Abstract
While researchers have offered remonstration-oriented, reciprocal, voluntary, and gratitude-based accounts of political obligation in classical Confucianism, I argue that these interpretations are either in conflict with the textual evidence or merely scratch the surface of Confucius’ theory of political obligation without fully elaborating its essence. Instead, I demonstrate that the theory of political obligation in Confucianism is a specific argument from paternalistic gratitude in which the people’s political obligation is analogically compared to children’s grateful duty to their parents. Moreover, I use the Confucian theory of paternalistic gratitude to critically examine China’s recent politics of political obligation in the wake of the 2008 Sichuan 四川 earthquake. Although the Confucian-sounding references, such as kindness and the parent-state analogy, figure into the CPC’s Gratitude Education campaign (ganen jiaoyu 感恩教育), the Party’s politics of political obligation does not meet the Confucian normative standard. Specifically, in the Confucian theory of paternalistic gratitude, the people will be grateful to a benevolent ruler without this feeling being demanded by the state. However, in the Gratitude Education campaign, the Party self-righteously exacted the earthquake survivors’ gratitude. Local dissidents were subject to the stigmatization of “ungratefulness” and faced political violence as a consequence. The case of the Gratitude Education campaign serves as another example of the CPC’s political use of Confucianism for its non-Confucian goals.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ames, Roger T. 2011. Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
Ames, Roger T., and Henry Rosemont, trans. 1998. The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine Books.
Barnwell, Scott A. 2013. “The Evolution of the Concept of De 德 in Early China.” Sino-Platonic Papers, no. 235: 1–83.
Berlin, Isaiah. 1999. Concepts and Categories: Philosophical Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Billioud, Sébastien. 2007. “Confucianism, ‘Cultural Tradition’ and Official Discourses in China at the Start of the New Century.” China Perspectives 2007.3: 50–65.
Chan, Joseph. 1999. “A Confucian Perspective on Human Rights in China.” In The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights, edited by Joanne R. Bauer and Daniel A. Bell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chan, Joseph. 2014. Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern Times. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
de Bary, WM. Theodore. 1998. Asian Values and Human Rights: A Confucian Communitarian Perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Filmer, Robert. 1991. “Patriacha.” In Patriarcha and Other Writings, edited by Johann P. Sommerville. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fotion, Nicholas. 1979. “Paternalism.” Ethics 89.2: 191–198.
Guo, Yinjie. 2004. Cultural Nationalism in Contemporary China. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Holbig, Heike, and Bruce Gilley. 2010. “Reclaiming Legitimacy in China.” Politics and Policy 38.3: 395–422.
Hsiao, Kung-chuan. 1979. A History of Chinese Political Thought. Trans. by Frederick W. Mote. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Hutton, Eric L., trans. 2014. Xunzi: The Complete Text. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Klosko, George. 2005. Political Obligations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
______. 2011. “Political Obligation.” In The Oxford Handbook of the History of Political Philosophy, edited by George Klosko. New York: Oxford University Press.
Knowles, Dudley. 2002. “Gratitude and Good Government.” Res Publica 8.1: 1–20.
Lau, D. C., trans. 1979. The Analects. New York: Penguin Books.
______, trans. 2005. Mencius. New York: Penguin Books.
Lee, Shu-Shan. 2020. “‘What Did the Emperor Ever Say?’—The Public Transcript of Confucian Political Obligation.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 19.2: 231–250.
Legge, James, trans. 1971. “Confucian Analects.” In The Analects, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of Mean. New York: Dover Publication.
Locke, John. 2003. Two Treatises of Government and a Letter Concerning Toleration. Edited by Ian Shapiro. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lynch, Daniel C. 1999. After the Propaganda State: Media, Politics and “Thought Work” in Reformed China. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Makeham, John. 2008. Lost Soul: “Confucianism” in Contemporary Chinese Academic Discourse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center for the Harvard-Yenching Institute.
McConnell, Terrance. 1993. Gratitude. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat. 1989. The Spirit of the Laws. Trans. by Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller, and Harold S. Stone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Munro, Donald J. 1969. The Concept of Man in Early China. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Nivison, David S. 2003. “De (Te): Virtue or Power.” In Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy, edited by Antonio S. Cua. London: Routledge.
People’s Daily. 1974. “The Group of Chiang Kai-Shek’s Ludicrous Endorsement of Confucius 蔣介石集團大演尊孔丑劇.” March 11.
______. 1988. “The UNESCO Will Collaborate with China to Hold the Commemoration of the 2540th Anniversary of the Birth of Confucius 教科文組織將與我國聯合舉辦活動 紀念孔子誕辰 2540 周年.” March 23.
______. 1989a. “Chinese and Foreign Scholars Commemorating the 2540th Anniversary of the Birth of Confucius 中外學者紀念孔子誕辰2540周年.” October 8.
______. 1989b. “Jiang Zemin Meeting with Chinese and Foreign Friends from the Conference on Confucius 江澤民會見孔子討論會中外朋友.” October 9.
______. 1994a. “Li Lanqing Speaking on Commemoration of the 2545th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth: Promoting Outstanding Cultural Tradition to Cultivate the New Youth with Four Virtues 李嵐清在孔子誕辰2545周年紀念大會上強調發揚優秀文化傳統培養一代四有新人.” October 6.
