The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment)
This article focuses on a psychological phenomenon discussed by the early Confucian: yuan 怨, which is often translated as “resentment”, “grievance”, “lament”, or “complaint”. I attempt to use the early Confucian discussions of yuan to shed light on an aspect of human psychology, namely, when one lam...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143080 |
| _version_ | 1824456202752360448 |
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| author | Sung, Winnie |
| author2 | School of Humanities |
| author_facet | School of Humanities Sung, Winnie |
| author_sort | Sung, Winnie |
| collection | NTU |
| description | This article focuses on a psychological phenomenon discussed by the early Confucian: yuan 怨, which is often translated as “resentment”, “grievance”, “lament”, or “complaint”. I attempt to use the early Confucian discussions of yuan to shed light on an aspect of human psychology, namely, when one laments about certain conditions that obtain in such a way that she sees as beyond her control and negatively affects her. This is an unusual reactive attitude because one who has yuan takes the “passive stance.” This paper has four main sections: the first section makes textual observations of “yuan” in the early Confucian texts; the second section proposes a Confucian-inspired account of yuan and highlights the psychological state in which one who has yuan sees oneself as object; the third section discusses the problematic dimensions of yuan; the final section discusses the negative implications of the passive stance with respect to contemporary concerns: vulnerability, moral repair, and self-respect. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:50:21Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/143080 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:50:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1430802020-07-28T08:56:43Z The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment) Sung, Winnie School of Humanities Humanities::Philosophy Confucian Ethics Yuan This article focuses on a psychological phenomenon discussed by the early Confucian: yuan 怨, which is often translated as “resentment”, “grievance”, “lament”, or “complaint”. I attempt to use the early Confucian discussions of yuan to shed light on an aspect of human psychology, namely, when one laments about certain conditions that obtain in such a way that she sees as beyond her control and negatively affects her. This is an unusual reactive attitude because one who has yuan takes the “passive stance.” This paper has four main sections: the first section makes textual observations of “yuan” in the early Confucian texts; the second section proposes a Confucian-inspired account of yuan and highlights the psychological state in which one who has yuan sees oneself as object; the third section discusses the problematic dimensions of yuan; the final section discusses the negative implications of the passive stance with respect to contemporary concerns: vulnerability, moral repair, and self-respect. Accepted version 2020-07-28T08:56:43Z 2020-07-28T08:56:43Z 2019 Journal Article Sung, W. (2020). The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment). The Journal of Value Inquiry, 54(2), 257-271. doi:10.1007/s10790-019-09694-5 0022-5363 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143080 10.1007/s10790-019-09694-5 2-s2.0-85067065389 2 54 257 271 en The Journal of Value Inquiry © 2019 Springer Nature B.V. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in The Journal of Value Inquiry. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10790-019-09694-5 application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::Philosophy Confucian Ethics Yuan Sung, Winnie The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment) |
| title | The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment) |
| title_full | The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment) |
| title_fullStr | The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment) |
| title_short | The early Confucian worry about yuan (resentment) |
| title_sort | early confucian worry about yuan resentment |
| topic | Humanities::Philosophy Confucian Ethics Yuan |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143080 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sungwinnie theearlyconfucianworryaboutyuanresentment AT sungwinnie earlyconfucianworryaboutyuanresentment |