Zhang Yanchao

(Religion Department of University of Florida, Gainesville Florida America)

Ⅰ.Introduction

From the Renaissance to the eighteenth century,orientalism prevailed throughout Europe.During that era,European scholars became obsessed with everything of the Orient,studying its politics,cultures,and religions.Among the oriental countries,China became a particular focal point of fascination.Praise and admiration of China were prevalent among the writings of well-known scholars during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.China was imagined as a romantic and utopian “other,” even to the extent that some regarded it as a model for what Europe could become.European images of China cover a variety of themes,including history,politics,culture,and art as well as exquisite artifacts.Just as L.S.Stavrianos notes in A Global History,“the westerners were entranced as they learned of China’s history,art,philosophy,and government,and China came to be held up as a model civilization because of its Confucian system of morals,its examination system for government service,its respect for learning rather than for military prowess,and its exquisite handicrafts,including porcelain,silk,and lacquer work.”〔1〕The primary concern of this paper,however,is to explore Western images of Confucianism,the dominant Chinese cultural ideology.

The history of exploring and imagining Chinese Confucianism can be traced back to the Augustinian priest Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza (1545-1618),who was the pioneer in formulating western images of Confucianism.In his famous book,The Great and Mighty History of China,which was published in 1585,he described China in terms of “the intelligence of the government and of the provinces,” and he also noted “the commodities of the territories and provinces.”〔2〕In terms of his regard for Confucianism,Mendoza was much impressed by the moral virtue reflected by Confucian officials,as he says,“the Confucian officials generally have a marvelous moral virtue,and that is,they are all very patient in hearing any complaint.”〔3〕Driven by his motive of searching for Christian elements in China,Mendoza focuses on religious aspects of Confucianism rather than Confucian rationalism.He highlights that Chinese people believe in the existence of soul as well as heaven and hell,as he observed that “they believe of the soul and of the reward or punishment which they shall have in the other life.”〔4〕However,only dozens of years later in the seventeenth century,Confucian rationalism became a dominant Western image of Confucianism.

As we will see,two factors played a key role in the formation of Confucian rationalism.The first was the Jesuit missionaries who collected much detailed information about Confucianism,and the second was Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire,Christian Wolff,and Leibniz who contributed to shifting the image of Confucianism more clearly into popular awareness in the Age of Enlightenment.Even though there were some harsh critics of Chinese culture,the romanticized image of the rational and moral aspects of Confucianism prevailed throughout Europe until at least the end of eighteenth century.Nevertheless,this glorified image of Confucianism was broken up by some European thinkers such as Herder and Hegel.

This paper is a study of western images of Confucianism from the sixteenth century to nineteenth century.To have a solid understanding of the process and features in terms of western images of Confucianism,I start with the significant role of European missionaries,who contributed to the collection of Confucian information and first well-defined images of Confucianism.The second section explores how Enlightenment scholars interpreted the image of Confucianism as an ideal of natural theory and practical morality.This glorified image of Confucianism,I argue in the third section,was terminated by Hegel and Herder,who described Confucian tradition as childish and static tradition that was inferior to European culture.All these Western images of Confucianism,I analyze in the last section,are expressions of European self-presentation,self-confirmation and self-criticism.

Ⅱ.Significant role of european missionaries in constructing the image of confucianism

As Edmund Leites points out,“Europeans owe their first well-defined image of Confucianism to the Jesuit mission to China.”〔5〕Although the agenda behind Christian missionaries’ information collecting on Confucianism was to search for Christian elements in dominant Chinese ideology,namely Confucianism,they did play a considerable role in shaping the early Western images of Confucianism.

1.Source of confucianism collected by jesuit missionaries

Christian missionaries collected and distributed a great deal of information on Confucianism to Europe through two routes.First,Christian missionaries sent back a variety of reports and letters on Confucianism to their European colleagues,which were widely accessible to Europe through their published collections.Second,Christian missionaries also actively engaged in translating the Confucian classics into Latin,which were similarly published in Europe.

