This chapter offers a critique of the Confucian legacies in East Asian modernities, knowledge and pedagogies. Specifi c examples are drawn from China, Korea and Japan for comparative analysis. The three countries in East Asia have all experienced the historical repetitions of discarding and then reviving the Confucian legacy at different times of modernisation. However, they all have kept the strong Confucian pedagogic culture, which frames the ways in which knowledge is transmitted and applied to defi ne modernities in East Asia.
Confucianism has a huge continuity — although it has been travelling widely and rewritten over time. There have been various East Asian historiographies, writing and rewriting the Confucian legacy in East Asian modernisation since the late nineteenth century. Scholars attributed the lack of development in East Asia to that tradition initially, before more recently attributing the success of these countries to the same tradition (Bellah, 1957, 1968; Eisenstadt, 1968; Morishima, 1982; Weede, 1996; Bell & Hahm, 2003).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alston, J. P. (1989). Wa, Guanxi, and inhwa: Managerial principles in Japan, China, and Korea. Business Horizons, 32(2), March–April, 26–31.
Amano, I. (1990). Education and examination in Modern Japan. W. Cummings & F. Cummings (trans.). Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Ansell, C. (2006). Network institutionalism. In R. A. W. Rhodes et al., Oxford handbook of political institutions, Oxford University Press.
Bell, D., & Hahm, Chaibong (Eds.) (2003). Confucianism for the modern world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bellah, R. (1957). Tokugawa religion: The cultural roots of Japan. New York: The Free Press.
Bellah, R. (1968). Reflections on the Prostestant ethic analogy in Asia. In S. N. Eisenstadt (Ed.), The Protestant ethic and modernization: A comparative view. New York: Basic Books.
Berger, P. L. (1986). The Capitalist revolutions: Fifty propositions about prosperity, equality, and liberty. New York: Basic Books.
Berger, P. L. (1988). An East Asian development model? In P. L. Berger & H. H. M. Hsiao, (Eds.), In search of East Asian development model. New York: Transaction.
Berger, M. T. & Borer, D. A. (Eds.) (1997). The rise of East Asia: Critical visions of the Pacific century. London: Routledge.
Biggs, J. B. (1994). What are effective schools? Lessons from East and West (The Radford Memorial Lecture). Australian Educational Researcher, 21(3), 19–39.
Biggs, J. B. (1996). Western misconceptions of the Confucian-heritage learning culture. In D. A. Watkins & J. B. Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner, cultural psychological and contextual influence. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre.
Buttery, E. A., & Wong, Y. H. (1999). The development of a Guanxi framework. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 17(3), 147–155.
Chang Tok-Sun (1977). Ch'oe Ch'i-won and legendary literature in Korea. Journal, 17(8), August, 56–64.
Choi, S-K et al. (2003). A study on the reality and volume of private tutoring expenditure. Korean Educational Development Institute Research Paper No. CR 2003-19, (published in Korean). Seoul: KEDI.
Confucius (2006). The great learning & the doctrine of the mean. B. Bruya (trans.) (original work traced back to 2,500 years ago). Beijing: Xiandai Press.
Deuchler, M. (1992). The Confucian transformation of Korea: A study of society and ideology. Cambridge, MA,: Harvard University Press.
De Bary, W. T. (1981). Neo-Confucian orthodoxy and the learning of the mind-and-heart. New York: Columbia University Press.
Dardees, J. W. (1983). Confucianism and autocracy: Professional elites in the founding of the Ming dynasty. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Eckert, C. J., Lee, Ki-baik, Lew, Y. I., Robinson, M., & Wagner, E. W. (1990). Korea old and new: A history. Published for Korea Institute, Harvard University, Seoul: Ilchokak Publishers.
Hahm, Chaibong (2004). The ironies of Confucianism. The Journal of Democracy, 15(3), July, 93–107.
Hsü, L. S (1932). The political philosophy of Confucianism, an interpretation of the social and political ideas of Confucius, his forerunners and his early disciples. London: Routledge & Sons.
Hwang, Byung Tai (1979). Confucianism in modernisation: Comparative study of China, Japan and Korea (Ph.D. thesis), Berkeley, University of California.
Hyland, T. (2007). Confucius say… universities at risk in link-up with Chinese Government. The Age, 18 November. (http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/confucius-say — universities-at-risk-in-linkup-with-chinesegovernment/2007/11/17/1194767024579.html: Accessed on 22 November 2007)
Kahn, H. (1979). World economic development: 1979 and beyond. Boulder, CO,: Westview Press.
