This article introduces the main developments in studies on Chinese philosophy in Russia since the 1990s. At the backstage of upsurge of interest in cultural studies scholars tended to approach the Chinese philosophy from the angle of compatibility of modernization with continuity of tradition. Attention to the links between philosophy and civilization of China has made the impact to the work on encyclopedic-type reference books in Chinese philosophy. Along with studies in philosophy of Contemporary Confucianism scholars has debated on general (...) problems of Confucian influences upon the development of China. The concluding section attempts to sum up the results and to outline forthcoming tasks of Russian studies in Chinese philosophy. (shrink)

This article introduces the main developments in studies on Chinese philosophy in Russia since the 1990s.At the backstage of upsurge of interest in cultural studies scholars tended to approach the Chinese philosophy from the angle of compatibility of modernization with continuity of tradition. Attention to the links between philosophy and civilization of China has made the impact to the work on encyclopedic-type reference books in Chinese philosophy. Along with studies in philosophy of Contemporary Confucianism scholars has debated on general problems (...) of Confucian influences upon the development of China. The concluding section attempts to sum up the results and to outline forthcoming tasks of Russian studies in Chinese philosophy. (shrink)

The article focuses on the key issues of contemporary Chinese academic publications on the specifcs of Chinese rationality. Among its most common characteristics, there are focus on practice, attention to everyday life of society and individuals, pursuit of centrality and harmony in the moral sphere. Cross-cultural comparisons serve to justify the role of traditional rationality as a balancer keeping Chinese thought away from subjectivism, irrationalism, abstract reasoning and formalism. The researchers seek to identify the impacts of “applied rationality” upon the (...) formation of positive features of Chinese national character. The widespread interpretation of Chinese practical rationality underlines the priority of practice of political governance over the theoretical reasoning about politics; in the moral sphere it leads to rejection of extremes in human behavior and sets the normative status of the middle path and harmony. The inclination of humans to keep their emotions under control and to take a proactive approach to the world was accompanied by recognition of the higher value of empirical experience and intuition compared to formal and abstract ideas. The focus on the secular life of people deprived the Chinese rationality of the “otherworldly” religious dimension. The participants of the discussion note that the Chinese culture has gained stability and “elasticity,” but it lacks Western formal rationality, which is a prerequisite for scientifc knowledge. Chinese researchers pay much attention to the impact of traditional rationality on the formation of Chinese philosophy in the 20th century and to the choice of socio-political path of national development. The emphasis on the differences between the cultures ofChinaand the West is combined with searches for similarities between Chinese rationality and Marxism. That steers the discussion beyond the sphere of comparative studies and makes its content relevant to the understanding of broader set of contemporary problems. (shrink)