Why did you choose Confucius as the starting point for your new Chair in Chinese Intellectual History ? There are at least three reasons. The first is a fact that can be observed at first glance : Confucius is the first - if not the only - name known to the general public in France, and more generally in Europe and even more widely in the West, when it comes to the Chinese tradition. This character, who lived in the 6th-5th centuries BC, and whose figure and teachings became intertwined with the entire history of imperial China from the 2nd century BC to the beginning of the 20th century, today appears, immediately and clearly, as the great founding figure of Chinese thought and culture, as much as of the entire Chinese identity. At least, this is how he is perceived in the Western world, and how he is presented, exalted and even instrumentalized in today's Chinese world. But it remains to be seen whether this identification of Confucius with the Chinese entity has always been true ; it is also necessary to question the motivations behind such identification and, finally, its historical origins.
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Lecture
Confucius revisited : old texts, new speeches
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