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Sébastien Billioud et Joël Thoraval

The Contemporary Revival of Confucianism

Anshen liming or the Religious Dimension of Confucianism

p. 88-106

Ce document sera publié en ligne en texte intégral le 1 juillet 2011.

Résumé

Since the beginning of the century, the resurgence in Mainland China of what is referred to as “Confucianism” has included a “religious” dimension. The term “religious” is here used to characterise a variety of explorations where the quest for “inner peace” also echoes a concern for individual or collective destiny (anshen liming). In order to understand these phenomena better, this article first examines an individual story that provides insight into what a Confucian religious experience may be today. This example is then placed within the context of shifting categories (religion, philosophy, science) once accepted as self-evident but now being questioned by elites and other groups in society. Finally, to give a sense of various explicit projects oriented towards achieving recognition of Confucianism as an official and institutionalised religion, the article analyses three such efforts seeking to institute Confucianism either as a “religion on par with other official religions,” as the “state religion,” or as “civil religion.”

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Référence électronique

Sébastien Billioud et Joël Thoraval, « The Contemporary Revival of Confucianism », China perspectives, n°2008/3, 2008, [En ligne], mis en ligne le 1 juillet 2011. URL : http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/document4123.html. Consulté le 26 novembre 2009.

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