Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity and Chinese Cultures (Ser. III, Vol. 3) (Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series III: Asia)

Though I had never dreamed of publishing a collection of my papers in English, this volume, entitled Chinese Culture and Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism (Taoism) and Christianity, is now ready to go to press. The papers reflect the current trend to relate the different cultures of each nationality, country and region within a broader global culture. In such a situation an understanding of Chinese culture becomes especially important. Thus far, however, because mainly written in Chinese, very few works on Chinese culture by scholars from mainland China have been generally available. It is my hope that by making some of that work available in English this book can enable people outside China to know both the work done by Chinese scholars and specific aspects of Chinese culture.The book is a collection of some of my papers published in China between 1982 and 1988 and some lectures delivered outside China during the same period. It consists of four parts: Part I reflects my general views regarding the structure of Chinese philosophy in terms of its categories and treatment of the true, the good and the beautiful, as well as its recent progress and future prospects. Part II is my evaluation of Confucianism. The article entitled An Inquiry into the Possibility of the Third Phase Development of Confucianism was originally a lecture at The Seventeenth World Congress of Philosophy, and on the whole, represents my viewpoint of recent years toward traditional Chinese philosophy. In The Problem of Harmonious Communities in Ancient China, I try to sort out the positive and negative influence of Confucian philosophy upon Chinese society and to indicate that the ideal of a harmonious society can always heighten the spiritual level of people. Part III concerns the native religion of China, Daoism (Taoism), the study of which helps highlight certain characteristics of Chinese culture. Part IV concerns the introduction of Buddhism and Christianity into China. The two papers on the introduction of Buddhism attempt to describe the impact and dynamics of the introduction of a foreign culture. The Attempt of Matteo Ricci to Link Chinese and Western Culture concerns the introduction of Western culture into China. As China is still facing problematic tensions between foreign and traditional cultures these studies of the introduction of Buddhism and Christianity into China may hold special interest. The Appendices are outlines of talks at the University of Oregon.In sum, all my research is aimed at exploring the problem of cultural development at a time when traditional Chinese culture is moving towards modernization.Because the papers and talks in this collection were written at different times and translated into English by different people there are inevitable variations on style and expression. Nevertheless, the text promises to convey well my original ideas.