The "Confucius Institute Interpreting China" series of book launches was successfully held at the Confucius Institute this year, at which four books were released: "Confucian Role Ethics: A Moral Vision in the 21st Century", "Taste the Uniqueness of Chinese Culture: On Ambs' Research Methods, Confucian Topics and Confucian Roles", "Against Individualism: Rethinking the Foundations of Morality, Politics and Family from the Perspective of Confucianism", and "The Way of the *: Confucian Role Ethics on "People", "Confucius Institute Translates China" Since the launch of the project, it has achieved good social repercussions.
Co-authored by Confucianism in Shandong Province, Distinguished Expert of Confucius Institute, and Chair Professor of Humanities at Peking University, An Lezhe, and the well-known American sinologist Luo Siwen (1934-2017), translated by Lu Wei, and proofread by Wang Qiu, Confucian Role Ethics: A Moral Vision in the 21st Century, won the third prize of the 20th Heilongjiang Provincial Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award. The holistic philosophy proposed in the book is based on the primacy of relationships and a narrative understanding of man, and is a challenge to the basic liberal individualism, which defines man as a discrete, autonomous, rational, free, and generally selfish person. The book takes Confucian role ethics as the starting point, hoping to break the barriers between Chinese and Western cultures, ** the contemporary mission of Confucianism, and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Written by Luo Siwen and translated by Zhang Xiaoying and Zhang Zhen, "Against Individualism: Rethinking the Foundations of Morality, Politics, and Family from the Perspective of Confucianism" was selected into the 9th issue of the 2023 Philosophy New Books Joint Book List. On the basis of analyzing Chinese and Western philosophy and ethics, examining and evaluating the mainstream individual self-concept in the West, the book deeply expounds Confucianism's thinking and understanding of "man". It aims to comb Chinese Confucianism and apply it to the contemporary Western political and social context, use Eastern wisdom to remedy the political bias of the contemporary West, and explore the path of contemporary overseas sinology research to solve Western ethical and social problems.
Through the mutual translation of Chinese and Western Confucian research works, the Confucius Institute's "Translation of China" project corrects the asymmetrical interpretation of Chinese and foreign philosophy and culture over the past century, further enhances academic exchanges, and promotes the excellent traditional Chinese culture to the world. (Reporter Meng Yi and correspondent Liu Yi report).