Confucian Views of Nature

  • John Berthrong
Chapter
Part of the Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science book series (SACH, volume 4)

Abstract

Just as there are many diverse forms of Confucianism, there are divergent Confucian views of nature. The tradition called Confucianism in the West has a long and developmentally complex history in East Asia (Schwartz, 1985; Graham, 1989). Although Confucianism or the teaching of the Ru (scholars) has Chinese origins, Confucian teachings spread and flourished in Korea, Japan and Vietnam (Berthrong, 1998). In order to understand characteristic Confucian reflections on nature, two questions concerning definitions must be addressed. What is Confucianism as a self-reflective tradition or set of traditions? And what do Confucians make of nature?

Keywords

Natural World Qing Dynasty Ming Dynasty Tang Dynasty Social Ethic 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2003

Authors and Affiliations

  • John Berthrong

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