Page 120 - 2022(1) International Confusion Studies

Int. Confucian Stud. 2022; 1(1): 113–124

Huaihong He*
Politics, Humanities, and Rural Homeland:
The Prospects of Contemporary

Confucianism

https://doi.org/10.1515/icos-2022-2006

Abstract: When observing the historical interaction between Confucianism and
society, we see the origin of Confucian “learning” that began to take root during the
Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. After Confucianism
became the guiding political ideology during the Western Han Dynasty, a new
social structure gradually came into being, featuring a close relationship between
politics, humanities, rural homeland, and Confucian scholars playing their roles
as scholar, official, and landed gentry. This was a rare phenomenon in the history
of world civilization. It ensured the political power being handed down peacefully
from generation to generation. It also guaranteed equal access to political
opportunities, and the establishment of an orderly relationship between politics
and culture, as well as between morality and social governance. However, after a
century of twists and turns, Confucian scholars and Confucianism lost its way
forward and its roots. Fortunately, the last four decades has seen a revival of
Confucianism in China. Nonetheless, it still finds itself confronted by many
modern-day challenges.
Keywords: contemporary Confucianism, politics, humanities, rural homeland

In this paper, I would like to examine the prospect of contemporary Confucianism
from a historical perspective, based on interaction between Confucianism and
society. This exploration does not confine itself to thoughts or systems only but
covers the long-term relations between Confucian scholars and social politics.
Only a few individuals are able to transcend their social conditions and create a

Article note: This article was first published in Chinese in Issue 1, Volume 1 of International Studies
on Confucianism (《国际儒学》). Some updates and adaptation have been made for the English
version, which was translated by Ping Peng.

*Corresponding author: Huaihong He, School of Philosophy, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou,
China, E-mail: hhuaihong@hotmail.com

Open Access. © 2022 the author(s), published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.