1 Introduction
1.2 Literature Review
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interactions. The classical texts are part of these interactions. A social actor wrote a text in a certain socio-cultural context with a certain intent, and wrote for an expected audience. A given text was selected and incorporated as a part of “Confucian Canon” in a part of the process of social interactions.
The initial research questions were soon expanded into issues of continuity and invention of tradition, and relationship between Confucianism and nationalism, together with the role of government officials, intellectuals and other groups and individuals, in continual reinvention of this tradition. Since I noticed a tendency in the nationalist and scholarly discourse towards homogenization and creation of an image of the transcendent essence of Confucianism, I tried to pay attention to counter narratives and divergent practices in the temple. In this manner, I tried to contrast abstract philosophy and national ideology with
“messiness” of social reality in dialogue with the Confucian studies in the hope to provide a possible direction for expanding the scope of research on Confucianism.
As I discovered variants of Confucian thought and practices in the field, I tried not to give preference to one over the other, presenting one interpretation as standard or essential and others as modifications or variations, i.e. I tried to avoid dichotomies such as elite vs popular Confucianism. Instead, I tried to observe in the field what kind of distinctions people draw. The nationalist version of Confucianism propagated by Kuomintang functions, to a degree, was a standard due to political and cultural hegemony (power over media and education system), and it created a distinct image of Confucianism, which for many people in Taiwan is also the first encounter with Confucian culture. I was therefore interested in influences this version of Confucianism had on people I encountered in the temple, and whether they wholly subscribed to, tried to modify or resist it using this set of cultural resources.
In the thesis, I also try to challenge the narratives that present Taiwan is a bastion of traditional Chinese culture, and show that this usually refers to the national culture introduced in Taiwan by the Kuomintang after 1949, which despite having been presented as a tradition, is a modern invention with distinctly modernizing and secularist aspects. Therefore, I tried to look at the process of invention of Confucianism and national culture with its history and mentality. Next, I tried to observe how these cultural inventions have been, in a colonialist manner, imposed upon the native population as their culture.
1.2 Literature Review
The overview of literature of Confucianism is divided into five sections. First is an overview of research concerned with Confucian thought, which represents the mainstream of scholarship on Confucianism. The contribution of this scholarship is in providing explanations of key concepts used in Confucian texts and overviewing the changing terminology and interpretations in texts from different periods. This is accompanied by translations of works written in Classical Chinese. However, these explanations and interpretations are based on texts, and tend to overlook social practice. Therefore, I follow with discussion of studies on Confucianism in concrete historic contexts, which are most useful for the purpose of this thesis.
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Most inspiring and helpful research on Confucianism in this regard has been written in the field of social and cultural history, which shows how social actors reinvented Confucianism and reinterpreted texts and concepts to serve their needs in different historic contexts.
Analogous scholarship on contemporary reinventions and practice of Confucianism is still missing. Given the time I spend participating in the classes on Classics recitation and observing rituals, the next three sections of this overview are thematically focused on the literature discussing the relationship between Confucianism and education, Confucianism and rituals, and, lastly, on studies dealing with the specifics of Confucianism in Taiwan.
Confucian Thought
The study of Confucianism as a philosophy is the core of Confucian studies, and makes up the bulk of literature on Confucianism as can be seen in university courses and thematic sections in libraries. This field of study is textually oriented, focusing on concepts and ideas, and does not pay much attention to social practice. Context of the concepts is taken into consideration within the framework of intellectual history, i.e. the context of a text is made up by other texts, which are selected by scholars to be included into the canon of intellectual history of a given culture on the basis of their philosophical relevance. Besides, there is an emphasis on ancient texts Analects, Mencius, or Xunzi perceived as containing the pure essence of the original teachings. Research tends towards analysis of texts in an attempt to discover the essence of Confucianism, similar to Platonic Ideas, contained in the most
“authentic” texts. In addition, scholars also pay attention to the so called Neo-Confucians and their writings dealing with metaphysics while ignoring the writings of rituals and social practice.
Ivanhoe provides a valuable overview of the contents of classical texts concerning the theme of moral self-cultivation.1 However, the book discusses moral ideas and norms and does not reference the practice of cultivation in concrete socio-historic settings.
