Confucianism and Western democracy

Journal of Contemporary China

Volumn 6, Issue 15, 1997, Pages 347-363

  Hu, Shaohua ^a,b,c  

^a AMERICAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b CHINESE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES   (China)

^c PEKING UNIVERSITY   (China)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 10144221394     PISSN: 10670564     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10670569708724282     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. For example, see Andrew J. Nathan, 'Chinese democracy: the lessons of failure', The Journal of Contemporary China 4, (Fall 1993), pp. 3-13; and Martin King Whyte, 'Prospects for democratization in China', Problems of Communism 41(3), (May/June 1992), pp. 58-70.
2. For example, see Andrew J. Nathan, 'Chinese democracy: the lessons of failure', The Journal of Contemporary China 4, (Fall 1993), pp. 3-13; and Martin King Whyte, 'Prospects for democratization in China', Problems of Communism 41(3), (May/June 1992), pp. 58-70.
3. The debate can be traced back to Western views on the nature of the Chinese society. While Aristotle, Montesquieu, Hegel and Marx dismissed the oriental countries, including China, as despotic, Leibnitz, Voltaire and Quesnay regarded the Chinese political system as admirable. For Western views of traditional China, see Andrew L. March, The Idea of China: Myth and Theory in Geographic Thought (New York: Praeger, 1974).
4. Take Samuel P. Huntington for example. He asserts that '"Confucian democracy" is clearly a contradiction in terms'. See his Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993), p. 307.
5. For example. Franklin W. Houn, Chinese Political Traditions (Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press, 1965); Roger V. Des Forges, 'Democracy in Chinese history', in Roger V. Des Forges, Luo Ning and Wu Yen-bo, eds, Chinese Democracy and the Crisis of 1989: Chinese and American Reflections (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 21-52; Kim Dae Jung, 'Is culture destiny?: The myth of Asia's anti-democratic values'. Foreign Affairs 73(6), (November/December 1994), pp. 189-194; and Francis Fukuyama, 'Confucianism and democracy'. Journal of Democracy 6(2) (April 1995), pp. 20-33.
6. For example. Franklin W. Houn, Chinese Political Traditions (Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press, 1965); Roger V. Des Forges, 'Democracy in Chinese history', in Roger V. Des Forges, Luo Ning and Wu Yen-bo, eds, Chinese Democracy and the Crisis of 1989: Chinese and American Reflections (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 21-52; Kim Dae Jung, 'Is culture destiny?: The myth of Asia's anti-democratic values'. Foreign Affairs 73(6), (November/December 1994), pp. 189-194; and Francis Fukuyama, 'Confucianism and democracy'. Journal of Democracy 6(2) (April 1995), pp. 20-33.
7. For example. Franklin W. Houn, Chinese Political Traditions (Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press, 1965); Roger V. Des Forges, 'Democracy in Chinese history', in Roger V. Des Forges, Luo Ning and Wu Yen-bo, eds, Chinese Democracy and the Crisis of 1989: Chinese and American Reflections (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 21-52; Kim Dae Jung, 'Is culture destiny?: The myth of Asia's anti-democratic values'. Foreign Affairs 73(6), (November/December 1994), pp. 189-194; and Francis Fukuyama, 'Confucianism and democracy'. Journal of Democracy 6(2) (April 1995), pp. 20-33.
8. For example. Franklin W. Houn, Chinese Political Traditions (Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press, 1965); Roger V. Des Forges, 'Democracy in Chinese history', in Roger V. Des Forges, Luo Ning and Wu Yen-bo, eds, Chinese Democracy and the Crisis of 1989: Chinese and American Reflections (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 21-52; Kim Dae Jung, 'Is culture destiny?: The myth of Asia's anti-democratic values'. Foreign Affairs 73(6), (November/December 1994), pp. 189-194; and Francis Fukuyama, 'Confucianism and democracy'. Journal of Democracy 6(2) (April 1995), pp. 20-33.
9. According to Arthur Waley, between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D., two versions of The Analects were used, but not until the second century A.D. did it take the form similar to what we read today. The Analects of Confucius, translated, annotated and introduced by Arthur Waley (New York: Vintage Books, 1938), p. 24.
10. H. G. Creel, Confucius: The Man and the Myth (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951), p. 21.
11. For a review of these schools, see Yu-Ian Feng, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (New York: Macmillan, 1948); and Benjamin Isadore Schwartz, The World of Thought in Ancient China (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985).
12. For a review of these schools, see Yu-Ian Feng, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (New York: Macmillan, 1948); and Benjamin Isadore Schwartz, The World of Thought in Ancient China (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985).
13. For the transformation of Confucianism from a doctrine to a state ideology, see John Knight Shryock, The Origin and Development of the State Cult of Confucius (New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp., 1966).
