On the mainland, the unconverted fellow travellers were soon to become voluntarily marginalised. Those who decided to follow the movement by breaking with communism emigrated to Hong Kong, where, on October 10th , on the anniversary of the Chinese Republican revolution of , Qian Mu and Tang Junyi founded the New Asia College Xinya shuyuan , initially called Yazhou wenshang shuyuan , which was to become the centre of second generation New Confucianism.
While the first generation had displayed affinity more with socialism, the second generation responded to the antidemocratic radicalisation of Maoism by leaning much more towards liberalism, but not without keeping their distance from any political commitment. This concern for independence drove the major intellectuals of the movement to keep their own counsel in the context of the universities that gave them refuge. In Hong Kong, following the integration of New Asia College into the Chinese University founded in , it was not long before Qian Mu withdrew, while Tang Junyi headed up an autonomous research centre.
Mou Zongsan , who had chosen Taiwan, initially dispensed his teachings at the teacher training college Shifan shuyuan , later to become a university that he founded himself, then, in September when he became head of the Department of Chinese at the Tunghai protestant university in Taichung, in the bimonthly lectures for a humanist club Renwen youhui that he organised as extracurricular activities. Their ideas found increasing support among a group of same-generation young intellectuals in Taiwan, Singapore and soon, even mainland China, where the discrediting of Marxism as a result of the massive expansion of the so-called socialist market economy, New Confucianism unexpectedly appeared as a questionable, if not acceptable, alternative.
In , the Confucius Foundation was established at Qufu, under the leadership of the octogenarian Liang Shuming. In , a huge research project on New Confucianism was launched in Peking. Involving 47 researchers and 16 institutions, this project would lead to, among others, the publication in of 16 volumes of anthologies of works by the most representative authors of the movement. Since then, there has been a surge in the number of international symposia on the subject, as well as an increase in research works and the republication of previously published works.
A young generation of philosophers is taking positions that are no longer purely theoretical and which call for political commitment. As is the case, for example, for a pupil of Du Weiming, Jiang Qing, a Shenzhen-based researcher, in an essay entitled Political Confucianism Zhengzhi ruxue.
For each, he first presents a brief biography, followed by an analysis of their doctrine and their work, and finally, an evaluation of their ideas and influence. The systematic usage of this layout from one chapter to another, which is further emphasised by a standard typographical presentation, does make this book a bit starchy.
But, this approach has the advantage of making the material very clear. This should ensure that the reader recognises the strength of such a complete firsthand account, which is evidenced by the abundance of very detailed notes and the lavishness of an excellent selective bibliography. Recognising that in its 80 year history, New Confucianism has continued to expand and to increase its audience among intellectual Chinese a fact to which, oddly enough, Western sinology, being focused firmly on Maoism, has remained blind , he notes that this expansion is such that today, it is no longer possible to talk about a single New Confucianism for the mainland, for Taiwan, for Chinese communities in the West, even for countries in the Far East that are heavily influenced by China.
What can we say if not that the prospect is taking shape that the twenty-first century might see, in an oriental Asia that has caught up with development in the West, a renaissance of a culture appropriate for the Chinese world in all its diversity?
A renaissance for which, at the end of the last century, by opening the debate on Asian values, the anti-democratic powers in the region were looking to launch an early reactionary takeover bid, something at which we can hope that they remain unsuccessful. Site map — Contacts — Credits — Syndication. Privacy Policy — About Cookies.
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