Junjie Huang Libri

This volume tells the story of the importance of the Confucian traditions and why and how Confucian texts were reinterpreted within the different ambiances and contexts around East Asia. The vitality of East Asian Confucianisms stems from the desire of Confucian thinkers to interpret the core values of the Confucian classics in line with conditions and changes in their own times and location. Although all the interpretations that were advanced in China, Korea and Japan were specific to their own era, they do still share some themes. This book reveals that »East Asian Confucianisms« forms an intellectual community that is transnational and multi-lingual and has evolved in interaction between Confucian »universal values« and the local conditions present in each East Asian country.

The past 60 years have seen the rediscovery of the immense cultural depth of Confucian humanist thought and its power to shape the way human beings are understood in East Asia. In this volume, renowned Confucian scholar Chun-chieh Huang analyzes various East Asian contexts to identify the central pillars of the Confucian humanist spirit: a continuum between mind and body, harmony between oneself and others, the unity of heaven and humanity, and a profound historical consciousness. Scholars of religion, history, philosophy and Asian studies will find this volume an indispensable guide to the rich tradition of East Asian Confucian humanism.

The Mencius, attributed to the philosopher Mengzi (Lat. Mencius, ca. 370-290 BC), the “second Sage” of the Confucian school after its founder, is one of the most prominent of all Chinese classics, with a great impact on the historical development of Confucianism. Today, it serves as one of the determinants for positioning Confucianism in the modern world, and it is the most discussed Chinese philosophical text in the context of the search for universally valid ethical norms and democracy. The essays collected in this volume by scholars from Taiwan, Japan and Germany focus on various aspect of the reception of the work in East Asia from the Song-Dynasty to the present day. They call into mind the significance of a thinker who according to Albert Schweitzer is “the most modern one of all thinkers of antiquity”.

The central theme of this volume is the Chinese concept of chiao-hua, "Transformation by Instruction": the ancient idea that moral guidance in all spheres of life is one of the most essential tasks of leadership at all levels, from the central government down to local elites. Within this general perspective nineteen scholars of various disciplinary backgrounds have treated topics ranging from the regulation of conspicuous consumption in Ming times to ritualization of protest in recent times. In many cases a surprising degree of cultural continuity can be observed; on the other hand, due attention has also been paid to clashes between traditional Chinese (notably Confucian) norms and the demands of modernization in contemporary Chinese society.

Dieser Band ist eine anschauliche Einführung in die faszinierende und komplexe Geistesgeschichte Chinas, insbesondere in die konfuzianische Tradition. Präsentiert wird eine repräsentative Auswahl erstmals ins Deutsche übersetzter Arbeiten aus dem umfangreichen Schaffen von Chun-chieh Huang, einem ausgewiesenen Spezialisten. Im Zentrum stehen klassische Texte des chinesischen Altertums, deren Rezeptions- und Wirkungsgeschichte anhand von Einzelstudien nachvollzogen wird, um die oft verdeckte Dynamik der Aufnahme und Weitergabe bestimmter Denkinhalte verständlich zu machen. Die Texte schlagen einen Bogen vom Altertum bis in die Gegenwart und verdeutlichen die zeitüberdauernde Lebendigkeit und Relevanz des chinesischen Denkens.