Weird Confucius : Unorthodox Representations of Confucius in History / Zhao Lu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lu, Zhao, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Confucianism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (285 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2024.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

Spanning antiquity until the present, Zhao Lu analyses the eclectic and fictitious representations of Confucius that have been widely celebrated by communities of people throughout history. While mainstream scholarship mostly considers Confucius in terms of his role as a celebrated man of wisdom and as a teacher with a humanistic worldview, Zhao addresses the weirder representations. He considers depictions of Confucius as a prophet, a fortune-teller, a powerful demon hunter, a shrewd villain of 19th century American newspapers, an embodiment of feudal evils in the Cultural Revolution, and as a cute friend. Zhao asks why some groups would risk contradicting the well-accepted image of Confucius with such representations and shows how these illustrations reflect the specific anxieties of these communities. He reveals not only how people across history perceived Confucius in diverse ways, but more importantly how they used Confucius in daily life, ranging from calming their anxiety about the future, to legitimizing a dynasty, stereotyping Chinese people, and even to forging a new sense of history.

Contents:

Introduction Acknowledgments 1. Confucius as Prophet 2. Confucius as Ghostbuster 3. Confucius as Diviner 4. Confucius as Stereotype 5. Confucius as Villain 6. Confucius as Cute Conclusion Bibliography Index

ISBN:

9781350327597

135032759X

9781350327573

1350327573

OCLC:

1432600446