KEDI (2003). Measures against private tutoring: Material for the fifth public hearing. Korean Educational Development Institute, RM 2003-32-5 (published in Korean). Seoul: KEDI. Kim, I. W. (1998) Hankook moosock sasang yonku [A Research on shamanistic ideology in Korea]. Seoul: Jipmoon-dang.
Kim, T. (2001). Forming the academic profession in East Asia: A comparative analysis. New York and London: Routledge.
Kim, T. (2008). Transnational academic mobility in a global knowledge economy: Comparative and historical motifs. In D. Epstein, R. Boden, R. Deem, F. Rizvi & S. Wright (Eds.), World Yearbook of Education 2008—geographies of knowledge, geometries of power: framing the future of higher education. London: Routledge.
Kim, Young-Pyoung (1997). The Korean civil service system: A country report. A paper presented at the Research Consortium of Civil Service Systems in Comparative Perspective, 5–8 April. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. (http://www.indiana.edu/csrc/kim1.html: Accessed on 22 November 2007).
Kwon, Keedon (2007). Economic development in East Asia and a critique of the post-Confucian thesis. Theory and Society, 36(1) March, 55–83.
Johnson, C. (1999). The developmental state: Odyssey of a concept. In M. Woo-Cummings (Ed), The developmental state (pp. 32–60). Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
Lee, Seung-hwan (2006). A topography of Confucian discourse: Politico-philosophical reflections on Confucian discourse since modernity. Translated from Korean by Jaeyoon Song and Seung-hwan Lee, Paramus. New Jersey: Homa & Sekey Books.
Leung, F. K. S. (1998). The implications of Confucianism for education today. The Journal of Thought, 33(2), 25–36.
Liu, Shu-hsien (1996). Confucian ideals and the real world: A critical review of contemporary neo-Confucian thought. In Tu, Wei-ming (Ed.), Confucian traditions in East Asian modernity (pp. 92–112). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lodge, G. & Vogel, E. (Eds.) (1987). Ideology and national competitiveness: An analysis of nine countries. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Marton, F., Alba, G. D., & Tse, L. K. (1996). Memorizing and understanding: The keys to the paradox? In D. A. Watkins & J. B. Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre.
Merson, J. (1990). The genius that was China: East and West in the making of the modern world. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press.
Morishima, M. (1982). Why has Japan succeeded?: Western technology and the Japanese ethos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books.
Smith, R. (1996). The Japanese (Confucian) family: The tradition from the bottom up. In Tu, Wei-ming, Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity (pp. 155–174). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Suen, H. K. and Yu, L. (2006). Chronic consequences of high-stakes testing? Lessons from the Chinese civil service exam. Comparative Education Review. 50(1), February, 46–65.
Tai, Hung-chao (1989). The Oriental alternative: An hypothesis on culture and economy. In Tai, Hung-chao (Eds.), Confucianism and economic development:An Oriental alternative (pp. 6–37). Washington D.C.: The Washington Institute Press.
Thompson, M. (1996). Late industrialisers, late democratisers: Developmental states in the Asia-Pacific. The Third World Quarterly, 17(4), 625–647.
Tu, Wei-ming (Ed). (1996). Confucian traditions in East Asian modernity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vogel, E. (1979). Japan as number one. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Weber, M. (1930). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Translated by T. Parsons. New York: Scribner's.
Weber, M. (1951). The religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism. Translated by H. H. Gerth. New York: Free Press.
Wilkinson, R. (1964). The prefects: British leadership and the public school tradition, a comparative study in the making of rulers. London: Oxford University Press.
Wilkinson, R. (Ed) (1969). Governing elites: Studies in training and selection. New York: Oxford University Press.
Woo-Cumings, M. (Ed) (1999). The developmental state. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
Woo-Cumings, M. (1993). East Asia's America problem. In M. Woo-Cumings & M. Loriaux (Eds.), Past as prelude: History in the making of a new world order. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Yonezawa, A., and Kim, T. (2008). The Future of Higher Education in a context of a Shrinking Student Population: Policy challenges for Japan and Korea In the OECD Volume: Demographic Challenges and their Impact on the Future of Higher Education, edited by Stéphen Vincent-Lancrin, Paris: OECD (in press).
Zeng, Kangmin (1999). Dragon gate: Competitive examinations and their consequences. London: Cassell.
Zhou, Nanzhao (1996). Interactions of education and culture for economic and human development: An Asian perspective. In J. Delors et al., Learning: The treasure within, Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. Paris: UNESCO, 239–248.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kim, T. (2009). Confucianism, Modernities and Knowledge: China, South Korea and Japan. In: Cowen, R., Kazamias, A.M. (eds) International Handbook of Comparative Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6403-6_55
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6403-6_55
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-6402-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-6403-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)