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China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society
What is it like to be a Westerner teaching political philosophy in an officially Marxist state? Why do Chinese sex workers sing karaoke with their customers? And why do some Communist Party cadres get promoted if they care for their elderly parents? In this entertaining and illuminating book, one of the few Westerners to teach at a Chinese university draws on his personal experiences to paint an unexpected portrait of a society undergoing faster and more sweeping changes than anywhere else on earth. With a storyteller's eye for detail, Daniel Bell observes the rituals, routines, and tensions of daily life in China. China’s New Confucianism makes the case that as the nation retreats from communism, it is embracing a new Confucianism that offers a compelling alternative to Western liberalism.
Bell provides an insider’s account of Chinese culture and, along the way, debunks a variety of stereotypes. He presents the startling argument that Confucian social hierarchy can actually contribute to economic equality in China. He covers such diverse social topics as sex, sports, and the treatment of domestic workers. He considers the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, wondering whether Chinese overcompetitiveness might be tempered by Confucian civility. And he looks at education in China, showing the ways Confucianism impacts his role as a political theorist and teacher.
By examining the challenges that arise as China adapts ancient values to contemporary society, China’s New Confucianism enriches the dialogue of possibilities available to this rapidly evolving nation.
Bell provides an insider’s account of Chinese culture and, along the way, debunks a variety of stereotypes. He presents the startling argument that Confucian social hierarchy can actually contribute to economic equality in China. He covers such diverse social topics as sex, sports, and the treatment of domestic workers. He considers the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, wondering whether Chinese overcompetitiveness might be tempered by Confucian civility. And he looks at education in China, showing the ways Confucianism impacts his role as a political theorist and teacher.
By examining the challenges that arise as China adapts ancient values to contemporary society, China’s New Confucianism enriches the dialogue of possibilities available to this rapidly evolving nation.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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159 people want to read
About the author
Daniel A. Bell
29 books32 followersDaniel A. Bell is Chair Professor of the Schwarzman Scholar Program at Tsinghua University in Beijing and director of the Berggruen Institute of Philosophy and Culture. He was born in Montreal, educated at McGill and Oxford, has taught in Singapore and Hong Kong, and has held research fellowships at Princeton’s University Center for Human Values and Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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May 23, 2008Professor Bell managed to take very dry material, and make it dry.
Not a bad book -- many thought-provoking moments; but if you aren't either (1) very interested in Chinese culture and governance or (2) on a 14-hour flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong with nothing else to read, then you're probably not going to get through it.
Not a bad book -- many thought-provoking moments; but if you aren't either (1) very interested in Chinese culture and governance or (2) on a 14-hour flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong with nothing else to read, then you're probably not going to get through it.
November 17, 2020
It has been awhile since I have read the classics, so it was nice to have a refresher on the Confucian classics while also getting a modern interpretation of the philosophy compared to modern day western ideals and current Chinese government.
September 10, 2017
An easy intro to modern Confucianism. It has definitely managed to challenge some of my own (Western) values and beliefs.
August 24, 2019
This was an interesting book. I can’t say I liked every part of it, but it was a useful and thought-provoking read. It is written in a style that mixes the academic and the personal, which sometimes made me feel uncertain about what kind of book I was reading, and how to weigh it. Having said that, it was an easy and lively style, very accessible. Halfway through the book (after getting annoyed with one of the chapters) (number 4), I visited YouTube and listened to some extensive interviews with the author, to get a sense of his tone and outlook, and found him very engaging and sincere, so I pressed on willingly with the book.
Daniel A. Bell is a professor of political theory at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he is fully immersed in his subject and his context. He treats Confucianism as a social and political philosophy rather than as a religion, and his understanding of this philosophy is mainly shaped by the earliest stages of the movement - the writings of Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi, more than the later neo Confucianists. This makes it possible to steer clear of some of the more metaphysical or legalist interpretations and come up with a kind of ‘left wing’ interpretation, compatible with ‘leftist’ modern day thinkers. This seems to be a popular approach, judging from my reading so far.
The book is divided into three sections, each of three chapters, plus two appendices. The sections are entitled ‘Politics’, ‘Society’ and ‘Education’.
The section that captivated me the most was the first. I was extremely challenged by Bell’s invitation to consider that Western style, one-person-one-vote liberal democracy is not the only valid way of constructing government, and that there are good arguments that a Confucian-inspired meritocratic system is an equally valid method of organising the highest levels of Chinese government. Of course this has to acknowledge the flaws and drawbacks of both systems, and the need for greater virtue and human freedom than currently exist in China, but Bell’s argument made cultural sense. Perhaps it resonated for me partly because I feel so disillusioned at the moment with the meaningfulness of liberal democracy in the UK and across many regions where it supposedly exists. Not that Bell is suggesting Western democracies change their system, only that they are open to the validity of alternative systems, and allow themselves to see past the Western media’s delight in feeding us mostly negative stories about China. Despite all its significant problems, China is pretty impressive! I have come to that conclusion before reading Bell!
