Parents as critical individuals: Revival of Confucian education from the perspective of Chinese individualisation

ABSTRACT: This article uses the theory of Chinese individualisation to understand the Confucian education revival by focusing on the rise of parents as critical individuals and a case study of one Confucian private school. Drawing on interview data from parental activists who enrol their children in the study of Confucian classics, this article presents the disembedding actions taken to break attachments to state schools and the paradoxical return to institutional safety. It finds that these parents exhibit ambivalence towards the state education system, and that family relationships affect individual parents’ decisions about Confucian education. Furthermore, this study discusses the implications of the individualisation dynamics for Confucian revival in reference to the reflexive conditions of modernity. KEYWORDS: individualisation, Confucian revival, moral shift, alternative education in China.

Editorial - Reinventing Confucian Education in Contemporary China: New Ethnographic Explorations

Debatable “Chineseness”: Diversification of Confucian Classical Education in Contemporary China

ABSTRACT: This article discusses the ongoing debates about classics reading (dujing 读经) in the revitalisation and diversification of Confucian classical education in mainland China. It begins by reviewing two disputes about dujing in modern Chinese history and then turns to the contemporary debate, focusing on how one professional and experienced practitioner expounded on the disparities in practicing classical education. The author summarises three controversial issues : (1) the relationship between the educative principles and methods, (2) historical legitimacy, and (3) the linguistic nature of Chinese language. Based on these, this paper reflects on the current dujing movement by concluding that the diversification of classical education has complicated the authenticity of “Chineseness” and rendered it a debatable public issue. KEYWORDS: Confucian revival, dujing/classics reading, classical education, Chineseness.