‘A Special Zone for Confucianism’? Theses of the Academician Zhang Xianglong on Traditional Chinese Culture”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2014.2.1.115-126Keywords:
Confucianism, Zhang Xianglong, special zoneAbstract
This article introduces the work of the academician Zhang Xianglong (b. 1949), focussing on his idea of establishing a “special zone for Confucianism” in China. Zhang argues that special protection is needed for Confucian traditions which he perceives as the leading culture of China. Confucian culture should find its way out of the museum, says Zhang. He also refers to the political concept of “one country, two systems” that was implemented when Hongkong was restored to Chinese rule. Zhang applies this to his idea of a “special zone for Confucianism”, suggesting that this political concept could be extended to “one country, three systems”. In my view Zhang is developing new, creative ideas for possible experimental fields dealing with Confucianism in the context of the People’s Republic of China. In the end it is my argument that it would be helpful to conduct in-depth research on the possible role of Confucianism in today’s China.
Downloads
References
Bell, Daniel. 2008. China’s New Confucianism. Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Billioud, Sébastien, and Joel Thoraval. 2008. “Anshen liming or the Religious Dimension of Confucianism.” China Perspectives 3: 88−106.
Chen, Anying 陈岸瑛, and Lian Zhou 周濂. n.y. Zouxiang Si de yuantou – Zhang Xianglong xiansheng fangtanlu 走向思的源头——张祥龙先生访谈录 (Back to the Sources of Thinking – an Interview with Zhang Xianglong). Accessed September 17, 2013, http://www.confuchina.com/xuezhe%20wenji/zhang%20xianglong.htm.
Chow, Kai-wing, Tze-ki Hon, and Hong-yok Ip. 2008. Beyond the May Fourth Paradigm: In Search of Chinese Modernity. Lanham: Lexington.
Dang, Guowei. 2010. Shei lai jianli “rujia wenhua baohuqu”? 谁来建立“儒家文化保护区”? (Who is Going to Establish a Special Zone for Confucian Culture?). Accessed September 20, 2013, http://www.yesroot.com/Articles/24120.htm.
Fröhlich, Thomas. 2000. Staatsdenken im China der Republikzeit (1912–1949). Frankfurt and New York: Campus.
–––. 2011. “Fortschrittsoptimismus und Prognose im modernen China.” Paper presented at a Lecture at the University of Erlangen, November 2, 2011.
“Fudan Daxue Wenshi Yanjiuyuan 复旦大学文史研究院 (Fudan University Literature and History Research Institute).” 2009. “Minjian” hezai shei zhi “xinyang” „民间“何在谁之“信仰“ (Where is the Popular Located and Whose Belief is it?). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
Gänßbauer, Monika. 2009. Confucianism and Social Issues in China. The Academician Kang Xiaoguang. Bochum and Freiburg: projekt.
Gladney, Dru. 2009. Dislocating China. Muslims, Minorities, and Other Subaltern Subjects. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Gong, Pengcheng 龔鵬程. 2010. “Ruxue fuxing de yinyou 儒学复兴的隐忧 (Secret Worries Related to the Renaissance of Confucianism).” In Cong Fuqiang Dao Wenya从富强到文雅 (From Rich and Strong to Cultivated and Elegant), edited by Wang Luxiang, 王鲁湘, 167−84. Nanjing: Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House.
Heilmann, Sebastian. 2009. “China als experimentierender Staat.” In Den Jadestein erlangen. Festschrift für Harro von Senger, edited by Monika Gänßbauer, 11−24. Frankfurt: Lembeck.
Hong, Bo 洪波. 2001. Jianli “rujia wenhua baohuqu” shifou keneng 建立“儒家文化保护区”是否可能 (Is it Possible to Establish a ‘Special Zone for Confucian Culture’?). Accessed September 20, 2013, http://www.guxiang.com/xueshu/others/guoxue/200108/200108230037.htm.
