Confucian Education and Utopianism: The Classics-reading Movement and its Potential for Social Change

China’s contemporary classics-reading movement (dujing yundong) has grown significantly since its emergence in the 2000s but remains little researched and is so far only known as part of the revival of Confucianism on the popular level. This study, based on ethnographic field research in ten Chinese...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:China perspectives 2022-06 (2), p.29-39
Main Author: Gilgan, Sandra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Confucian sociology
Confucianism
Confucianism and education
Education
Educational anthropology
Educational facilities
Ethnography
Field study
Fieldwork
History
Influence
Oppression
Parents & parenting
Reading
Social activism
Social change
Society
Sociopolitical factors
Teachers
Traditions
Utopias
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Summary:China’s contemporary classics-reading movement (dujing yundong) has grown significantly since its emergence in the 2000s but remains little researched and is so far only known as part of the revival of Confucianism on the popular level. This study, based on ethnographic field research in ten Chinese cities, discusses the movement’s character under the lens of the grounded utopian movement theory and combines this with the civil sphere theory to exhibit the movement’s potential for social change under China’s specific socio political conditions. While activists hope that reciting and memorising Confucian classics will cultivate virtuous individuals (junzi) who will change Chinese society from the bottom up, this study shows that involved parents, teachers, and headmasters have greater potential to bring about social change. The space to induce change, however, is fragile.
ISSN:2070-3449
1996-4617
DOI:10.4000/chinaperspectives.13712