Confucian thought introduction to confucian thought ole miss. The relationships between democracy and confucianism therefore must be multiple and complex. Liberal self and autonomy unique rather than autonomous individuals deweys social selfinthemaking constructing a confucian conception of self tension between distinctness and connectedness. Nov 27, 2020 the debate over the future of east asian democracy centers largely on the fit between democratic values and the confucian way of life. Through a detailed study of relevant concepts and theories in confucianism and john deweys pragmatist philosophy, this book illustrates the possibility of confucian democracy and offers an alternative to western liberal models. Confucianism, growth and democracy emerald insight. He is part of confucius fourth generation of disciples. And when confucianism merge with democracy, there will be a lot of conflicts.
To some scholars, confucianism is a hostile environment to democracy huntington, 1991 actually, even scholars who state that democracy and confucianism are two compatible ideas, like shin 2012. The caning for vandalism last year of american highschool student michael fay by the singaporean authorities underscored the challenge now being put forth by asian societies to the united states and other western democracies. It focuses on confucian inspired political thought in the chinese intellectual world from after the communist revolution in china until today. Unlike previous theoretical and political debates that treat confucianism as a monolithic political value system, this article demonstrates that confucian traditions have multifaceted characteristics that have varying effects on citizens attitudes towards democracy. Sungmoon kims book offers an important and passionate defense of democracy, especially as it applies to east asian countries. In contemporary time, normative political theory typically expects democratic regimes to be more legitimate than authoritarian regimes because democracy is. Originating in southern europe the wave spread to latin america and asia. Building on the empirical evidence from south korea and taiwan, and examining semidemocratic societies with extensive experiences in electoral politics like singapore and hong kong, this book provides readers with. While the real, philosophical, ideal or essential meaning of democracy remains the same, the actual practice of democracy may be said to be in the eye of the beholder. I suggest two reasons why it is unlikely and even undesirable for such a confucianized democracy to emerge. These scholars believe it is important for chinese culture to develop its own conception of democracy using confucian values, drawn mainly from kongzi confucius and mengzi mencius, as the basis. If we define democracy and capitalism sufficiently broadly, and are not dogmatic about the means by which either one can be achieved, then the experience of the asian nations can be seen as proof of the underlying hypothesis.
Movements toward democracy also exist in other republics. Mencius was later considered the orthodox interpreter of confucius, and the teachings of these two sages today constitute the core of classical confucianism. Chapter iii confucian ethics and the limits of rights theory. Similar to confucianism, the definition of democracy is controversial. The contemporary issue of confucian democracy also includes this idea of filial piety and family oriented. In order to understand the implications of chinas renewed interest in the confucian ideology it is necessary to understand the history of other modern confucian empires. With the spring academic term finished, i am in japan and china, ostensibly to give papers at several japanese and chinese universities, but really to learn more about meritocracy debates in contemporary asia. In this hierarchy of social relations, each role had clearly defined duties. Sometimes viewed as a philosophy and sometimes as a religion, confucianism may be understood as an allencompassing way of thinking and living that entails ancestor reverence and a profound humancentred religiousness.
Buy this book isbn 9783030431167 digitally watermarked, drmfree included format. Democracys third wave national endowment for democracy. Ccch9003 term essay li chenyang suggests that confucianism and democracy are incompatible. Confucian democracy in east asia cambridge university press. Instead, he grounds them on confucian principles and redefines their roles and functions, thus mixing confucianism with liberal democratic institutions in a way that strengthens both. The meaning of democratic politics in postcolonial taiwan. The volume analyzes six significant contemporary confucian philosophers in china and taiwan, describing their political thought and how they connect their thought to confucian. It is value system that highlights liberty, equality and freedom li, 1997. An additional pre confucian influences is a deep natural law tradition. The modern conception of liberal democracy is grounded in the opposing principle of ideological pessimism. In other words, each confucian principles of social hierarchy, morality, primacy of community, and social harmony have a distinctive influence on the ways in which they define democracy and evaluate and prefer nondemocratic.