14. For criticism of this tendency, see David S. Nivinson and Arthur F. Wright, eds, Confucianism in Action (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959); and Arthur F. Wright, ed., The Confucian Persuasion (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960).
15. For criticism of this tendency, see David S. Nivinson and Arthur F. Wright, eds, Confucianism in Action (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959); and Arthur F. Wright, ed., The Confucian Persuasion (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960).
16. Aristotle, The Politics of Aristotle, Trans, and intro. by Ernest Barker (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961), p. 258.
17. Ibid., p. 234.
18. Isaiah Berlin makes a distinction between 'positive freedom' and 'negative freedom'. See his 'Two concepts of liberty', chapter in Four Essays on Liberty (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), pp. 121-134.
19. Greek democracy differed form modern democracy in several ways. First, along with tyranny and oligarchy, democracy was regarded by the Greek as a corrupt form of government. Second, Greek democracy took the form of direct democracy, where citizens directly participated in making laws, although women, slaves and resident aliens were excluded. Finally, regardless of their properties and talents, rulers were selected by lots.
20. Theorists of different stripes deemed ideal democracy, namely direct rule by the people, to be impossible. For example, Robert Michels, an elitist theorist, claims that 'The mass will never rule except in abstracto'. See his Political Parties: A Sociological Study of Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy, Trans, by E. Paul and C. Paul, intro. by S. M. Lipset (New York: Free Press, 1962), p. 366. Even Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a staunch advocate of popular sovereignty, acknowledges that 'Taking the term in its strictest sense, no genuine democracy has ever existed, and none ever will exist'. See his The Social Contract in The Essential Rousseau, Trarns, by Lowell Bair, intro. by Matthew Josephson (New York: New American Library, 1975), p. 57.
21. Theorists of different stripes deemed ideal democracy, namely direct rule by the people, to be impossible. For example, Robert Michels, an elitist theorist, claims that 'The mass will never rule except in abstracto'. See his Political Parties: A Sociological Study of Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy, Trans, by E. Paul and C. Paul, intro. by S. M. Lipset (New York: Free Press, 1962), p. 366. Even Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a staunch advocate of popular sovereignty, acknowledges that 'Taking the term in its strictest sense, no genuine democracy has ever existed, and none ever will exist'. See his The Social Contract in The Essential Rousseau, Trarns, by Lowell Bair, intro. by Matthew Josephson (New York: New American Library, 1975), p. 57.
22. Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Trans, and ed. by Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller, and Harold S. Stone (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 157-166; Joseph A. Schumpeter has a point in reducing democracy to opportunities for the people to choose those who are to rule them. See his Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Harper Torchbooks (New York: Harper & Row, 1950), p. 269.
23. Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Trans, and ed. by Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller, and Harold S. Stone (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 157-166; Joseph A. Schumpeter has a point in reducing democracy to opportunities for the people to choose those who are to rule them. See his Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Harper Torchbooks (New York: Harper & Row, 1950), p. 269.
24. Robert A. Dahl, Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971), p. 4.
25. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, ed. by Richard Cox (Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1982), pp. 82-87; and John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1986), pp. 10-11.
26. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, ed. by Richard Cox (Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1982), pp. 82-87; and John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1986), pp. 10-11.
27. In the remaining part of the article, Confucian and Mencian doctrines are based on Confucius' The Analects and Mencius' The Book of Mencius.
28. Vitaly A. Rubin thinks that Legalism is an exception. See his Individual and State in Ancient China: Essays on Four Chinese Philosophers, Trans, by Steven I. Levine (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), p. 62.
29. Durkheim asserts that Kantian deontology and Benthemite utilitarianism are two main forms of ethical theory. See Anthony Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971), p. 68.
30. Elbert Duncan Thomas, Chinese Political Thought: A Study Based upon the Theories of the Principal Thinkers of the Chou Period (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1927), p. 216.
31. For the relationship between these two virtues, see Tu Wei-ming, 'The creative tension between Jen and Li', Philosophy East and West 18, (1968), pp. 29-39.
32. Quoted in Samuel P. Huntington, 'Young democracies face big challenges', The Free China Journal, (8 September 1995), p. 7.
33. Commenting on Chinese familism, Lin Yutang points out that 'Graft or "squeeze" may be a public vice, but is always a family value'. See his My Country and People (New York: John Day, 1935), p. 180. John Leighton Stuart selected mutual jealousies and suspicions as more characteristically Chinese weakness and attributed the weakness to 'the highly personalized element in their social structure'. See his Fifty Years in China: The Memoirs of John Leighton Stuart, Missionary and Ambassador (New York: Random House, 1954), p. 290.
