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Michael Schuman
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Confucius: And the World He Created Kindle Edition

by Michael Schuman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 74 ratings
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Confucius is perhaps the most important philosopher in history. Today, his teachings shape the daily lives of more than 1.6 billion people. Throughout East Asia, Confucius's influence can be seen in everything from business practices and family relationships to educational standards and government policies. Even as western ideas from Christianity to Communism have bombarded the region, Confucius's doctrine has endured as the foundation of East Asian culture. It is impossible to understand East Asia, journalist Michael Schuman demonstrates, without first engaging with Confucius and his vast legacy.

Confucius created a worldview that is in many respects distinct from, and in conflict with, Western culture. As Schuman shows, the way that East Asian companies are managed, how family members interact with each other, and how governments see their role in society all differ from the norm in the West due to Confucius's lasting impact. Confucius has been credited with giving East Asia an advantage in today's world, by instilling its people with a devotion to learning, and propelling the region's economic progress. Still, the sage has also been highly controversial. For the past 100 years, East Asians have questioned if the region can become truly modern while Confucius remains so entrenched in society. He has been criticized for causing the inequality of women, promoting authoritarian regimes, and suppressing human rights.

Despite these debates, East Asians today are turning to Confucius to help them solve the ills of modern life more than they have in a century. As a wealthy and increasingly powerful Asia rises on the world stage, Confucius, too, will command a more prominent place in global culture.

Touching on philosophy, history, and current affairs, Confucius tells the vivid, dramatic story of the enigmatic philosopher whose ideas remain at the heart of East Asian civilization.
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  1. Print length
    322 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Basic Books
  4. Publication date
    March 3, 2015
  5. File size
    1410 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Michael Schuman's book is nothing short of indispensable reading for anyone trying to comprehend the local, regional, and global impact of China and its motivating philosophical underpinnings. Today's China is an extension of its past and Confucius' guiding influence remains at its core. China is incomprehensible without this intellectual framework. To that end, Confucius is a generationally significant contribution."

-- "Jon Huntsman, former United States Ambassador to China"

"[A] vibrant and engaging portrait of Confucius, Michael Schuman gives us the sage as we've never seen him, undeniably shaping modern politics, business, and private life for a quarter of humanity. It is a marvel of intelligent research, great reporting, and clear analysis."

-- "Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition"

"A great read for anyone interested in Confucius, philosophy, or culture in East Asia."

-- "Library Journal"

"Part biography, part history, and part analysis of Chinese current affairs, this remarkable book...traces the lasting influence of Confucianism in China, despite enormous political and social changes in Chinese society."

-- "Publishers Weekly"

About the Author

Michael Schuman has been a correspondent for Time and the Wall Street Journal, covering Asia and the global economy. The author of The Miracle: The Epic Story of Asias Quest for Wealth, Schuman lives in Beijing, China.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00PWX7R8S
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 1st edition (March 3, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1410 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
74 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the history interesting and in-depth. They also say the book is readable and clear. Readers describe it as a great book and excellent on Confucius.

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3 customers mention "Interest"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the history interesting and in-depth. They also say the book is informative and a great introduction to these ideas.

"...Schuman’s history is interesting and in-depth, showing the development of different elements of Confucianism changing in response to legalism,..." Read more

"A very history oriented book. This story is really interesting although i was looking for an exploration of the philosophy and the rationale behind..." Read more

"...Confucius and Chinese culture, I found this book to be a great introduction to these ideas and the history of the region...." Read more

3 customers mention "Readable"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and informative. They appreciate the author's clear writing about a difficult subject.

"...I found this book informative, readable, but very frustrating as it almost certainly will make no one completely happy...." Read more

"Easy to read and understand Good author who writes clearly about a difficult subject and that spans such a long period" Read more

"Very readable and informative presentation of the man, his impact on East Asian societies and his continuing relevance for the world.." Read more

3 customers mention "Value for money"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book great and excellent.

