Category Archives: Contemporary Confucianism

Angle Reviews Li, Reshaping Confucianism

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Chenyang Li, Reshaping Confucianism: Philosophical Explorations, Oxford University Press, 2023, 344pp., $36.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780197657638.

Reviewed by Stephan C. Angle, Wesleyan University

Over a career spanning more than three decades, Chenyang Li has become one of the world’s leading interpreters of Confucian philosophy. From the beginning, he has been interested in both historical interpretation and more contemporary questions about comparison across traditions and philosophical development. Reshaping Confucianism is the culmination of Li’s work so far, bringing together and further refining a range of his groundbreaking arguments on issues including harmony, care, ritual, gender, freedom, and equality, as well as on newer topics like friendship, longevity, and civic education. The book is both an ideal overview of Li’s wide-ranging views and, taken as…

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Controversy Surrounding Tu Wei-ming’s Remarks at HK Philosophy Forum

Earlier in August, an event called the “2025 香港哲學紫剂國際論壇 / 2025 Hong Kong Bauhinia International Philosophy Forum” was held in Hong Kong. Prof. Tu Wei-ming delivered a keynote address (on-line). Since then, there has been considerable controversy about the event — which did not prominently feature any Hong Kong-born philosophers — and about Tu’s remarks, which were broadly apolitical. In particular, this critical essay by Cheung Chan Fai 張燦輝, former chair of the CUHK Philosophy Department, and Lee Shui-Chuen 李瑞全 of National Central University’s Philosophy Department (and an important contemporary Confucian voice) has received a great deal of attention.

Caro on Modern Confucianism in the PRC

Carlo Caro has published a five-part exploration of Confucianism and the foundations of political legitimacy in The Diplomat.

Bureaucratized Confucianism: How Tradition Became a Tool of Control

Erasing Confucian Cosmology: How Harmony Lost Its Soul

Legal Minimalism – How Sentience Disappeared from Chinese Law

The Elimination of Remonstrance: From Confucian Conscience to Organizational Discipline

Systemic Suppression: The Silent Elimination of Alternative Confucianism

Series link: https://thediplomat.com/tag/simulated-sagehood/

Special Issue of the Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies: Lapland Manifesto of Confucianism

The Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies (臺灣東亞文明研究學刊) has published a special issue in June dedicated to the “Lapland Manifesto of Confucianism”. The Manifesto, launched at the inaugural conference of the Nordic Network on Chinese Thought (NNCT) in 2021, is a document that explores the enduring relevance and merits of the Confucian tradition for modern societies both in China and elsewhere, discussing questions related to, inter alia, democracy, individualism, and participatory citizenship. (The Manifesto in English and Chinese can be found at the University of Lapland website) The Manifesto was authored by Torbjörn Lodén (Professor Emeritus, University of Stockholm), Matti Nojonen (Professor, University of Lapland) and Jyrki Kallio (Title of Docent, University of Lapland).

Additionally, the special issue includes an introduction to the Manifesto as well as two dedicated feature articles and two feature comments. Please visit here to access the full issue.

Carleo, Progressive Confucianism: Its Proponents and Prospects

Robert A. Carleo’s thorough and carefully annotated summary of a roundtable on “Progressive Confucianism” has now been published by The Philosophical Forum as “Progressive Confucianism: Its Proponents and Prospects.” See here for full-text read-only access, and below for the abstract. This is as good a compact summary of the idea of progressive Confucianism as any I have seen!

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New Book: Angle and Jin, eds., Progressive Confucianism and Its Critics

I am happy to announce the publication of a new book, Stephen C. Angle and Yutang Jin, eds., Progressive Confucianism and Its Critics: Dialogues from the Confucian Heartland (Routledge, 2025). More information on the book can be found here. This book is a translation into English of a series of dialogues that I held with Chinese Confucians in Beijing in the spring of 2017. The Introduction and part of the first dialogue are available at Amazon here, in case you’d like to learn more. Enjoy!

Conference: The Waves that Follow (New Books in Chinese Philosophy)

Tsinghua University will hold a hybrid conference titled “The Waves that Follow: New Books in Chinese Philosophy” from December 7 to 9, 2024. The conference invites young scholars worldwide who have published new books in the field of Chinese philosophy within the past one to two years to share fresh perspectives, new methods, and innovative research directions from their works, aiming to foster exchange and development. Additionally, senior scholars who have devoted many years to Chinese philosophy will engage in in-depth discussions on the research presented by this new generation.

Time: 8 December, 2024/ Beijing time (UTC +08:00), 8:00 – 18:30

Venue: Room 124, Humanity school, Tsinghua University
Zoom Meeting ID: 938 634 5943

Find the information on speakers and event arrangements in this pdf.

New Book: Shi, Contemporary Chinese Confucian Revival Movement

Brill has recently published Wei SHI’s book, Universal and Particular—Ideological Developments in the Contemporary Chinese Confucian Revival Movement (2000–2020), as part of the series “Modern Chinese Philosophy.” More information is available here, and the Table of Contents follows.

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