From the late sixteenth century to eighteenth century,Christian missionaries,and in particular Jesuit missionaries,sent back a vast amount of reports,letters,and travel notes to Europe on every aspect of Chinese history and contemporary conditions.〔6〕First beginning with Matteo Ricci’s 1583 arrival in China,this missionary dedicated himself to learning the Chinese language and customs,collecting first-hand information of Chinese culture through his diaries in the process.After Ricci’s death,his diaries were sent back to Rome by Father Nicholas Trigault,who translated them into Latin.The Latin version of Ricci’s diaries was published in 1615 and became easily accessible to educated Europeans in seventeenth century.〔7〕Following in Ricci’s footprints,in the second half of seventeenth century and all the eighteenth century,Jesuit missionaries continuously imported a large amount of accounts of China and Confucianism to Europe.〔8〕During that era,the most important work on China was The General History of China edited by Jean-Baptiste Du Halde,which was based on all letters written by Jesuit missionaries in China (1709-43).〔9〕This work served as a crucial European source of the image of China as a culture and a nation.This has been attested by the fact that seventeenth to eighteenth century European scholars “referred to China and relied on Du Halde as a principal source.”〔10〕

In addition to the reports and letters written by Christian missionaries,Chinese classics translated by missionaries played a key role in formulating the image of Confucianism for Europe.To some extent,Jesuit missionaries were crucial in constructing a Western version of the Confucian canon and textual-centered Confucianism.〔11〕The translation project was first initiated by Matteo Ricci,who translated the Four Books,the central text of Confucianism,into Latin in 1594.The most influential Western version of the Confucian classics was The Morals of Confucius:A Chinese Philosopher translated by Jesuit missionary Philippe Couplet in 1687.This version includes Analects,Doctrine of the Mean,and The Great Learning.Much more noteworthy is the introduction of the book,which presents Confucius as a teacher and scholar rather than a religious leader.It was followed by Jesuit Francois Noel’s translation of the Six Classics in 1711,which included the Four Books,the Classic of Filial Piety,and Elementary Learning.By the end of the seventeenth century,Confucian classics were widely accessible to Europe and further translated into five,and some suggest up to nine,languages.〔12〕These books served as precious sources from which eighteenth century Enlightenment scholars could construct their image of Confucianism.

2.The image of confucianism constructed by european missionaries

As stated above,the record of missionary reports and translated Confucian texts shows that Jesuit missionaries successfully transmitted large amounts of information concerning Confucianism to Europe and,as a result,presented a Jesuit vision of Confucianism to Europe.The picture of Confucianism represented in Jesuit sources can be summarized in two points as follow.

First,Jesuits divide Confucianism into two parts,classical Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism.〔13〕In Jesuits’ view,Classical Confucianism embodies the elements of natural religion,which derives some truths of God from human reason.As Ricci states in his Journal,classical Confucianism considered “heaven and earth to be animated things that their common soul was worshipped as a supreme deity… they also taught that the light of reason came from heaven and that the dictates of reason should be hearkened to in every human action.”〔14〕A similar expression can be found in Du Halde’s General History of China,which states that classical Confucianism “honors the sovereign Lord of the Universe and lives according to the principles of the law of nature written in their hearts.”〔15〕Concerning Neo-Confucianism,most missionaries viewed Neo-Confucianism as philosophically materialistic and atheistic,and thereby it is not compatible with a theistic God.For example,Du Halde emphasizes the philosophical aspect of Neo-Confucianism as follows:

The philosophical aspect of Neo-Confucianism,they give the first principle of the name of Taiji,which they say its extension is infinite,its nature pure and perfect,it is the idea,the model,and the source of all things.The natural reason,they say li,is the composition of all natural bodies,and specificates and distinguished one thing from another.〔16〕

Second,Jesuits missionaries highlighted the ethical and social values of Confucianism,claiming that they are solely responsible for the achievement of Chinese civilization,government,and social peace.These ethical truths were compatible to that of Christianity:“The ultimate purpose and the general intention of this sect,the Literati,is public peace and order in the kingdom.The precepts Confucians formulate are certainly directive to such ends and quite in conformity with the light of conscience and with Christian truth.”〔17〕Ricci and others pointed to cross-cultural moral concepts such as respecting parents and treating others humanely as being derivative of Christianity,or at least incidental to Confucianism,and that therefore any moral good in Confucianism was,in fact,a reflection of the moral good of Christianity.

