“Confucianism”, an Alternative Source of Belief in Contemporary Chinese Society: An Empirical Study of the Founding of Xin 信 in a “Confucian” Company

Lan Jiang-Fu

doi:10.3390/rel12100819

Abstract

Open claims to Confucian values, often associated with cultural traditionalism and a larger revival of Confucianism among the Chinese population from the 2000s onwards, have gained momentum in the world of entrepreneurs. The intensity of this phenomenon can be explained by a wide variety of motivations, among which a desire to establish a belief, a sort of xin 信 towards traditional values, has emerged from within the “Confucian” company. Based on fieldwork carried out between 2017 and 2018 at TW, a private company located in Dongguan (Guangdong), this paper aims to analyze the efforts undertaken by “Confucian” managers to use the spiritual guidance role of Confucianism. Our work is organized into three sections. First, we analyze the main modalities of proselytizing within TW. Then, based on the personal experiences of three employees of this company, we try to understand how they live the jiaohua and to what extent this “educational” experience inspired by Confucianism has allowed them to reorient themselves towards a new way of perceiving the world. Finally, by placing it in a broader context, that of contemporary Chinese society’s crisis of values, we question the role Confucianism can play in the foundation of a population’s beliefs.

Highlights

This article is part of a study on the Confucian revival in the business world in contemporary China
With China marked by a plurality of values (Yan 2009, 2010), it is important to ask the following questions: to what extent will Confucianism be adopted by employees? In order to implement jiaohua, what are the main challenges facing “Confucian” entrepreneurs?
The managers show a rather willing and cooperative attitude towards the adoption of a company culture focused on traditional values

Summary

Introduction

We consider entrepreneurs who claim Confucianism through their speeches and practices, and more broadly the whole of traditional Chinese culture (including, on the religious level, references to Daoism, Buddhism, or popular religions), as “Confucian entrepreneurs” This delimitation can help us, on the one hand, identify objects of study for our field observations; on the other hand, with its open and multiple character, allow us to take into consideration the great variety of forms in which the craze for Confucianism has appeared in the milieu of entrepreneurs. Based on the personal experiences of three employees of this company, we try to understand how they live the jiaohua and to what extent this “educational” experience has allowed them to reorient themselves towards a new way of perceiving the world By placing it in a broader context, that of contemporary Chinese society’s crisis of values, we question the role that Confucianism can play in the foundation of a population’s beliefs

The Proselytizing Dimension in a “Confucian” Enterprise

The Moral Transformation of a Prisoner

The Therapeutic Function of Morality

Findings

A Proselytizing Mission Facing the Market Logic