Aspects Of Confucianism Research Articles

Cultural sources of gender gaps: Confucian meritocracy reduces gender inequalities in political participation

The historical oppression of women in China mirrors the experiences of women in many other cultures. During the imperial era, Confucian ideologies and institutions played a significant role in perpetuating women's disenfranchisement. This perception has become deeply entrenched, to the extent that contemporary discussions on women's status often automatically refer to lingering Confucian legacies as one of the obstacles to achieving gender equality. However, this study offers a nuanced perspective by shedding light on how certain aspects of Confucianism, notably meritocracy, may serve to empower modern-day women. The research focuses on the Chinese context, particularly the historically significant Confucian-based meritocratic institution known as the civil examination system (keju). I argue that historical meritocratic legacies can have a lasting impact on contemporary behavior, specifically by reducing the gender gap in political participation in local village elections. Using data from historical archives and the China General Social Survey, I find a negative correlation between a prefecture's historical success in the keju exams and the gender gap in village election turnout among present-day respondents. Further exploratory analyses reveal that the enduring Confucian tradition of meritocracy also empowers other low-status social groups, including the economically disadvantaged and the less educated.

Mainstream Traditional Chinese Culture Reflections from a Globalisation Perspective

With the rapid development of the world economy, cross-cultural communication is increasing rapidly. However, due to the different cultural backgrounds, historical backgrounds and values of different countries, cross-cultural communication also presents some differences. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism is the core of traditional Chinese culture, and even more so, it forms the basis of traditional Chinese culture, shaping and influencing the concepts of thinking and spirit of Chinese culture in a broader sense, as well as subconsciously influencing the thinking and actions of the Chinese people. The three words Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism refer to Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism respectively. Confucianism is the Way of Confucius and Mencius, which regulates the social and human order, and is the way to tell people how to achieve natural and harmonious interactions in real life. Taoism is Laozhuang, the pursuit of selflessness. Buddhism is Zen Buddhism, represented by wisdom, which tells people how to be self-interested and altruistic.This article aims to explore the influence of traditional Chinese cultural concepts on the concept of self-reflection and life, death and fortune in Chinese communication from the aspect of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

The Application of Confucianism in Contemporary Chinese Foreign Policy

Confucianism is a splendid treasure in Chinese traditional culture. It has an important influence on the unique spirit and thinking of the Chinese nation, and also has a certain degree of influence on China's foreign policy. This paper studies the application and manifestation of Confucianism in contemporary China's foreign policy from three aspects of Confucianism:" Great Harmony under Heaven" " Good Neighborhood and Friendship", and" Nature and humanity" , and explores how to improve and strengthen foreign policy, correct remote.

Between Political Meritocracy and Participatory Democracy: Toward Realist Confucian Democracy

Abstract In this article, I examine the textual underpinnings of participatory Confucian democracy and Confucian meritocracy and propose realist Confucian democracy as an alternative following a balanced reading of classic Confucianism. I argue that Confucian plebeian values do not square with the political meritocrats’ (Daniel A. Bell and Tongdong Bai) advocacy for meritocratic rule while Confucian elitist values undermine participatory democrats’ (Sor-hoon Tan and Stephen Angle) ardor for justifications of active democratic participation. A shared difficulty with both groups is that they tend to overuse one aspect of Confucianism while leaving the status of other elements in limbo. The discussion of participatory democracy and meritocracy is followed by the introduction of an eclectic reading that strikes a dynamic balance between elitist and plebeian values in Confucianism, and which points to the wide gamut of realist democracy that combines democratic election with strong leadership.

Historic and Contemporary Influences on HIV Advocacy in Vietnam

HIV civil society advocacy in Vietnam is shaped by a unique fusion of historic and contemporary influences, resulting in nuanced ways in which advocacy is practised. In this study, we interviewed representatives from civil society, the Government of Vietnam, international NGOs, multilateral and research organisations and commercial consultancies to identify the influences on advocacy practice today. Aspects of Confucianism, Buddhism, Communism and changes to international funding were all identified as shaping HIV civil society policy advocacy practice directed towards government. These influences have resulted in a strong respect for hierarchy, non-confrontational and collaborative working relationships between civil society and the government, decision-making by consensus and changes in advocacy practice corresponding to fluctuations in international funding. This study shows how, as civil society continues to develop its role in the HIV sector in Vietnam, it is critical to understand these complex influences so that program designers, funders and evaluators can appropriately support HIV civil society policy advocacy.