Why did Jesuit missionaries attempt to transmit these moral and rational aspects of Confucianism to Europe?This image of Confucianism formulated by Jesuit missionaries is inseparable from their religious agenda,which is the motive of searching for Christian elements in Confucianism,such as moral and political values,played a considerable role in shaping the Jesuit vision of Confucianism.〔18〕Similarly,the reference to a natural light of reason and the discovery of a natural conception of God reflect the missionary agenda.By relating a natural god mentioned in Confucian Classics to Christian God,Jesuits missionaries established an affinity between Christianity and Confucianism and thereby gained support from the Confucian elite to propagate Christianity in China.Additionally,Jesuits’ description of Confucianism and their writings on Chinese culture provided precious sources for Enlightenment scholars,thereby laying the foundation for the Enlightenment vision of Confucianism.

Ⅲ.Enlightenment scholars’ vision of confucianism:an ideal for natural theology and practical morality

By the eighteenth century,the Enlightenment defined the dominant school of thought throughout Europe.The primary concern of Enlightenment scholars was to determine the role of reason in human affairs,especially concerning the nature and purpose of government and the virtues of rulers.〔19〕In their discussion of these issues,Enlightenment scholars turned their attention to non-Western countries,especially China and India.Enlightenment thinkers regarded China,and in particular Confucianism,as a model by which Europe could follow.As will be discussed below,the major case of promoting the value of Confucianism became a main theme for Enlightenment scholars such as Leibniz,Christian Wolff,and Voltaire.The image of Confucianism described by these scholars can be summarized into two points as follow:Confucianism as an excellent example of a natural religion distinct from revealed Christianity;the moral and political teachings of Confucianism as an ideal for Europe.

1.A Model for Natural Theology

As stated before,the Jesuit missionaries describe Confucianism as a natural religion in their reports,which allows for the existence of God through human reasoning.To discover a preexisting idea of God in Chinese tradition is the motivation for Jesuits to do missionary work in China.As Halbfass points out,this image of Confucianism,“which the Jesuits passed on fit those religious and philosophical tendencies of the Enlightenment that are subsumed under the term Deism.”〔20〕

Enlightenment scholars,in particular Leibnitz,see Confucianism as a model for a natural theory that the Chinese rationally derive a belief in God through observing the universe and reflecting on the human condition.Leibniz’s famous work,titled the Discourse on the Natural Theology of the Chinese (1716),provides a clear picture of how Leibniz approaches Confucianism in terms of natural theology.〔21〕

Influenced by Jesuit missionaries,Leibniz claims that classical Confucianism contains a natural theology or knowledge of God,as he says,“it renews the natural law inscribed in our hearts — except for what revelation and grace add to it to improve our nature.”〔22〕Based on the fact that classical Confucianism is consistent with Christianity,and thereby worthy of European respect:

There is in China a public morality admirable in certain regards,conjoined to a philosophical doctrine,or rather a natural theology,venerable by its antiquity,established and authorized for about 3000 years,long before the philosophy of the Greeks.〔23〕

In terms of the New-Confucianism,Leibniz reinterprets the essential concept of Neo-Confucianism,the principle,as an expression of natural theory.He says that “the principle is the prime mover and ground of all things,and which I believe corresponds to our Divinity.Now it is impossible to understand this with reference to a thing purely passive,brutish and indifferent to all,and consequently without order,like matter.”〔24〕This explanation conflicts with the image of Neo-Confucianism described by missionaries,who criticized Neo-Confucianism as being materialistic,by pointing out how the classical Confucian notion of a personal deity was distorted by Neo-Confucian interpreters.〔25〕

Leibniz is by no means alone in admiring the natural theology reflected by Confucianism.Voltaire (1694-1778) follows Leibniz’s approach and praises Confucianism as a religion and ethics based on reason,not the revelation and miracle valued by Christianity.〔26〕Based on Jesuit translations of the Confucian Classics,〔27〕Voltaire interprets Confucianism as an example of deism,which highlights the role of the sage Confucius.According to Voltaire,Confucius serves as a magistrate to transmit the ancient laws,which are based on virtues that derived from human reason,not from divine sources or supernatural inspiration.Basically,Voltaire interprets Confucius as the ideal Deist who had found a natural religion.〔28〕

2.Practical Morality and Political Ideal

In addition to Confucianism as a model of natural theology,another feature of its Enlightenment image is that Confucianism could be an ethical and political ideal for Europe.This admiration of moral and political aspects of Confucianism appears in the writings of several monumental European figures such as Leibniz,Christian Wolff,and Voltaire.

