This thesis examines the rationale behind the work of Thomé H. Fang 方東美 (Fang Dongmei, 1899-1977) and Tang Junyi 唐君毅 (1909-1978), two of the most important Confucian thinkers in twentieth-century China, who appropriated aspects of the medieval Chinese Buddhist school of Huayan to develop a response to the challenges of ‘scientism’, the belief, widespread in their times, that quantitative natural science is the only valuable part of human learning and the only source of truth. As the status of Confucianism in China had declined from the mid-nineteenth century, non-Confucian ideas were appropriated by Chinese thinkers for developing responses to ‘scientism’, adopting the principle of fanben kaixin 返本開新 (going back to the origin and developing new elements). Buddhist ideas from a range of schools played an important role in this. Unlike other thinkers who turned to the schools of Consciousness-Only and Tiantai, Fang and Tang, for reasons of their own, saw the thought of the Huayan school as the apex of Buddhism and so drew on selected aspects to support and develop their own views. Fang regarded Huayan thought as a fine example of the idea of ‘harmony’, since in its vision of the perfect state all phenomena co-exist without contradiction. Interpreting the explanation of this given by Dushun 杜順 (557-640) in his own way, Fang argued that human beings are able to integrate physical, biological and psychic elements of the ‘natural order’ with values such as truth, beauty and goodness which belong to the ‘transcendental order’. He thus proposed that scientism’s view of humanity as matter could be incorporated without contradiction but also without excluding ‘non-scientific’ aesthetic, moral and religious values. By contrast, Tang stressed the characteristics of Huayan’s theory of ‘doctrinal classification’, as developed by Fazang 法藏 (643-712). Interpreting this to mean that different ideas could be applicable in different periods, Tang argued that the worldview of ‘scientism’ may indeed help solve problems in its own sphere, such as the desire for scientific development. Other paradigms, however, are preferable in discussing moral issues. In other words, this Buddhist theory allowed him to claim that both Confucianism and ‘scientism’ have their own value. Neither of them should be negated in principle. I argue that Fang’s and Tang’s selective appropriations of Huayan thought not only paid heed to the hermeneutical importance of studying ancient texts in order to be more responsive to modern issues, a concern hotly debated in the field of Chinese philosophical studies, but also helped confirm the values of Confucianism under the challenge of ‘scientism’. In short, by absorbing ideas from Huayan thought, both Fang and Tang, to different extents and in different ways, provided responses to the challenge of ‘scientism’ which gave a place to science without rejecting the importance of human faculties such as aesthetic appreciation and moral judgment or asserting the dominance of perception and cognition over other human faculties, the ultimate cause, as they saw it, of ‘scientism’.

This master thesis focuses on the impact of Chinese culture on marketing strategies of selected companies in China. According to statistics, a large number of subjects coming to China and aiming to conduct business here faces failure and is forced to leave this market subsequently. Considering significant differences between the western and the Chinese culture, we have to think of the question if this failure is a consequence of these subjects not being able to understand the Chinese culture and the way it affects consumers in China. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the influence and importance of the Chinese culture on marketing applied to Chinese market, including concrete description of how can the Chinese culture affect the work of marketers in China.

