The Confucian legacy and its implications for physical education in Taiwan

Abstract

Through a particular case study, this article seeks to demonstrate the relevance of cultural history to physical activity and physical education. For generations of East Asian people who have lived with the influence of Confucianism, the disposition to engage with sport has commonly been absent. Over a number of centuries, the Chinese constructed a unique wen-version of manhood — in other words, an anti-physical culture, which contrasted sharply with the Western world’s muscular Christianity and also with Japan’s samurai spirit, both of which associated physical fitness with an ideal of vigorous masculinity. This article examines the origins and development of the Confucian perspective, considers modern challenges to that perspective, most notably in the People’s Republic of China, and outlines the extent to which it remains highly influential in at least one East Asian country — namely, Taiwan. We conclude that, as a consequence of the influence of Confucianism, an unfortunate imbalance between wen and wu persists in modern Taiwan with important implications for physical education, sport and certain forms of exercise.