle way between the sacred and the secular. It states that a Confucianism backed by a transcendent foundation could not be widely accepted in a modern-day society characterized by the “fact of pluralism.” The chapter rejects Jiang's idea that political institutions such as the House of Ru and the Academy should represent heaven as separate from the people.
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