My 5 best books on Confucianism

Confucianism is a belief system rather than a religion, a system of ethics rather than a history of the divine. As the former The state religion of ancient China, Confucianism serves as the foundation of Chinese culture, shaping its worldview, traditional values, and offering a structure for relationships and the challenges of everyday life.
Many of God’s truths, which the Chinese people have observed and applied from general revelation, can be understood through Confucianism and recognized when Christians share the gospel with people of Chinese descent. For example, they both recognize the corruption of humanity.
But while the Bible finds the root of depravity in sin, Confucius blames it on a bad environment and offers no explanation for what makes this context bad to begin with. Understanding these similarities and differences can help us in our apologetics, evangelism, and ministry to the Chinese people.
Below are five books on Confucianism that I recommend:
An introduction to Confucianismby Xinzhong Yao
This is a balanced and concise report. Text book about Confucianism. Unlike many books that offer a linear account of the history and intellectual influence of Confucianism, this title presents Confucianism as a system of thought with many dimensions and as an ancient tradition that still maintains contemporary appeal. As we witness the growing interest in Confucian studies around the world today, this book gives us insight into why this resurgence is occurring.
Confucius and the Chinese styleby H. G. Creel
What are some of the images or impressions that come to mind when we think of Kongzi (Confucius, 孔子) or Confucianism? It may surprise us today that the traditional Chinese depiction of Kongzi is not what we would expect from a sage reputed to have had such a deep and wide imprint on the worldviews and cultures of East Asia. It is this inconsistency that led Creel to explore whether tradition has failed to accurately portray the Kongzi who lived 2,600 years ago. Although widely researched, the book It is completely accessible to the general reader. If you want to understand what makes the world’s largest ethnic group tick, start with this book.
Confucianism and Christianity: a comparative studyby Julia Ching
Confucianism and Christianity: Isn’t that like comparing apples and oranges? Is Confucianism a religion or a philosophy? These questions have not been adequately answered for at least 300 years (since the arrival of the first missionaries to China) and it is not Ching’s intention to try. Rather, by placing biblical faith alongside Confucian heritage, he hopes to provoke further reflection on whether Christianity and Confucianism are compatible.
Today this reflection is increasingly urgent as missiologists emphasize the need for cultural contextualization in Christian evangelization and discipleship. This book You may not be convinced enough one way or the other, but this dialogue should be reactivated.
Acquiring Wisdom: The Way of Wang Yang-mingby Julia Ching
Wang Yang-ming was an accomplished Confucian soldier, statesman, and philosopher during the Ming Dynasty whose writings profoundly influenced the political and intellectual development of China, Japan, and Korea. He was fascinated by questions grappling with the meaning of life, but he also spent much of his life attempting to rescue Confucianism from the “vulgarized form” into which he believed it had morphed. Ching work On the Thinker begins with a general discussion of truth and ideology before moving seamlessly into an analysis of Wang’s philosophy, concluding with a selection of his poems, their first appearance in English.
The religions of China: Confucianism and Taoism described and compared with Christianity 1880by James Legge
In this classic by James Legge, a 19th century missionary in China, the Scot maintains that Confucianism, although not purely a religion, alludes to the existence of a monotheistic God. In this line of thought, he maintains that in order for the Chinese to easily accept Jesus Christ and not perceive Christianity as a foreign religion, missionaries must contextualize the term used to refer to God from shen (神) to shangdi (上帝). Although he received strong criticism and was disparaged for his work by his peers then, I suspect he would be highly praised today.
I’Ching Thomas is a writer and speaker specializing in the relevance of the Christian faith in Eastern cultural contexts. She is the author of Jesus: the path to human flourishing: The gospel for cultural Chinese.