Confucian Self-Cultivation and Daoist Personhood: Implications for Peace Education

Abstract

This essay argues that the concept of reaching peace within in order to sustain peace outside in classical Confucianism and Daoism offers us important lessons for peace education in the contemporary age. Building harmonious connections between differences in one's personhood paves a path for negotiating interconnections across conflicting multiplicities in the outside world. The essay starts by discussing the Confucian and Daoist notions of personhood as a microcosmic universe connected to a macrocosmic universe. Second, the historical context of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period in which Confucianism and Daoism emerged are briefly reviewed. Third, Confucian self-cultivation and the Daoist conception of personhood are discussed. Fourth, relational issues of harmony in difference and tranquility in turbulence are analyzed. Lastly, inner peace reaching outer peace in leadership and governing is formulated in terms of the unity between means and end in peace education.

Future-readiness and its educational implications: A Daoist interpretation

“…The sage-potter is calm, non-confrontational and unbiased, like the monkey trainer who responds with equanimity and openness to the agitated and uncompromising monkeys (De Reu, 2010). Wang (2013) extrapolates the significance of resting in the middle of Heaven the Potter's Wheel:…”

The Unity between Politics and Moral Education in the View of the Philosophers of Xian Qin Confucian

“…To achieve the five wheels, not everyone is the same because according to him, some people are born with knowledge, some people learn to know, but also some people have to practice hard to know. For the ruler, it is necessary to practice self-discipline and besides, he must also encourage the people to cultivate themselves in order to make morality in the country prosper (H. Wang, 2013).…”

Social justice education with Chinese characteristics: An example from Shanghai

“…Nieuwenhuis (2010), for example, asserts that 'the social justice discourse has been colonised by the dominant Western philosophical and political approach ' (p. 276). Wang (2013) adds that the dominant conceptions of social justice are predominantly grounded in liberal presuppositions that play up individualism, democracy and autonomy. Even the term 'social justice' is of western origin as it was coined by a Sicilian priest, Luigi Taparelli d'Azeglio, in the middle of the nineteenth century (Zajda et al, 2006).…”

“…A fundamental challenge is a lack of consensus on what social justice means and encompasses in diverse schooling contexts. A related comment is that the extant literature on social justice education is largely drawn from western worldviews, contexts and experiences (Yip, 2004; Nieuwenhuis, 2010; Wang, 2013). Nieuwenhuis (2010), for example, asserts that ‘the social justice discourse has been colonised by the dominant Western philosophical and political approach’ (p. 276).…”