Accompanying the globalisation of the world economy and the internationalisation of Chinese CBs, the research in terms of the international competitiveness of the CBI and Chinese CBs has become urgent and significant. The motivations and targets of this research are to understand the status quo of international competitiveness of the CBI and Chinese CBs; to recognise the actual gap in the aspects of international competitiveness between Chinese CBs and the Western advanced CBs; to find out the issues and main causes that existed in and determined the international competitiveness of Chinese CBs; and to work out the approaches to solve the issues and boost the international competitiveness of the CBI and Chinese CBs. According to the analyses of the international background, domestic context and specific situation, and the review of previous relevant literatures in terms of the international competitiveness and international competitiveness of CB, the general framework of this research is based on the fundamental theory – New Institutional Economics (NIE), especially the Institutional Change Theory (ICT), and applied four key factors – Business Scale, Profitability, Asset Quality and Overseas Business Margin, as well as some necessary macro and micro -specific determinants, to multi-dimensionally examine and comprehensivelyevaluate the real level of international competitiveness of the CBI and some Chinese CBs during the last three decades, in particular during the last decade since 2003. This basic framework established the theoretical foundation for this research; it is the general framework that is jointly consisted of the constitution, determinants and evaluation sub-frameworks of international competitiveness of CB. In this research, the international competitiveness of CB mainly includes: Business Scale International Competitiveness, Profitability International Competitiveness, Soundness International Competitiveness and Overseas Business International Competitiveness. These four aspects of international competitiveness of CB can be all measured by relative indicators that can be calculated through relative financial data; thus, the international competitiveness of CB could be then synthetically, directly andexternally evaluated and reflected. Basically, the determined framework of international competitiveness of CB is referred to reveal how the international competiveness of CB is determined. According to the value theory of dialectical-materialism, object development is decided by its internal and external causes; therefore, in this research, the scale, management, technology and international administration are considered as the major internal factors to determine the international competitiveness of CB, while the governmental functions, horizontal industrial competition, market supply and demands, and industrial trend at home and abroad are suggested as themajor external factors to reflect the international competitiveness of CB. Based on the determined framework and the internal-external cause theory, as well as considering the cross-border competition as the mainstream of the international competition for CBs, it can be seen that the deciding model and evaluation model are combined together to set up the overall models for evaluating and reflecting the international competitiveness of China’s CBs. According to the results calculated by the models, the separate and joint evaluations are made to jointly estimate the real level of international competitiveness of Chinese CBs; then the internal and external critical analyses are taken into consideration to reveal how the internal and external major factors reflect and influence the international competitiveness of CBI. Finally, a set of approaches in terms of how to further improve and boost the internationalcompetitiveness of the CBI and Chinese CBs are accordingly suggested. The findings of this research present that the historical evolution of China’s banking is fundamentally driven by the institutional changes and the shifts of administrative ideologies of the CCP; and intrinsically influenced by the dominant culture of Confucianism in China. The international competitiveness of the CBI has been increasingly improving, in particular since 2003; the development of the CBI has been actually always adhering to the reform and opening-up guideline in terms of “Crossing the River by Touching the Stones”, and the internationalisation of the CBI has been mostly suggested to insist on a strategy of “Incremental Approach”, which also represents the Way of the Golden Mean (Zhong Yong Zhi Dao) of Confucian ideology and acting philosophy. According to the evaluation results, Chinese CBs hold a very strong IC on the Business Scale and Home-base Profitability; their Soundness IC has bee also hugely improved; however, if comparing with their foreign advanced peers, such like HSBC and JP Morgan etc., their overseas business IC has been relatively much weaker; this means that the internationalisation of CBI and Chinese CB still has a long way to go to strategically catch up and explore. Additionally, other sense of the banking industry is also highly recognised. The real essence of China’s banking reform has been eventually designed by the elites and ultimately influenced by the special interest groups. The fundamental issues of the banking sector have been not completely handled; the financial ecology of the banking business has been one of the greatest factors for the banking performance; the international competitiveness of Chinese CBs has been mostly country-specific and home-based; and the whole banking system has been seemingly-seriously captured by the housing market and the municipal platform debts; hence, these huge potential operating risks have been seriously concerned. Conclusively, the international competitiveness of Chinese CBs would have been significantly damaged if the banking industry could not be further improve the regulatory regime, optimise the business environment, reform the corporate governance structure, consummate the operational system; and work out the deep and ingenerate issues such as lending mechanism, profitability model, risk management, technological innovation, political intervention, internationalising strategy, etc. Even though this researcher has taken great efforts to make his own contributions in this project, the findings and conclusions are still thought to be not sophisticate and significant enough; hence, further research of this specific theme will be more deepening and focusing, in particular on the improvement of the research methodology, the data collection and the financial ecology of the CBI.

Citation Confucian ethical principles in managing Asian companies: Diploma Thesis / Marcela Žuchová; supervisor: ThLic. Mgr. Denisa Červenková -- Praha, 2014. -- 86 p. Abstract The thesis "Confucian ethical principles in managing Asian companies" will present the ethical principles of Confucianism that affect the current management of Asian companies at Eastern Asia. The work will introduce with history of Confucianism, its influence on the culture in Asian countries and with some dominant elements, which over the centuries strengthen to certain ethical standards determinating the way of today's management of Chinese, Korean and partly Japanese companies. Many of these companies do operate in western countries with different cultural tradition based on Christianity. Presenting of some ethical principles in Asian management in the context of cultural traditions allows for deeper intercultural understanding. Keywords Ethics, Confucianism, Confucian Ethics, Management, Cross-Cultural Management, Cross- Cultural Psychology

This project explores the global spread of the two Taiwanese religious organizations Foguangshan (佛光山, “Buddha’s Light Mountain”) and Yiguandao (一貫道, “Way of Pervading Unity”) by applying the theoretical framework of transnational social spaces. Particularly since the gradual relaxation of political restraints in 1980s Taiwan, both religious organizations have started to spread their religious and cultural traditions on a global scale. Their endeavours connect, cross, and inhabit countries affected by Chinese migration as well as facilitate border-crossing spatial arrangements such as transnational communities (including Chinese diaspora / Chinese cultural sphere / Buddhism).

