Confucian tradition and Enlightenment mindset

Author: Harvard-Yenching Institute Editor
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: The Enlightenment movement that swept through the West in the mid-to-late 17th century dramatically transformed people's living conditions and spiritual world. Since the May Fourth Movement, the entire spiritual direction of the Chinese nation has been shrouded in an Enlightenment mindset. As an important spiritual source for the Chinese nation, the Confucian tradition has been subjected to multifaceted skepticism and even denial since then. However, more and more people are now beginning to recognize the shortcomings of the Enlightenment and the adverse consequences it has caused. Against this backdrop, the Confucian tradition, as a cultural value outside the West that was overshadowed by the excessive glow of the Enlightenment, has once again entered people's. In the new century, with the growing calls for globalization and the increasingly real concept of a global village, researchers of modern New Confucianism, such as Tu Weiming, have identified the positive significance of the Confucian tradition in building a harmonious human society. In this book, renowned scholars from both China and abroad provide multifaceted identification and interpretation of the positive significance of the Confucian tradition. From different perspectives, they share their unique insights on how the Confucian tradition can better promote the harmonious development of human society in the new century.