Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.2.345-348
Jana S. Rošker
{"title":"Eric S. Nelson: Heidegger and Dao: Things, Nothingness, Freedom","authors":"Jana S. Rošker","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.2.345-348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.2.345-348","url":null,"abstract":"Eric S. Nelson’s Heidegger and Dao: Things, Nothingness, Freedom masterfully interweaves the philosophies of Martin Heidegger and classical Daoism, offering an intricate examination of their treatment of key concepts such as things, nothingness, and freedom. The book explores the nuanced variations and transformative interpretations of these central ideas, illuminating their profound impact on both Western and East Asian philosophical traditions. Both Asian and Western academics have long sought a book that offers a coherent and comprehensive introduction to the European reception of East Asian, and especially Daoist, philosophy, and thus one of the most significant contributions of this work is in fulfilling this need.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"153 4‐7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141007353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.2.221-243
Dawid Rogacz
{"title":"Interplanetary Revolutions","authors":"Dawid Rogacz","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.2.221-243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.2.221-243","url":null,"abstract":"The paper introduces the transhumanism and cosmic communism of Mao Zedong and discusses its relation to a Marxian conception of human nature and analogous Soviet visions. Having shown that the two-sided understanding of human nature in Marx opened doors for its transhumanist interpretations, the article identifies instances of the latter in the ideal of the New Soviet Man, the views of Trotsky, and the communist (or at least Sovietized) cosmism of Tsiolkovsky and Bogdanov. In parallel to and prior to his contact with Marxism, Mao became occupied with the problems of immortality, alternative spaces, the destruction of the Earth, and the power of human will, and his early transhumanism only revived after 1949. It is shown that based on his revision of historical materialism and belief in the limitless potential of human powers, Mao envisaged that technological and cultural revolutions would still and endlessly occur under communism(s), including their cosmic phases, and even after a global nuclear catastrophe. This would be, however, a future of “something more advanced” than humans, free from their current physical limitations.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"43 s7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141008912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.2.195-220
Thomas Moore
{"title":"Ali je konfucianizem združljiv z laclauovskim pojmovanjem demokracije?","authors":"Thomas Moore","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.2.195-220","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.2.195-220","url":null,"abstract":"This paper will introduce a novel perspective on Confucian democracy by connecting it with Ernesto Laclau’s (2005) conception of democracy in On Populist Reason. Specifically, I argue that the normatively ideal ruler-ruled relationship in Confucian political theory can be conceptualized as the people making a radical investment in a virtuous leader. This argument will proceed in several steps. Firstly, I will provide context surrounding Confucianism and Laclau’s (2005) novel political ontology. Secondly, I will draw on the psychoanalytic work of Jacques Lacan (2001) to explore the notion of a radical investment and how it can be appealed to by politicians, rhetoricians and philosophers through their use of empty signifiers, signifiers without a fixed conceptual signified (such as MAGA or “Take Back Control”). In Laclau’s application of Lacanian psychoanalysis these represent an unachievable full harmonious community with no conflicts between different interests. I will then argue that a core part of Confucius’ political message, his constant advocacy for a virtuous ruler modelled on the Sage-Kings of the Zhou dynasty, is essentially a Laclauian conception of politics, because the Zhou kings are playing the role of empty signifiers in Confucius’ political theory. That is, they represent an unachievable ideal of a fully harmonious community. Finally, I argue that this increases Confucianism’s potential for compatibility with democracy since these psychoanalytic dynamics could be replicable in modern democracies and would be normatively desirable should a virtuous leader utilize them.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"22 S6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141010956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.1.307-321
A. Truong
{"title":"The Attitude of The Chinese and Vietnamese Ruling Class Towards Western Astronomy From the 16th to the 18th Centuries","authors":"A. Truong","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.1.307-321","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.1.307-321","url":null,"abstract":"From the 16th century to the 18th century, in order to realize the goal of promoting its propaganda and strengthening the influence of Christianity in China and Vietnam, Western missionaries, especially Jesuit missionaries, applied the method of “missionary academic” and “missionary bibliography” thoroughly, effectively and creatively. As a result, Western science and technology in general, and astronomy in particular, were gradually introduced into these two countries. The ruling class in China and Vietnam still had a few critical and negative reactions to such moves, but in general openness to and active acceptance of Western astronomical achievements were always the dominant attitudes of emperors, kings and mandarins in these two countries.On the basis of taking advantage of the original historical data sources and research achievements of Chinese, Vietnamese and international scholars, and at the same time combining the application of the research method of historical science along with other approaches, especially the comparative research method, this article will thoroughly analyse the attitude of the ruling class of China and Vietnam in receiving Western astronomy. This article also clarifies the main cause for the difference in the reception of Western astronomy by emperors, kings and mandarins in these two countries, thereby making a contribution to the study of the history of East-West cultural exchanges in China and Vietnam in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"236 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140504702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.1.7-17
Ai Yuan, Bisheng Chen
{"title":"Introduction: Towards a Communicative Encounter ‒ Traditional Chinese Philosophy in Contemporary Discourses","authors":"Ai Yuan, Bisheng Chen","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.1.7-17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.1.7-17","url":null,"abstract":"In this special issue, we present contemporary studies of traditional Chinese philosophy, born out of the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scholars who contributed to this volume sought to engage in a profound dialogue, a necessity during a time when the pandemic prevented in-person cross-border meetings. Though COVID-19 is now behind us, the impact it left on our world continues to resonate. This collection should be seen as a response to the concern that “the loss of memory and the possibility of intercultural dialogues ...will deal humanism a final, fatal blow” (Rošker 2023, 8). It encompasses a diverse array of systematic studies predominantly authored by scholars from mainland China.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"121 33","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139640344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.1.287-304
