Is Confucianism a religion? If so, why do most Chinese think it isn't? From ancient Confucian temples, to nineteenth-century archives, to the testimony of people interviewed by the author throughout China over a period of more than a decade, this book traces the birth and growth of the idea of Confucianism as a world religion. The book begins at Oxford, in the late nineteenth century, when Friedrich Max Müller and James Legge classified Confucianism as a world religion in the new discourse of "world religions" and the emerging discipline of comparative religion. Anna Sun shows how that decisive moment continues to influence the understanding of Confucianism in the contemporary world, not only in the West but also in China, where the politics of Confucianism has become important to the present regime in a time of transition. Contested histories of Confucianism are vital signs of social and political change. Sun also examines the revival of Confucianism in contemporary China and the social significance of the ritual practice of Confucian temples. While the Chinese government turns to Confucianism to justify its political agenda, Confucian activists have started a movement to turn Confucianism into a religion. Confucianism as a world religion might have begun as a scholarly construction, but are we witnessing its transformation into a social and political reality? With historical analysis, extensive research, and thoughtful reflection, Confucianism as a World Religion will engage all those interested in religion and global politics at the beginning of the Chinese century.

Product Description: This volume presents the fruits of an extended dialogue among American and Chinese philosophers concerning the relations between virtue ethics and the Confucian tradition. Based on recent advances in English-language scholarship on and translation of Confucian philosophy, the book demonstrates that cross-tradition stimulus, challenge, and learning are now eminently possible...read more

Product Description: This book introduces and promotes Dr Lim Boon Keng's thoughts on Confucianism. Dr Lim is an outstanding thinker and an authority on Confucian history of Singapore. His thoughts on Confucianism represent the fusion of Confucianism and Christianity, which is unique in the history of Confucianism...read more

Product Description: The Great Equal Society : Confucianism, China and the 21st Century 1/E by Young-oak Kim, Jung-kyu Kim

Product Description: Confucius, a great thinker and educator, had and still has an immense influence on the psyche of the Chinese people and day-to-day administrative and organizational hierarchies. Although he was alternately deified and vilified over the millennia, he has persisted as a wise man guiding human life, an eternal sage...read more

Product Description: This book is the Magnum Opus dedicated to Mr Chi Yun Chang, a prominent historian as well as the founder of Chinese Culture University. This book illustrates the six elements of Confucius' teachings: Philosophy of Life Ethics, Philosophy of Education, Philosophy of Creation, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Providence and Philosophy of Peace...read more

Product Description: Pragmatism is enjoying a renaissance in management studies and the social sciences. Once written off as amoral, relativist and opposed to the ideals of Truth, Reason and Progress, it is now regaining influence in public policy, international relations and business strategy...read more

Product Description: Now in paperback, An illuminating portrait of Confucius’s life and philosophical teachings.Confucius is one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a man whose philosophies have shaped world culture. Often overlooked outside his native country, Confucius himself was a fascinating figure...read more

Contrasting with conventional Neo-Confucian attempts to recast the Confucian heritage in light of modern Western values, this book offers a Reconstructionist Confucian project to reclaim Confucian resources to meet contemporary moral and public policy challenges. Ruiping Fan argues that popular accounts of human goods and social justice within the dominant individualist culture of the West are too insubstantial to direct a life of virtue and a proper structure of society. Instead, he demonstrates that the moral insights of Confucian thought are precisely those needed to fill the moral vacuum developing in post-communist China and to address similar problems in the West. The book has a depth of reflection on the Confucian tradition through a comparative philosophical strategy and a breadth of contemporary issues addressed unrivaled by any other work on these topics. It is the first in English to explore not only the endeavor to revive Confucianism in contemporary China, but also brings such an endeavor to bear upon the important ethical, social, and political difficulties being faced in 21st century China. The book should be of interest to any philosopher working in application of traditional Chinese philosophy to contemporary issues as well as any reader interested in comparative cultural and ethical studies.