Confucian Evaluation: Reframing Contribution Analysis Using a Confucian Lens

Culturally responsive evaluation contests that Western-derived evaluation methods represent a universal truth and promotes approaches that reflect the local context. Taking this approach, we examine how the method of contribution analysis may be modified to reflect a different worldview. We reframe contribution analysis using a Confucian lens as Confucianism represents a value system that is still integral to the way societies operate in several East and Southeast Asian countries today. First, we unpack the theory behind contribution analysis and how it is applied by Western evaluators then compare this with aspects of Confucianism. We then examine how the application of contribution analysis might be modified to take into account a Confucian worldview. Finally, we discuss how, in a world of globalized, complex societies, this approach could be used by evaluators to adapt evaluation methods to be congruent with the worldviews in the local context where an evaluation is occurring.

A Study on Aspects of Confucianism and Taoism Shown in the Hanshan Poetry

A Study on Aspects of Confucianism and Taoism Shown in the Hanshan Poetry

Confucianism: measurement and association with workforce performance

PurposeThis paper reconsiders the approaches to measuring Confucian values, and tests their association with workforce performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine how such values and performances are prioritized across three East Asian societies, but more importantly, identifies how variations across societies might result from the way in which Confucianism has been transformed/appropriated differently across history.Design/methodology/approachA Best-Worst experimental design is used to measure three aspects of Confucianism (relational, pedagogical, and transformative), and three aspects of workforce performance (mindset, organization, and process) to capture the trade-offs by respondents from three East Asian societies: China (n=274), Taiwan (n=264), and South Korea (n=254). The study employs analysis of variance with post-hoc tests to examine differences between societies. A hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward’s method is utilized to identify clusters based on similarities within the data. And last, multiple regression analysis is applied to determine the explanatory power of Confucian values on workforce performance.FindingsFindings confirm the prioritization of three aspects of Confucianism (relational, pedagogical, and transformative) to differ between Mainland Chinese, Taiwan Chinese, and Korean respondents – producing five distinct clusters based on similarities across three societies. Overall, between 7 and 27 percent of the variance in workforce performance could be explained by the Confucian values included in this study.Originality/valueThis study highlights the “different shades of Confucianism” across East Asian societies, which we coin as Confucian Origin, Preservation, and Pragmatism, and demonstrates the need to take a multifaceted perspective in the measurement of Confucian culture. The study provides empirical support for the link between Confucianism and performance at the micro-level, as originally proposed by Baumann and Winzar (2017), and identifies specific antecedents of behavior for research moving forward.

To have or to be? Narrating Confucian value in contemporary Korea

This paper reviews and analyzes recent research outcomes on Confucian value in contemporary Korean society. The word “Confucianism” arouses ambivalent feeling in Koreans: it is so familiar that it is their mode of living, yet is at the same time so strange that it is hard to define exactly what it is. Confucianism is a source of pride for Koreans and helps to give them an identity, since Koreans are perhaps the only people who keep the ritualistic dimensions of Confucianism alive; yet, it is simultaneously a tradition shared not only with the countries of China, Japan, and Vietnam, but with many other countries throughout the world. Confucianism is the foundation of morality and communal order, but it can also be considered as the cradle of rigidity and coercion. In this paper, I first attempt to delineate how Confucianism is viewed and criticized by academics, popular books, and in the mass media. While academics tend to justify and defend the ills of Confucianism, the general public is more direct and blunt in negating Confucianism as a whole. Secondly, I will analyze the academic responses to such criticism, which I divide into two categories. One type of response distinguishes between the core and the applied aspects of Confucianism, holding the former as fundamental, essential, and unchanging, and the latter as vicarious and prone to distortion. The usual faults of Confucianism fall into the latter category. Only if the core Confucian values had been properly expressed and systematized, would the emergence of chronic problems like autocracy, male chauvinism, gerontocracy, and nepotism have been prevented. The other type of response throws questions at such an essentialist interpretation of Confucianism, claiming that there is no unwavering value that can be applied to all ages. By adopting a relativistic stance on Confucian values, one can be more open and tolerant of other systems of thought and values. Finally, I shall point out the academic tendency to portray Confucian values, whether they are absolute or changing, as something useful and functional in serving some other “greater” or “urgent” purposes. Filial piety and brotherly love, for example, are construed as the basis of mutual benefit and support, the backbone of one’s community and nation. However, what if these values do not bring about any “outcome?” What if one’s action does not result in any fruitful consequences? As a concluding remark, I will probe the intrinsic value of Confucianism—the value of being Confucian despite what result that may bring about. King Shun showed filial piety despite his unloving father. Confucius attempted to persuade the kings, fully knowing that the Way would not prevail. We should recall that Confucian values in themselves never guarantee anything: One may work hard and still not succeed; one may study hard and still not be recognized; one may be frugal for one’s life and still be poor. Yet, one may still be willing to do these things—because the true Confucian value lies not in one’s having, but in one’s being.