In his famous preface to the Novissima Sinica (Latest News from China) written in 1697,Leibniz manifests his high admiration of the practical philosophy provided by Confucianism.Specifically,Leibniz suggests that Europeans should learn the practical philosophy from China,by which he means the adaption of Confucian ethics and politics to live a good life,as he claims that the “Chinese surpass us in practical philosophy,that is,in the precepts of ethics and politics adapted to the present life and use of morals…the laws of Chinese are directed to the achievement of public tranquility and the establishment of social order,so that men shall be disrupted in their relations as little as possible.”〔29〕

As a younger contemporary and friend of Leibniz,Christian Wolff (1679-1754) shares a similar idea.His approach to Confucianism focuses on the practical morality of Confucianism.Wolff’s praise of Confucianism’s moral aspect is presented in his well-known lecture,titled Discourse on the Practical Philosophy of the Chinese,in 1721.〔30〕In this lecture,Wolff admires Confucianism as an example of natural morality,a system of ethics that claims that reasonable men are born with an inclination for right action and hence do not depend on religious faith to live moral lives.Wolff continuously points out that the Confucian tradition,which heavily features human reason and natural philosophy,contributes to the Chinese reputation for brilliant intellectual and cultural achievement.Specifically,Wolff emphasizes that the Confucian conceptions of duties and virtues originate from nature rather than revelation,and that the ability of Confucians to distinguish between good and evil is rooted in reason rather than divine guidance.

In addition,Wolff is impressed by the political values proponed by Confucianism.These themes are covered in another famous lecture from 1730,“On the Philosopher King and the Ruling Philosopher.” In this lecture,Wolff admires China as the outstanding model for enlightened despotism.Specifically,Wolff claims that China is a country governed by philosophical elite,namely Confucians,and that Confucian virtues have a significant impact on Chinese rulers.He says in this lecture:

This is the case of the Chinese,among whom Kings were Philosophers,and Philosophers Kings… The Chinese Emperors were furnished with a Stock of Philosophy and by its means they modeled their Government… Again the Chinese had a Custom,as appeared from the works of Confucius and Mencius,in things of an arduous nature to consult the philosophers… What the love of truth,which philosophy itself inspires,can effect in Rulers,the Chinese Emperors.〔31〕

Like Leibniz and Wolff,Voltaire argues that China is a model enlightened government where the emperor follows the rational and political values of Confucianism.This praise is due to the fact that Confucian officials perform a role which seems close to Voltaire’s political ideal that is “an absolute monarchy in which the monarch was guided by sage and incorruptible counselors.”〔32〕

As stated above,the Enlightenment vision of Confucianism contains two aspects.First,Confucianism was viewed as the natural faith of deism,which is deeply rooted in human reason;second,the ethical and political values of Confucianism based solely on natural light of reason were considered as a social and political model for Europe.It is worth noting that this image of Confucianism is not so much the real Confucianism as it is an imagined one that conforms to European visions of rational perfection.This vision of Confucianism remains consistent with that of Jesuit missionaries conveyed to Europe through reports and translations of Chinese texts.

Ironically,the Enlightenment scholars,whose perspectives and agenda were greatly different from the Jesuits,have played a crucial role in transmitting the Jesuit version of Confucianism to Europe.〔33〕As stated in previous section,Jesuit missionaries,their emphasis on the moral and political aspects of Confucianism was due to their motive of searching for Christian elements in Confucianism and propagating Christianity in China.Concerning the Enlightenment scholars,the natural theology as well as ethical and political values embodied by Confucianism served as significant vehicles to reflect the ethical dilemmas posed by religious division.Confucianism played an important role in “furthering religious skepticism,in fighting dogmatism,in the secularization of ethics,and in strengthening the trends toward naturalism in social and political theories as well as religion.”〔34〕

In spite of their different concerns,the Enlightenment scholars assimilated the Jesuits’ image of Confucianism and thereby used it as a mirror to criticize and change European religious,social,and political forms.Correspondingly,Enlightenment scholars became the popular image-constructors of European Confucianism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.As we will see,however,Western image of Confucianism shifted decisively away from a glorified ideal to a negative image.

Ⅳ.Western images of confucianism in the nineteenth century

European fascination of Confucianism was prevalent throughout Europe until the late eighteenth century.With the development of technology and imperialism,European images of Chinese culture and Confucianism underwent an obvious transformation.Where they had begun as a moral and political model,they came to be regarded as merely a declining and stagnant tradition.During this era,several European thinkers played key roles in constructing this depleted image of Confucianism,such as Johann Herder and Hegel.

