The Confucian Individual

Abstract

Confucian individualism is analogous to the Western acclaim for personal individuality. The notion of individualism, which is seen as fundamental and pervasive in Western civilization, is not to be contrasted with collectivism, which is perceived in Eastern societies as the underlying social structure. The Chinese, on account of Confucius, conceive of individuals and family as subordinated to the importance of society or the state. Confucius was mindful of the essential status of individuals when he, as an individual, performed the rituals at the funeral of his mother, having individually studied the ancient history pertinent to the rites. An occasion of ontological impracticality is the fact that the exclusive attention to communal concord and harmony at the expense of personal individuality cannot have contributed to the medical advances and the breakthroughs made possible in modern medicine. Also discussed in this chapter is the contribution of Confucius in the academic sphere of the Chinese society.