Spiritual Leadership in Korea’s Financial Industry - Establishing a Baseline -

This study was designed to validate Fry's (2003) model of spiritual leadership within the Confucian context of South Korea and establish a baseline for the model in Korea's financial sector. Spiritual leadership is an emerging, holistic model of leadership that encapsulates the relationships of leaders, followers, organizational culture, and organizational outcomes. However, while the theory has been extensively tested in individualistic cultural contexts, validation of the theory in collectivist cultures such as Korea has only recently been pursued. The study examined the emergence of spiritual leadership values and the relationship of these values on organizational commitment and productivity, as mediated by the spiritual survival variables of calling and membership through structural equation modeling. Survey data were collected from a South Korean financial services company with strong Confucian values. The results of this study supported the universality of Fry's (2003) spiritual leadership model in a Confucian context, despite high job uncertainties facing participants. Measures of reliability and validity were above adequate levels and fell within the range of previous studies. Also, goodness-of-fit measures such as NNFI and CFI were all highly significant (p < .001) and above the .95 level. Hence, a baseline for future research in Korea's financial sector was established. The study recommends the need to explore the positive and negative aspects of Confucianism as it relates to (a) the emergence of spiritual leadership and (b) group-level analysis of spiritual leadership. Notably, the results suggest that Confucian values can positively contribute to organizational outcomes through collective membership, but negatively through weak empowerment, based on the degree of reciprocal trust and loyalty between leaders and followers. Additionally, the lower mean scores of spiritual leadership values in this study as compared to previous studies suggest that among other possibilities, the potential weakening of leader-follower relationships during times of uncertainty and crisis can upend the strengths of spiritual leadership. Future longitudinal studies are needed to more deeply examine the relationship of job uncertainties on spiritual leadership.

Vietnam. Le communisme vietnamien (1919–1991): Construction d'un État-nation entre Moscou et Pékin. By Céline Marangé. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po, 2012. Pp. 567. Appendices, Notes, Bibliography, Chronology, Index.

Le communisme vietnamien (1919-1991.): Construction d'un Etat-nation entre Moscou et Pekin By CELINE MARANGE Paris: Presses de Sciences Po, 2012. Pp. 567. Appendices, Notes, Bibliography, Chronology, Index. doi: 10.1017/S0022463413000799 Celine Marange's study of Vietnamese communism (in French) is an ambitious, largely successful work that demonstrates familiarity with a broad range of sources. Using documents and memoirs from Vietnam, China, Russia, and France, she presents a long-term analysis of Vietnam's unique brand of communism. She sets out to avoid the cliches and Manichean view that have often marked our picture of this phenomenon. Her stated goal is to examine the problem of the export and adoption of communist political models, as well as the sources of political hegemony. Overall she succeeds in demonstrating 'the limits of Soviet and Chinese influence in Vietnam' (p. 30). Marange warns against the temptation to view Vietnamese communism as simply 'a foreign graft' or to 'exaggerate the possibilities for action of the Comintern and the Soviet authorities' (p. 33). This warning applies to both the early days of party building and the period when the communists held power, after 1945. The distance from Moscow, the slowness of communications and the secrecy of the Vietnamese comrades meant that there was room for improvisation for a leader such as Ho Chi Minh, willing to combine aspects of Confucianism with Leninist theory. Decades after Ho's early training of cadres, the Vietnamese took advantage of the competition between the Soviets and Chinese, who were wing for leadership of the world revolution, to make their own decisions on the conduct of their war. This is not to claim that the communist system developed in Hanoi was uninfluenced by Soviet or Chinese models--but as Marange explains, the 'appropriation of the Soviet model grew out of the desire of the new political elite' (p. 33). Starting with Ho Chi Minh in 1923-4, and moving on to the more fully indoctrinated Western-educated communists of the late 1920s and early 1930s, the leftist anticolonialists viewed the role of international communism as the provision of funds and organising methods to create an independent socialist state. Ideological purity and faithfulness to the current party line became the yardstick by which party leaders were measured by their own countrymen; battles for power from the 1930s to at least the 1980s were waged on the pretext that the opposing faction was deviating too far from orthodox Marxism-Leninism. In the 1950s-60s, with large numbers of Vietnamese studying in both the PRC and the Soviet Union, the military, police, cultural, and political institutions all were closely patterned on Chinese and Soviet models. After 1985, however, as the party elite grew larger and began to accumulate wealth, their promotion of the Soviet-style state, with a communist monopoly on power enshrined in the constitution, became as much a matter of self-interest as ideological conviction. The drawback of such a lengthy compendium of information from different periods and sources (the style of the French Ph.D. dissertation) is that the research is likely to be uneven. The reader in this case is presented with a large amount of detail; some political theory, some international history; without much indication as to what the major arguments are in the historiography, either Vietnamese or foreign. What might have helped to create a more coherent book would have been an introduction to explain how the author approached her sources and what her major challenges were. Which of the available sources did she find most reliable, where did she find gaps or contradictions in the picture; why did she make certain choices (e. …

Teaching &amp; Learning Guide for: Democracy in Confucianism

Teaching &amp; Learning Guide for: Democracy in Confucianism

On The Universal and Local Aspects of Confucianism

To counter the tendency of making Confucianism “localized” and thereby turning Confucianism research into research of local social history, the author criticizes this tendency and thinks it is unilateral to emphasize or stress the importance of a small unit’s locality, but ignore the oneness of the distribution of Confucianism and the universality of Confucian thought. The thesis emphasizes that the main schools of Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties are all not local ones and cannot be reduced to reflections of some local need and social structure. The author points out that we need to self-examine the following phenomena: aggrandizing the function of local social structure to culture and thought, coming down academic schools to reflections of local social benefits, opposing this kind of research to the research of thought itself, thus rejecting philosophical research and analysis of thought itself.

Confucianism for the Modern World. Edited by Daniel A. Bell and Hahm Chaibong. [Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. xiii+383pp. £18.99. ISBN-521-82100.

Few Asians reject the basic hallmarks of modernity: a market economy, some form of democracy, some type of rule of law, and some human rights. At the same time, many Asians and for that matter non-Asians – including, we are told, the contributors to Confucianism and the Modern World ndash; “are somewhat disenchanted with Western-style liberal modernity” (p. 24).The editors are well aware that Confucianism must be adapted to modernity if it is to remain relevant. They are also well aware that is it necessary to move beyond the often frustratingly abstract assertions about the compatibility or incompatibility of Confucianism with capitalism, democracy, rule of law and human rights. Accordingly, they organize the book into sections that correspond roughly to the first three topics, human rights having been discussed at length elsewhere.The section on democracy contains Hahm Chaihark's exploration of li (rites, propriety) as a constitutional norm; Jongryn Mo's invocation of the censorate as a possible mechanism for administrative accountability; Wang Juntao's historical account of prominent intellectuals who supported aspects of Confucianism and democracy; Chang Yun-shik's discussion of mutual help and democracy in Korea; David Hall and Roger Ames's account of a pragmatic Confucian democracy; and Geir Helgesen's call for an updated Confucian moral education to offset the existential insecurity individuals feel in this era of globalization.

Is Confucianism Compatible with Care Ethics? A Critique

This essay critically examines a suggestion proposed by some Confucianists that Confucianism and Care Ethics share striking similarities and that feminism in Confucian societies might take "a new form of Confucianism." Aspects of Confucianism and Care Ethics that allegedly converge are examined, including the emphasis on human relationships, and it is argued that while these two perspectives share certain surface similarities, moral injunctions entailed by their respective ideals of ren and caring are not merely distinctive but in fact incompatible.