Author Description

In this comprehensive new work, John Berthrong examines the vitality and expansion of the Confucian tradition throughout East Asia and into the entire modern world. Berthrong's study is unique in its discussion of each of the historical and regional phases of the development of the Confucian Tao. All too often, Confucian studies have focused exclusively on the classical early period and the great thinkers of the later neo-Confucian revival in the Sung Ming dynasties. Berthrong's work opens the reader's eyes to the often neglected gifts of scholars of the Han, T'ang, and the modern periods, as well as to the vast contributions of Korea and Japan. The author concludes this study with an examination of the contemporary renewal of the Confucian Way in East Asia and its recent spread to the West.