An Exploration of the Relationship between Confucianism and Economic Modernization in East Asia

Abstract

The rapid rise of East Asian economy has aroused the reflection on Confucianism in the academic community and the reassessment of the value of the “East Asian Confucian Cultural Circle”. Throughout the economic modernization process of developed countries, it can be found that the construction of any social system must be based on its traditional culture, and the choices made by organizations should also be regulated by cultural values. Without the ethical order, economic modernization would be short of the support and participation of spiritual power, and thus would be difficult to achieve the economic modernization goal of continuing social progress. Starting from the cultural reflection on the motivation of the development of economic modernization in East Asia, this paper summarizes the concept of East Asian Confucian Cultural Circle, and dialectically analyzes the profound and complex relationship between Confucianism and economic modernization in East Asia.