Some works on Confucian philosophy are functionally equal with theological exegesis because they privilege the interpretations of their authors, which tend to follow from personal values, ideological, cultural background and biases of a given scholar. In some aspects, such scholarship is a form of cultural appropriation because the scholars search texts for references to issues, which are relevant for the scholars themselves, such as democracy and capitalism.
The scholars who have personal interest in Confucianism thus write from engaged position presenting their own opinions on what the message of what Confucianism truly is or what Confucianism ought to be like in the modern world. This approach can be seen in the works of Angle, Bell and Chaibong, or Ivanhoe.2 For, example a translation of the Book of Filial Piety by Rosemont and Ames argues for philosophical relevance of this classic, and while the argumentation is stimulating, it nevertheless presents the authors’ own understanding of the
1 Philip J. Ivanhoe, Confucian Moral Self Cultivation, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 2000.
2 Stephen C. Angle, Sagehood: The Contemporary Significance of Neo-Confucian Philosophy, Oxford, England;
New York: Oxford University Press, 2009; Daniel A. Bell and Hahm Chaibong (eds.), Confucianism for the Modern World, Cambridge University Press, 2003, Philip J. Ivanhoe, Confucian Reflections: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times, Routledge, 2013.
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meaning of “family reverence”.3 Concerning the issue of the relationship between ideology and scholarship, an example would be Bell, who writes on Confucianism from a perspective of his own political worldview and his writings are an interesting example of an American scholar whose writings are part of a current of contemporary nationalism and anti-democratic thought in Mainland China.4 A similar line of political thought can be found in Fan.5
Among exceptions to these approaches, there is Nylan’s historic study on methods and processes of constructing the notion of the Confucian Canon, and negotiations over its contents.6 The study stands as a corrective to tendencies towards reification of Confucianism and Confucian Classics, and to perspectives, which identify Confucianism with state bureaucracy. Focus of the book is on Han dynasty, but at the end of the book, Nylan provides insightful comments on 20th century re-imaginations and reinventions during the New Culture Movement and the New Life Movement. Although predominantly textually oriented, Clart’s research also moves beyond emphasis on ancient classical texts and focuses on morality books, including contemporary production in Taiwan.7 The culture of “cherishing the written word”
is explored by Chau.8 The contributors to the Rethinking Confucianism aim to move towards problematizing some of the premises and assumptions of the Confucian studies, although the editorial note by Elman takes the category of religion as a given fact and only problematizes whether it is applicable to Confucianism.9 On the other hand, the collection succeeds in its aim to cross the national isolation in Confucian studies by including articles on China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
Cultural appropriation by Euro-American scholars is complemented by nationalism in the writings of many Chinese, Taiwanese, or Korean scholars. In addition, the arguments among the Chinese scholars tend to focus on the relationship between Confucianism and religion, and the issue of national studies. Chen Yong provides an overview of these debates, without reflecting on his own engaged position. 10 Tu is probably most prominent representative of the New Confucianism as he produced many writings in English and has personal ties with US academicians. 11 New Confucianism is a dominant school of interpretation in Taiwanese research on Confucianism, since many scholars are also students of the founding figure Mou Zongsan 牟宗三 (1909–1995).
3 Henry Jr. Rosemont and Roger T. Ames, The Chinese Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009.
4 Daniel A. Bell, China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society, Princeton University Press, 2008.
5 Ruiping Fan, Reconstructionist Confucianism, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2010.
6 Michael Nylan, The Five “Confucian” Classics, New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2001.
7 For example, Philip A. Clart, “Confucius and the Mediums: Is There a ‘Popular Confucianism’?,” T’oung Pao 89 (2003): 1--38.
8 Adam Yuet Chau, “Script Fundamentalism: The Practice of Cherishing Written Characters (Lettered Paper) (惜 字紙) in the Age of Literati Decline and Commercial Revolution,” in New Approaches to Studying Chinese Popular Religion and Sectarianism, Philip A. Clart (ed.), Boyoung Publishers 2012, 129–67.
9 Benjamin A. Elman, John B. Duncan, and Herman Ooms (eds.), Rethinking Confucianism: Past and Present in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Los Angeles: University of California, 2002.
10 Chen Yong, Confucianism as Religion: Controversies and Consequences, Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2013.
