On the Latest Reception of Voegelin in China

• In Event: Voegelin's Reception in China

Abstract

Title:
Merely Reality?: a Review of Wenming Tang’s “Leap in Being and the Art of Balance” and the latest Reception of Voegelin in China

Abstract:
Voegelin is becoming a hot topic in Chinese philosophical academia. Wenming Tang’s new book, Leap in Being and the Art of Balance, is one of the latest monographs in this field. Its core is analyzing Voegelin’s theory of order and applying it to reinterpret classical Confucianism for the renewal of Chinese civilization. Tang’s book is also one of the latest responses by Chinese scholars to the centuries-long process of China’s encounter with the West and the renewal of Chinese civilization in the modernization process. This review contends five parts. (1) it briefly describes the intention, theme, and theoretical presuppositions of Tang’s book. (2) it clarifies the difficulties and importance of restoring the metaphysical horizon. (3) it analyzes the temptation, burden, and possibility of the philosophy of history. (4) it clarifies the doubts surrounding “The Ecumenic Age” and “The Chinese Ecumene” correspondly. (5) it combines Tang’s “renewal ”and Voegelin’s “restoration” to clarify the vital argument of Voegelin’s philosophizing: to recapture reality.

Keywords: Wenming Tang’s Leap in Being and the Art of Balance, Voegelin in China, the Chinese Civilization, restoration, Reality

Author

• Muen Liu, Tsinghua University