<p>  </p> <p>This dissertation attempts to explain a uniquely modern phenomenon—totalitarianism—through a case study of Chinese totalitarianism. It seeks to solve the puzzle of why the Chinese people’s inclinations, manners, customs, and morals were particularly suitable for totalitarian rule, and its thesis is that <em>Confucianism</em> laid the moral and psychological foundations of Chinese totalitarianism, paving the way for socialism and communism’s takeover of China in the twentieth century. </p> <p>It is this Confucian substratum that distinguishes Chinese totalitarianism from Western parallels. It is true that socialist and communist ideas were significant in advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s dictatorship, but the Chinese did not succumb to a socialism or communism imported from abroad. In the West, totalitarian ideologies bewitched masses suffering from economic crises and social unrest, who were thus willing to accept a centralized government led by a “strong man” promising economic renewal and restoral of order. In China, those ideologies only took root because of and on the basis of their accordance with the preexisting Confucianism. </p> <p>This dissertation includes in-depth and extensive textual analysis of original Confucian texts. Its theoretical analysis of Confucius’s original thought, in particular his ethical and political teachings, illustrates how traditional Chinese political culture, nurtured in Confucian ethics, predisposed the Chinese people to a totalitarian solution to political problems. </p> <p>Chapter 2 presents the analysis’s method and terminology, which are unconventional. It explicates a few key terms which are essential to the Confucian canon, but which have long been mistranslated in the English literature. Chapter 3 reviews the literature of totalitarianism and proposes a (re)conceptualization of totalitarianism deviating from conventional treatments. Chapter 4 turns to the analysis of the intellectual characteristics of the ru school of thought, explaining the amenability of Chinese society to a totalitarian rule depending on mass obedience and the inability of individuals to think for themselves. It is shown that human hermeneutics—modes of interpreting and understanding phenomena—are realized fundamentally differently in China than in the West. Chapter 5 examines ru ethics, the moral foundation of traditional Chinese politics, which is here termed <em>family politics</em>. Comparing Western accounts of ethics with 伦理 (<em>lun li</em>) demonstrates the essential differences between Chinese and Western morality. Chapter 6 concerns China’s traditional political culture, which shaped China’s imperial politics and is still robust in today’s China. Finally, Chapter 7 explains why European socialism, an ideology seemingly alien to Chinese culture, nonetheless was able to flourish in China. This chapter also addresses the question of why other East Asian countries, also influenced by the ru school of thought, did not follow the same totalitarian pathway as China.  </p>

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This thesis represents an analysis of symbolic expressions used to convey traditional Chinese cultural values in marital relations as expressed through costumes and lyrics in Peking Opera plays and performances. Two symbols, dragon and phoenix, were selected from the costume collection. Four symbols--bird, tiger, wild goose, and dragon--were selected from compilations of lyrics. These symbols were selected because they expressed Chinese core cultural values, an imperial ideology based on Confucian thoughts, which were practiced rigidly during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Modeling Theory is applied to argue that dragon and phoenix as visual symbols convey ideas about characters' background, marital relationship, social status shifts, and socio-culturally desirable values. Social Drama Theory is employed to analyze the lyrics to understand how ideal images of husband and wife are constructed. The archetypes of Chinese traditional culture that have influenced Chinese thought and action for centuries are discovered and discussed.

The purpose of this research is to examine China’s emerging role in peacebuilding. With a fast-growing economy, China is becoming very influential and has increased its political leverage in conflict-affected countries. At the same time, China’s foreign policy and strategy are evolving and Beijing is becoming more proactive in engaging and intervening on peacebuilding efforts. China has developed a unique peacebuilding approach, one that is based on economic growth as way to alleviate poverty and social unrest. China could contribute to bringing these alternative and complementary perspectives to the Peacebuilding debate and open this field to non-Western understandings. This research is going to examine China’s approach, its origins in China’s domestic situation and how China is exporting this model at the international level. Some of the aspects that will be analyse include: general aspects of the Chinese civilisation, philosophy and history, the domestic situation as well as on the ways that China handles its domestic conflicts in Xinjiang and Tibet; and some of the particularities and characteristics of Chinese foreign policy that shape the way it exports peacebuilding policies to the international arena. The intervention of China in the conflict of Kachin, Myanmar will illustrate how Chinese peacebuilding is evolving and moving away from its Westphalian principles of non-interference. China has thus become a key actor in supporting peace and stability and it should be part of any debate around peacebuilding moving forward based on shared interests in, and concern to promote peace and stability.