34. Commenting on Chinese familism, Lin Yutang points out that 'Graft or "squeeze" may be a public vice, but is always a family value'. See his My Country and People (New York: John Day, 1935), p. 180. John Leighton Stuart selected mutual jealousies and suspicions as more characteristically Chinese weakness and attributed the weakness to 'the highly personalized element in their social structure'. See his Fifty Years in China: The Memoirs of John Leighton Stuart, Missionary and Ambassador (New York: Random House, 1954), p. 290.
35. E. R. Emmet, Handbook of Logic A Helix Book (Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld, 1984), p. 44.
36. Lucian W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics: The Cultural Dimensions of Authority (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985), pp. 204-205.
37. Houn, Chinese Political Traditions, pp. 45-98.
38. Bertrand Russell, The Problem of China (London: Allen & Unwin, 1966), p. 76.
39. Tang Tsou, The Cultural Revolution and Post-Mao Reform: A Historical Perspective (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986), p. xxiv.
40. In 1958 communist China employed almost 8,000,000 state functionaries; in 1948 nationalist China around 2,000,000; in the nineteenth century the Ch'ing dynasty only about 40,000. Barrington Moore, Jr., Authority and Inequality under Capitalism and Socialism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987), pp. 78-79.
41. For the variations of the Chinese political system, see Jack L. Dull, "The evolution of government in China', in Paul S. Ropp, ed., Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspective on Chinese Civilization (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), pp. 55-85.
42. Matthew. 22:21; Mark, 12:17; and Luke, 20:25.
43. For the relationship between Christianity and democracy, see Alexander Dunlop Lindsay, The Churches and Democracy (London: The Epworth Press, 1934).
44. The changing attitude of T'ai Tsu toward Mencius serves as a good example. T'ai Tsu, one of China's most despotic rulers, decided to rid Confucius' temples of Mencius' images for his disrespect of rulers and declared any remonstrator to be guilty of 'contempt of majesty'. President of the Ministry of Justice Ch'ien Tang, however, risked his life to remonstrate against the order and did change the emperor's mind.
45. For the Machiavellian side of the Chinese society, see Dennis Bloodworm and Ching Ping Bloodworm, The Chinese Machiavelli: 3,000 Years of Chinese Statecraft (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976).
46. Kam Louie, Critiques of Confucius in Contemporary China (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980), p. 147.
47. For Vilfredo Pareto, 'Society is harmed not only by the accumulation of inferior elements in upper strata but also by the accumulation in lower strata of superior elements which are prevented from rising'. See his Sociological Writings, selected and introduced by S. E. Finer, Trans, by Derick Mirfin (New York: Praeger, 1966), p. 159.
48. Max Weber, The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, Trans, and ed. by Hans H. Gerth, intro. by C. K. Yang (New York: Free Press, 1964), p. 154.
49. Karl A. Wittfogel holds that a division into a ruling class and a ruled class is one of the distinctive characteristics of the hydraulic society. See his Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957), p. 321.
50. Fareed Zakaria, 'Culture is destiny: a conversation with Lee Kuan Yew', Foreign Affairs 73(2), (March/April 1994), pp. 109-126.
51. Political and economic modernization in East Asia rekindled people's interests in studying the impact of Confucianism on democratization. See, for example, Joseph P. J. Jiang, ed., Confucianism and Modernization: A Symposium (Taipei: Freedom Council, 1987); and Robert Hartley et al., Democracy and Capitalism: Asian and American Perspectives (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1993). In addition, 'The International Conference on consolidating the third wave democracies' was convened in Taipei in 1995.
52. Political and economic modernization in East Asia rekindled people's interests in studying the impact of Confucianism on democratization. See, for example, Joseph P. J. Jiang, ed., Confucianism and Modernization: A Symposium (Taipei: Freedom Council, 1987); and Robert Hartley et al., Democracy and Capitalism: Asian and American Perspectives (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1993). In addition, 'The International Conference on consolidating the third wave democracies' was convened in Taipei in 1995.
53. William Theodore de Bary, The Liberal Tradition in China (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press and New York: Columbia University Press, 1983), p. 93.
54. For the impact of Confucianism on Western democracy, see H. G. Creel, 'Confucianism and Western democracy' chapter in his Confucius, pp. 276-301.
55. For an analysis of the differences between traditional and modern societies, see Ferdinand Tonnies, Community & Society (Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft), Trans, and ed. by Charles P. Loomis (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1957).
56. Tu wei-ming makes a distinction between 'political Confucianism', which supports a hierarchical political system, and 'Confucian personal ethic', which influences everyday life. See his Confucian Ethics Today: The Singapore Challenge (Singapore: Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore, 1984), p. 90.
57. For analyses of China's political culture, see Lloyd E. Eastman, 'Social traits and political behavior in Kuomintang China', ch. 7, in The Abortive Revolution: China Under Nationalist Rule, 1927-1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), pp. 283-313; Pye, Asian Power and Politics; Arthur H. Smith, Chinese Characteristics (Shanghai: North-China Herald Office, 1890); and Richard H. Solomon, Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971). For Confucian influence on modern Chinese political thought, see Brantly Womack, 'In search of democracy: public authority and popular power in China', in Brantly Womack, ed., Contemporary Chinese Politics in Historical Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 59-60.
