Confucianism

Transformations of the Confucian way

Name: Transformations of the Confucian way
Author: John Berthrong
ISBN: 9780813328041

by John Berthrong

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Overview

From its beginnings, Confucianism has vibrantly taught that each person is able to find the Way individually in service to the community and the world. For over 2,600 years, Confucianism has sustained a continual process of transformation and growth. In this comprehensive new work, John Berthrong examines the vitality and expansion of the Confucian tradition throughout East Asia and into the entire modern world.Confucianism has been credited with being the dominant social and intellectual force shaping the enduring civilizations of East Asia. If we are to grasp the history of East Asia, we must understand the role that Confucianism has played in the social and cultural formation of the entire region. Just as civilizations are ever-changing, there has been nothing timeless or static about Confucianism.Berthrong’s study is unique in its discussion of each of the historical and regional phases of the development of the Confucian Tao. All too often, Confucian studies have focused exclusively on the classical early period and the great thinkers of the later neo-Confucian revival in the Sung Ming dynasties. Berthrong’s work opens the reader’s eyes to the often neglected gifts of scholars of the Han, T’ang, and the modern periods, as well as to the vast contributions of Korea and Japan. The author concludes this revelatory study with an examination of the contemporary renewal of the Confucian Way in East Asia and its recent spread to the West.

About the Author, John Berthrong

John H. Berthrong is associate dean for academic and administrative affairs and director of the Institute for Dialogue Among Religious Traditions at Boston University.

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The indications are that Confucianism has survived the dual attacks of Maoist ideology and Western modernism, and is expanding rapidly throughout East Asia and the larger global community. Berthrong (religious traditions, Boston U.) traces the general outlines of the intellectual development of Confucianism from its birth in China to its recent reinvigoration. Using the words of Confucian scholars across the centuries, he shows how they have used the tradition to understand, interpret, and order their social and physical worlds. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.