published_or_final_version / History / Master / Master of Philosophy

Family ritual manuals were lithurgical texts whose aim was proliferation of Confucian doctrine into the daily life of Vietnamnese population. This thesis describes the environment and circumstances under which the individual manuals originated and developed, and subsequently the nature of the Vietnamese manuals themselves. The following part of the thesis analyses funeral rituals in the most common family rituals manual in Vietnam, Thọ mai gia lễ. The aim is to compare the Vietnamese text with the best known model for manuals devoted to family rituals - the Family Rituals Manual by Neoconfucian philospher Zhu Xiho, and to expose and interpret the identified differences.

Thesis advisor: James F. Keenan / For a variety of reasons, in the field of biblical ethics, Scripture scholars do not use much ethical theory, while theological ethicists do little actual exegesis. Even those recent attempts to bridge better Scripture with Christian ethics have either stressed the importance of the scriptural text or the importance of ethical hermeneutics. Throughout this entire work I advocate for a more integrated approach for a Scripture-based Christian theological ethics. In so doing I first propose using Allen Verhey's distinction of Scripture as 'scripted' and 'script': The former refers to exegesis and the latter to admonitions for ethical living. A more integrated approach will therefore treat Scripture as both 'scripted' and 'script', taking exegesis seriously and interpreting the text by using a sound hermeneutical framework. Subsequently, we can both acquire a more accurate understanding of the original meaning of the text and obtain a more complete and consistent interpretation of the text for today. From the perspective of Christian ethics, I further suggest virtue ethics as a worthy hermeneutical tool in treating Scripture as 'script'. Virtue ethics complements principle-based ethical theories by emphasizing practices and the importance of exemplary models. It also attends to the character formation and identity of both individuals and the moral community. Moreover, as I argue, there exists an explicit link between Scripture and virtue. Both the biblical link and the uniqueness of virtue ethics make it suitable as the hermeneutical tool for doing Scripture-based Christian ethics. In order to demonstrate concretely how the methodological shift into a more integrated scriptural ethics as such leads to actual benefits and improvements, I offer a three-step illustration. I begin with treating the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 as first `scripted'; that is, I exegete the text. Then I look at the text as 'script' through the hermeneutics of virtue ethics. I identify a new set of core virtues (and corresponding practices) not just for personal formation but also for the formation of the community and the larger society. Third, I then bring the fruits of this treatment forward by exploring the possible reception of the Beatitudes and its core virtues by the Confucian tradition. Methodologically speaking, Confucianism goes to its own texts in its search of ethical teachings; and Confucian ethics is primarily the fruit of careful interpretation of their 'sacred' texts. In other words, it is both text-based and interpretative, and shares a common methodological approach with the Scripture-based Christian ethics proposed here. Subsequently, we find significant parallel virtues in Confucian texts although dissimilarities (such as worldview) exist between the two traditions. As a whole, the proposed methodological shift into a Scripture-based Christian ethics produces a more accurate, complete and consistent interpretation of the biblical text for our contemporary audience and makes Christian ethics more explicable to Confucian society and more supportive of cross-cultural dialogue with Confucian ethics. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

After the fall of the Han dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.O.), Confucian thought did not become influential again until the end of the T'ang dynasty (618-907) and the beginning of the Sung dynasty (960-1279). Its resurgence in the Sung was accompanied by, if not completely driven by a newly conceived system of metaphysics. Although Sung Confucians honored and frequently referred to Confucius and Mencius, metaphysics was their central concern. Lo Ch'in-shun, a Confucian in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), saw inconsistencies between traditional Confucian thought and the thought of Sung Confucians. He viewed himself as orthodox and thought it was his duty as a Confucian to fight heterodox thought, and to resolve the inconsistencies within Confucian thought and return it to unity. His philosophy was a product of his approach to these duties and is the subject of this study. Lo's efforts to return to unity can be seen in his work Knowledge Painfully Acquired (K'un-chih chi). After discussing Lo's social context, the following four questions provide a framework to examine his philosophy: !)Given that there is only one Way, what is the Way that runs through the realms of heaven-and-earth and man? 2)Of what does human nature consist? 3)How is it that Mencius said that human nature is good and yet there is evil in the world? and 4)What is the mind(hsin), and how does a man cultivate it to enable him to become a sage? Comparing Lo's views with Confucian thinkers who preceded him provides answers to the questions, and assists in defining Lo's thought. These answers and comparisons show the significant shifts away from Sung Confucian thought contained in Lo's philosophy, but they also show his desire to return to unity. He strove to return to unity not only for himself, but more importantly, for the ultimate good of Confucianism and society.

