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Confucianism and the State

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary WorksRGC 12 - Chapter in an edited book (Author)peer-review

Abstract

This chapter introduces the Confucian perspective on the state with special attention to its underlying paradigm of virtue politics. It examines the pre-Qin establishment of the ideal of the “family-state” by classical Confucians such as Confucius and Mencius, which stipulates that the state exists to serve the well-being of the people and the ruler ought to treat the people like his own children; its radical transformation with the rise of Legalistic Confucianism after the Han dynasty; and the Neo-Confucian challenge to the imperial state, which stressed the perfect congruence between loyalty and filial piety in the service of the emperor’s absolutist power. It concludes by discussing the two most dominant visions of the Confucian state in contemporary Confucian political theory—Confucian democracy and Confucian political meritocracy. © Oxford University Press
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of Confucianism
EditorsJennifer Oldstone-Moore
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages395-407
ISBN (Electronic)9780190906214
ISBN (Print)9780190906184
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Mar 2023

Publication series

NameOxford Handbooks

Research Keywords

  • Confucian democracy
  • Confucius
  • family-state
  • Legalistic Confucianism
  • Mencius
  • Neo-Confucianism
  • state
  • political meritocracy
  • virtue politics

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