2022.09.24 13:24 GMT+8

British professor: Confucianism still very useful for modern existence

Updated 2022.09.24 13:24 GMT+8
CGTN

As the greatest and the most significant thinker in Chinese history, Confucius is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. His teachings and philosophy underpin Chinese and east Asian culture and society, remaining influential across the region to this day.

“Confucianism, as Chinese traditional culture in a general sense, has a broad cultural background. It mainly focuses in benevolence (Ren) and righteousness (Yi), which is quite different to many Western philosophies,” Dr Benjamin Coles, associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Social Development at Huaqiao University, told CGTN.

Coles said people should study Confucianism today to learn about responses to social crises. “How did they think we could avoid these problems? Or we could make them less serious? Or we could find ways to change them in an organized society, in a different way that would improve it, the livelihood for people?”

He also commented on two classic analects of Confucius, namely "Within the four seas, all men are brothers 四海之内皆兄弟" and "The gentleman aims at harmony, and not at uniformity 君子和而不同." He said the quotations "show that Confucianism is not the way that a lot of, especially a lot of Western commentators, would have understood it. They're both some things very useful, very important for modern existence.”

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