Three readings of Zhōngyōng in Brazil

Czepula, Kamila (author)

As one of the pillars of Confucian thought, the Zhōngyōng acquired new contours when translated in Brazil in the 20th and 21st centuries, revealing interpretations deeply influ­enced by historical and cultural contexts. This study critically examines three Brazilian translations of the text: Ignácio Raposo’s version (1939), which, during the dictatorship period, applied Confucian values to national governance ethics; the Conscientiology movement’s version (2003), which reinterpreted the Zhōngyōng as a foundation for sci­entific spirituality, incorporating it into their doctrinal framework; and André Bueno’s translation (2005), the first direct rendering from Chinese, which offers an intercultural approach by comparing the concept of “just measure” between Confucius and Aristotle. By articulating these diverse translational perspectives, this research contributes unique­ly to possible dialogues between East and West in the field of ethics. The Zhōngyōng thus emerges as a catalyst for plural ethics, capable of traversing cultural boundaries and weaving itself into the complexities of contemporary Brazilian thought.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Zhōngyōng, comparative ethics, philosophical translation, Brazilian sinology, Brazilian thought, intercultural dialogue
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 439-462
• Numbering: Vol. 14, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-190567
• ISSN on article: 2232-5131
• DOI: 10.4312/as.2026.14.2.439-462
• Publication date in RUL: 05.11.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies = Azijske študije
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Tri branja Zhōngyōnga v Braziliji

Abstract

V Braziliji 20. in 21. stoletja je Zhōngyōng kot eno temeljnih besedil konfucijanske misli pridobil nov pomen. Ta je osnovan na interpretacijah, ki so globoko zaznamo­vane s specifičnimi zgodovinskimi in kulturnimi konteksti. Pričujoča študija kritično obravnava tri brazilske prevode tega besedila: različico Ignácia Raposa (1939), ki je v obdobju brazilske diktature konfucijanske vrednote aplicirala na etiko nacionalnega vladanja; različico gibanja za »teorijo zavesti« (2003), ki je Zhōngyōng reinterpretiralo kot osnovo znanstveno utemeljene duhovnosti in ga vključilo v svoj doktrinarni okvir; ter prevod Andréja Buena (2005), ki predstavlja prvi neposredni prevod iz kitajščine ter ponuja medkulturno pogojeno razumevanje besedila s primerjavo pojma »prave mere« pri Konfuciju in Aristotelu. S predstavitvijo teh raznolikih prevajalskih perspektiv pri­čujoča raziskava na edinstven način prispeva k možnim dialogom med Vzhodom in Zahodom na področju etike. Zhōngyōng se tako izkaže kot katalizator pluralne etike, ki lahko presega meje različnih kultur ter se na ta način vključuje v kompleksnost so­dobne brazilske misli.

• Keywords: Zhōngyōng, primerjalna etika, filozofski prevod, brazilska sinologija, brazilska misel, medkulturni dialog