The Revival and Transformations of Confucianism in Contemporary East Asia is the first collected volume in Slovene to comprehensively address the modern transformations and role of Confucian thought in East Asian societies. It highlights how Confucianism, despite historical challenges and political changes, continues to be a significant ideological, philosophical, and social force in this region. The contributions in the volume are organized into three thematic sections, offering an in-depth analysis of this issue in the context of contemporary China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
The first part of the volume, titled “The People’s Republic of China: Constructing an Ideological, Political, and Cultural Project for a New Millennium”, comprises three chapters in which the authors examine the status and role of Confucianism, which primarily functions as a unifying element in the realms of culture, national identity, and political ideology. This section is significant not only because Confucianism originated in China, but more importantly because – despite predictions of its decline and assertions of its irrelevance to contemporary China – it clearly still holds considerable socio-political importance, at least as an ideology.
With the rapid development of liberal economic policies and the accompanying openness, the revival of Confucianism has also gained momentum in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the past two decades. The chapters in this section are therefore dedicated to the development of the Confucian heritage and the emergence of new Confucian ideologies in contemporary China. They aim to shed light on the reasons for and consequences of the fact that these new ideologies were needed to compensate for the loss of normative authority once held by the Chinese Communist Party. Since the mid-1980s, these ideologies have been employed to fill the so-called “value vacuum”, a function that had previously been fulfilled by orthodox socialist and communist value systems.
The second section, “Taiwanese Approaches to Confucianism: Philosophical Reinterpretations and Methodological Innovations”, explores the distinctive development of Confucian thought in Taiwan, where a unique strand of Modern New Confucianism emerged after 1949. While mainland China turned to Marxism and theories of its Sinicization, Taiwanese philosophers sought to revive and modernize elements of China’s traditional intellectual heritage as a response to the challenges of modernization.
These thinkers saw original Confucianism not as a source of stagnation, but as a foundation for a new moral and ethical framework suited to a modern, globalized society. They believed Confucianism could support the development of a distinctly Chinese modernity, and even contribute to a new global ethics.
The section includes analyses of key theoretical contributions and methodological innovations by Taiwanese scholars. It concludes with an in-depth interview with the renowned expert Huang Chun-chieh, offering valuable insights into the Confucian revival in East Asia and its relevance to contemporary philosophical and cultural discourse.
The third section – “Confucianism in Japan and Korea: Diverse Paths of Development and Adaptation” – focuses on local interpretations of the Confucian tradition in these two culturally and historically interconnected regions. The contributions examine the Confucian philosophy of self-cultivation in Japan and the complex processes of reception and adaptation of Confucianism in Korea’s social and political history.
Overall, the collected volume represents a significant contribution to the study of contemporary intellectual currents in East Asia, and provides insights into how Confucian values continue to influence political strategies, social norms, and intellectual debates in the region today.
The contributions in The Revival and Transformations of Confucianism in Contemporary East Asia offer valuable and diverse pieces in a colourful mosaic of ideas and information about the various forms this tradition has taken, and continues to take, in the region. Each, in its own way, contributes to making this volume as a whole an important addition to the understanding of the role and significance of Confucianism in the contemporary contexts of East Asian societies. At a time when the search for alternative models of ethical orientation and social cohesion is also becoming increasingly relevant beyond this region, it offers an in-depth understanding of the intellectual currents inspired by the revitalization of the Confucian tradition.
Through a variety of approaches and analyses, the contributions show that Confucianism in contemporary East Asia is not merely an object of historical retrospection, but also a dynamic and plural philosophical force that actively shapes the cultural, political, and intellectual landscape of today’s East Asian societies.
In this sense, we hope that the present volume will make a meaningful contribution to deepening our understanding of the contemporary relevance of Confucianism and, in doing so, shed light on its potential to inspire new models of community, ethics, and responsibility in our globalized and culturally diverse world.
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