Confucius: And the World He Created

Schuman assigns himself a difficult task, dissecting and sharing the extremely nebulous world of Confucianism in East Asia and the shape it has taken in China, Korea, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan. Schumann’s writing for the Wall Street Journal and Time aid him in developing a breezy journalistic style, his marriage into a Korean family give him both an insider and outsider perspective, and his willingness to do the research is laudable. Beyond that, Schumann doesn’t just start with the Analects, but really does try to get into the history of Confucius himself, the history of Qafu, and the strange flexibility of Confucian doctrine.Schumann gets into the difficulties of dealing with Confucius admittedly: Confucius is a mythic figure and reformer already writing about a past that was mythic to Confucius himself. The layers of mystification are deep. Furthermore, Confucius and Confucianism comes off at first like a Sinological equal to a Hellenic philosophical school, and like Platonism, religious ideas accumulated in vaguely metaphysical notions prior. It’s also important that early Confucianism was relevant on the study of classics existing prior to Confucius himself.This flexibility in Confucianism makes it hard to pin down and hard to talk about consistently. Confucianism has both democratic and anti-Democratic tendencies, both humane and inhumane elements, but has always been dependent on Imperial patronage. Schuman’s history is interesting and in-depth, showing the development of different elements of Confucianism changing in response to legalism, Daoism, Buddhism, and even Christianity. Neo-Confucianism role in many patriarchal imperial cults becomes clear but so does its deviation from classical Confucianism. Schuman even hints at, but doesn’t go into, the idea that elements of Confucianism as we understand it were promoted by European missionaries.Schuman’s writings on Confucianism in modern world, and its relationship to 20th century critics is more problematic. Schumann admires Confucius and East Asian culture, but as his last chapter reveals, is actually quite critical of the way it is being used by various governments in East Asia as a means of gas-lighting public order and painting more participatory ideas from democratic societies as Western, foreign, and corrupt. To combat this, however, Schumann often sounds like he is making excuses for Confucian excesses. In other words, Schumann knows his bias but out of respect for his topic, over corrects on the side of apologetics.I found this book informative, readable, but very frustrating as it almost certainly will make no one completely happy. It isn’t an explication of the Analects. It’s not just a historical discussion of the development of Confucianism, and it is both critical of and apologetic for East Asian society. Schumann has difficulty dealing with post-Deng embrace of Confucius after the excesses of the cultural revolution or the criticism of Singapore’s ruler, Yew, to actually have Confucianism take off in Singapore.

As an American who knew little to nothing about Confucius and Chinese culture, I found this book to be a great introduction to these ideas and the history of the region.Schuman rolls 2500 years of history into a neat 242 pages. He starts by attempting to tell the story of the "REAL" Confucius, but soon leaves the sage in his grave and instead follows the story of the "IDEA" of Confucius. Each chapter has it's own big idea that he attempts to explain but the book also goes in chronological order as well so that the reader can follow the evolution of the Confucius idea and the history.I believe that Schuman sums up this book the best in Ch. 8 when he says:"What is interesting for our story is how Confucius has been perceived across time. His influence has been seen as so dominant, so much a part of daily life in East Asia, that he has received either the credit or blame for whatever was taking place at any given moment. Confucius the hard-charging capitalist was every bit as symbolic of the 1970s as Confucius the archaic feudalist was of the 1910s. Like a great method actor, the sage can take on whatever role he is hired to perform, depending on the script. So much makeup has been caked upon him that he has become barely recognizable."This book does a fine job of identifying the evolution of these ideas and it makes me think of my own western culture and how the ideas of capitalism and Christianity have been used by leaders to push development and industrialization as well as for their own personal gain.

Michael Schuman has written an excellent book on Confucious. I not only learned about him and how his works have been used and abused historically, but I also learned a lot of Chinese history. The historical knowledge alone makes this book well worth reading. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a good basic understanding of Confucious and how his writings have influenced China and the world through the ages.

good

A pretty good review but much too long and protracted. The best points are made in the conclusion and the bulk of the book adds little but interesting and, in some cases repetitive information.

Very readable and informative presentation of the man, his impact on East Asian societies and his continuing relevance for the world..

Good general review

Easy to read and understand Good author who writes clearly about a difficult subject and that spans such a long period

This is one of my favourite and one of the best books I have ever read. The book honestly grips you from the introduction and doesn’t ever drop the ball. Confucius the great sage is the main reason why the book or subject is so interesting because Confucius is such a great man and great philosopher. Although Michael Schuman’s writing is brilliant and he gives you the truth clearly with no messing around. The main triumph of the book is that it has made me love Confucianism, especially precepts such as filial piety, devotion to education and how Confucianism is applied to East Asian politics and government etc. I believe we in the west could learn much from Confucianism. Having 1.6 billion adherents, the only reason why Confucianism (as far as I can see) is not as big or so obviously right as Buddhism and Christianity is because unfortunately Confucianism incorporated a little sexism. You really understand the tensions and resistances between eastern and western civilisations and cultures by reading this book. Personally I think in a way that I prefer eastern Confucianism over western individualism and liberal democracy etc. You can’t understand China and East Asia without understanding Confucius and Confucianism. Read this book now.

Rather than a retelling of the Analects, Schuman's Confucius provides both a history of the Sage, and an overview of the application of his teaching. Central to Schuman's argument is the reality that it's unfair to judge a person upon how others have applied their teachings, therefore the co-opting of Confucius by various leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew, to China's current leadership, is by no means a reflection upon the Sage himself.As much a defence of Confucianism as an overview of the man's philosophy, Schuman examines how Confucianism has been successful in it's application to the business world, but rather stifling when applied on a political and societal model.A charge against Confucianism is that it is inherently anti-libertarian, anti-individual, and ultimately, anti-democratic, or at least not compatible with the Western model of democracy, but a closer examination of his work reveals that Confucius was the first democrat, as his teachings long predate Athenian democracy.China watchers would do well to acquaint themselves with this book, as it has been argued that China will eventually become democratic, but strictly on their terms, and in their way.However, Schuman's work is by no means limited to China, and covers Confucianism in South Korea, Japan and Singapore.For those unfamiliar with Confucianism, this is a very readable introduction, and is entirely relevant for China watchers, or observers of East Asia in general.

Excellent

very well written book. description of the man himself and the evolution his teachings have taken throughout asia.Informative, well sourced and well balanced.GREAT READ!!!

Livro excelente, com muita informação mas sem ser maçante. O autor é bastante claro ao passar suas ideias, até mesmo por vezes repetindo mais que o necessário. Mas a leitura é boa e importante, e finaliza com uma bela conclusão, ainda que uma conclusão tudo menos inesperada desde o começo.