In his well-known writing titled Another Philosophy of History for the Education of Mankind (parts 1-4,published from 1784 to 1791),Johann Herder (1744-1803) describes Confucian culture in China as infantile,unalterable,and degenerative.This image of Confucianism is inseparable from his understanding of human history.In Herder’s view,Providence’s grand design has seen to it that human history experienced an organic development from ancient times (the Orient,Egypt,Greece,and Rome) to the 14th century.〔35〕The development of mankind started in the Orient and featured the patriarch,which is the infant stage of human history.As the infant grew up to become a schoolboy,the oriental world gave way to Egypt,where the authority of law and social rank emerged.The next stage of human history is Greece,featuring republican freedom,which represents the youth of mankind.Then history reached its manhood in Rome and was replaced by “the new,stronger plants of the north,the Germanic tribes.”〔36〕Finally,the development of world enters “an epoch of light more agreeable to the Renaissance.”〔37〕As one leading figure of Romanticism,Herder may tend to glorify the Orient as the infant state of human history,which was innocent and pure.However,he did not believe that human history should return to it.Although mankind has been born in Asia,it reached its adulthood only in the continent of Europe.

Couched firmly in his viewpoint of human history,Herder sets forth his understanding of Chinese culture concerning the ethical and political values of Confucianism.According to Herder,the ethical values of Confucianism have been losing their essence since ancient times and are accordingly marked by a gradual deterioration.He claims that “petty ceremonies have taken the place of cordial truth,selfish hypocrisy and violent struggles between emperors and citizens have replaced filial piety and natural morals,and social humanity gave way to oppressive patriarchal principles and authoritarianism.”〔38〕Moreover,by European standards,Chinese culture “has stayed put in the same spot for thousands of years.”〔39〕Specifically,its moral and legal books “go on and on in circles,and say in a hundred ways,precisely and carefully,with steady hypocrisy always the same things about childish duties.”〔40〕This childish and stagnant image expands to every aspects of Chinese culture,as he claims “Chinese astronomy and music,poetry and the military arts,painting and architecture are now as they were centuries ago,children of their eternal laws and unalterable,childish institutions.”〔41〕Finally,he concludes that “the empire is an embalmed mummy,painted with hieroglyphs and wrapped in silk;its internal cycle is like the life of the sleeping winter animals.”〔42〕

The image of Chinese culture,including Confucianism,presented in Herder’s writings is inseparable from that of the Enlightenment.His version of Confucianism can be viewed as a negative response to the Enlightenment glorification of the Orient.His description of Confucianism is an expression of his critique of the contemporary Western fascination of the Orient.As Herder says,the popular image of Confucianism as a tradition of a benevolent patriarchal order,religious tolerance,and moral laws is “an artificial construct,a one-sided,subjective idealization”:

If each of these circumstances had provided itself and each fundamental law would actually be practiced,could one imagine a more perfect state constitution?The entire empire would be an edifice of virtuous,well-bred,diligent,proper,happy children and brethren… everyone knows the advantageous depictions of the Chinese state constitution that were sent to Europe especially by the missionaries,and admired here almost as political ideals not only by speculative philosophers but even by statesmen.〔43〕

Moreover,this image of Confucianism was further reinforced by Hegel.As Halbfass notes,Hegel’s interest in the Orient was also a critique of the romanticized and idealized Orient promoted by the Romantics,who praised the Orient as the pure and innocent origin of the whole of human culture.Hegel’s approach to the Orient is similar to that of Herder in that it is based on his understanding of “an irreversible direction of history.”〔44〕As Hegel mentions in his famous lectures on “The History of Philosophy” (1805-1830),the Orient is the beginning,while the Occident is absolutely the end of world history.In Hegel’s view,world history is the travel of world spirit from the East to the West.Under this theory of world history,the Occident has completely superseded the Orient.Hegel further interprets Asia as a static,petrified past,representing “quietism,” “mysticism,” and “meditative” withdrawal.Compared to Asia,European history,characterized by the dynamics of progress,unfolds the consciousness of individual freedom and concrete evolution of human autonomy.In general,Hegel sees that Europe has superiority over the rest of the world,especially the Orient,in terms of intellectual,moral,and religious aspects.