Bell suggests that liberal style democracy works best at a local level where ordinary people know who they are voting for and understand the issues that affect them (bearing in mind, in China ‘local level’ is on a scale larger than a lot of small countries). Indeed this has been introduced in China already, and will be expanded up the echelons. However, the further you go up the echelons in a country the size of China, where there are so many issues that affect the world beyond China, and the environment, and the interests of groups unknown to each other, it makes little sense to place policy at that level in the hands of people without the necessary awareness.
Of course the best of it all depends on the meritocracy being genuine, and a genuine commitment to Confucian values which prioritise the well being of the vulnerable and of the environment. Occasionally I found Bell somewhat idealistic about the human capacity to be good, and in his almost naive willingness to see the best in people's motivations even in the most unlikely contexts (e.g. chapter 4). On the other hand I liked the idea that these best of Confucian values could hit the ground, however imperfectly, in the everyday rituals of human interaction between family members, colleagues, teachers and students, even football supporters, and that in theory these moments have the power to change the world.
I could continue at length, but who would read it, lol! The appendices were also both very interesting. The second appendix introduced the political ideas of Professor Jiang Qing, and his brave proposals to reform the structures of Chinese government. At the time of writing Jiang’s ideas were available only in Chinese, but they have since been translated into English and published. One of the things I really appreciated about Bell’s book was that he discussed work of scholars who have not yet been translated into English, and are inaccessible to my limited Mandarin, that was so useful! The first appendix was a critique of Yu Dan’s reflections on the Analects - Bell is so colourfully damning of Yu’s work, I just have to go and see for myself! I have found a cheap copy on my Kindle …
YouTube links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Zoo...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IESxy...
Daniel A. Bell is a professor of political theory at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he is fully immersed in his subject and his context. He treats Confucianism as a social and political philosophy rather than as a religion, and his understanding of this philosophy is mainly shaped by the earliest stages of the movement - the writings of Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi, more than the later neo Confucianists. This makes it possible to steer clear of some of the more metaphysical or legalist interpretations and come up with a kind of ‘left wing’ interpretation, compatible with ‘leftist’ modern day thinkers. This seems to be a popular approach, judging from my reading so far.
The book is divided into three sections, each of three chapters, plus two appendices. The sections are entitled ‘Politics’, ‘Society’ and ‘Education’.
The section that captivated me the most was the first. I was extremely challenged by Bell’s invitation to consider that Western style, one-person-one-vote liberal democracy is not the only valid way of constructing government, and that there are good arguments that a Confucian-inspired meritocratic system is an equally valid method of organising the highest levels of Chinese government. Of course this has to acknowledge the flaws and drawbacks of both systems, and the need for greater virtue and human freedom than currently exist in China, but Bell’s argument made cultural sense. Perhaps it resonated for me partly because I feel so disillusioned at the moment with the meaningfulness of liberal democracy in the UK and across many regions where it supposedly exists. Not that Bell is suggesting Western democracies change their system, only that they are open to the validity of alternative systems, and allow themselves to see past the Western media’s delight in feeding us mostly negative stories about China. Despite all its significant problems, China is pretty impressive! I have come to that conclusion before reading Bell!
Bell suggests that liberal style democracy works best at a local level where ordinary people know who they are voting for and understand the issues that affect them (bearing in mind, in China ‘local level’ is on a scale larger than a lot of small countries). Indeed this has been introduced in China already, and will be expanded up the echelons. However, the further you go up the echelons in a country the size of China, where there are so many issues that affect the world beyond China, and the environment, and the interests of groups unknown to each other, it makes little sense to place policy at that level in the hands of people without the necessary awareness.
Of course the best of it all depends on the meritocracy being genuine, and a genuine commitment to Confucian values which prioritise the well being of the vulnerable and of the environment. Occasionally I found Bell somewhat idealistic about the human capacity to be good, and in his almost naive willingness to see the best in people's motivations even in the most unlikely contexts (e.g. chapter 4). On the other hand I liked the idea that these best of Confucian values could hit the ground, however imperfectly, in the everyday rituals of human interaction between family members, colleagues, teachers and students, even football supporters, and that in theory these moments have the power to change the world.
I could continue at length, but who would read it, lol! The appendices were also both very interesting. The second appendix introduced the political ideas of Professor Jiang Qing, and his brave proposals to reform the structures of Chinese government. At the time of writing Jiang’s ideas were available only in Chinese, but they have since been translated into English and published. One of the things I really appreciated about Bell’s book was that he discussed work of scholars who have not yet been translated into English, and are inaccessible to my limited Mandarin, that was so useful! The first appendix was a critique of Yu Dan’s reflections on the Analects - Bell is so colourfully damning of Yu’s work, I just have to go and see for myself! I have found a cheap copy on my Kindle …
YouTube links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Zoo...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IESxy...
April 20, 2013
Political and moral ideas partially based in Confucian ideas, for the new China. To me the most interesting part of this book are the proposed forms of government for China.
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January 21, 2015Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews