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This book explores the relationship between Confucianism and citizenship and the rise of Confucian citizens in contemporary China. Combining theoretical and empirical approaches to the topic, the book constructs new frameworks to examine the nuances and complexities of Confucianism and citizenship, exploring the process of citizen-making through Confucian education. By re-evaluating the concept of citizenship as a Western construct and therefore challenging the popular characterization of Confucianism and citizenship as incompatible, this book posits that a new type of citizen, the Confucian citizen, is on the rise in 21st-century China. The book’s clear, accessible style makes it essential reading for students and scholars interested in citizenship, Confucianism and Chinese studies, and those with an interest in religion and philosophy more generally.
This book explores the complexities of cultivating ‘Confucian individuals’ through classics study in contemporary China by drawing on the individualization thesis and its implications for the Confucian education revival. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at a Confucian classical school, three topics are investigated: parents’ narratives and actions related to ‘dis-embedding’ their children from mainstream state education and transferring them to Confucian education as an alternative; the specific discourses and practices of teaching and learning the classics in everyday school life, guided by the aim of training students to become autonomous learners; and the institutional and subjective dilemmas that arise when parents and students seek to ‘re-embed’ themselves in either the state education system or further Confucian studies at an advanced academy for the next stage of education. The research presented in this book contributes to understanding the hidden dynamics of individualization in the Confucian education revival and the intricacies of subject-making through Confucian teaching and learning in the socialist state of China.
This Handbook provides a comprehensive look at the educational scope of life and values that characterize 21st-century Asia, as well as those values shared across cultures. Some values are deeply resonant with the region’s past while others reflect modernity and the new contexts in which Asian societies find themselves. Exploring these values of different types and the way they are constructed in Eastern and Western contexts, the contributors delve into the diversity of religious, moral and social education to promote greater understanding across cultures. While a range of values is identified here, there is no single set of values that can be applied to all people in all contexts. The tim...
A key objective of education in China is to cultivate one's moral values, with the ultimate objective of becoming fully human (做人). Unlike the "West", which regards moral cultivation as related to but separate from citizenship cultivation, East Asia (including China) views moral and citizenship cultivation as synonymous. The essays in this book offer various perspectives on and understandings of Chinese citizenship and education by a group of scholars of Chinese heritage situated inside and outside of China. They offer compelling evidence and rich theoretical discussions about the practice of teaching citizenship in the state education, the interplay between citizenship and China's cultu...
Two assumptions prevail in the study of Chinese citizenship: one holds that citizenship is unique to the Western political culture, and China has historically lacked the necessary conditions for its development; the other implies that China is an authoritarian regime that has always been subject to autocratic power, in which citizens and citizenship play a limited role. This volume negates both assumptions. On the one hand, it shows that China has its own unique and rich experiences of the emergence, development, rights, obligations, acts, culture, education, and sites of citizenship, indicating the need to widen the scope of citizenship studies to include non-Western societies. On the other hand, it aims to show that citizenship has been a core issue running through China's political development since the modern period, urging scholars to bring ‘citizenship’ into consideration in the study of Chinese politics. This Handbook sets a new agenda for citizenship studies and Chinese politics. Its clear, accessible style makes it essential reading for students and scholars interested in citizenship and China studies.
This volume takes readers on a journey into a central aspect of life in China, so-called “self-development.” Whether prompted by the cultural values of educational success, capitalist competition for wealth, or the Chinese Communist Party’s prescriptions for “good” citizenship, few people in China are immune to the impetus to “improve” themselves and thus bring about a better future. Contributors to this volume, interdisciplinary sinologists, draw on materials from practices in education, labor, and self-help as they spotlight “keywords” by which individuals make sense of their self-development journeys – including new forms of resistance to social norms. Rather than simply classify self-development by different activities or groups, the chapters map together ethical features that cut across Chinese society. Contributors explore the nuanced and ambivalent attitudes towards self-development of individuals navigating various requirements and pursuing more complete forms of existence. In so doing, they offer a snapshot of China that intersects with timely global concerns.
This volume theorizes the concept of citizenship in contemporary China by probing into the formation of Chinese citizenship and synthesizing the practices of citizenship by different social groups. The first section, “Imagining Chinese Citizenship,” analyses how Chinese citizenship was first imagined by means of translation and education at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Chinese citizenship was then compared with the concept of Western citizenship and that of other Asian countries. The second section, “Citizenship of Chinese Migrant Workers,” explains the citizenship status of migrant workers by discussing the relationship between household registration (hukou) system and citizenship of the migrant workers, showing how migrant workers contest their citizenship rights and categorizing the resistance of migrant workers from the perspective of citizenship. Finally, the last section, “Chinese Citizenship Education,” discusses the conditions and challenges of citizenship education in Chinese schools.
This book reconsiders the concept of Chinese citizenship through the lens of cultural traditions and their deep historical roots. It challenges the state’s monolithic interpretation of culture, exploring how cultural practices influence citizenship in modern China. The contributors to this volume examine how various actors, from government forces to grassroots activists, engage in culture-informed citizenship practices. They highlight the role of political ideology, spirituality, Confucianism, and minority religious traditions in shaping citizenship discourse. By broadening the understanding of Chinese citizenship beyond its Western-centric frameworks, this book delves into issues of socio...
Why do millions of people from around the world flock to Dali, a small borderland town in the Himalayan foothills of southwest China? "Lonely planeteers"-- American, European, and Israeli backpackers named for the guidebook they carry--trek halfway across the globe to "get off the beaten track," yet converge here to drink coffee, eat banana pancakes, and share music from home. Coastal Chinese who are prospering in the phenomenal economic growth of China's reform era travel thousands of miles to sing songs and dress up as their favorite characters from a revolutionary-era movie musical. Overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia as well as a new generation of mainland youth follow in the footsteps ...