In this dissertation, I lay the foundations for the development of a unique ethical theory, titled “Ethical Harmonism,” on the basis of the early Confucian Xunzi’s thought. First, I attempt to understand Xunzi’s fundamental ethical position centered on his thought of the ideal state for humans. Second, I explore the nature of two attitudes that one should develop in order to create and maintain the ideal state for humans. Xunzi’s ethical position is characterized primarily in terms of “the final good” that it requires one to seek to attain. For Xunzi, the final good is a certain holistic state that every human has reason to create and maintain cooperatively, namely what I call “harmony.” Harmony is the ideal state in which all humans form a well-unified whole in such a way that they interact with one another by properly recognizing various kinds of persons and by appropriately responding to each kind. I also provide a preliminary reconstruction of Xunzi’s view by raising questions concerning whether his holistic view can reasonably accommodate part of contemporary individualistic ethical sentiments, especially, that associated with such a notion as human rights. This reconstruction is intended to serve to develop “Ethical Harmonism,” which is a working-label for the most defensible Xunzian position that is currently in the development stage. For Xunzi, the creation and maintenance of harmony depend on all humans’ proper development of two attitudes, qin (love) and zun (respect). For Xunzi, all humans should control their naturally unlimited desire by cultivating love and respect; and, by adopting these two attitudes in interaction with one another, they can jointly bring about harmony in society. I develop theories of these two attitudes especially by clarifying how each of the two attitudes is understood as a distinctive way of responding to certain kinds of person. I further explain how these two attitudes work cooperatively in ways that promote harmony. My study will provide a new systematic interpretation of two central concepts in Confucian ethics that are grounded in love and respect, namely ren (widely translated as humanness) and yi (widely translated as righteousness).

In this dissertation, I lay the foundations for the development of a unique ethical theory, titled “Ethical Harmonism,” on the basis of the early Confucian Xunzi’s thought. First, I attempt to understand Xunzi’s fundamental ethical position centered on his thought of the ideal state for humans. Second, I explore the nature of two attitudes that one should develop in order to create and maintain the ideal state for humans. Xunzi’s ethical position is characterized primarily in terms of “the final good” that it requires one to seek to attain. For Xunzi, the final good is a certain holistic state that every human has reason to create and maintain cooperatively, namely what I call “harmony.” Harmony is the ideal state in which all humans form a well-unified whole in such a way that they interact with one another by properly recognizing various kinds of persons and by appropriately responding to each kind. I also provide a preliminary reconstruction of Xunzi’s view by raising questions concerning whether his holistic view can reasonably accommodate part of contemporary individualistic ethical sentiments, especially, that associated with such a notion as human rights. This reconstruction is intended to serve to develop “Ethical Harmonism,” which is a working-label for the most defensible Xunzian position that is currently in the development stage. For Xunzi, the creation and maintenance of harmony depend on all humans’ proper development of two attitudes, qin (love) and zun (respect). For Xunzi, all humans should control their naturally unlimited desire by cultivating love and respect; and, by adopting these two attitudes in interaction with one another, they can jointly bring about harmony in society. I develop theories of these two attitudes especially by clarifying how each of the two attitudes is understood as a distinctive way of responding to certain kinds of person. I further explain how these two attitudes work cooperatively in ways that promote harmony. My study will provide a new systematic interpretation of two central concepts in Confucian ethics that are grounded in love and respect, namely ren (widely translated as humanness) and yi (widely translated as righteousness).

This thesis explores and identifies patterns of dating attitudes and behaviors among second-generation Chinese Americans. Grounded theory is applied to analyze data from in-depth interviews with 20 second-generation Chinese Americans in metro- Atlanta area. By using a social constructionist model of ethnicity, I uncovered a subtle process by which the second-generation Chinese youths constructed their dating values and identities through both differentiating and integrating their parents¡¯ and white peers¡¯ dating cultures and gender norms. Second-generation Chinese American youths constructed and reconstructed their own dating values, gender norms, and further ethnic identities through various processes of picking and choosing from both cultures. I argue that straight-line assimilation theories, which assume adaptation into mainstream American culture, do not explain the complexity of the dating culture created by the second-generation Chinese American youths. In conclusion, the findings of this study revealed a new dimension of the social construction of ethnic identity: the agentic dynamics of constructing the second-generation Chinese American identity.

Things will change from time to time, but human being is the main constituent forever. The principal of existence and development of any social community will be carried out with the awareness of individual ideology and the fulfillment of the community determination, especially depend on the adaptability and transformation that step forward with the elapse of time. Bad adaptability or improper transformation will be difficult to transfer the traditions into modernization, the result will be either underdevelopment or dead with deformity, both of which can hardly have a satisfaction accomplishment. The purpose of this article is to explore how Taiwan adapt to the trend of modernization as a typical Confucian community, and how the members of the community form the consensuses to fully grasp the opportunity of adaptation and transformation to set up a brand new ¡§Confucianism Civil Society¡¨. The dissertation construct with five chapters as follows: Chapter I is introduction for the main concerns of the research, the extent of the research, writing structure, and a thorough analysis of the core ideal of philosophy of Confucian community. Chapter II describes the figure of Confucian traditional community to investigate into its merits and demerits according to the writing structure of the Chapter Da Tong in the Book of Rites. Chapter III examines the real conditions in Taiwan during the powerful governmental era under Martial Law by means of three mainstream ideologies from the western liberalism. Chapter IV observes that disorders are increasing in Taiwan area due to the conflict between Eastern and Western ideology after the removal of Martial Law in Taiwan from a view of communitarianism. Reflection upon the above-mentioned, the author looks forward to rebuild a main stream culture and value ideology which integrate Eastern and Western, penetrate traditional and modern, and connect modern and post-modern. In conclusion with the statements of the Eastern and Western sages, Chapter V outlines the mechanism of ¡§Confucianism Civil Society¡¨ out of the expectation of the author.

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