Jana S. Rošker
{"title":"Research on the Confucian Revival in Slovenia","authors":"Jana S. Rošker","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.1.287-304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.1.287-304","url":null,"abstract":"There has been a significant amount of research carried out in Slovenia on the revival of Confucianism, particularly since 2012 and 2014, when the first two research projects on this topic were approved. Members of the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, have been consistently conducting research in Slovenia and various Chinese, Taiwanese, and East Asian archives and libraries. These efforts have led to several important publications in Slovene, English, and even Chinese, and represent an ongoing commitment that continues in the present day. Therefore, it is not surprising that the present special issue of the Slovenian academic journal Asian Studies, focusing on the Confucian revival, already marks the fourth special issue in this area of research.\u0000This review article’s objective is thus to summarize the key achievements of Slovenian research in this field and provide a comprehensive overview of the diverse Slovene research activities and publications related to Modern New Confucianism. It covers not only research on the revival of Confucianism in China and the broader Sinic region, but also includes Confucian studies in other East Asian regions and the wider Sinic area.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"27 30","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140504105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.1.141-164
Kevin James Turner
{"title":"Reconstructing a Theory of Mind in the Mengzi","authors":"Kevin James Turner","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.1.141-164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.1.141-164","url":null,"abstract":"This article reconstructs a theory of mind in the Mengzi 孟子. It argues that recent studies in favor of mind-body dualism import Cartesianism through the vocabulary their arguments are couched in. This article exposes this “Cartesian language game” in order to effect a gestalt shift in our understanding of Mengzian philosophy. It then appeals to John Dewey’s conception of mind as both “minding” and “discourse” where mind is a function of attentive engagement predicated on a background of traditional values and meanings. This article then shows how the Mengzi’s concepts of ren 仁 and tian 天 contribute to a theory of mind where the former is defined as xin 心 thus to be understood as “mindful engagement” and the latter implies tradition as shared reservoir of social and cultural meaning. Through the interpretive comparison of the philosophies of the Mengzi and Dewey, we can reconstruct a Mengzian theory of mind.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"61 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140504032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.1.21-43
Wenming Tang
{"title":"Virtue Ethics, Confucian Tradition and the General Predicament of Modern Society","authors":"Wenming Tang","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.1.21-43","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.1.21-43","url":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses the nature of Confucian ethics and its tense relations with modernity through analysing the arguments contained in Chen Lai’s 陈来 Confucian Theory of Virtue. The author points out that Confucian ethical theory is a kind of virtue ethics and that the distinction between public virtue and private virtue in modern moral projects necessarily leads to the elimination of the latter by the former. This is a general predicament of virtue ethics faced by modern societies.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"31 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140504454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.1.65-85
Bisheng Chen
{"title":"How to “Do Chinese Philosophy”","authors":"Bisheng Chen","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.1.65-85","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.1.65-85","url":null,"abstract":"“Doing Chinese philosophy” as a method proposed by Chen Shaoming offers a perspective that shifts from the study of the history of Chinese philosophy to the innovation or creation of the significance of Chinese philosophy. Chen defines the “Chinese philosophy” as a philosophy that embodies the cultural spirit or experiences of China. This approach calls for an expansion of resource beyond the traditional study of the history of Chinese philosophy and seeks to bridge classical thoughts with modern life experiences. It does not advocate a metaphysical presupposition for research but accepts methodological diversity while promoting the cultivation and use of imagination. This approach also aims at envisioning a philosophy field that is rich in thought and broad in scope.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"18 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140504546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Asian StudiesPub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.4312/as.2024.12.1.115-139
Sixin Ding, Qiannan Zhao
{"title":"Newly Excavated Confucian Bamboo Manuscripts and Related Research","authors":"Sixin Ding, Qiannan Zhao","doi":"10.4312/as.2024.12.1.115-139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2024.12.1.115-139","url":null,"abstract":"The primary purpose of this article is to comprehensively survey the research on excavated Confucian texts from the past 30 years. Newly excavated Confucian manuscripts are seen in such collections as those from Guodian 郭店, Shangbo 上博, Tsinghua 清華, Anda 安大, and Haihun 海昏. In terms of their content, they each have their own focus and characteristics. Among these bamboo manuscripts there is a large number dedicated to the Shijing 詩經, the Shujing 書經, the Liji 禮記, the Yijing 易經, and to Kongzi 孔子 making them of great importance. At present, research on the Guodian and the Shangbo manuscripts is mostly completed and that into the Tsinghua collection is making large strides while research into the Anda collection is just beginning to develop. Among all this research, one of the weakest areas revolves around the explanation and discussion of Confucian thought and related problems. This includes textual evidence in the form of excavated Confucian texts that provide a foundation for “leaving behind the age of doubting antiquity” (zouchu yigu shidai 走出疑古時代) and the related debates carried out by scholars are beneficial to transmitting and revising this theory.","PeriodicalId":516765,"journal":{"name":"Asian Studies","volume":"232 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140504705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}