"...The historical knowledge alone makes this book well worth reading...." Read more

"A pretty good review but much too long and protracted...." Read more

"Great book..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

elinor alboum
5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Schuman has written an excellent book on Confucious
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2015
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Michael Schuman has written an excellent book on Confucious. I not only learned about him and how his works have been used and abused historically, but I also learned a lot of Chinese history. The historical knowledge alone makes this book well worth reading. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a good basic understanding of Confucious and how his writings have influenced China and the world through the ages.
8 people found this helpful
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C. Derick Varn
4.0 out of 5 stars Perplexing, interesting, but Schumann has a trouble balancing the entire story
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2016
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Schuman assigns himself a difficult task, dissecting and sharing the extremely nebulous world of Confucianism in East Asia and the shape it has taken in China, Korea, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan. Schumann’s writing for the Wall Street Journal and Time aid him in developing a breezy journalistic style, his marriage into a Korean family give him both an insider and outsider perspective, and his willingness to do the research is laudable. Beyond that, Schumann doesn’t just start with the Analects, but really does try to get into the history of Confucius himself, the history of Qafu, and the strange flexibility of Confucian doctrine.

Schumann gets into the difficulties of dealing with Confucius admittedly: Confucius is a mythic figure and reformer already writing about a past that was mythic to Confucius himself. The layers of mystification are deep. Furthermore, Confucius and Confucianism comes off at first like a Sinological equal to a Hellenic philosophical school, and like Platonism, religious ideas accumulated in vaguely metaphysical notions prior. It’s also important that early Confucianism was relevant on the study of classics existing prior to Confucius himself.

This flexibility in Confucianism makes it hard to pin down and hard to talk about consistently. Confucianism has both democratic and anti-Democratic tendencies, both humane and inhumane elements, but has always been dependent on Imperial patronage. Schuman’s history is interesting and in-depth, showing the development of different elements of Confucianism changing in response to legalism, Daoism, Buddhism, and even Christianity. Neo-Confucianism role in many patriarchal imperial cults becomes clear but so does its deviation from classical Confucianism. Schuman even hints at, but doesn’t go into, the idea that elements of Confucianism as we understand it were promoted by European missionaries.

Schuman’s writings on Confucianism in modern world, and its relationship to 20th century critics is more problematic. Schumann admires Confucius and East Asian culture, but as his last chapter reveals, is actually quite critical of the way it is being used by various governments in East Asia as a means of gas-lighting public order and painting more participatory ideas from democratic societies as Western, foreign, and corrupt. To combat this, however, Schumann often sounds like he is making excuses for Confucian excesses. In other words, Schumann knows his bias but out of respect for his topic, over corrects on the side of apologetics.