Hegel incorporated Chinese philosophy into his lecture on the history of philosophy in 1825,in which he presents his understanding of Confucianism.He claims that Confucianism mainly deals with morality while not touching upon speculative philosophy:“Confucian teachings are not without spirit,but there is nothing outstanding about them...His books reveal a good understanding of the affairs of man.However,he deals mainly with popular morality.”〔45〕Thus,in Hegel’s view,Confucius is just a moralist rather than a moral philosopher.In terms of the Analects,the central canon of Confucianism,he argues that the Analects are similar to the proverbs of Solomon,saying “what he is talking about in this book focuses on general morality… It is easy for us to find this kind of morality in many other nations.Maybe they are much better than that of Confucius.”〔46〕Finally,he concludes that “Confucius’ moral teachings are good and honest,but nothing more than that… He was definitely not a speculative thinker.”〔47〕

As stated before,the image of Confucianism constructed by Herder and Hegel is entirely different from that of Enlightenment,as it is viewed as a childish,unchangeable,and degenerate tradition.The moral and political values admired by Enlightenment scholars are devalued as unoriginal morality and corrupt despotism.This negative image of Confucianism became dominant in the nineteenth century Europe and was strongly reinforced by encyclopedias.〔48〕According to the entries on China in the Encyclopedia Britannica,Chinese culture is regarded as “exotic,backward,only semi-civilized.” In terms of the political system supported by Confucian values,it is described as a corrupt patriarchal despotism:“the emperor holds autocratic sway over his household… whom he will he slays,and whom he will he keeps alive.”〔49〕Moreover,the moral virtues valued by Confucians,such as the love of a child or the fidelity of a subject,tend to dwindle into weaknesses.

Why did such an important shift in the European treatment of Confucianism take place in the late eighteenth century?The description of unchangeable and degenerate Confucian values is an integral part of European construction of the cultural “other.”

Ⅴ.The western images of confucianism as orientalist discourse

In Orientalism,Said points out that the Orient is not only geographically adjacent to Europe,it is also a place imagined and constructed by Europe.“The Orient is an integral part of European material civilization and culture,”〔50〕and “the Orient is not an inert fact of nature which as both geographical and cultural entities—to say nothing of historical entities— such locales,regions,geographical sectors as Orient and Occident are man-made.”〔51〕For centuries,the content of the Western image of Confucianism has undergone some changes,but the nature of Western perception still remains the same.

Based on what we have seen,the western image of Confucianism can be traced back to the late sixteenth century.The image has undergone a significant shift from a moral and political ideal to a stagnant,childish “other.” These images are not the natural descriptions of Confucianism and Chinese culture of themselves and by themselves,but a process of European self-understanding,self-affirmation,and self-critique.Specifically,Western images of Confucianism serve as a mirror for Europeans to reflect their own culture and thereby reinforce their own values.Western images of Confucianism transformed according to changes in the West’s self-affirmation and the varying degrees of a complex hegemony between East and West.

When Europe entered into the Age of Enlightenment,European thinkers sought to promote reason and morality against the claims of primacy and exclusivity of Christian revelation.Specifically,due to European wars of religion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,European thinkers realized that society and government had to follow “something other than supernaturally revealed doctrines.”〔52〕As Edmund Leites notes,“divisions over what was true revelation had led to massive civil disorder and the devastation of large parts Europe.”〔53〕One way to avoid this massive disorder brought by religious wars was to establish a strong country that was based on natural morality.In this sense,Enlightenment thinkers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries promoted a political and moral system based on natural reason.In this process of self-reflection,Confucianism served as a significant vehicle to promote the Enlightenment values of reason and morality.Accordingly,Confucianism was interpreted as an example for natural theory and practical morality.

