Anna Sun, Confucianism as a World Religion: Contested Histories and Contemporary Realities

摘要

Scholars interested in the philosophy of religion or Chinese cultural history might struggle with the ultimate question of is Confucianism a religion? Earlier Western scholars such as Max Weber, Friedrich Max Miiller, and James Legge contended that Confucianism is a religion. Since then, Confucianism has long been accepted in the West as one of the major religions in the world. However, in China, most Chinese consider Confucianism to be a philosophy. In her latest book, Confucianism as a World Religion, Anna Sun enters this debate to untangle the confusions and controversies over the religious nature of Confucianism. Instead of offering "an open-and-shut definition" of whether Confucianism is a religion, Sun adopts a "value-neutral" position to tackle the question "how Confucianism has been constructed and contested as a religion by various social forces" and to probe into "the diverse cultural, political, and institutional processes underlining debates and conflicts" (p. 8-9).