Filial piety will still define close individual relationships between individuals. Confucian culture and democracy represents a comprehensive effort to examine the linkages between confucian culture and democracy. Then he explores the implications of this new yet traditional political philosophy for fundamental issues in modern politics, including authority, democracy. Democracy in china, the theory and practice of minben, in suisheng zhao. The current era of democratic transitions constitutes the third wave of democratization in the history of the modern world. Freedom and responsibility in confucianism and dewey. Confucian democrats, not confucian democracy springerlink. In this sense, the word confucianism is a misnomer for the tradition that is normally referred to as ru jia, ru jiao, ru xue or simply as ru in china and other east asian countries. They assert that eastern val ues, based upon the teachings of confucius, are superior to western values for the realization of an orderly society. Jul 18, 2012 there are alternatives to democracy is the west too quick to dismiss and demonize them.
Confucianism can provide justification for democracy, though this confucian democracy will differ substantially from liberal democracy. Dec 31, 20 contributors to the debates about the compatibility of confucianism and democracy and its implications for chinas democratization often adopt definitions of democracy that theories of deliberative democracy are critical of. Under this meaning, democracy is more than a government system. Sebastien billioud, confucianism, cultural tradition and official discourses in. He argued that confucianism does not promote equality or liberty. It is better to remain open to other definitions and interpretations, because different.
The issue was not simply whether singapore, as a sovereign state, had the right to subject an american expatriate to its laws and legal procedures, but a much more. Apr 30, 2020 the notion that if democracy is to flourish in east asia it must be realized in ways that are compatible with east asians confucian norms or values is a staple conviction of confucian scholarship. Key words, democracy, politics, dissent, mass media, democratization process. Pdf confucian legacies and the meaning of democracy in. Just as confucianism is multidimensional, democracy is also multifaceted including liberal, developmental, social, deliberative, and republican conceptions of democracy. The source of this unity is a social hierarchy that honors the authority of leaders and aims to strengthen the greater community. Political confucianism and multivariate democracy in east. That is, the rise of relativism has made it impossible for postmodern people to assert positive values for which they stand, and therefore the kinds of shared beliefs they demand as a condition for citizenship. Four models of the relationship between confucianism and. For these advocates, abiding by tra dition and respect for authority are indispensable for achieving an orderly and moral society.
It moves the current debate on the topic from the question of whether democracy is relevant to, and compatible with, the east asian context, to the question of the particular mode of confucian democracy that is suitable for east asia 247. He believes that, rather than a form of practice, the. Is democracy truly the best system, or does it just happens to be the one promoted by the current world power the usa and its allies western europe, i. Zhang junmai, for example, ac centuates how conducive confucian tradition is to developing civic virtues. Most literature of this sort, however, focuses on rights. Confucianism was created solely by confucius and confucianism was sustained exclusively by the faith in confucius. This book examines democracy in recent chineselanguage philosophical work. The essential or real meaning of democracy derives from two greek words demos and kratos. Confucianism or the confucian school sometimes called ruism is commonly viewed as a patriarchal, hierarchical system responsible for oppressing chinese women the may 4th movement of 1919 blamed confucianism for holding china back and women epitomized oppression yet mr science and mr democracy. Contributors to the debates about the compatibility of confucianism and democracy and its implications for chinas democratization often adopt definitions of democracy that theories of deliberative democracy are critical of.
The debate over the future of east asian democracy centers largely on the fit between democratic values and the confucian way of life. Sources of regime legitimacy in confucian societies. The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of confucianism on growth under different political regimes. Mencius inherited confucius ideology and developed it further. However, the main idea of democracy is widely accepted to have originated from athens in the 5 th century bc.
This means that if samuel huntington is right that confucian democracy is clearly a contradiction in terms, the third wave. Li first argued that confucianism is not democratic in the view of personal liberty and equality. A confucian democracy is capable of including the concept of filial piety. The dilemma of immigration and identity ultimately converges with the larger problem of the valuelessness of postmodernity. It seems inappropriate to start with a monocular definition of confucianism or democracy because such an approach will exclude others. Democracy is an inherently confucian idea confucius said that a sufficiently unjust leader must be overthrown by the people. This definition of democracy is intentionally loose to accommodate different types of democratic arrangements so that liberal democracy and confucian democracy can be compared in a meaningful way. Cambridge core political theory confucian democracy in east asia. The concept of democracy it is difficult to reach a consensus on the definition of democracy. Confucian society seeks to carry out all daily tasks and rituals in pursuit of fulfilling that universal morality. M ling and chihyu shih, confucianism with a liberal face. The east european example had its principal effect on the leaders of.