By the mid-nineteenth century,however,European views of Confucianism had changed drastically.As noted before,the image of Confucianism changed from “a model for Europe” to “a childish and unchangeable tradition.” Why did this drastic change take place in the late eighteenth century?Andre Gunder Frank analyzes this change under the title Reorient:Global Economy in the Asian Age.As Frank points out,“the coming of the industrial revolution and the beginnings of European colonialism in Asia had intervened to reshape European minds,and if not to invent all history,then at least to invent a false universalism under European initiation and guidance.”〔54〕Therefore,in the second half of eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries,European scholars,in particular Herder and Hegel,developed the idea of world history though a European gaze.The Orient is viewed as the infant stage of human history,while Europe is placing on the advanced stage.More importantly,Europe has entirely surpassed the Orient in every way,including morality,politics,and religion.In this context of Eurocentric ideology,the description of Confucianism as a childish,degenerate tradition served as a tool to highlight the superiority of European cultures.Moreover,it is the static,petrified image of Chinese “other” that had a significant impact upon the manner in which Europe has defined itself as a superior,civilized culture.This “other” image of China was confirmed with European imperialist campaigns which sought to conquer and colonize China.〔55〕After the first Opium War emerged in 1840,the West’s image of China as a static and degenerate culture was further affirmed.

ConclusionRemarks

Based on what we have seen,the image of Confucianism constructed by the West has undergone a long process.As far back at the sixteenth century,western missionaries began to import an idealized image of Confucianism to Europe through their reports and translation of Confucian texts.This glorified image of Confucianism was absorbed by seventeenth and eighteenth century Enlightenment scholars.They were drawn by the natural reason and morality motif and exalted China as a country ruled by philosophers,which they saw as a model for Europe.This idealized image of China was inseparable from self-reflection and self- affirmation of Europe that indicated a growing demand for a natural morality after becoming aware of the ethical dilemmas posed by religious division.European fascination with Confucianism did not wane until the late eighteenth century.With the development of technology and Western imperialism,the European image of Confucianism underwent an obvious transformation from an idealized model to a childish and stagnant tradition.

Actually,all these images of Confucianism constructed by European missionaries and scholars are not the real image of Confucianism,but they are an integral part of the oriental discourse.From very different points of view,ideas and preconceptions concerning Confucianism have functioned as means of self-understanding,self-affirmation,and self-critique for Western culture.Specifically,the image of Confucianism conveyed by Jesuit missionaries in the late sixteenth century and seventeenth century has been associated with missionary agency,which is to search out Christian elements in Confucian tradition.The Enlightenment version of Confucianism has served as means for criticizing and changing the political,social,and religious forms of an ancient regime.In the late eighteenth and nineteenth century,the image of Confucianism constructed by Herder and Hegel was inseparable from Eurocentric ideology and colonialist power.

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〔12〕Lach,Donald F., Asia in the Making of Europe Volume 1:The Century of Discovery Book One,Chicago:Chicago University Press,1965.

〔13〕Lee,Thomas H.C.,ed. China and European:Images and Influences in Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries.Hong Kong:Chinese University Press,1991.

〔14〕Mackerras,Bolin, Western Images of China,Hong Kong:Oxford University Press,1991

〔15〕Maverick,Lewis A., China:A Model for European,San Antonio:Paul Anderson Company,1946.

〔16〕Mungello,David.E., The Great Encounter of China and the West,1500-1800,Maryland:Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,INC.,1999.

〔17〕Perkins,Franklin, Leibniz and China:A Commerce of Light,New York:Cambridge University Press,2004.

〔18〕Popkin,Richard H.,Europe and Non-European Cultures,In Richard H.Popkin ed, Columbia History of Western Philosophy,New York:Columbia University Press,1999.

〔19〕Ricci,Matteo, China in the Sixteenth Century:The Journals of Matthew Ricci,1583-1610,Louis J.Gallagher,trans,New York:Random House,1953.

〔20〕Whitehead,James D.,Yu-ming Shaw,N.J.Girardot,eds, China and Christianity:Historical and Future Encounters,University of Notre Dame Press,1979.

〔21〕Young,Kun Kim,Hegel’s Criticism of Chinese Philosophy,In Philosophy East and West,Vol.28,No.2,April 1978.

Notes:

〔1〕L.S.Stavrianos, The World Since 1500:A Global History,p.179.

〔2〕〔3〕〔4〕Mendoza,History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China,Introduction.

〔5〕Leites,Edmund, The Philosophers as Rulers:The Literati in Early Western Images of Confucianism,p.203.

〔6〕See Donald F.Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe Volume 1,p.22.

〔7〕The English translation of Ricci’s diaries were China in the Sixteenth Century:The Journals of Matteo Ricci:1583-1610,New York:Random House,1942,by Louis J.Gallagher,S.J.,New York:Random House,1942.

〔8〕See Colin Mackerras, Western Images of China,p.35.Louis Daniel Le Comte(1656-1729) account of China was translated into several languages.

