Sample Paper Topics

  • Religious dimensions of Confucianism

  • Confucian theories of government

  • Concepts of self and society in Confucianism

  • The relationship of ren (humanity) and li (ritual propriety) in Confucian thought

  • Situational ethics in Confucian thought

  • The Confucian concept of de (virtue)

  • The Confucian concept of qi (psycho-physical stuff)

  • The feelings/emotions in Confucian thought

  • Confucian concepts of Heaven (tian)

  • The meaning of culture (wen) and learning (xue) in Confucian thought

  • The relationship of Heaven and Humanity in Confucian thought

  • Confucian temples and the "cult" of Confucius

  • Music in Confucian ritual

  • Mencius and Xunzi as followers of Confucius

  • Confucian theories of human nature

  • Confucian methods of self-cultivation

  • Confucianism as a humanistic tradition

  • Family, filiality, and ancestor worship in Confucianism

  • Confucian views of "ghosts and spirits"

  • Socio-political context of the rise of Neo-Confucianism (either Northern or Southern Song)

  • Neo-Confucian criticisms of Daoism and Buddhism

  • Daoist and Buddhist influences on Neo-Confucianism

  • The new metaphysics Song Neo-Confucianism

  • The new cosmology of Song Neo-Confucianism

  • The Cheng brothers

  • Zhu Xi's thought

  • Zhu Xi's life and career

  • The Cheng-Zhu school

  • The Lu-Wang school

  • Zhu Xi vs. Lu Jiuyuan (aka Lu Xiangshan)

  • Wang Yang-ming's thought

  • Neo-Confucian solutions to the problem of evil

  • How the Neo-Confucians built on Mencius

  • The role and use of texts (e.g. methodology of reading/study)

  • Neo-Confucian uses of the Yijing

  • Divination in Confucianism

  • Women and Confucianism

  • Neo-Confucian views on family rituals

  • The Cheng-Zhu theory of human nature

  • Neo-Confucian methods of self-cultivation

  • What is new in Song Neo-Confucianism

  • Song Neo-Confucian academies

  • Neo-Confucian theories of mind

  • Confucianism in the Qing dynasty

  • The "New Confucians" of the 20th century

  • Confucianism and human rights

  • Confucian influences on East Asian economics

  • 20th-century critiques of Confucianism

  • The revival of Confucianism in the PRC

  • Confucian views of the natural world (ecology)

  • Max Weber's interpretation of Confucianism and modern critiques of it