Faith and Politics: (New) Confucianism as Civil Religion
This paper discusses how, in contemporary China, politico-religious narratives that reiterate the country’s Confucian tradition serve to create a sense of belonging and sharedness in a community, and provide a way to interpret this community and the contemporary Chinese nation as having a divine mis...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2014-05-01
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| Series: | Asian Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/1005 |
| Summary: | This paper discusses how, in contemporary China, politico-religious narratives that reiterate the country’s Confucian tradition serve to create a sense of belonging and sharedness in a community, and provide a way to interpret this community and the contemporary Chinese nation as having a divine mission. As these Chinese foundational myths combine elements of Confucianism with patriotism and nationalism, they can be interpreted as a constitutive element of a “civil religion with Chinese characteristics”, and as providing arguments for a “religious” legitimation of the CCP as organization that has to lead the nation on this mission.
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| ISSN: | 2232-5131 2350-4226 |