〔9〕Du Halde was a sinologist who never went to China.His well- known work, The General History of China,Jean-Baptiste London,MDCCXLI,1741,constitutes 4 volumes,The third volume covers the theme of Chinese religions.

〔10〕See Colin Mackerras,Western Images of China,p.35.

〔11〕In Manufacturing Confucianism:Chinese Traditions and Universal Civilization (54-62),Lionel Jensen highlights the textual-centered version of Confucianism.

〔12〕In the article “The First European Translations of Chinese Historical and Philosophical Works” in China and Europe:Images and Influencens in Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries,Lee,ed,Knud Lundbaek explores the history of European translations of Confucian canons and their influence on European scholars.

〔13〕Neo-Confucianism can be considered as a Confucian reform movement that emerged during the Song period (960-1279),Neo Confucian scholars absorbed the cosmological and metaphysical dimensions of Buddhism and Daoism.

〔14〕Matteo Ricci, China in the Sixteenth Century:The Journals of Matthew Ricci,1583-1610,93:“From very beginning of their history it is recorded in their writings that they recognized and worshipped one Supreme Being whom they called Shangdi.”

〔15〕〔16〕〔17〕Du Halde, The General History of China,Vol.3,pp.67,72,97.

〔18〕See Mungello, The Great Encounter of China and the West,pp.60-61.

〔19〕See Discovering China:European Interpretations in the Enlightenment,In the introduction.

〔20〕See Halbfass, India and Europe:An Essay in Understanding,p.54.

〔21〕See Julia Ching ed, Discovering China,pp.82-97,Regarding the natural theology proposed by Leibniz,in “The Preestablished Harmony between Leibniz and Chinese Thought”,Daniel J.,Cook and Henry Rosemont argue the correlation of Leibnize’s notion of the monads to the Neo-Confucian philosophy of principle.

〔22〕〔23〕〔24〕See Leibniz,Discourse on the Natural Theology of the Chinese,in Wrings on China,pp.105,77,77.

〔25〕See Julia Ching ed, Discovering China:European Interpretations in the Enlightenment,In the introduction,Julia Ching analyzes the reason why Leibniz interprets Neo-Confucianism as an example of natural theory,Leibniz found a real correspondence between the Neo-Confucian “principle” and his own monads,To support his theory of monads as philosophical understanding of God,he claims that “principle” reflects the idea of natural religion,just like that of monads.

〔26〕See Arnold H.Rowbotham,“Voltaire,Sinophile” in the Journal of Modern Language association,Vol.47,No.4,pp.1056-1057.

〔27〕See Thomas Lee,ed, China and Europe:Images and Influences in Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries,p.103.

〔28〕See Arnold H.Rowbotham,Voltaire,Sinophile,p.1057.

〔29〕Leibniz, Writings on China,p.46.

〔30〕〔31〕See Julia Ching and Willard G.Oxtoby,introduction for Discovering China:European Interpretations in the Enlightenment.

〔32〕Arnold H.Rowbotham,“Voltaire,Sinophile” in the Journal of Modern Language association,p.1055.

〔33〕See Mungello,“Confucianism in the Enlightenment” in China and Europe,Thomas H.C.Lee,ed.,pp.119-120.

〔34〕See Lai Yuenting,“China and Western Philosophy in the Age of Reason”,in The Columbia History of Western Philosophy,Richard.H.Popkin,ed,pp.413.

〔35〕〔36〕〔37〕Herder, Another Philosophy of History,Introduction,xxxiii,xxx,xxxi.

〔38〕〔39〕〔40〕〔41〕〔42〕〔43〕See Rolf J.Goebel,China as an Embalmed Mummy:Herder’s Orientalist Poetics,pp.115,115,116,116,116,114.

〔44〕See Halbfass,India and Europe,p.85.

〔45〕〔46〕〔47〕See Yong Kun Kim, Hegel’s Criticism of Chinese Philosophy,pp.174,175,175.

〔48〕〔49〕〔55〕 Western Images of China,pp.59,60,65.

〔50〕〔51〕Said, Orientalism,New York:Vintage Books,1979,p.5.

〔52〕〔53〕Edmund Leites, The Philosophers as Rulers:The Literati in Early Western Images of Confucianism,p.205.

〔54〕Andre Gunder Frank, Reorient:Global Economy in the Asian Age,p.14.