The Chinese Liberal Spirit

Xu Fuguan (1903–1982) was one of the most important Confucian scholars of the twentieth century. A key figure in the Nationalist Party, Xu was involved in the Chinese civil war after World War II and in the early years of the Nationalist government in Taiwan. He never ceased to believe that democracy was the way forward for the Chinese nation. Making his ethical and political thought accessible to English-speaking readers for the first time, these essays analyze the source of morality and how morality must be realized in democratic government; they also provide a sharp contrast to the claim that democracy is not suitable for China—or that Confucian government should be meritocracy, not democracy. They also share the reflections of a man who lived through the Chinese revolution and remained strongly critical of the governments in both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan.

In this essay collection first published nearly a century ago, Gu Hongming compares Chinese and European civilizations while enumerating the virtues of China's traditional Confucian philosophy. Gu famously proposed applying Confucian solutions to the many problems faced by Europe in the early twentieth century. Originally published in English and quickly translated into German, French, and Japanese, The Spirit of the Chinese People was a sensation in the West, presenting the culture and people of China and making Gu Hongming a national hero.

KU HUNG-MING (1857--1928), the author of the Book "The Sprit of the Chinese People", one of his representative works written in English by him. He is called "a linguistic wonder" and legendary figure in Chinese modern history. He mastered English, French, German and Russian languages and once wrote poems in Latin. He is an overseas Chinese and learned in the UK from childhood. People till now are amazed at his eccentric acts and behaviors and admire him more for his perfect English language ability. The Book was first published in 1915 in Peking. The Book interprets the spirit and shows the values of Chinese civilization in contrast to the European civilization. The contents of the Book are specifically as follows: I. Preface II. Introduction III. On Chinese Civilization IV. The Chinese Woman V. The Chinese Language VI. John Smith in China VII. A Great Sinologue VIII. Chinese Scholarship --- Part I IX Chinese Scholarship --- Part II Appendix The Religion of Mob-Worship or The War and the Way Out

This book offers a critical assessment of governance ideas in the context of Chinese neoliberalism. It argues that the Chinese version of governance has emerged as an important discursive practice in the articulation of the neoliberal spirit of the national reform agenda. The book first examines the institutional and intellectual background of governance ideas, capturing the key features of neoliberalization in transitional China. The main body of investigation is an interpretive analysis of governance in terms of its normative principles and technical skills, which effectively package the mature neoliberal vision and reality so that it indicates the dominant ruling structure of Chinese neoliberalism. The subsequent analysis presents a genealogical review of governance discourse and traces its adaptation to local neoliberal experiments. The book concludes with reflections on possible ways of critical engagement with governance ideas and with the intellectual aspects of neoliberalism.

The Spirit of the Laws—Montesquieu’s huge, complex, and enormously influential work—is considered one of the central texts of the Enlightenment, laying the foundation for the liberally democratic political regimes that were to embody its values. In his penetrating analysis, Thomas L. Pangle brilliantly argues that the inherently theological project of Enlightenment liberalism is made more clearly—and more consequentially— in Spirit than in any other work. In a probing and careful reading, Pangle shows how Montesquieu believed that rationalism, through the influence of liberal institutions and the spread of commercial culture, would secularize human affairs. At the same time, Pangle uncovers Montesquieu’s views about the origins of humanity’s religious impulse and his confidence that political and economic security would make people less likely to sacrifice worldly well-being for otherworldly hopes. With the interest in the theological aspects of political theory and practice showing no signs of diminishing, this book is a timely and insightful contribution to one of the key achievements of Enlightenment thought.

An examination of the role of windigo narratives among the Algonquian peoples of North American and how those narratives were influenced through colonialism.

This book will inspire readers who are concerned about the prospects for democracy in contemporary China by painting a picture of the Chinese self-exiles’ experiences in the 1950s and 1960s.

This first comprehensive commentary on The Spirit of the Laws uncovers and explicates the plan of Montesquieu's famous but baffling treatise. Pangle brings to light Montesquieu's rethinking of the philosophical groundwork of liberalism, showing how The Spirit of the Laws enlarges and enriches the liberal conception of natural right by means of a new appeal to History as the source of basic norms.