______. 1994b. “Li Ruihuan Speaking on Commemoration of the 2545th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth: Summarizing Confucianism with Scientific Method to Serve the Reality 李瑞環在孔子誕辰2545周年紀念會上指出用科學方法總結儒學為現實服務.” October 6.
______. 1994c. “Jiang Zemin Meeting with Confucian Experts and Scholars 江澤民會見儒學專家學者.” October 8.
______. 1999a. “International Commemoration Conference of the 2550th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth Being Held in Beijing 孔子誕辰2550周年國際學術研討會在北京舉行.” October 8.
______. 1999b. “Li Ruihuan Meeting with Chinese and Foreign Scholars at the Commemoration of the 2550th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth and the Second Congress of the International Confucian Association 紀念孔子誕辰2550周年大會暨國際儒學聯合會第二屆會員大會舉行——李瑞環會見參加會議的中外專家學者.” October 10.
______. 2004. “Jia Qinglin Speaking on the International Commemoration Conference of the 2555th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth: Inheriting and Promoting China’s Outstanding Traditional Culture to Serve the Development of Socialist Progressive Culture in China 賈慶林在紀念孔子2555周年國際學術研討會上強調——繼承和弘揚中國優秀傳統文化更好地為建設中國社會主義先進文化服務.” October 10.
______. 2009. “Jia Qinglin Attending and Speaking on the International Commemoration Conference of the 2560th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth and the Fourth Congress of the International Confucian Association 紀念孔子誕辰2560周年國際學術研討會暨國際儒學聯合會第四屆會員大會召開賈慶林出席並講話.” September 25.
______. 2010. “Sichuanese People Advancing Bravely with Gratitude 巴蜀兒女在感恩中奮進.” July 13.
______. 2014. “Xi Jinping Speaking on the 2565th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth and the Fifth Congress of the International Confucian Association 習近平在紀念孔子誕辰2565周年國際學術研討會暨國際儒學聯合會第五屆會員大會開幕會上的講話.” September 25.
______. 2019. “Wang Qishan Attending the 2570th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birth and the Sixth Congress of the International Confucian Association 王岐山出席紀念孔子誕辰2570周年國際學術研討會暨國際儒學聯合會第六屆會員大會開幕式.” November 17.
Pines, Yuri. 2009. Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Period. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Plato. 1997. “Crito.” In Complete Works of Plato, edited by John M. Cooper et al. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
The New York Times. 2019. “The Xinjiang Papers.” November 16.
Rawls, John. 1964. “Legal Obligation and the Duty of Fair Play.” In Law and Philosophy, edited by Sidney Hook. New York: New York University Press.
Reuters. 2020. “In ‘People’s War’ on Coronavirus, Chinese Propaganda Faces Pushback.” March 13.
Rosemont, Henry Jr. 2016. Against Individualism: A Confucian Rethinking of the Foundations of Morality, Politics, Family, and Religion. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Rosemont, Henry Jr., and Roger T. Ames. 2009. “Introduction.” In The Chinese Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing, edited and trans. by Henry Jr. Rosemont and Roger T. Ames. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Rosemont, Henry Jr., and Roger T. Ames. 2016. Confucian Role Ethics: A Moral Vision for the 21st Century? Taipei: National Taiwan University Press.
Sen, Amartya. 1999. “Democracy as a Universal Value.” Journal of Democracy 10.3: 3–17.
Sorace, Christian P. 2014. “China’s Vision for Developing Sichuan’s Post-Earthquake Countryside: Turning Unruly Peasants into Grateful Urban Citizens.” The China Quarterly 218: 404–427.
Sorace, Christian P. 2017. Shaken Authority: China’s Communist Party and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Spencer, Herbert. 1972. On Social Evolution: Selected Writings. Edited by John David Yeadon Peel. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Tan, Sor-hoon. 2010. “Authoritative Master Kong (Confucius) in an Authoritarian Age.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 9.2: 137–149.
Tiwald, Justin. 2008. “A Right of Rebellion in the Mengzi?” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 7. 3: 269–282.
Walker, A. D. M. 1988. “Political Obligation and the Argument from Gratitude.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 17.3: 191–211.
Wang, Gungwu. 1991. The Chineseness of China. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wang, Li 王力. 2000. Ancient Chinese Character Dictionary 古漢語字典. Beijing 北京: Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局.
Weber, Max. 1968. The Religion of China. Trans. by Hans H. Gerth. New York: The Free Press.
Xu, Bin. 2016. “Moral Performance and Cultural Governance in China: The Compassionate Politics of Disasters.” The China Quarterly 226: 407–430.
Yao, Xinzhong. 2000. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yeh, Emily T. 2013. Taming Tibet: Landscape Transformation and the Gift of Chinese Development. New York: Cornell University Press.
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank my anonymous reviewers, whose rich and constructive comments were of great help in improving this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, SS. Paternalistic Gratitude: The Theory and Politics of Confucian Political Obligation. Dao 20, 635–659 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-021-09802-y
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-021-09802-y