The Confucian Mind

Publication Date: July 2006 The Confucian civilization is thoroughly examined and explained in this volume, historically, philosophically and psychologically, by its two most prominant examples (Chinese and Japanese cultures), after a multi-year research effort, with ground breaking findings and analyses not available elsewhere. Historically Asian civilizations followed a dramatically different path than that of the West from the very beginning, adopting in ancient times a distinct social structure that has never appeared at any point in Western history. Asian values grown out of that social structure (subservience) diametrically contradict core Western values of freedom and justice, and Asian societies have their own distinct internal dynamic. This book attempts to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of East Asians through a detailed analysis of the nature, historical roots and evolution of their uncompromising doctrine (Confucianism), which still dominates East Asia including China today. The author takes a bold and honest approach, ignoring cultural taboos, to reveal the inner workings of the Asian mind. This is not a typical history book, though all major historical periods up until the present are analyzed and explained; nor is it a typical philosophy book, though all major schools of thought in this tradition are analyzed and explained; nor is it a typical psychology book, though the defining aspects of Asian psyche are analyzed and explained. It is an ambitious and unprecedented attempt to take stock of the entire civilization, its breadth, its scope, and its essence. It traverses the evolution of the Asian mind through the centuries, explains the how and why of Asian cultural and historical dynamic, and presents a clear trajectory of Asian history and future.