I found this book informative, readable, but very frustrating as it almost certainly will make no one completely happy. It isn’t an explication of the Analects. It’s not just a historical discussion of the development of Confucianism, and it is both critical of and apologetic for East Asian society. Schumann has difficulty dealing with post-Deng embrace of Confucius after the excesses of the cultural revolution or the criticism of Singapore’s ruler, Yew, to actually have Confucianism take off in Singapore.
5 people found this helpful
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Jose C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2017
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Easy to read and understand Good author who writes clearly about a difficult subject and that spans such a long period
2 people found this helpful
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AlexX
3.0 out of 5 stars A very history oriented book. This story is really ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2015
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A very history oriented book. This story is really interesting although i was looking for an exploration of the philosophy and the rationale behind it.
3 people found this helpful
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Julie S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very readable and informative presentation of the man, his ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2017
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Very readable and informative presentation of the man, his impact on East Asian societies and his continuing relevance for the world..
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James Alexander
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2015
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As advertised.
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Eric Heffinger
4.0 out of 5 stars The IDEA of Confucius
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2015
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As an American who knew little to nothing about Confucius and Chinese culture, I found this book to be a great introduction to these ideas and the history of the region.
Schuman rolls 2500 years of history into a neat 242 pages. He starts by attempting to tell the story of the "REAL" Confucius, but soon leaves the sage in his grave and instead follows the story of the "IDEA" of Confucius. Each chapter has it's own big idea that he attempts to explain but the book also goes in chronological order as well so that the reader can follow the evolution of the Confucius idea and the history.
I believe that Schuman sums up this book the best in Ch. 8 when he says:
"What is interesting for our story is how Confucius has been perceived across time. His influence has been seen as so dominant, so much a part of daily life in East Asia, that he has received either the credit or blame for whatever was taking place at any given moment. Confucius the hard-charging capitalist was every bit as symbolic of the 1970s as Confucius the archaic feudalist was of the 1910s. Like a great method actor, the sage can take on whatever role he is hired to perform, depending on the script. So much makeup has been caked upon him that he has become barely recognizable."
This book does a fine job of identifying the evolution of these ideas and it makes me think of my own western culture and how the ideas of capitalism and Christianity have been used by leaders to push development and industrialization as well as for their own personal gain.
4 people found this helpful
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Seth E Kolloen
2.0 out of 5 stars I got bored after awhile with the disputes between various schools of ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2015
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Bought this book because I'm interested in China. Through my own ignorance, likely, I got bored after awhile with the disputes between various schools of Confucianism. I wish the author had moved the story forward quicker, about how "the world he created" actually is operating rather than 500-year-old intellectual disputes.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Graham Cammock
5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2021
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This is one of my favourite and one of the best books I have ever read. The book honestly grips you from the introduction and doesn’t ever drop the ball. Confucius the great sage is the main reason why the book or subject is so interesting because Confucius is such a great man and great philosopher. Although Michael Schuman’s writing is brilliant and he gives you the truth clearly with no messing around. The main triumph of the book is that it has made me love Confucianism, especially precepts such as filial piety, devotion to education and how Confucianism is applied to East Asian politics and government etc. I believe we in the west could learn much from Confucianism. Having 1.6 billion adherents, the only reason why Confucianism (as far as I can see) is not as big or so obviously right as Buddhism and Christianity is because unfortunately Confucianism incorporated a little sexism. You really understand the tensions and resistances between eastern and western civilisations and cultures by reading this book. Personally I think in a way that I prefer eastern Confucianism over western individualism and liberal democracy etc. You can’t understand China and East Asia without understanding Confucius and Confucianism. Read this book now.
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Lia
5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality, great cover.
Reviewed in Canada on May 5, 2020
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Good book, great quality cover.
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andre bezamat
4.0 out of 5 stars Muito bom
Reviewed in Brazil on January 2, 2018
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Livro excelente, com muita informação mas sem ser maçante. O autor é bastante claro ao passar suas ideias, até mesmo por vezes repetindo mais que o necessário. Mas a leitura é boa e importante, e finaliza com uma bela conclusão, ainda que uma conclusão tudo menos inesperada desde o começo.
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Adrian J. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars The man, and the application of his wisdom
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2016
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Rather than a retelling of the Analects, Schuman's Confucius provides both a history of the Sage, and an overview of the application of his teaching. Central to Schuman's argument is the reality that it's unfair to judge a person upon how others have applied their teachings, therefore the co-opting of Confucius by various leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew, to China's current leadership, is by no means a reflection upon the Sage himself.
As much a defence of Confucianism as an overview of the man's philosophy, Schuman examines how Confucianism has been successful in it's application to the business world, but rather stifling when applied on a political and societal model.
A charge against Confucianism is that it is inherently anti-libertarian, anti-individual, and ultimately, anti-democratic, or at least not compatible with the Western model of democracy, but a closer examination of his work reveals that Confucius was the first democrat, as his teachings long predate Athenian democracy.
China watchers would do well to acquaint themselves with this book, as it has been argued that China will eventually become democratic, but strictly on their terms, and in their way.
However, Schuman's work is by no means limited to China, and covers Confucianism in South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
For those unfamiliar with Confucianism, this is a very readable introduction, and is entirely relevant for China watchers, or observers of East Asia in general.
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John Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2017
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book in as-new condition
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