11 Tu Wei-ming, Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation, Albany: SUNY Press, 1985.
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There are several studies on the New Confucian school of thought. Bresciani provides a historic overview of New Confucianism, describing major representatives and their philosophical ideas.12 However, his account is isolated from the broader intellectual currents such as other defenders of Confucianism. In contrast to Bresciani, Makeham takes a critical look on New Confucian genealogical narratives and shows the process of the retrospective invention of tradition.13 While Makeham pays attention to politics, the majority of the studies on New Confucianism tends to focus on philosophical analysis. However, Chan mentions the role of cultural nationalism in her analysis of the thought of Mou Zongsan.14 Jochim presents short vignettes and quotes from representatives of New Confucianism and their critics.15 He reproduces contents of textual polemics between the two camps without providing social and political context, and the ideological background of these interactions, the article thus remains at the level of intellectual history.
Confucianism in Context
The contributions of Confucian studies are the translations and commented editions of the Classics, introductions to concepts and theories found in texts. However, when looking for discussions of Confucianism in historic context and practice, we have to look elsewhere.
There are many contributions on the role of Confucianism in social life written by scholars of social history. Their import is in correcting essentialist understandings of Confucianism and in showing the importance of historic and social context for interpretation.
Ebrey focuses on family life and the role of women in Chinese society in different periods and shows how the family structure and relationships changed over time and how Confucian values and ideas influenced actual lives.16 Ebrey also pays attention to how these Confucian norms were shaped and reinvented according to the needs and goals of social actors. Smith describes “benevolent societies” and the relation of Confucian values to social ethics.17 Lufrano analyses late Ming and Qing merchant manuals.18 He shows that integral part of these guidelines on how to do business were instructions on the practice of moral cultivation, and analyses how the values contained in manuals relate to Confucianism. The book is a useful corrective for contemporary Orientalist commentaries on the connection between Asian Tigers and an assumed Confucian capitalist ethic. Deuchler in her seminal analysis examines
12 Umberto Bresciani, Reinventing Confucianism: The New Confucian Movement, Taipei: Taipei Ricci Institute for Chinese Studies, 2001.
13 John Makeham (ed.), New Confucianism: A Critical Examination, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
14 Serina N. Chan, The Thought of Mou Zongsan, Leiden; Boston: BRILL, 2011.
15 Christian Jochim, “Interpreting Confucian Spirituality in Postwar Taiwan: The New Confucians and Their Critics,”
in Confucian Spirituality, vol. 2, Tu Weiming and Mary Tucker (eds.), New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2004, 399–421.
16 For example, Patricia Ebrey, Women and the Family in Chinese History, London and New York: Routledge, 2004;
Patricia Ebrey, The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period, Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1993.
17 Joanna Smith, The Art of Doing Good: Charity in Late Ming China, Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: University of California Press, 2009.
18 Richard Lufrano, Honorable Merchants: Commerce and Self-Cultivation in Late Imperial China, Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i Press, 1997.
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the ways in which Korean elites selected and reinvented Confucian cultural resources to meet their social and political needs.19 Lu describes changing attitudes to the Book of Filial Piety and changing understandings of the notion of filial piety in imperial China, and also pays attention to the religious and political overtones and goals of these interpretations.20 Paramore presents a thorough overview of the cultural history of Confucianism in Japan, describing its changing role in social life and politics, thereby changing our understanding of what constitutes Confucianism.21 Especially useful for this thesis is the discussion on the 20th century militarists’ reinvention of Confucianism and their influence on the Kuomintang adopting Confucianism into its political vision for nationalist China. The issue of Confucianism in early Republican China is the topic of Chen His-yuan, who describes the processes whereby the neologism “religion” was introduced into the Chinese intellectual world and led to the creation of the concept “zongjiao 宗教”, together with problems of applying these two concepts to “Confucianism”.22
Studies on Confucianism in individual lives include the work by Harrison, written from a perspective of microhistory.23 Based on diary entries and other primary sources, it describes a life of a man living at the end of Qing era and beginning of the Republican era. Harrison reconstructs what role Confucianism played in his life and worldview, and how that man reflected on rapidly changing social and political conditions. A personal journal is also utilized by Kelleher in a commented translation of a Ming era scholar’s journal and his notes on self-cultivation as practice.24
In the field of sociology, there is a monograph by Anna Sun.25 The book is divided into two parts. The first is a historic overview of collaboration between James Legge and Max Müller created Confucianism as one of the world religions. The second is based on sociological research, but does not live up to the first part. She visited Confucian temples in the Mainland China and Taiwan and conducted formal interviews, but her analysis is hindered by theoretical and methodological problems, such as overreliance on such quantitative methods as statistics and formal interviews. In addition, reminding of the Habits of the Heart,26 Sun introduces into her into her analysis Protestant concepts and tries to measure church attendance and church membership regarding Confucianism. This methodology would be unfit for a research of the
19 Martina Deuchler, The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology, Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University, 1992.
