Research on Neo-Confucianism, its political and legal thought

Author: Yu Peifeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: The fundamental characteristics of New Confucianism, its main difference from cultural conservatives and national essence advocates, as viewed by Fairbank, lie in its religious and philosophical nature. National essence thinkers advocate seeing the sages as rational scholars who contemplate social morality, firmly opposing the portrayal of Confucius as a religious leader. In contrast, Liang Shuming sought to reveal the religious significance of Confucianism. Unlike primitive Confucianism and Han Confucianism, Song and Ming Confucian scholars demanded a revival of Confucian moral principles since the Sui and Tang dynasties in political ethics; in academic style, they were not but expressed their interpretations of classics freely, and in philosophical theory, they favored the "unattainable" "human nature and the Way of Heaven" and utilized and transformed pre-Qin Confucian classics to discuss fundamental issues of the universe and life. This book includes an in-depth study and objective evaluation of the political and legal thoughts of Qian Mu, Liang Shuming, Zhang Junli, Feng Youlan, Xu Fu, and others. Regarding the research on "New Confucianism, New Confucianism," although it had already sparked a in both China and abroad in the 1980s, specialized research on its "political and legal thoughts" remains, and this is also the first pioneering work by the author in this field. It is suitable for reference by faculty and students of law and politics, researchers and enthusiasts of traditional Chinese culture.