著者

君塚 大学

出版者

佛教大学総合研究所

雑誌

佛教大学総合研究所紀要 (ISSN:13405942)

巻号頁・発行日

no.8, pp.1-17, 2001-03-25

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There have been. some argument that traditional Confucian culture has still a strong influence in the lives of the people of East Asia. Some scholars find Confucian ethics to be the main cause for the miraculous economic development in the countries known as the Four Dragons. Furthermore some political analysts foresee the clash of civilizations between Confucian China and Christian Europe, especially the USA. But others deny such ideological functions of Confucianism. In these ways, there are many disputes concerning Confucian culture. In order to discuss these problems empirically, we must construct statistical accounts of the existence and strength of Confucian hegemony. Therefore I try in this paper to construct statistical scales to measure the main elements of Confucian culture. With the data from a comparative survey conducted in Japan, South Korea, and China in 1999, I have devised five indices as measuring scales. The first, Confucian economic culture scale, deals with economic ethics and industriousness. The second, Confucian political culture scale, tests authoritarian orientation and dependency on political leaders. The third, Confucian integral culture scale, is a tool to observe the inclination of social solidarity by ascription principles such as filiality, senior fidelity, and communalism that have been seen as typical features of the Confucian tradition. The fourth, Confucian life-world culture scale, serves to reveal the degree of ancestor worship and cultural ethnocentrism. Lastly, the Confucian whole culture scale, measures the prevalence of Confucian cultural ensemble among the population by combining the four scales.