Confucianism and Spiritual Traditions in Modern China and Beyond. Edited by Fenggang Yang and Joseph Tamney. Brill, November 11, 2011. 355 pages. ISBN-10: 9004212396 ISBN-13: 978-9004212398
摘要
“This thoroughly interdisciplinary volume can be read both as a collection of source materials (data) on Confucianism and as a sample of engaged discussion of Confucianism and other spiritual traditions in China and beyond.” The title and preceding description point to weaknesses of this book, which reflect its origin as a conference volume—namely, it sacrifices focus and coherence to include a breadth of material. It is one of two books produced by the 2008 Beijing Summit on Chinese Spirituality and Society funded by the Templeton Foundation. One of the meanings of “interdisciplinary” is the inclusion of exegetical chapters by philosophers and theologians, which include prescriptions like “Confucianism should adopt the idea of external transcendence featured in Christianity.” At the heart of the volume are eight chapters dealing with Confucianism, including three examining its revival in post‐Mao China (these are among the most valuable), four of the exegetical variety (three by Boston Confucians), and one historical. The chapters on other traditions are generally valuable with the exception of a philosophical examination of Buddhism that was simply not ready for publication; it most egregiously conflates emptiness (kong) with annihilation (duan). The chapter on Daoism in modernity (originally written as an introduction to Palmer and Liu's Daoism in the 20th Century) is a great overview of salient issues. A chapter on Hui Muslims offers an informative historical overview. Ultimately, this volume brings together several excellent essays that contribute to our understanding of Chinese religion in the twentieth and twenty‐first centuries.
