Portraits of Confucius: The Reception of Confucianism from 1560 to 1960

Description

Portraits of Confucius presents a major collection of Western perspectives on Confucius and Confucianism, stretching from the Catholic missions of the sixteenth century to the dawn of modern cross-cultural scholarship in the early-twentieth century. For scholars and students interested in the life, work, and teachings of Confucius and the West's reception of Chinese philosophy, this is an indispensable reference resource. With selections from over 100 figures covering the 1560s to the 1960s, this two-volume work features writing from three continents, with sources including Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Max Weber, Bertrand Russell, and Ezra Pound. Arranged chronologically, they represent methodologies that span philosophy, political science, religious studies, sociology, anthropology, economic theory, linguistics, missionary texts, and works of popular moralism. Together they reveal important ideological trends in Western attitudes toward China.

Kevin DeLapp is Harold E. Fleming Professor of Philosophy at Converse University, USA. He has published articles in the fields of metaethics, moral psychology, and cross-cultural philosophy, and he is the author of Moral Realism (2013) and Partial Values: A Comparative Study in the Limits of Objectivity (2018) and the co-editor of Lying and Truthfulness (2016).

[This] anthology is a trove of Confucian teachings. * Times Literary Supplement * Scholars will find here a helpful resource for their Confucianism classes as well as a nice departure point for more specialized research into the Euro-American reception of East Asian thought. * Religious Studies Review * A magisterial collection, Portraits of Confucius belongs on the shelves of anyone concerned with the long history of Western encounters with Chinese religion, culture, and philosophy. With excerpts from across four centuries, we are offered portraits not only of Confucius but also, as in a mirror, portraits of his interlocutors in their own times. An indispensable resource for scholars and teachers. * Anna Sun, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Sociology, Duke University, USA * We can't understand China without understanding Confucius. What's less well known is that we can't understand the West without understanding Confucius. This fascinating book is the definitive account of the various uses and misuses of Confucius's ideas in Western history. * Daniel A. Bell, Dean of School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, China * These volumes are treasure troves for anyone seeking to understand the sources and evolution of Western views of Confucius and Confucianism. From famous to obscure, from books to newspapers to diaries, each selection is expertly introduced and contextualized. Highly recommended! * Stephen C. Angle, Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies and Professor of Philosophy, Wesleyan University, USA * Kevin DeLapp has performed a simply inestimable service to all those interested in the subject of the reception of Confucius as both a historical figure and philosopher in the west with this scrupulously edited and researched two-volume collection of writings. This major edition tells the fascinating story of the powerful and but problematic impact of Confucius' ideas in the west from the early modern period to the 1960s. It contains a vast wealth of extracts, both from major European thinkers, but also from many less familiar but still highly influential writers, including literary writers, historians, and missionaries, and will be of lasting value to all scholars interested in the subject of the intellectual and cultural encounter between China and the west over the 400 years its vastly informative pages encompass. * Peter J. Kitson, Professor of Romantic Literature and Culture, University of East Anglia, UK *