Abstract

This study starts with Tang Junyi’s 唐君毅 observation about a certain mindset regarding Western superiority in areas in which such a view is not justified, a mindset that results in a failure to recognize what is distinctive and valuable within one’s own culture. Such a mindset can be found in the tendency to approach Chinese thought from Western philosophical perspectives in contemporary comparative studies. Using the early Confucian conception of jing 敬 as an example, this study shows how assimilating jing to the Western concept of respect for persons can lead to a misunderstanding of the Confucian concept. What we need to do is to attend to the relevant texts on their own terms, relating the ideas in the texts to our own present day experiences to understanding their contemporary relevance, before we bring Chinese and Western traditions of thought alongside each other for mutual illumination.