On the Interaction between Confucian Knowledge and Political Power in Traditional China and Korea:A Historical Overview
近代以前中國與朝鮮歷史中儒家知識與政治權力之互動
Journal
臺灣東亞文明研究學刊
Journal Volume
8
Journal Issue
1
Pages
1-19
Date Issued
2011
Author(s)
Abstract
This article discusses the interaction and tension between Confucian knowledge and political power in traditional China and Korea. It has been argued that Confucianism aimed at ordering the world while the Chinese and Korean rulers needed to recruit the Confucian intellectuals to manage their countries. Therefore, the Confucian knowledge and political power in China and Korea became mutually dependent and infiltrating. However, as the modus operandi of knowledge and politics are asymmetrical, the tension between the two become unresolvable. The article is composed of four parts. The first section is an introduction. The second section analyzes the inseparability and infiltration between Confucian knowledge and political power in pre-modern China and Korea. The third tackles the tension between knowledge and power in the context of Chinese and Korean history. Two types of tension are discussed, namely, (1) the tension between the political self and cultural self of rulers and Confucian scholar-officials, and (2) the tension between the ”people-centered subjectivity” and the ”sovereign-centered subjectivity.” Some concluding remarks are made in the final section.
Publisher
國立臺灣師範大學國際與社會科學學院
Type
journal article