Confucianism and its modern relevance, a dialogue with the west

grantor: University of TorontoAs the Four Mini-Dragons have joined Japan in modernizing East Asia, and the Dragon--mainland China--seems to begin to awake, the Japanese "economic miracle" turns out to be an East Asian cultural shock. Samuel P. Huntington's idea of "civilizational clash" (1993) is only a postponed conception of the political mood of the post-Cold-War West in face of East Asian modernity (among other persisting and evolving civilizations). Meanwhile, East Asia watchers generally relate the modern development of East Asia to, among other factors, the Confucian tradition--a common cultural heritage of East Asian societies, hence the "post-Confucian hypothesis." Therefore, partly in response to Huntington's conception, and partly as a reflection of the "post-Confucian hypothesis," this thesis attempts to explore how the Confucian tradition is comparable to the mentality of Western modernity--mainly but not exclusively the Enlightenment spirit, and how the Confucian or post-Confucian values have been shaping the distinction of East Asian modernity. The main assumptions or conclusions of this thesis are: First, in theoretical terms, the Confucian tradition is relevant to East Asian modernity, because on the one hand, Confucianism, for all its peculiarity in contrast with its counterpart(s) in the modern West, is essentially a rationalist and humanist tradition; and on the other, despite the religious tolerance of and religious elements in Confucianism, its ultimate concern is the secular world or the life-world. Second, the surviving Confucian tradition, embedded in the fabric of modern East Asian societies, functions as a key part of their economic culture (personalism, groupism), political culture (paternalism, meritocracy), and everyday life (family values). In substantiating these conclusions, this thesis also tries to demonstrate that as far as its cultural dimension is concerned, East Asian modernity is, far from being exclusively Confucian, a cultural mosaic in which the Confucian tradition coexists and mingles with other--indigenous and Western--traditions, and together they constitute the modern mentality in East Asia.Ph.D