Contemporary Neo-Confucianism 當代新儒家, also known as “New Confucianism”, “Modern Confucianism”
Creators: name: Chiu, King Pong
Publisher: name: Database of Religious History (DRH)
Year: 2023

description: ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ is a philosophical system of thought or a philosophical school that develops its ideas based on a re-interpretation of traditional Confucianism, in order to make Confucianism more relevant to the needs of the modern world. Mainly developed by some thinkers who escaped from the mainland China to Hong Kong and Taiwan in 1949, ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ began to be influential in the academia in Hong Kong and Taiwan since the late 1950s, and finally affected Confucian studies in mainland China since the 1980s. The term ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ is, in fact, firstly suggested and promoted by the scholars in mainland China at that time. Theoretically, the group of ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ could include any scholars who share the same ideal of re-interpretating Confucianism in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, but the term practically refers to those who develop their thoughts in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as the re-interpretation of traditional Confucianism varies hugely between the scholars in these two places and the mainland. In general, ‘Contemporary NeoConfucianism’ in Hong Kong and Taiwan regards Confucianism as the mainstream intellectual tradition in the Chinese society, and any modernization of China and the Chinese society needs to consider the pros and cons of this tradition. It is based on Confucianism that the Chinese people developed their model of modernization while it is also the same intellectual tradition that it may hinder Chinese society from progressing. Under such considerations, several important issues are to be handled: the relationship between Confucianism and democracy as well as science; the relationship between Confucianism and Western philosophy; and the relationship between Confucianism and other traditional Chinese thought such as Buddhism and Taoism. In general, ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ considers that Confucianism could not only co-exist with other Chinese traditions, democracy, science and Western philosophy, but even improve the quality of them. On the one hand, ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ seems progressive as it does not put Confucianism into a contradictory position with such modern values as democracy and science. On the other hand, however, it is considered conservative as it seems to hold a position that, in a sense, Confucianism is more important than the values mentioned above. ‘Contemporary NeoConfucianism’ in Hong Kong and Taiwan involves some important figures, such as Xiong Shili (熊十力, 1885 – 1968), Carsun Chang (張君勱, 1887 – 1969), Liang Shuming (梁漱溟, 1893 – 1988), Ch'ien Mu (錢穆, 1895 – 1990), Thomé H. Fang (方東美, 1899 – 1977), Xu Fuguan (徐復觀, 1904 – 1982), Tang Junyi (唐君毅, 1909 – 1978) and Mou Zongsan (牟宗三, 1909 – 1995). However, as the approaches employed to re-interpret Confucianism differ among them, their conclusions towards the relationships between Confucianism and the issues mentioned above are also various. To a large extent, the term ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ simplifies the complexities of the thoughts of these thinkers, and the rationale behind using the term is in doubt in some ways. To make the situation more complicated, some scholars in Confucianism from the present mainland China, Jiang Qing (蔣慶，1953 – present) for example, challenge the usage of the term, claiming that mainland China has her own perspective of re-interpreting traditional Confucianism and this perspective is different from those in Hong Kong and Taiwan. To the scholars from the mainland, Confucianism is the essence of Chinese culture and it is not correct to think of its relationship with those issues coming from the West, such as democracy and science. This kind of interpretation of Confucianism is considered highly conservative though it is rather popular in the academia of mainland China. Due to the diversity of interpretation, the term ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ has never had a rigid definition. Despite its popularity, ‘Contemporary Neo-Confucianism’ is mainly a target of discussion in academia rather than a religious or philosophical group with influence in society.