Confucianism and the Continuation of Anti-Enlightenment

The book emphasises that the modern Japanese and Chinese use of Qimeng (--) to translate and interpret "Enlightenment" predominantly reflects the second interpretation of "Enlightenment"(i.e.Anti-Enlightenment), which betrays the spirit of equality - the most revolutionary facet of the 18th-century Enlightenment.

Xiaojie Chen is Assistant Professor at the School of Philosophy, Wuhan University. He holds a PhD from Kansai University in Japan and was a visiting scholar at École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in France. He mainly researches on Neo-Confucianism, Enlightenment, and French Revolution. He has published one monograph and two translations.

Chapter 1 Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment: The Convergence of Chinese Neo-Confucians and 18th- Century European Philosophers Section1 Is --(----) (Enlightenment) a mistranslation and a fundamental misunderstanding? Section 2 The Seduction of the Anti-Enlightenment: The "Dual Truth Principle" or the "Pious Fraud" Section 3 Tang-Song Transformation and the Birth of Zhuzi School: Chinese Aufklärung at least 500 years before Europe? Section 4 The End and Repetition of Chinese Aufklärung: "illustrate bright virtue" and "renovate the people" in 20th century Section 5 The continuation and convergence of the Anti-Enlightenment Chapter 2 Benevolence and Fraternité: On the various forms of social intergration Section 1 Fraternity's Journey: From the West to China via Meiji Japan's Benevolence Section 2 Fraternité in the early Revolutionary France (1789-1790) Section 3 The Ren as benevolence and the vertical "love" Section 4 Perspectives on Social Intergration