This may be old news to many of you, but until recently, I was unaware of the special issue of Sophia devoted to ritual in Chinese philosophy, which contains a number of excellent articles. Read on for the Table of Contents.
The Dao Companion to Classical Chinese Philosophy has been published (Amazon link). Read on for more information. Continue reading →
Sungmoon Kim’s new book, Confucian Democracy in East Asia: Theory and Practice has just been published by Cambridge University Press. According to my blurb on the back of the book:
Confucianism is neither ready-made for democracy nor inalterably opposed to it. As Sungmoon Kim shows in this important book, however, a Confucianism worth defending in the complex, multicultural East Asia of today both can and must incorporate a robust form of democracy. Kim deploys a wealth of careful arguments that draw from classical Confucianism, a wide range of Western political theorists, and the distinctive political culture of modern Korea. The result is a rich and provocative work that successfully bridges theory and practice. Anyone interested in the future possibilities for democracy and for Confucianism – whether conjoined or not – will have to take this book seriously.
Cambridge is offering a 20% discount to readers of this blog, though Amazon has the book discounted as well, and may be less expensive (depending on shipping options). In any event, congratulations, Sungmoon!
The following open letter has been circulating on the internet, signed by a long list of individuals, mostly academic scholars of Confucianism. They call for the repair, renovation, and re-opening of Confucian Temples around China; for expanding the roles of these temples (mainly in education); and for reorganizing the administration of the temples to move away from commercial goals. I apologize for not having the time right now to translate it.
Prof. Albert Welter is looking to organize an AAR panel on Confucian Secularism. Please contact him if you are interested.
The latest issue of Philosophy East & West (64:1, January 2014) has been published.
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Contests long-standing claims that Confucianism came to prominence under China’s Emperor Wu.
When did Confucianism become the reigning political ideology of imperial China? A pervasive narrative holds it was during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty (141–87 BCE). In this book, Liang Cai maintains that such a date would have been too early and provides a new account of this transformation. A hidden narrative in Sima Qian’s The Grand Scribe’s Records (Shi ji) shows that Confucians were a powerless minority in the political realm of this period. Cai argues that the notorious witchcraft scandal of 91–87 BCE reshuffled the power structure of the Western Han bureaucracy and provided Confucians an opportune moment to seize power, evolve into a new elite class, and set the tenor of political discourse for centuries to come. Liang Cai is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arkansas. |
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Journalist Evan Osnos has a new article, “Confucius Comes Home,” in The New Yorker. Only subscribers will have access to more than the first few paragraphs, I fear. It’s a terrific and provocative piece!
