This volume addresses a common yet mistaken view of Confucianism as timeless and monolithic by presenting a philosophically critical account of different Confucian thinkers and schools, across place (China, Korea, and Japan) and time (the 10th to 19th centuries). Some think of Confucianism in terms of the views attributed to one representative of the tradition, such as Kongzi (Confucius) (551–479 BCE) or Mengzi (Mencius) (372–289 BCE) or one school or strand of the tradition. Others present Confucianism in terms of its manifestations in only one country; this is almost always China for the obv ... More

This volume addresses a common yet mistaken view of Confucianism as timeless and monolithic by presenting a philosophically critical account of different Confucian thinkers and schools, across place (China, Korea, and Japan) and time (the 10th to 19th centuries). Some think of Confucianism in terms of the views attributed to one representative of the tradition, such as Kongzi (Confucius) (551–479 BCE) or Mengzi (Mencius) (372–289 BCE) or one school or strand of the tradition. Others present Confucianism in terms of its manifestations in only one country; this is almost always China for the obvious reasons that China is one of the most powerful and influential states in the world today. Finally, some describe Confucianism in terms of only one period or moment in the tradition; for example, among ethical and political philosophers, pre-Qin Confucianism—usually taken to be the writings attributed to Kongzi, Mengzi, and, perhaps, Xunzi (479–221 BCE)—often is taken as “Confucianism.” These and other forms of essentialism and idealism have led to a widespread and entrenched impression that Confucianism is thoroughly homogenous and monolithic; such impressions can be found throughout East Asia and dominate the understanding of Confucianism in the West. This provides no genuine sense of the creatively rich, philosophically powerful, highly variegated, and still very much open-ended nature of the Confucian tradition.