119Book Review
Review of Humanism in East Asian Confucian Contexts, by Chun-chiehHuang. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript Verlag, 2010. 25.80 euros.
Pp. 168.
One of the most common features of Confucian philosophy as an inclusive
humanism is a commitment to the explanation and elaboration of various
aspects of the historically varied pan-Asian tradition. The phase of explanation is dedicated to a faithful exposition of the various historical materials
considered canonical or central to scholars of the Confucian Way 儒 道. The
most common form of explanation is usually some form of commentary. AsConfucius once remarked in the Analects 7.1, he sought to transmit and not
create 述而不作. But as is so often the case, and as Professor Huang so amplydemonstrates, such a faithful transmission and its commentary is animmensely creative act every time a philosopher or scholar seeks to present
an explanation of the tradition.
The second phase of Confucian philosophical discourse is often acommentarial elaboration, emendation, supplementation, or addition to thereceived and explicated tradition. And such fine contemporary studies as
Huang’s Humanism in East Asian Confucian Contexts add a third phase to theprocess of explanation and elaboration. This addition to explanation andelaboration can be called “reflective commendation.” In the third phase ofcommendation, the case is made for reasons why contemporary philosophers
will find something of genuine value in reflecting on the humanistic
Confucian tradition in East Asia. In fact, one of the most commendable
features of Huang’s study is that he demonstrates that the Confucian tradition
has given rise to creative expression in China, Korea, and Japan. This panAsian and now global philosophical enterprise is very much alive and part ofthe emerging conversation of world philosophy. There is an ever expanding
dialogue between Chinese and Western philosophers over a wide range of
topics of mutual interest and concern—topics that are explored in Huang’s
study.
One of the perennial questions that inevitably arise when discussing thehistory and nature of Confucianism is the place that the Confucian Way occupies in the typology of the ordering of the philosophical sciences in theWestern world. Is Confucianism metaphysics, a virtue ethics, axiology,
ontology, political theory, humanism, aesthetics, and/or hermeneutics? Huang120

Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 5 2014

makes a completely compelling case that Confucianism ought to be considered a form of inclusive humanism that, while intriguingly different from theWestern philosophical tradition, consistently overlaps it in many areas ofintellectual and historical inquiry. Few would quarrel with Huang’s choice ofhumanism as the typological placement of Confucianism. This thesis issupported by the fact that the kind of humanism proposed by Huang is ahighly open and inclusive form of humanism, in fact a humanism that sees
humanity as inextricably interconnected with every facet of the cosmos.
Huang makes the case that Confucian humanism begins with the unity of themind-heart 心 and body, of self and others, and ultimately of a hopefully
anticipated harmony of humanity and the natural world.
One of the refreshing features of Huang’s presentation is that he makes
full use of all the resources of the tradition, be they Chinese, Korean, orJapanese. For instance, from page 33 to 34 he quotes in turn Mencius, Xunzi,and Wang Yangming about the unity of mind-heart and body. He points outhow the mind-heart helps to shape and define the mesocosmic (human) order
within the micro- and macrocosmic universe, with the mind-heart at thecenter of the person and the social world. Huang cogently quotes a wide
range of famous pan-Asian Confucian scholars to shape his definition ofConfucianism as an inclusive humanism.
Yet as Confucius wrote in the Analects 4.25, virtue is never alone, because
it always has company. The person is not an isolated, solitary self, but is selfconsciously formed in relationship to others by a constantly changing set of
natural, intrapersonal, and social relationships. In fact, in chapters 2 through4, Huang illustrates how and why Confucian humanism is resolutely relational in form and function, in personal and social outcomes. It is through ourcollective personal and social rituals than we become truly human, and at ourbest, humane 仁. Of course, Huang is sensitive to the various levels of tensionthat can arise between the self and the other through cultural divergences andpolitical discord. Here too Huang uses Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
resources to defend his position. Huang demonstrates that Confucian
humanism is a widely shared and appreciated pan-Asian humanism, a notionthat includes a wide range of Chinese scholars. Moreover, he recognizes thateven such a capacious, shared humanistic Confucian cultural identity was notenough to preclude all the warfare and turmoil that went on, with great
suffering and sadness, in Confucian East Asia in the nineteenth and twentiethcenturies.
In chapter 4, Huang focuses in the theme of the continuity of humankindand nature, the theme that there is both continuity and unity to be foundbetween human beings and the rest of the natural world. Here again, Huang’s
main thematic concern is the ongoing Confucian sense of relationship that

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runs from the self, to the self in community, and finally to the self embodied
within the wider expanse of the natural world. Huang believes that this senseof continuity and unity should lead to a common concern not only of humans
for other human beings, but also of humans for the dignity and value of theentire natural world. Ecology ought to come naturally to contemporary
Confucian humanists, owing to the historical relational resources of the tradition.
In chapter 5, Huang moves on to discuss the historical consciousness ofConfucian humanism. As Huang notes, there is no supernatural tension
between God and the world in Confucian philosophy. Rather, there is aconstant and “creative dialogue between the past and the present” (p. 81) thathelps to give a definitive shape and texture to Confucian humanism. History,
with its vast metanarratives and resources, arouses us and, by means of analogies and memories, guides us is in our current choices in our Lebenswelt. As
Huang says, “History is a library for today” (p. 93). Along with the discussionof historical consciousness in the last chapter of the book, Huang provides
two appendices that augment his discussion of the role of history and historiography in the Confucian humanistic tradition. In many ways, this outlook on
history is the most notable contribution of Huang’s meditation on the humanistic spirit of the Confucian Way.
Huang has provided us with a graceful and insightful tour of the contoursof Confucian humanism. He shows how it has developed in East Asia andwhy, in a world of globalization, reflection on the Confucian humanistic pastand present will help inform the development of comparative world philosophy in the future.
John Berthrong
School of Theology, Boston University