Confucianism, which place high value upon familyoriented moral qualities such as. Democracy in confucianism tan 2012 philosophy compass. Pan wei addresses these issues and promotes a system of governance that is more appropriate for a confucian society. Confucian thought provided a clear model of virtue and excellence, and a shared communal goal to become junzi the ideal confucian person. Mencius is known as the selfstyled transmitter of the confucian way. Educated first by his mother and then allegedly by a student of confucius s grandson, mencius brilliantly performed his role as a social critic, a moral philosopher, and a political activist. Identity, immigration, and liberal democracy journal of. There has been a heated debate going on there among political theorists about the forms of governance most consistent with ancient confucian political thought. He believes that, rather than a form of practice, the prominent value of democracy lies in its nature as a form of culture. In the 2nd century bce, during the han dynasty, confucianism was adopted as the official ideology of government analogous to democracy and capitalism in the united states. In the shang dynasty moral and political authority were attributed to the lord on high. This means that although historically confucians might not have questioned the undemocratic.
Globalization is now a buzzword that may well be dying the slow death of a lack of meaning brought on by overuse. Pdf the debate over the future of east asian democracy centers largely on the fit between democratic values and the confucian way of life. Using both confucian texts and the work of american pragmatist john dewey, this book offers a distinctly confucian model of democracy. Confucianism, a western term that has no counterpart in chinese, is a worldview, a social ethic, a political ideology, a scholarly tradition, and a way of life. Government and society in china were grounded in the confucian. An empirical study of mainland china, taiwan and hong kong introduction the overthrow of the portuguese dictatorship in 1974 triggered the third wordwide wave of democratization. An empirical study of mainland china, taiwan and hong kong introduction the overthrow of the portuguese dictatorship in 1974 triggered the third wordwide wave.
Confucianism advocates a system of ethics intended to build a moral community of datong grand harmony or unity. Mou zongsans definition of confucianism as mindnature was a necessary outcome of the form of philosophical discourse, which consequently presented songming neo confucianism as the highest form of confucianism, and at the same time essentialized it. The first long wave of democratization began in the 1820s, with the widening of the. In a democracy, government is only one thread in the social fabric of many and varied public and private institutions, legal forums, political parties, organizations, characteristics of democracy an educated citizenry is the best guarantee for a thriving democracy. Confucian perfectionism princeton university press. A native response to western philosophy, in chinese political culture, edited by hua shiping armonk, n. Many view liberal democracy as unfit for modern china and its traditions of legalism and confucianism. Apr 11, 2021 democracy, rights, gender equality, and confucianism the interpretation of harmony as requiring diversity of views and the mutual accommodation of potentially conflicting interests bears on the question of whether confucianism can be hospitable to individual rights to dissent and criticism. Empirical study of mainland china, taiwan, and hong kong. Confucianism is not a conceptual monolith but rather has a variety of traditions, versions and forms including imperial, reform, elite, merchanthouse, and mass confucianism.
Democracy in contemporary confucian philosophy 1st edition. As mentioned before, filial piety is a tool, in the case of criticizing power, to help political figures and leaders practice authoritative conduct by the virtue of example. The current era of democratic transitions constitutes the third wave of democratization in. Japan during the meiji, showa, and taisho periods provides an excellent historical analogue for modern china. The aforementioned philosophical debates suggest the necessity for a governmental system that is in line with confucian beliefs. Li1997 followed the definition proposed by jurgen domes who argued that democracy must exist in ideology, institution, civil society and finally culture. Some interpret confucianism s hierarchical, communitarian.
At the same time, it does not simply embrace all aspects of the chosen democratic theory, but argues that confucian deliberative democracy may differ significantly, for example, in approaching politics from the perspective of a comprehensive ethical theory. See rawls, john, political liberalism, expanded ed. Thus, the product of third wave of democratization in east asia will. The inauguration and consolidation of democracy in the russian republic, if it occurs, would be the single most dramatic gain for democracy since the immediate postworld war ii years. Chen ming, confucian civil religion reading the china dream. First, 19th and 20thcentury modernization swept away or weakened the institutions. Considering this real possibility, a further extension of confucianism is to try to create some ritual process to reduce the potential bloodshed and social disruption that is caused by such an event.
822 1772 1865 167 125 1312 28 1794 627 1216 1554 619 1392 1244 1484 878 1648 1449 31 820 217 154 677 587 385 1867 562 1664 612 1428 1343 372 610 813 1365 550