Confucianism's origins discussed during symposium

More than 50 students and faculty members gathered Friday to discuss the meanings, thoughts and origins of the philosophies of Confucianism.

The Center for Chinese Studies sponsored a symposium titled "Interrogating the Construction of 'Confucianism.'"

The event was held in two sessions and examined several issues raised by Lionel Jensen, a history professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, in his book "Manufacturing Confucianism: Chinese Traditions and Universal Civilization."

Several panelists joined Jensen for the discussion, including Jack Kline of Loyola University, Willard Peterson of Princeton University, Xiaobing Tang of the University of Chicago and University professors P.J. Ivanhoe, Donald Lopez and Donald Munro. Ernie Young, director of the Center for Chinese Studies, moderated the panel.

Daniel O'Donnell/Daily Willard Peterson of Princeton University speaks at the Symposium on Confucianism in the Koessler Room of the Michigan League on Friday.

The panelists discussed how the concepts and terms of Confucianism have developed and evolved over time. "The book reveals the process by which the terms have been manufactured through history," Kline said.

"Our concept of Confucianism is a largely Western invention of the 17th Century," Jensen said.

His book proposed that ideas of Confucius have come from Jesuit missionaries who visited China during that time.

These missionaries took their interpretations of Confucius' teachings to Europe and incorporated them into mainstream European thought. Over time, European intellectuals then reinvented and reinterpreted those ideas, according to Jensen's book.

"This is where we find the origins of our current perception of Confucius," Kline said.

Jensen's book goes on to argue that 20th Century Chinese intellectuals then used these conceptions in their nationalist projects to recapture Chinese history. The book theorizes that these ideas of Confucian thought are portrayed as if they are the original meanings even though the have been shaped and "manufactured" over time.

Jensen's book states current perceptions of Chinese culture and history are influenced by these interpretations.

"Confucius came to stand for everything Chinese," Jensen said.

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