Qin Jiayi's Viewpoint Of Confucianism

Qin Jiayi (Julia Ching) was a famous chinese sinologist, religious scholar and philosopher of Canada.She achieved a great accomplishment in Religion, Philosophy and East Asian studies, especially in the realms of Confucian tradition and Neo-Confucianism.Based on chinese ancient religious traditions and the religious background of Confucianism, Ching concludes that the Confucian school exercises a critical and selective function in inheriting and transmitting the legacy of ancient religion.Her assertion is that a striving for moral and spiritual perfection, for authenticity, and for self-transcendence marks both philosophy and religion in chinese Confucian tradition.Ching argues that transcendence and immanence are compatible in confucian tradition which is both religious and hunmanistic,and a humanism open to religion like Confucianism will tend to emphasise human striving. Nevertheless, the interaction between transcendence and immanence is itself present in such striving.She considers that mysticism as a method of self-cultivation in Confucian tradition and Neo-Confucianism could be helpful on understanding confucianism's characteristic of religion.Ching also points out that the early confucian tradition represents an ethically inspired humanist movement and it is full of motivations with ethical and rational tendency.Neo-Confucianism is considered as China's response to Buddhist influences; and the legacy of syncretism represents the fruits of union between the native and the non-native which bring it a metaphysics of morality as well as a philosophical spirituality. This will enable us to focus clearly on the religious character of ancient chinese society, explain the early development of Chinese humanism and highlight its religious dimension.Ching does not completely confirm with Confucianism, but takes an analytic attitude on it. She stresses Confucianism in the history of chinese culture has made a tremendous contribution to the chinese society. In Ching's opinion, could Confucianism take a positive, or negative role will decided by Confucianism could, or not, promote its ethical humanist thought and the spirit of self-transcendence, and become an effective theory of our pluralistic society conciously.