Chen Huanzhang's Research On Confucianism (before 1917)

Chen Huan-chang was an important Confucian thinker in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,and he was also a famous doer in the Confucian movement at that time.Chen Huan-chang was deeply influenced by Confucianism since childhood.After entering the Myriad Trees Academy to learn from Kang Youwei,he was deeply influenced by Kang Youwei's Confucian thought,and formally established his life direction with advocating Confucianism as his lifelong occupation.Chen Huan-chang was one of the last batch of Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty.He also studied in the Department of Political Economy of Columbia University,and received his doctorate degree in 1911.He was one of the few people who were both versed in Chinese and Western learning and had considerable literacy.The dual knowledge structure of Chinese and Western learning makes Chen Huan-chang's Confucian thought more modern than Kang Youwei,and makes him outstanding in the Confucian school in the early Republic of China.This thesis discusses Chen Huan-chang's thoughts,especially his Confucian thoughts,based on his life,activities and the era he lived in,focusing on his three main works,namely,The Economic Principles of Confucius and His School,The Discussion of Confucianism and Administering State Affairs Under the Instructions of Confucius.The last of these three works,Administering State Affairs Under the Instructions of Confucius,was written in 1917,and the Confucianism movement also ended in 1917,so the research of this thesis also ends in 1917.However,the discussion in some places in the text will also be carried out in connection with Chen Huan-chang's later writings and activities.The Economic Principles of Confucius and His School is Chen Huan-chang's doctoral dissertation.This is the first work in modern China to systematically study Confucian economic thought,and it was highly praised by Western academic circles after its publication.In this book,Chen Huan-chang reinterprets the Confucian view of justice and interests and the four groups,in order to establish the connection between Confucianism and modernity,and to make Confucian economic thought practical and applicable to the needs of the era of capitalist modernization.By reinterpreting Confucian economic thought,Chen Huan-chang hopes to preserve Confucianism and promote Confucianism on the one hand,while removing ideological obstacles for the development of capitalism in China,and limiting or eliminating the drawbacks of capitalist development with Confucian economic thought.In 1912,on the eve of the establishment of the Confucian Association,Chen Huan-chang was invited by Gilbert Reid to Shang xian tang to deliver speeches entitled "On Confucianism as a Religion" and "On China Today Should Be Advocating Confucianism".These two speeches were published under the title The Discussion of Confucianism.In The Discussion of Confucianism,on the one hand,Chen Huan-chang followed Kang Youwei's Confucian thought,discussed that Confucianism is a religion,and responded to the controversy over the religious nature of Confucianism in the ideological circle since the beginning of the 20 th century;on the other hand,Chen Huan-chang used the concepts of human rights,equality,independence,freedom,patriotism,socialism to integrate Chinese and Western learning,explained the modern value of Confucianism,and initially proposed a plan to improve Confucianism in order to find a way out for Confucianism in the process of modernization.In February 1912,Chen Huan-chang returned to Shanghai and witnessed the current situation of abandoning Confucianism in China.Afterwards,he received instructions from Kang Youwei,so he contacted a group of the old adherents to the collapsed Qing Dynasty to establish a Confucian Association in Shanghai.After the establishment of the Confucius Assiciation,under the promotion and advocacy of Chen Huan-chang and others,branches were established one after another.Chen Huan-chang even had the idea that if he wanted to pursue the great cause of Confucianism,he had to unify the national Confucian forces,so he actively contacted influential Confucian organizations from all over the world,and wanted them to join the Confucian Association.Chen Huan-chang particularly emphasized the importance of the name "Confucianism".He believes that Confucianism integrates education,enlightenment,and religion,and is based on religion.Only by acknowledging the religious nature of Confucianism and establishing the status of Confucius as the leader can we truly respect Confucius and allow the people to accept the teachings of Confucianism effectively.Kang Youwei,Chen Huan-chang and others launched two Confucian movements in the early Republic of China,and they wanted to establish Confucianism as the state religion through legislation.Once the state religion proposal was put forward,it became the focus of debate in the Congress and sparked fierce debate in all sectors of society.In order to promote the state religion movement,Chen Huan-chang needs to answer the doubts of opponents theoretically.To this end,he not only systematically discussed the rationality and necessity of establishing Confucianism as the state religion,but also made a lot of expositions on the relationship between the state religion and freedom of religious belief,as well as the relationship between the state religion and political stability and national unity.However,Chen Huan-chang's state religion proposition was not realistic in the early Republic of China.There were obvious differences within Confucianism on whether Confucianism was a religion.In addition,the political circles were also wary of Kang Youwei's faction taking advantage of Confucianism to develop its political power.Therefore,the state religion proposal proposed by Chen Huan-chang and others made Confucianism the target of public criticism,so the failure was inevitable.In response to the chaotic current situation of political disorder,social anomie and moral degeneration in the early Republic of China,Chen Huan-chang explained in detail the relationship between Confucianism,morality and politics.He emphasized that only by respecting Confucianism can we resolve the many drawbacks of China's republican politics.Chen Huan-chang wanted to distance himself from politics,but he called on Yuan Shikai to sacrifice to heaven and Confucius in the early Republic of China,and offered advice and suggestions for him.Therefore,Chen Huan-chang is often misunderstood as having something to do with the restoration of the imperial system.In fact,Chen Huan-chang was not very interested in political power.He clearly opposed the party struggle,and he was clearly critical of Yuan Shikai's restoration of the monarchy.Chen Huan-chang supported the republic system,and his purpose of advocating offering sacrifices to heaven was to elevate the status of Confucius and realize his religious ideals.And his modern interpretation of Confucianism is to make Confucianism applicable to China in the republican age.Administering State Affairs Under the Instructions of Confucius was written by Chen Huanzhang at the invitation of the Carnegie Peace Foundation.It is the first work by Chinese scholars to systematically discuss Chinese theories of peace and war and systematically study ancient Chinese international law from a global perspective.In this book,Chen Huan-chang fully discusses the modern value of the Confucian doctrine of peace and the doctrine of "international law".In the way of argumentation,he still adopts the method of interpreting middle school based on the framework of Western knowledge,which he is good at.On the one hand,Chen Huan-chang hoped to expand the influence of Confucianism in the international community,so as to achieve the purpose of enriching Confucianism.On the other hand,under the background of World War I at that time,Chen Huan-chang hoped that the wisdom of Confucianism could play a positive role in promoting international peace and stabilizing the international order.In short,Chen Huan-chang devoted his whole life to advocate Confucianism and devoted himself to finding ways to preserve Confucianism in the process of modernization.Chen Huan-chang's interpretation of Confucianism is open to discussion,but he adapts to the trend of the times and reinterprets Confucianism to give Confucianism new life and vitality,so as to realize the modern transformation of Confucianism,which is also a cultural innovation path worthy of attention.His painstaking efforts are worthy of sympathy,and his efforts are worthy of recognition.