Confucian Cultures of Authority

Peter D. Hershock is Coordinator of the Asian Studies Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu. His books include Chan Buddhism. Roger T. Ames is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and editor of Philosophy East & West. His many books include the translation (with D. C. Lau) of the classic Chinese work Sun Bin: The Art of Warfare, also published by SUNY Press.

• Introduction: Confucian Cultures of AuthorityPeter D. Hershock and Roger T. Ames1. Two Loci of Authority: Autonomous Individuals and Related PersonsHenry Rosemont Jr.2. Intimate Authority: The Rule of Ritual in Classical Confucian Political DiscourseTao Jiang3. The Wei (Positioning)-Ming (Naming)- Lianmian (Face)-Guanxi (Relationship)-Renqing (Humanized Feelings) Complex in Contemporary Chinese CultureWenshan Jia4. Creeping Absolutism: Parental Authority as Seen in Early Medieval Tales of Filial OffspringKeith N. Knapp5. Virtue (de), Talent (cai), and Beauty (se): Authoring a Full-fledged Womanhood in Lienuzhuan (Biographies of Women)Robin R. Wang6. Aspects of Authority in Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the WestRoberta E. Adams7. Establishing Authority through Scholarship: Ruan Yuan and the Xuehaitang AcademySteven B. Miles8. Intellectual and Political Controversies over Authority in China: 1898–1922Lawrence R. Sullivan9. Ought We Throw the Confucian Baby Out with the Authoritarian Bathwater?: A Critical Inquiry into Lu Xun's Anti-Confucian IdentityVirginia SuddathList of ContributorsIndex

"This excellent work deals with a critical issue of our time, the understanding of authority in culture. The topic is of great importance to every one of us, particularly in the context of the globalization of culture. To understand the processes going on around us, we must be able to understand the nature of authority as it is understood historically, within a multiplicity of cultures, and contemporarily, within a world of both diminishing and increasing boundaries. The topic itself stretches across our own disciplinary boundaries, marking its relevancy for philosophy, religion, political science, and history. What is addressed here is crosscutting and cutting edge in its significance." — Rodney L. Taylor, author of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Confucianism"A rich and diverse introduction to how Confucians have thought about their tradition and lives for more than twenty-five hundred years, this fine book will certainly provoke thought in those who believe that they know something already about the topic of the formation of Confucian self-identity."— John H. Berthrong, coauthor of Confucianism: A Short Introduction