Contemporary Confucian Influence

On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 10:16 PM, Kathryn Dinh <k.dinh@unsw.edu.au> wrote:

Hi All,

I am working on my PhD and am looking for academics both within and outside Vietnam with an expertise in contemporary Confucian influence in Vietnam, particularly its influence in the work sphere - working relations between individuals and organisations.

I would be grateful for any suggestions for names of academics and their institutions.

Many thanks,

Kathryn

Kathryn Dinh

PhD Candidate

International HIV Research Group

School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine

University of New South Wales, Australia

From: Shawn McHale <mchale@gwu.edu>

To: Kathryn Dinh <k.dinh@unsw.edu.au>

Cc: "vsg@u.washington.edu" <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2015 12:59:01 -0400

Subject: Re: [Vsg] Confucian experts

Hmmm . . . . scholars studying contemporary Vietnam routinely invoke Confucianism as being behind all sorts of things, from the character of family relations, the sense of hierarchy, respect for elders, focus on education, and so on. It is like a deus ex machina, invoked to explain everything from the past that affects the present.

Scholars of history outside of Vietnam, however, are skeptical about these expansive claims, simply because the extent of research on Confucianism in Vietnam is inadequate. Even the term "Confucianism" is contested by scholars, and indeed Vietnamese in the nineteenth century had no such term. I would suggest reading Liam Kelley's essay "Confucianism in Vietnam: A State of the Field Essay," Journal of Vietnamese Studies vol 1, issue 1-2. Kelley criticizes everyone, including me, but it is an excellent article. One of the key take-aways, one that all scholars who have dabbled in "Confucianism" would agree with, is that we actually have a hard time defining what "Confucianism" IS.

Second, the issue is not simply whether or not there exist, today, practices in Vietnamese society, like gender hierarchy, that may have their roots in a "Confucian" repertoire. It is that gender hierarchies also may have other sources, such as Buddhist teachings or, as the gadfly Trương Tửu once argued, the character of agrarian society.

Sorry not to answer your question -- but I sometimes feel that asking scholars of contemporary Vietnam about Confucianism is a bit like asking your average Frenchman today to opine on Catholic theology, or beseeching your average Chinese Foreign Ministry official today to explain Chinese understandings of maritime sovereignty in 1820.

Shawn McHale

George Washington University

On Jun 19, 2015 4:53 PM, "Bradley Davis" <bcampdvs@uw.edu> wrote:

Dear Kathryn,

You might want to contact Wynn Wilcox at Western Connecticut State University. He's been working on the intellectual discourses surrounding early twentieth century imperial exams, including some rather interesting interpretations of Zhu Xi and company.

I imagine you might have read them already, but the works _Manufacturing Confucianism_ by Lionel Jensen and _Rethinking Confucianism_ (edited by Ben Elman and others) will be very helpful, along with Liam's essays that Professor McHale mentions.

Best wishes,

Bradley

Bradley C. Davis

Eastern Connecticut State University

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The problem lies in identifying contemporary Confucian influence. I assume this means current rather than early 19th century (or earlier as per Jensen and Ellman).

I agree with Shawn on this. Figuring out what is due to the influence of Confucianism (as opposed to some other influence or universal values) in contemporary Vietnam is going to be rather difficult. As difficult as identifying Vietnamese national character, even though the slogan urging to maintain it is plastered on billboards.

Hue Tam Ho Tai

Harvard