Chapter Ten. Confucian Ethics And China’s Modernisation

The term 'industrial East Asia' is a late arrival in the world of scholarship. It refers to the rise of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. On the basis of a genuine analysis, this chapter draws on what it has to offer as a reference for the future of China's modernisation and cultural consolidation. In the early 60s some American historians, sociologists and political thinkers researched the relationship between Confucianism and East Asian modernisation. The Weberian theory of religious sociology has had a great influence on the field of scholarship in the last fifty years, particularly in the area of modernisation theory. The mentalities of Confucian religion and Protestantism are different. According to Weber there are three main differences. The chapter explains the role of Confucian ethics in the initial stage of the development of industrial East Asia. Keywords: China's modernisation; Confucian ethics; Weberian theory