Abstract
To give a short introduction to the huge body of Confucian thought on learning and education is a very challenging endeavour. In what follows, we will start with some comments on a core idea of Confucian philosophy of education, the pleasure of learning. Second, we will confront some of the various stereotypes and prejudices that Confucianism is exposed to, especially in Western discourses of education. We then, thirdly, will make some remarks on the person of Confucius, and the notions of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism. The fourth and fifth parts of this introduction are dedicated to the key educational concepts of the book, learning and self-transformation (or self-cultivation) from a Confucian perspective, yet to some degree with western comparative eyes, since it is our goal to point out the similarities and differences between different cultures of educational thoughts and philosophies, which tend to be often and too quickly pressed into an unfavourable and simplistic East-West-scheme. The sixth and last parts offer an overview of the nine chapters gathered in this book that have been written by East Asian and European authors from seven different countries.
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Notes
- 1.
The collection was most probably compiled and written in the Warring States period (475–221 BC) and considered to be one of the central Confucian texts by the end of Han dynasty (206 BA–220 AD).
- 2.
In the Analects, the expression “learning” is frequently used, the term “teaching” only very few times only (Lai 2016, p. 89).
- 3.
In classical texts only the masculine (pro)noun is used, representing men-dominated world and world views. Wherever it may be suitable, we will use the feminine (pro)noun as well.
- 4.
To put it with Chen Lai: “Persons are considered to have a love of learning when they are not concerned about material enjoyment but instead pursue spiritual fulfilment and excellence of character; when they are cautious yet earnest, and when they want to learn from those who know the way” (Lai 2016, p. 84).
- 5.
Confucius invokes the term «an exemplary person» with the term ‘educated man’ (cf. Lai 2016, p. 88).
- 6.
The ideas of Confucius became known in Europe in the sixteenth century by reports of missionary Matteo Ricci (1552–1610); in 1687 Father Prospero Intorcetta (1626–1696) translated the writings of Confucius into Latin.
- 7.
The translation of the Chin-ssu lu. according to Wing-Tsit Chan, at least, was “imperative”; it has been “long overdue”. The translation of 1967 includes many comments by Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scholars. Another reader on (and of) Zhu Xi, called “Further Reflections on Things at Hand”, has been published in 1991.
- 8.
Xunzi is a classical Confucian philosopher (298–220 BC). His name, Xunzi, is also the title of his work (Xunzi 2014). Xunzi has been neglected for a long time, compared to Confucius and Mencius, but the interest in the Xunzi as the text has increased much in the last decades in the West.
- 9.
“Many people think they are mature and experienced and therefore are not willing to learn from their inferiors. Consequently, they remain ignorant all their lives. Some people regard themselves as the first ones to know moral principles and for them there is no such thing as ignorance. Consequently, they too are not willing to learn from inferiors. Because they are never willing to learn, they think of many things that deceive themselves and others. They are willing to remain ignorant throughout their lives” (Chin-ssu lu, II, 98, [1967, p. 94]).
- 10.
This is an insight which will become popular with the Piagetian tradition in psychology and pedagogy before in the work of Herbart, and later in that of Dewey (cf. English 2013).
- 11.
“If a person is essentially sharp-witted but does not study, then he is really not sharp-witted” (Zhu Xi 1991, p. 93).
- 12.
Without any doubt there is positive pedagogical anthropology in Confucian and Neo-Confucian thought: “Know that human nature is originally good and hold with loyalty and faithfulness as fundamental. This is the way to build up, first of all, the noble part of your nature” (Chin-ssu lu, II,70, [1967, p. 68]). The idea of the good nature of all human beings is, nevertheless, embedded in rather the strict conceptions of social conventions. The importance of good relationships and sensitiveness towards status distinctions is crucial: father and son, ruler and subject, husband and wife, old and young, and friend and friend, according to Mencius, had become the five paradigmatic relationships binding Chinese society together. In this context, Daniel Gardener has commented or guessed: “Perhaps because goodness is relationship dependent, Confucius himself, although deeply preoccupied with virtue, never provides a comprehensive definition of it” (Gardener 2007, p. 140).
- 13.
The notion of Bildung does not however only refer to the process – as the formation or development of a person – but also to the result, the “final shape”. Bildung is said to have an “objective” and a subjective aspect. Whereas the former refers to “culture” (as a philosophical, scientific, aesthetic, moral, in short: “reasonable” interpretation of the world, either referred to as Allgemeine Menschenbildung [general human education] or as Allgemeinbildung [broad educational experience]), the latter refers to the in each case specific way of acquiring the objective content of culture (ibid.). Insofar we may say that what groups of humans perceive as culture (ethnicities, nations, communities etc.) is Bildung at the level of the individual.
- 14.
To give one example: “In Western philosophy, the question of ‘What is the Truth?’ has taken a centre stage. However, to the Confucian cultures, this question does not occupy a central position. The concept of truth is understood differently between the Western and the Confucian worlds. In the West, truth is knowledge of reality, basically the representations of the world” (Kim Kyung Hi 2004, 118).
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Reichenbach, R., Kwak, DJ. (2020). The Confucian Ethos of Learning: An Introduction. In: Reichenbach, R., Kwak, DJ. (eds) Confucian Perspectives on Learning and Self-Transformation. Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40078-1_1
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