Taking Confucian Thought Seriously for Contemporary Society: Rejoinder to Chenyang Li, Ronnie Littlejohn and Lauren Pfister

I wish to thank Professors Chenyang Li, Ronnie Littlejohn and Lauren Pfister for reflecting on the theme of the Reconstructionist Confucianism that my book proposes and exploring my arguments. I have learned a great deal from their thoughtful critical comments. However, given space limits, this rejoinder will only focus on a few points of disagreement that I have with each of them. First, it will deal with the three critical perspectives that Pfister raises. Second, it will address the heuristic points that Littlejohn indicates that my proposal of reconstructing Confucian environmental ethics for contemporary society could be enriched by drawing on the historical materials of Chinese garden as well as relevant Western ideas (such as the Christian view of human stewardship over nature). Finally, I will provide careful responses to a series of scrupulous inquiries by Li on my view of Confucian ritual, which are extraordinarily subtle and stimulating, given the fundamental importance of ritual (li) in Confucian tradition.