Abstract
This chapter presents a critique of Confucian civility and social harmony grounded in the notion of ritual (li). The chapter considers what Confucius says about ritual and describes Xunzi’s magnificent picture of ritual, which became the view of ritual in imperial China. The chapters one account of ritual behavior in contemporary China and shows how Confucian civility, as expressed through ritual, differs from modern civility as it is practiced in democratic societies. Finally, the chapter considers the violence inherent in Confucian ritual harmony and its modern version, the harmonious society (hexie shehui).
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Møllgaard, E.J. (2018). Civility. In: The Confucian Political Imagination. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74899-3_6
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