58. For analyses of China's political culture, see Lloyd E. Eastman, 'Social traits and political behavior in Kuomintang China', ch. 7, in The Abortive Revolution: China Under Nationalist Rule, 1927-1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), pp. 283-313; Pye, Asian Power and Politics; Arthur H. Smith, Chinese Characteristics (Shanghai: North-China Herald Office, 1890); and Richard H. Solomon, Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971). For Confucian influence on modern Chinese political thought, see Brantly Womack, 'In search of democracy: public authority and popular power in China', in Brantly Womack, ed., Contemporary Chinese Politics in Historical Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 59-60.
59. For analyses of China's political culture, see Lloyd E. Eastman, 'Social traits and political behavior in Kuomintang China', ch. 7, in The Abortive Revolution: China Under Nationalist Rule, 1927-1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), pp. 283-313; Pye, Asian Power and Politics; Arthur H. Smith, Chinese Characteristics (Shanghai: North-China Herald Office, 1890); and Richard H. Solomon, Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971). For Confucian influence on modern Chinese political thought, see Brantly Womack, 'In search of democracy: public authority and popular power in China', in Brantly Womack, ed., Contemporary Chinese Politics in Historical Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 59-60.
60. For analyses of China's political culture, see Lloyd E. Eastman, 'Social traits and political behavior in Kuomintang China', ch. 7, in The Abortive Revolution: China Under Nationalist Rule, 1927-1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), pp. 283-313; Pye, Asian Power and Politics; Arthur H. Smith, Chinese Characteristics (Shanghai: North-China Herald Office, 1890); and Richard H. Solomon, Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971). For Confucian influence on modern Chinese political thought, see Brantly Womack, 'In search of democracy: public authority and popular power in China', in Brantly Womack, ed., Contemporary Chinese Politics in Historical Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 59-60.
61. For analyses of China's political culture, see Lloyd E. Eastman, 'Social traits and political behavior in Kuomintang China', ch. 7, in The Abortive Revolution: China Under Nationalist Rule, 1927-1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), pp. 283-313; Pye, Asian Power and Politics; Arthur H. Smith, Chinese Characteristics (Shanghai: North-China Herald Office, 1890); and Richard H. Solomon, Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971). For Confucian influence on modern Chinese political thought, see Brantly Womack, 'In search of democracy: public authority and popular power in China', in Brantly Womack, ed., Contemporary Chinese Politics in Historical Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 59-60.
62. See Derk Bodde, 'Harmony and conflict in Chinese philosophy', in Arthur F. Wright, ed., Studies in Chinese Thought (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953), pp. 19-80.
63. For example, Fukuyama compares the Japanese to a 'block of granite' and describes the Chinese as 'a tray of sand, with each grain representing a single family'. See his 'Confucianism and democracy', p. 27.
64. J. R. Levenson regards anti-professionalism as One of the outstanding all-pervasive values of Confucian culture'. See his 'Confucianism and monarchy at the last', in Nivinson and Wright, eds, Confucianism in Action, p. 262.
65. Etienne Balazs, Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy: Variations on a Theme, Trans, by H. M. Wright (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1964), p. 10.
66. Samuel P. Huntington says, 'In terms of explaining different patterns of political and economic development, however, a central independent variable is culture'. See his 'The goals of development', in Myron Weiner and Samuel P. Huntington, eds, Understanding Political Development: An Analytic Study (Boston: Little, Brown, 1987), p. 22. Barrington Moore, Jr., who emphasizes the importance of socio-economic factors, dismisses the importance of traditional cultures. For him, 'To explain behavior in terms of cultural values is to engage in circular reasoning'. See his Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modem world (Boston: Beacon Press, 1966), p. 486.
67. Samuel P. Huntington says, 'In terms of explaining different patterns of political and economic development, however, a central independent variable is culture'. See his 'The goals of development', in Myron Weiner and Samuel P. Huntington, eds, Understanding Political Development: An Analytic Study (Boston: Little, Brown, 1987), p. 22. Barrington Moore, Jr., who emphasizes the importance of socio-economic factors, dismisses the importance of traditional cultures. For him, 'To explain behavior in terms of cultural values is to engage in circular reasoning'. See his Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modem world (Boston: Beacon Press, 1966), p. 486.
68. Samuel P. Huntington, 'Will more countries become democratic?', Political Science Quarterly 99(2), (Summer 1984), p. 214.
69. Edward Friedman finds that democratization in East Asia fits general rules. See Edward Friedman, ed., The Politics of Democratization: Generalizing East Asian Experiences (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994), p. 6.