Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan

Legitimacy, the Chinese Communist Party and Confucius

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Wai Kong Ng

    1. Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • explores the role of Confucianism in contemporary China

  • identifies the legitimacy issues facing the CCP

  • provides a new rubric for Chinese politics

  • 565 Accesses

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 1-15

  3. Legitimacy and Legitimation Theoretical Framework

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 17-57

  4. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives of Legitimacy in the Chinese Context

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 59-89

  5. The Legacy of the Liberation, 1949–Present: A Country and Party in Transition

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 91-119

  6. Contemporary Legitimacy Issues of the CPC

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 121-153

  7. Main Strands of Confucianism

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 155-175

  8. The Nature of The Confucian Turn: Part 1

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 177-214

  9. The Nature of the Confucian Turn: Part 2

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 215-239

  10. A Viable Legitimation Story Based on Confucian Democracy

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 241-268

  11. Conclusion

    • Wai Kong Ng
    Pages 269-279

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 281-284
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book explores the use of Confucianism by the Chinese Communist Party in its assertion of political legitimacy.  Confucian thought offers an enduring framework for political legitimacy in East Asian societies, including China. All states strive to acquire legitimacy, and despite once denouncing Confucianism as the remnants of feudal poison, the Party is turning towards Confucianism as part of its legitimation efforts.  This suggests that the Party is suffering from an ideological void in terms of legitimacy and legitimation due to the diminishing relevance of Marxism in Chinese societal practices.  

The book will devise a non-liberal legitimacy framework, drawing on the ideas of Habermas and Bernard Williams, to examine the legitimacy of the Party, and use an analysis of the elite discourse to determine the nature of the Confucian turn, in a sharp polemic that will interest scholars of Chinese politics, of the role of traditional beliefs in Asian modernity, and in China's future.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

    Wai Kong Ng

About the author

Dr Wai Kong Ng is currently a Visiting Researcher at Newcastle University, England. After a successful career in business, he returned to academia to pursue a long-held interest in Chinese politics.  He passed his MA in International Politics with Distinction at Newcastle University, before completing his doctorate in Politics at the University of Leeds.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Legitimacy, the Chinese Communist Party and Confucius

  • Authors: Wai Kong Ng

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7089-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-99-7088-9Published: 22 November 2023

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-99-7091-9Due: 06 December 2024

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-99-7089-6Published: 21 November 2023

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 284

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Asian Politics, Comparative Religion, Political Theory

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation