Teachings Of Confucius Research Articles

Модернизация конфуцианства, буддизма и даосизма в Китае (XX–XXI вв.)

This article presents a study of the main trends in the development of traditional Chinese philosophy in the XX–XXI centuries. The transformation of the ideas of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, influenced by Western thought are shown. The reasons for this transformation are indicated. The analysis of the philosophy of “new Confucianism” is given, the stages of its formation are revealed. There is presented the exposition of the teachings of the key representatives of the new Confucianism represented by three generations of followers of the teachings of Confucius, who were influenced by Western philosophers, especially I. Kant, A. Bergson, M. Heidegger. The philosophy of “new Confucianism” is charac­terized as a doctrine that tries to combine the traditional values of the West and the East, material and spiritual. The transformation of the ideas of Buddhism is re­vealed in the context of the analysis of the main provisions of modern Buddhism. The causes of the movement for the renewal of Buddhism are shown. There are given the views of the main ideologists of the renewal Yan Wenhui (1837‒1911), which called for democratizing Buddhist institutions, secularizing Buddhist educa­tion, using the achievements of Western culture, as well as his student Tai Xu (1894‒1947), who put forward the idea of humanistic Buddhism. The content of the idea of Tai Xu about humanistic Buddhism, the essence of which is to improve a person’s life in real reality, and not in future rebirth, as well as its need to serve the interests of society, is presented. The modernization of Taoism is shown in line with the general modernization of traditional Chinese philosophy, which focuses on humanistic values. It is shown that the modern development of the philosophy of Taoism affects all aspects of human life, both physiological and social. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between man and nature, man and society.

Rola tradycji konfucjańskich w umacnianiu współczesnego reżimu politycznego Koreańskiej Republiki Ludowo-Demokratycznej

The role of Confucian traditions in strengthening the contemporary political regime of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea In Asian countries authoritarian relationships have been noticeable for centuries not only on political but also on social grounds.The teachings of Confucius were important in this aspect. According to many au­thors, they still exert a significant influence in North Korea and have an impact on the durability of Kim Jong-un. However, there are also opinions that it is a big mistake to describe this country as Confucian. For this reason the aim of this article is to show the real meaning of this ideology in North Korea. This will be done by demonstrating similarities of the present situation to the principles of Confucianism, as well as denials of the guidelines of this ideology. As a result, this will allow the author to analyze how Confucian traditions can determine the future of the regime in Pyongyang.

The Concept of Love in Philosophy: A Comparative Study between Plato’s Idea and Chinese Philosophy Part II: Confucius

In this comparative study, the researcher focuses on exploring some commonalities and differences of the concept of love between two great philosophers, i.e. Plato and Confucius. According to his work, the symposium, Plato give his account of love as related to one’s personal feelings toward either love or objects of love. In the teaching of Confucius, the emphasis of love locates in actions and duty of a person as a part of his society. A core concept in Confucianism is jen (仁) or ren which means benevolent love or compassion, focuses on duty, action and attitude in a relationship rather than the love itself. According to Confucianism, one displays benevolent love by performing actions such as family respect from children, kindness from parents, loyalty to the king and so forth. However, it is certain that the differences in their origin, language, life experience and growing up in different cultural backgrounds effect both Plato and Confucius in formation of their concept of love. Thus, finding aspects of love that they have in common would be interesting as well as expanding the horizon of knowledge on the concept of love. The researcher will begin by examining their background and life experience, then exploring their development of the concept of love and nature of love to recognize their highest goal in love and their way leading to the highest goal. Finally, the researcher will try to identify their similarities and differences.

Lessons from Confucius Ideas: Chinese Universities’ African Students Reflections

In most normal universities in China, Confucian lessons are included in the in-ternational students study programs. This is because Confucianism is the most prevalent deep rooted historical philosophy in China. It is based on the teach-ings of Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.), a virtuous man who never wanted to be as-sociated with insincerity, immorality and corruption. Though he failed to im-plement his ideas when he was alive, he lived forever and became “a king without a crown” when his principles were accepted and implemented by Chi-nese authorities many hundred years later, which has partly contributed to the current socio-economic landscape of China. In contrast, Africa continues to face a lot of challenges chiefly caused by moral degradation and poverty. Do Confucian lessons have an impact on the African students who study them? This paper qualitatively analyzed the views of ten former African students in China regarding Confucius and his philosophies and their reflections on how Africans can benefit from the ideas and philosophies of this Great Sage. The key finding was that the majority of respondents acknowledged that they in-deed took home a lot of lessons from their studies regarding Confucius and his philosophies. It was also noted that Confucius studies made the majority of these foreign students to understand the values of selflessness and virtuous life in leadership as well as the importance of expanding access of education for the benefit of all people. Africa can surely develop if leaders tap lessons from these kinds of philosophies.

The Flexibility of Confucian Thought in Times of Crisis

The article is devoted to the crisis of Confucianism in the history of Old and New China, the causes of these crises, and the ability of Confucianism to respond to the demands of the times, to change under the influence of political, historical and ideological metamorphoses. Particular attention is paid to the flexibility of the Confucian tradition, which for thousands of years has remained the main ethical teaching for the Chinese intelligentsia and a fundamental instrument of government. The reasons for the stability of the Confucian doctrine are explained through analysis of the orthodox canons which changed in response to crises. The role of commentators on traditional treatises who greatly enriched the teachings of Confucius and contributed to its flexibility in the face of impending crises is also considered. The article also considers the stylistic changes carried out by the neo-Confucians under the guidance of the famous philosopher Zhu Xi. Those changes temporarily made Confucianism more resistant to all kinds of cataclysms, but in the end it was these changes that played a crucial role in the fundamental crisis in its teachings. There is no denying that the literature of Old and New China exposed all the flaws in Confucian morality. The criticism of Confucianism is especially thorough in the satirical literature that best highlights all the defects of Confucian orthodoxy. The article concludes with an examination of the role of Confucianism in modern China, and Xi Jinping’s new course is analyzed by invoking traditional Chinese thought, which abounds in his works and speeches. The reasons for the stability and flexibility of Confucian thought are explained.by reference to the thumbnail sketch of Chinese history in the article.

Was Confucius teaching us how to do things with words? Reflections on ethics in language and communication

Was Confucius teaching us how to do things with words? Reflections on ethics in language and communication

Risen from Chaos: The Development of Modern Education in China, 1905‐1948

My PhD thesis studies the rise of modern education in China and its underlying driving forces from the turn of the 20th century. It is motivated by one sweeping educational movement in Chinese history: the traditional Confucius teaching came to an abrupt end, and was replaced by a modern and national education model at the turn of the 20th century. This thesis provides the first systematic quantitative studies that examine the rise of education through the initial stage of its development. It mainly contains three analytical parts. The first one sets out the jourey toward the birth of the first modern education system, and generalized the main virtues and progresses it brought to China. The second section provides long-term estimates on how much education progressed through 20th century based on a rich variety of indicators: literacy rate, enrolment ratio, and more importantly -- human capital stock (average years of schooling). This exercise allows putting Chinese accomplishments in education into international perspective. The last Chapter of this thesis tackles one hotly debated question that ‘what factors drove the rise of mass schooling (primary education)?’ Given its political turmoil and economic backwardness, the expansion of modern primary schooling that was mainly driven by increasing public efforts seems puzzling. What contributed to mass education’s noteworthy diffusion in China? Based on a dataset that covers more than one thousand counties, we find that economic factors have little power in explaining the variations in educational outcomes. In contrast, both informal practice of governance imposed by gentry (one important social group in Chinese history) and regional political stability presented their critical importance. The findings of this section not only contribute to pin down determinants of education expansion, but also shed lights on a growing literature stressing the importance of informal institution in providing public goods in non-democratic societies.

Domniemane i rzeczywiste przyczyny chińskiego cudu gospodarczego. Polemika z Kazimierzem Poznańskim

Domniemane i rzeczywiste przyczyny chińskiego cudu gospodarczego. Polemikaz Kazimierzem Poznańskim [Alleged and real reasons for the Chinese economy miracle. A polemicwith Kazimierz Poznański] edited by W. Banach, M.A. Michalski, J. Sójka, „Człowiek i Społeczeństwo”vol. XLVI: Między Chinami a Zachodem. Pytanie o źródła chińskiego sukcesu gospodarczego [BetweenChina and the West. An inquiry into the sources of the Chinese economic miracle], Poznań 2018,pp. 67–84, Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Social Sciences Press. ISSN 0239-3271.
 China has come a long way in the last hundred years. It is so long that it’s easy to forget about the problems that the Chinese had to face earlier. They struggled with patterns of long duration making it difficult for them to break out of the centuries-old stagnation. The Chinese were looking for new patterns of political culture. However, not only those patterns required a correction. If Fukuyama is right, the rules of caring for one’s family at the expense of social obligations have turned out to be no less troublesome. The Chinese way to prosperity led then not only through the public sphere, but also through the hearts and minds of the Chinese. They had to cut themselves off from the past. Meanwhile, in the time of economic prosperity, the longing for the past returns. The place of doctrines borrowed from the Western world replaces nostalgia. Deng Xiaoping’s political references to the teachings of Confucius are – in the blink of an eye – becoming the basic message. It is not surprising that the Chinese people want to forget about the embarrassing moments of their own history. These trends, however, should not affect external observers of economic life in China. One of such observers is Kazimierz Poznański. He believes that the cause of the Chinese economic miracle is the Confucian ethics (despite the historical changes shaping the Chinese mentality). The aim of the article is to verify this hypothesis.

Using the Past to Legitimise the Present: The Portrayal of Good Governance in Chinese History Textbooks

This article examines how Chinese middle-school history textbooks are written as a means of legitimising the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), by carefully utilising China's past. The authors identify (or perhaps “construct”) a sinified model of good governance in the textbooks that derives from the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and the subsequent practises of certain revered Chinese emperors. This model is then applied to CCP leaders in the modern-era textbooks in order to cast them as diligently upholding a time-honoured Chinese tradition of legitimate rule. In a broader context, our analysis fits within the ongoing discussions about the continuing legacy of Confucianism in contemporary China and the CCP's efforts to locate itself within this as a way of fortifying its own legitimacy. We also note how some of the themes of good governance contained in the textbooks are closely linked to contemporary government policies and priorities, such as anti-corruption schemes and constitutionalism. The objective in so doing is to propagate the importance of these themes to a young audience.

Ethical Leadership with Both “Moral Person” and “Moral Manager” Aspects: Scale Development and Cross-Cultural Validation

The importance of ethical leadership in organizations has been increasingly recognized, especially as a shield against unethical employee behaviors and corporate misconducts. Ethical leadership has been theorized to include two aspects: “moral person” and “moral manager.” This conceptualization resonates well with Chinese teachings of Confucius on leadership and management—namely xiuji (cultivating oneself) and anren (bringing the good to others). Based on the theoretical framework of ethical leadership, we develop and validate a new ethical leadership measure (ELM). Through qualitative studies (i.e., face-to-face interviews, open-ended surveys, and literature review) and five quantitative studies, we establish the reliability and convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities of the ELM in a Chinese context. In addition, using a US sample, we find that the ELM has partial measurement invariance across Chinese and American contexts.

Questioning Chinese government’s stand for sovereign immunity

Since last decade, restrictive sovereign immunity has been growing as an international comity among the states. Because of the absence of effective international conventions in this regards, states are following their own statutory law on this matter. However, China has always advocated for absolute sovereign immunity principles for itself as well as other states before its courts. The underlying reasons behind such approach in China were – its Socialist ideology considering restrictive sovereign immunity principle as bourgeoistic and colonialist; Confucius teaching of non-amenable nature of sovereign power; deep-rooted fear to accept foreign court’s jurisdiction due to its history of unequal and disgraceful treaties with foreign states. Also, the statement of China’s diplomatic notes is not in consistence with its practice. There are several cases where it did not claim sovereign immunity for its agents or instrumentalities. Therefore, in the present context, it can be suggested that China makes its stand for sovereign immunity clear in terms of both diplomatic statements and practice. It is advisable for China to adopt restrictive sovereign immunity in order to make its legal stand coherent with international practices.

Confucius computer: a philosophical digital agent for intergenerational philosophical play

Confucianism is commonly defined as “... a system of philosophical, ethical and political thought based on the teachings of Confucius,” which originated through the teachings of Confucius during the sixth-century BCE. It is a way of life or a philosophy of human nature that considers human relationships as the foundation of the society. Confucius teachings had highly influenced the development of several cultures in Asia, making Confucianism an intangible cultural heritage. In this paper, we are re-acquainting users with an intangible heritage that is part of their everyday, by developing a system that permits experiencing Confucius teachings virtually and interactively. The system can measure philosophical intent of the human and generate meaningful philosophical answers. It is also aimed for intergenerational sharing of Confucius heritage through a simple interactive process with the virtual sage making the experience enjoyable and entertaining. Previous research in natural language processing (NLP) mainly focused on the understanding and delivering of human natural language accurately. In this research, we explored how to apply NLP to model the knowledge and teachings of Confucius, through the natural conversation between human and computer. This virtual Confucius, a chat agent that generates outputs based on Confucius teachings, using a series of algorithms and techniques to improve the matching accuracy between user input and computer output, introduces a novel way of interacting with intangible cultures. Our user evaluation results revealed that there is a positive correlation between relevance and enjoyment, finding their experiences interacting with virtual Confucius very encouraging. Adults who participated in experiencing the virtual Confucius together with their children believed that this system has the potential to improve intergenerational interactions through shared play.

Images of Confucius Teaching His Disciples – Their Origins and The Process of Their Development

Images of Confucius Teaching His Disciples – Their Origins and The Process of Their Development

Creating the Cult of Xi Jinping

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party has used publicly displayed propaganda art as a means of maintaining power. During the early years of the PRC, propaganda posters played a large role in establishing a cult of personality around Mao Zedong. Today’s propaganda art seeks primarily to garner popular support for President Xi Jinping’s “China Dream” campaign. The China Dream, popularized by Xi in 2012, is a nebulous concept that shares many of the materialistic components of the “American Dream,” but simultaneously—and more importantly—emphasizes the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation to a position of wealth and power. China Dream art deviates significantly from Mao era posters and ideology by heavily incorporating ancient Confucian concepts and images. The art focuses not on communist values, but on moralistic ones drawn from the teachings of Confucius that emphasize hierarchy and filial piety. This paper argues that China Dream art is being used not only to create a new source of legitimacy for the Communist Party, but also to establish a cult of personality around President Xi Jinping. As a result, China is transforming into a leader state where the relationship between Xi Jinping and the people is becoming a relationship between ruler and ruled.

The Selection and Ues of Image Historical Materials in History Textbook: Take the Example of The Picture of Confucius Teaching

The Selection and Ues of Image Historical Materials in History Textbook: Take the Example of The Picture of Confucius Teaching

Confucius and Immanuel Kant: The Problem of Virtue and Morality

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the basic principles of Confucius and Immanuel Kant ethics, and made an attempt to make a reconstruction of the moral ideal in the context of comparative philosophy of the East - West. Particular attention was paid to the following objectives: - to perform a comparative analysis of the Confucius teachings and Kant's philosophy to recreate the spiritual significance of Confucian and Kantian philosophy in understanding the issues of virtue, moral and spiritual development of man - based on existing research in the field of comparative studies, Confucianism and Kantian ethics to analyze the ontological, anthropological, moral content of these teachings. To reveal the essence of humanistic social and ethical teachings of Confucius and the philosophy of Kant. The philosophical teaching of Confucius had a profound impact on the development of ethical thought in China. In Western philosophical space Immanuel Kant is a significant figure, and developed by him the doctrine of moral categorical imperative and an autonomous morality is the basis of almost all further attempts to build ethical models in the West.

Foundations »For the Salvation of the Soul« – an Exception in World History? (Foundations of Medieval Societies FOUNDMED)

Foundations for the salvation of the soul, as they are known from Christianity, are to be found for the first time in world history in Zoroastrianism. Though influenced by the spirit of ›Zoroaster‹, they can be proven to have existed for the first time in the age of the Sassanids. Doubtless they are a result of the revolutionary ›Axial Age‹, yet other religions of the Axial Age found other solutions for dealing with the discovery of the individual and the ethical responsibility for others (or: for empathy). This can be demonstrated via the teachings of Confucius in China.

Влияние традиции на право современного Китая

The article discusses some features of the modern legal system in China , formed under the direct influence of Chinese traditional concepts about the role of the Right and the Law in the society. The attention is focused on moral teachings of Confucius and the views of legalists, that had had a decisive influence on legal culture and legal consciousness of a Chinese citizen. Explores the attitude of Chinee to liability and punishment, the death penalty, specificity of the legal regulation of social relations in the Chinese state. Provides examples from the law enforcement practices and legislative activity, confirming the close relationship between the modern and the traditional law in China. The special place in researching is occupied by issues of crackdown legal liability against violators of legal regulations. Analyzes the most resonance criminal cases in relation of those people, who sentenced to death , have committed crimes in the field of illicit drug trafficking , driving while intoxicated, resulted the death of two or more persons, verdicts to the supreme penalty of persons involved in the addition of melanin in infant formulas. The influence of tradition, customs and moral principles on modern legislative activities of Chinese legislator is confirmed by other examples through the prism of the modern and the traditional law in China. The author calls for to pay more attention to tradition while analyzing the current legislation of China. The modern law of China is closely connected with traditional Chinese concepts about place and role of the Law in society.

OLD IDEAS: WISDOM, VIRTUE AND MORAL FORMATION

The wisdom writings of the Old Testament may be regarded as largely a repository of ‘old ideas’ that were preserved across cultures and ages because they generally served human life. To study the material from this angle, focusing less on reconstructing the past and more on serving the present, will require several adjustments to usual scholarly approaches. Comparisons going beyond Israel’s Umwelt will also be fruitful. Comparisons with the teachings of Confucius and Aristotle may be particularly helpful. Such studies have to be respectfully critical, taking the sages of the past seriously as interlocutors while recognizing the limits of their vision.

Teaching and Learning in Chinese Schools: Core Values and Pedagogic Philosophy

To understand better teaching and learning in schools in modern China, it is not enough to see its pedagogic philosophy as merely a reflection of communist ideology. Core values derived from China’s ancient civilization, especially the teachings of Confucius, arguably exert as much, maybe more, influence.