Tradition in Fracture: Belief and Reason

Author: Zheng Jiadong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-04-01
Features: "Religion" primarily concerns the relationship between ideals and reality, transcendence and the inner self; "Philosophy" primarily concerns the relationship between the East and the West; "Confucianism" concerns how to handle the complex relationship and tension between thought and history (society, era).
Excerpt: Contemporary Confucianism and Chinese Society originated from the modern (contemporary) New Confucianism trend during the May Fourth Movement and still demonstrates vigorous vitality. The development of Confucianism in the Pre-Qin, Song-Ming, and modern periods has been carried out in response to different problems and circumstances. The Pre-Qin Confucians faced the situation of the collapse of rituals and music due to major social changes. Confucius and Mencius inherited the cultural education of the Zhou Dynasty and, through their own modifications and creations, transformed the ritual and musical regulations into conscious moral practice, thereby laying the foundation for the inner-sage learning of Confucianism. The Song-Ming Confucians faced the situation of the proliferation of Buddhism and Taoism and the decline of Confucianism. The masters of Neo-Confucianism, through the absorption and rejection of Buddhism and Taoism, reconstructed the Confucian tradition of Confucius and Mencius, advancing Confucianism to a new stage of development. The modern New Confucians faced the situation of the Eastward spread of Western influences and the continuous disintegration of traditional value systems. In the face of one-sided "disdain for the inherent," self-destruction and the loss of national self-esteem and confidence, as well as the superficial and of the so-called "literati" and "intellectuals" who abandoned themselves and were lost, the New Confucians, with a strong and sorrowful sense of national crisis and mission, dedicated themselves to promoting, uncovering, and rebuilding the spiritual values of traditional culture and the national self. Moreover, as part of the global conservative reaction of the 20th century, the modern New Confucians seemed to be more inclined to identify with the values of the Confucian tradition at a universal level, which allowed them not only to connect themselves with the special circumstances of Chinese culture since the modern era but also to connect themselves with the universal issues encountered by human culture in its development during the present era. Since the early New Confucian scholars like Liang Shuming and Xiong Shili, one of the recurring questions they reflected on was: under the conditions of industrial civilization and highly developed technology, would the pursuit of material wealth and the estrangement of interpersonal relationships lead people to lose more of their true nature and become "objectified" beings? In the face of the expansion of technological rationality, the loss of humanistic values, the loss of meaning, the crisis of morality, the estrangement of interpersonal relationships, and the tension and opposition between humans and nature, the New Confucians demonstrated not only the worry about the survival or demise of national culture but also a deep reflection on the human self, the meaning and value of human existence, and the issue of self-perfection, as well as the future and destiny of human culture. This is a pursuit of meaning, an ontological exploration, an experience at the level of transcendence, and a reflection at the ultimate level, all aimed at reconstructing the meaning world and spiritual homeland of human beings at the ultimate level (the metaphysical and religious level). Although New Confucian scholars have always consciously or unconsciously exaggerated the potential influence and role of certain eternal values in Confucian thought that are not limited to specific historical periods and social forms in addressing the universal issues encountered in the development of human culture, their pursuit and reflections resonate with the humanism and new humanism schools that emerged in the West since the 20th century after the myth of "scientific omnipotence" was shattered, forming a part and aspect of human self-awareness and self-reflection.