"Classics Interpretation Today - Preliminary Edition"

Author: Jiang Guanghui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-06-01
Features: The eighteen articles collected in this book offer new interpretations and explanations of traditional Confucian classics from different perspectives; particularly, they provide a systematic overview of the research development and evolution of Confucian studies. The book provides detailed elaborations on the orientation and research methods of interpreting Confucian classics. The study of the history of Confucian thought in China has not been previously undertaken by predecessors. To accomplish this work, it is essential to first achieve ideological convergence within the research collective. This process of convergence took one or two years, transforming the simplistic and emotionally charged understanding that emerged since the May Fourth Movement into a historically rational perspective. We no longer categorize Confucian classics as merely "feudal dogma" or "feudal dross," as scholars did since the May Fourth Movement, but rather view them as a concentrated expression of traditional Chinese values. Confucian classics played a dominant role in ancient intellectual circles, and it is inconceivable that two thousand years of Chinese civilization could have been guided by a negative force. Every nation faces the question of how to understand itself. Where did our nation come from? What is the fundamental spirit of its culture and its future direction? The "Contemporary Interpretations of Confucian Classics" series aims to answer such questions. Through our research, we have come to recognize that the Six Classics of Confucianism are the source of Chinese culture, reflecting the thoughts of ancient Chinese people on major human concerns such as nature, society, and life. They possess originality in multiple aspects, forming the way the Chinese nation perceives and grasps the world. The history of Chinese thought has been carried forward through the continuous reinterpretation of original texts. Interpretations of classics in different eras often reveal the institutional and existential anxieties of people as they navigate between the new and the old, the living and the dead. The history of classic interpretation reflects the cultural and intellectual transformations of a social community, a process of "reforming the old through the guise of tradition" and renewal. The editors have laid the foundation for this new discipline of the history of Confucian thought. After months of effort and the collaborative contributions of dozens of Confucian scholars, "Contemporary Interpretations of Confucian Classics" has emerged. This is undoubtedly a new-level history of Confucian studies, avoiding trivial details while providing a clear outline and elucidating key issues. This work holds significant meaning for the broader study of Chinese academic history.