The Adolescence of Mainland New Confucianism

This issue of Contemporary Chinese Thought is devoted to recent mainland Chinese Confucian philosophizing, and especially to arguments about what “Mainland New Confucianism” signifies that were prompted by somewhat dismissive remarks about Mainland New Confucianism by the noted Taiwanese scholar Li Minghui in early 2015. This introduction begins by summarizing some of the challenges Confucianism has encountered in the twentieth century and also the rise of New Confucianism. It next turns to the emergence of Mainland New Confucianism as a distinct and controversial phenomenon, arguing that after an initial stage (characterized here as its “infancy”), Mainland New Confucianism has now entered a somewhat more diverse and mature stage (its “adolescence”) in which Jiang Qing plays less of an important role. After overviews of each of the essays included in this issue and summaries of some of key terms in which the debates are carried out, the introduction concludes by reflecting on the place of Confucianism within contemporary East Asia.