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THE RELATION BETWEEN CONFUCIANISM AND CHINESE POLITICS: HISTORY, ACTUALITY, AND FUTURE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2020

Lei Sun
Lei Sun*
Affiliation:
Professor, School of Political Science and International Relations, Tongji University
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Abstract

This article analyzes the relation between Confucianism and Chinese politics in the history, actuality, and future. The focus is on the special relationship between Confucianism and Chinese politics. First, the author provides a brief historical reflection on the relationship between Confucianism and Chinese traditional politics and develops three dimensions for such an interpretation. Second, the author explains the need for a Confucian renaissance in contemporary Chinese politics. The article then turns to the contemporary controversy about Confucianism and Chinese politics in mainland China. Jiang Qing's conception of Confucianism as state religion is then juxtaposed with Chen Ming's articulation of Confucianism as civil religion. In conclusion, the author argues that Confucianism should serve as an ethical resource for the state constitution, as well as a resource for social governance and cultivation.

Keywords

ConfucianismChinese politicsstate religioncivil religion
Type
Symposium: Debating Religion and Public Life in Contemporary China
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , April 2020 , pp. 138 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 2020

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References

1 For example, modern New Confucian Mou Zongsan claims that traditional China had no political rule, only governance, because it was monarchy; thus the politics of Confucianism would be fruitless to current politics. See Zongsan, Mou, Zhengdao yu Zhidao [Political rule and governance], (Guilin: Guangxi Normal Teacher's University Press, 2006), 1–25Google Scholar.

2 There have been written criticisms and responses between Confucians in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China since 2015. In 2016, there was the first dialogue between them in Chendu city of Sichuan Province. The main contents were published in Tianfu Xinlun, no. 2 (2016): 1–82.

3 For a concrete description, see Zhigang, Zhang, “Rujiao zhi Zheng Fansi” [Reflection on the controversy about Confucianism], Wen Shi Zhe, no. 3 (2015): 98–168Google Scholar. Regarding the comprehensive controversy in mainland China, see Zhong, Ren and Ming, Liu, eds. Rujiao Chongjian: Zhuzhang yu Huiying [Rebuilding Confucianism: claims and responses] (Beijing: Chinese Political and Law University Press, 2012)Google Scholar.

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