The Cultural Message of a Rising China
China is rising, but what messages can and should a rising China bring to the world? Focusing on the normative aspect of this question, Prof. Tongdong Bai argues that we should look into traditional Chinese philosophy, especially Confucianism, in order to discover these messages. Taking Confucianism as an universal teaching that is meant for all, not just the Chinese, and is still relevant for contemporary political issues in the world, he argues that it can offer alternative and even better political models than the mainstream Western ones.
New Models of Governance
With regard to the issue of national identity and international relations, Prof. Bai argues that Confucianism can offer models different from and superior to both the nation-state model and the cosmopolitan model. With regard to governance the Confucian hybrid regime can address issues that democracies can not. In this sense, the Confucian revival in China is not only relevant to the Chinese, but to everyone in the world.
CONFUCIANISM TO SAVE THE WORLD
Lecturer: Prof. Tongdong Bai, Fudan University
Time: 5th of October 2015, 6 p.m. until 7.30 p.m.
Location: SR 29.K2, Johann-Fux-Gasse 30, 8010 Graz
Free Entry!
Please register at:
konfuzius-institut.uni-graz.at