Jiang, Qing. 2013. A Confucian Constitutional Order. How China’s Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future, edited by Daniel Bell and Fan Ruiping. Translated by Edmund Ryden. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lackner, Michael. 2003. “Philosophie, Theologie oder Kulturwissenschaft? Legiti¬ma¬tionen des modernen Neokonfuzianismus.” In Selbst¬behauptungsdiskurse in Asien: China – Japan – Korea, edited by Iwo Amelung et.al, 275−89. München: iudicium.
Lao, She. 1993. “Aufgestaute Wut über die Ausländer-Truppen.” In Bittere Träume. Selbstdarstellungen chinesischer Schriftsteller, edited by Helmut Martin, 293−97. Bonn: Bouvier.
Makeham, John. 2008. Lost Soul. “Confucianism” in Contemporary Chinese Academic Discourse. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.
Rošker, Jana. 2005. “Contemporary Chinese Philosophy and the Recognition of the Global World.” Zheng da Zhong wen xue bao 政大中文學報 12: 183−204.
Seligman, Adam, and Robert Weller. 2012. Rethinking Pluralism. Ritual, Experience, and Ambuigity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Von Senger, Harro. 2008. Moulüe – Supraplanung. Unerkannte Denkhorizonte aus dem Reich der Mitte. München: Hanser.
Wang, Huaiyu 王懷聿. 2008. “Refuge of Thinking.” Review of Refuge of Thinking: Ancient Chinese Philosophy in the Age of Globalization, by Zhang Xianglong. Dao 7: 233−235.
Wilhelm, Richard. 2007 (1926). The Soul of China. Translated by John Holroyd Reece. Maple Shade: Lethe Press.
Zhang, Xianglong 張祥龍. 2003. Zhongguo chuantong wenhua de weiji 中国传统文化的危机 (The Crisis of Chinese Traditional Culture). Accessed May 24, 2013, http://www.confuchina.com/01%20zong%20lun/zhongguo%20wenhua%20weiji.htm.
–––. 2006. Gei Zhongguo gudai binwei wenhua yi ge binansuo – chengli rujia wenhua baohuqu de jianyi 给中国古代濒危文化一个避难所——成立儒家文化保护区的建议 (Provide a Shelter for China’s Ancient Endangered Culture − a Proposal to Establish a Special Zone for Confucianism). Accessed September 4, 2013, http://www.confucius2000.com/admin/list.asp?id=2616.
–––. 2007. Sixiang Binan. Quanqiuhua de Zhongguo gudai zheli 思想避难 .全球化中的中国古代哲理 (Refuge of Thinking: Ancient Chinese Philosophy in the Age of Globalization). Beijing: Beijing Daxue.
–––. 2008. Wu Kongzi zhi Beida wu linghun – Beida Xiaoyuan li Kongzi xiang de jianyi无孔子之北大无灵魂——北大校园立孔子像的建议 (Without Confucius Beijing University is Without a Soul). Accessed September 18, 2013, http://blog.ifeng.com/ article/1394119.html.
–––. 2010. Rujia yuanwenhua zhudao diwei zhi hanyi 儒家原文化主导地位之含义 (What It Means that the Original Confucian Culture is in a Leading Position). Accessed May 25, 2013, http://www.aisixiang.com/data/32388.html.
–––. 2011. “Is Political Confucianism a Universalism? An Analysis of Jiang Qing’s Philosophical Tendency.” In The Renaissance of Confucianism in Contemporary China, edited by Fan Ruiping, 225−37. Hongkong: Springer.
–––. N.y. Rujiao de Chongjian 儒教的重建 (Re-establishing Confucianism). Accessed May 24, 2013, http://www.aisixiang.com/data/17934-2.html
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors are confirming that they are the authors of the submitting article, which will be published (print and online) in journal Asian Studies by Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia). Author’s name will be evident in the article in journal. All decisions regarding layout and distribution of the work are in hands of the publisher.
- Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit their self to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.