| Abstract |
This paper is based on the controversy of the nationalization of Confucianism in the early years of the Republic of China. It expounds the reasons for the establishment of the Zunkong Wenshe and the interaction between its core members, Richard Wilhelm (1873-1930) and Lao Naixuan (1843-1921). With reference to the relevant historical materials and letters, this study tries to outline their efforts on the establishment of Zunkong Wenshe, and to explain the rationale behind specific activities at that time. Since the late Qing regime collapsed after the 1911 revolution, some of the intellectuals who refused to serve the new regime fled to the concession territories and got involved with the controversy about the teaching of Confucius in the new China. At that time, Richard Wilhelm, an A.E.P.M. missionary, took Lao Naixuan as his teacher and set up the Zunkong Wenshe in order to preserve the traditional spirit of Confucianism, and gathered with the like-minded intellectuals such as Zhou Fu and Lao Naixuan in Qingdao. They aimed to build a bridge between east and western culture. This paper focuses on the participation of Richard Wilhelm and Lao Naixuan in the Zunkong Wenshe, delineating their activities, such as lectures, Chinese classics translation, positions about teaching of Confucius, and political restoration. This paper aims to show that the interaction between western missionaries and Chinese intellectuals can provide a different perspective to the changes in academic trend through the Qing-republican transition. |
