Politics and ethics in Chinese texts for the young: the Confucian tradition

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Abstract

The Chinese term for politics, zheng zhi, consists of two characters. The first character zheng in ancient times was a synonym for zheng, which had a very broad range of moral connotations and could be used as a noun, a verb and an adjective: the obverse side, to rectify, to correct, to mete out punishment to a criminal, straightforward, unbending, honest, virtuous, original, just, unbiased, and formal. The second character zhi is mainly a verb, and occasionally a noun. The basic meaning of this character is to administer, to control, to rule, to regulate, to harness, and to treat. One of the world's oldest texts expressly created for children is a Chinese exposition: An Essay of a Thousand Characters. A modern literature for children and youth in a newly promoted vernacular emerged in the May Fourth New Culture Movement. The success of Russian Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 seemed to provide a blueprint to Chinese intellectuals for solving China's problems quickly.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to International Children’s Literature
EditorsJohn Stephens, Celia Abicalil Belmiro, Alice Curry, Li Lifang, Yasmine S. Motawy
Place of PublicationAbingdon Oxon UK
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter4
Pages39-48
Number of pages10
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781315771663
ISBN (Print)9781138778061
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Publication series

NameRoutledge companions
PublisherRoutledge

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