20 Lü Miaofen, Xiao zhi Tianxia, Taipei: Zhongyangyanjiuyuan, Lianjing, 2011.
21 Kiri Paramore, Japanese Confucianism, Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
22 Chen Hsi-yuan, “Confucianism Encounters Religion: The Formation of Religious Discourse and the Confucian Movement in Modern China”, PhD diss., Harvard University, 1999.
23 Henrietta Harrison, The Man Awakened from Dreams: One Man’s Life in a North China Village, 1857-1942, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2005.
24 Wu Yubi, The Journal of Wu Yubi: The Path to Sagehood, trans. by Theresa Kelleher, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2013.
25 Anna Sun, Confucianism as a World Religion: Contested Histories and Contemporary Realities, Princeton;
Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013.
26 Robert Neelly Bellah (ed.), Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life, New York:
Harper & Row, 198).
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US society, as it does not help to grasp such phenomena new religious movements or a trend towards being “spiritual but not religious”.
I anticipated publication of an anthropological study by Billioud and Thoraval because it seemed similar to what I was trying to do.27 On the one hand, the book provides an interesting probe into contemporary re-imagination of Confucianism in the Mainland China.
On the other hand, it is hindered by theoretical and methodological shortcomings, given by authors’ background in intellectual history. The research is a part of the same research project as Anna Sun and shows similar ethnocentric biases. Despite claims to the contrary, their description is informed by an essentialist understanding of Confucianism, and, although the book makes use of Chinese terminology, the authors infuse them with Christian meanings.
Consequently, Confucian texts are identified with the Classics and treated as sacred texts. The authors do not explore the construction of the canon, and conflate the traditional education system with Confucian education, and Confucianism in general is identified with the imperial bureaucracy. Rituals are identified as sacrifices to Confucius or Mencius in temples, i.e. deity worship, and authors do not pay attention to other aspects of the Confucian ritual tradition.
Moreover, the book emphasizes that the contemporary “popular” revival of Confucianism is not motivated by nationalism, but the understanding of nationalism is quite as a state ideology, organized by state from top-to-down. The authors do not pay attention to the role intellectuals, organizations, and others institutions and individuals play in the formation and dissemination of nationalist ideas. As such, their discussion of filial piety is simply as a core moral Confucian value whilst ignoring its key role in political discourse and practice. The analysis in the last chapter is unrelated to the contents of the previous chapters and presents an orientalist discussion on Chinese mentality. The contemporary revival of Confucianism in Mainland China is also a topic of an anthology edited by Hammond and Richey.28 The contributors use different approaches but the articles are rather general in their discussions of the topic. In contrast to the aforementioned, Jun Jing did extensive ethnographic research on the Kong ancestral temple of in a village in Gansu and topic of social memory.29 His book analyses the history of the temple, its rituals, the role of this ancestral temple in the village community, and how the temple and villagers were impacted by political, economic, social and cultural changes during the second half of the twentieth century in the Mainland China.
Tsai and Finke and others follow an example of the Varieties of Religious Experience by William James in the emphasis on personal experience with the religious.30 This collaborative project is based on detailed questionnaires probing the religious experience of people in Taiwan. Volume contributors then wrote thematic chapters analysing experience in different
Tsai and Finke and others follow an example of the Varieties of Religious Experience by William James in the emphasis on personal experience with the religious.30 This collaborative project is based on detailed questionnaires probing the religious experience of people in Taiwan. Volume contributors then wrote thematic chapters analysing experience in different