Page 152 - 2022(1) International Confusion Studies

Int. Confucian Stud. 2022; 1(1): 145–161

Mei Li*
“Confucian Revival” From Both Chinese and
Western, Ancient and Modern Perspectives:

Observations and Reflections on Post-
Millennium Research Into Confucianism

https://doi.org/10.1515/icos-2022-2008

Abstract: Confucianism inthe new millennium has enjoyed a revival, a resurrection
even, like a “wandering soul.” Due to this resurgence, whether it is regarded as an
object of study, or as part of modern academic research, Confucianism can no longer
be seen as an amalgamated entity, as it was in the last century. In contrast, since
2000, research into Confucian thought has changed not just from both Chinese and
Western viewpoints, but from ancient and modern perspectives too. In the last
century while China responded to the urgent need to modernize, Confucianism, as a
system of ideas and concepts that had been part of classical Chinese society, tended
to be examined against these historical changes. In so doing, its “resistance” to
modernization was emphasized. Post-2000 however, more mainstream scholars
have begun to highlight Confucianism as a reflection of the differences between
China and the West. The fundamental reasons for the divisions in research today
come from researchers in the West and China placing different degrees of impor-
tance on different aspects of the philosophy. Moreover, each group’s understanding
and interpretation of China’s ancient and modern society differ.

Keywords: Confucianism, Confucianism research, “Confucian revival”, change
between the past and the present, modern academic division

Research into Confucius post-2000 can be described as entering a “golden age”
1
unprecedented for more than a century (Meng & Wang, 2017). The “Confucian

1 In recent years in particular, Confucianism research has received unprecedented attention.
Among the “Top 10 Hot Topics in Chinese Humanities Scholarship” from 2014 to 2018 (there were
Article note: This is an abridged version of the article which was first published in Chinese in Issue
1, Volume 1 of International Studies on Confucianism (《国际儒学》) in 2021. The English version
was translated by Yanan Shao and Xiaohua Tong.

*Corresponding author: Mei Li, Institute of Higher Research on Confucianism, Shandong
University, Jinan City, China, E-mail: limeilmlm@126.com

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