The Inheritance and Spreading of Confucianism in Modern China and South Korea

Confucianism has influenced the regulating of family relations, the maintaining of social order, and the promoting of national spirit for thousands of years in the East Asian cultural circle. Though Confucianism originates in China, it is not inherited and spread as successful as in South Korea nowadays. This study applies the qualitative analysis to investigate the underlying reasons for different situations of Confucian cultural preservation between modern China and South Korea. The findings are (1) compared with China where several radical movements in modern times started from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement have dealt a serious blow to the status of Confucianism, Korean witnessed a rather moderate process of Confucianism development. (2) Korea lays great emphasis on moral education of Confucianism, while academic achievement seems to be prioritized in China’s teaching activities. (3) Korea takes full advantage of mass media to popularize Confucianism, the degree of which hasn’t been realized in China. These practices in Korea shed light on China to better improve the culture soft power embodied in Confucianism in modernization. Keywords—Confucianism; cultural inheritance and spreading; culture soft power; China; South Korea