Between family and state: Relational tensions in Confucian ethics

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-2002

Abstract

For two thousand years the Mencius was revered as one of the foundational texts of the Confucian canon, which formed the basis of traditional Chinese education. Today it commands considerable attention in current debates on Asian values raging in classrooms and boardrooms in both East Asia and the West. This volume, which represents the work of fifteen respected scholars of early Chinese thought and culture, is an especially timely effort to bring the Mencius under fresh scrutiny. Making use of recently excavated manuscripts, the contributors approach the Mencius from novel perspectives, challenge established interpretations, and confront anew issues that continue to attract and divide students of this classic text. The famous Mencian doctrine of the goodness of human nature forms one main focus. Questions of context and interpretation bring into sharp relief key hermeneutical issues that surround the text: Does the Mencius present a coherent and systematically developed ethical teaching? Or should it be read as a composite work, comprising different layers of material that reflect different emphases and conflicting doctrines?

Discipline

Arts and Humanities

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

Mencius: Contexts and Interpretations

Editor

Alan Chan

ISBN

9780824823771

Publisher

Hawaii University Press

City or Country

Honolulu

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