| Chapter 7: | Further Developments |
|
|
54. For an example of change over the course of time, see the re-appreciation of filial piety by syncretic thinkers of the Three Doctrines, who promoted filial piety in terms that transcended mere ethical relations, treating it in a religious dimension, as expression of the natural order, and care for oneself and one’s body ( Miaw-fen Lu, “Religious Dimensions of Filial Piety”).
55. D. Wong, Natural Moralities, 246.
56. Using Kuhn’s words, “without a workable alternative, leaders can manipulate mass fears and turn them with terrible force against the deviants and scapegoats of our own day—anyone vulnerable to labeling, either for his social origins or his exotic beliefs—with none to stand between.” (Kuhn, Soulstealers, 232).
57. According to the report of Freedom in the World, 2018 is the 13th consecutive year of decline in global freedom: “[T]he overall losses are still shallow compared with the gains of the late 20th century, but the pattern is consistent and ominous. Democracy is in retreat.” (https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2019/democracy-in-retreat). For more details, see Freedom in the World 2018, https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FreedomintheWorld2018COMPLETEBOOK.pdf.
58. Cf. Xunzi 荀子, Xing’e 性惡: “The strong would injure the weak and rob him; the many would treat cruelly the few and rend them. The whole country would be in a state of rebellion and disorder” (夫強者害弱而奪之,眾者暴寡而嘩之,天下悖亂而相亡,不待頃矣) (Dubs’ translation, The Works of Hsüntze, 534).
59. See Béja “Naissance d’un national Confucianisme?,” 6–11; Billioud and Thoraval, “The Contemporary Revival of Confucianism,” 88–106; Billioud, The Varieties of Confucian Experience. 5; and Bell, “Reconciling Confucianism and Nationalism,” 33–54.
60. Cf. Ge Zhaoguang, “Yixiangtiankai.”