A UBC professor specializing in Chinese intellectual history will give a free capstone lecture addressing Taiwan’s relationship with China. Josephine Chiu-Duke’s presentation, “Taiwan Democracy and the Chinese Humanistic Tradition”, will take place at 3 p.m. on Thursday (March 6) in the Asian Centre Auditorium (1871 West Mall) on UBC’s Point Grey campus. Attendees are encourage to register through the UBC website.
“What should be noted is that Taiwan today is also the only place where Chinese culture, especially with regard to the values embedded in the Confucian humanistic tradition, has been best preserved since 1949 without being deliberately destroyed as it was during the Chinese Cultural Revolution,” the UBC website states. “In her talk, Dr. Chiu-Duke will discuss why Taiwan’s successful search for liberty and democracy has yet to bring about a consensus on Taiwan’s dealing with China.”
Moreover, Chiu-Duke will speak about how the Chinese humanistic tradition emerged from Confucius’s “innovative re-interpretation of the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven”. This mandate legitimized the rule of emperors of China.
Chiu is the author of To Rebuild the Empire: Lu Chih’s Confucian Pragmatist Approach to the Mid-Tang Predicament (2000), and In Search of Liberty: Lin Yusheng’s Life and Thought (2023). In a 2021 interview with the Georgia Straight, she spoke about the differences between classical Confucianism and Confucianism as a state ideology.
Classical Confucianism referred to the teachings of the second-most important Confucian scholar, Mencius, who died in 289 BCE. It advocates for a “reciprocal relationship” between the ruler and the people, which informs the current state of governance in Taiwan. The people can throw out the ruler in democratic elections.
Chiu-Duke will address China’s global citizenship initiative
“In The Book of Mencius, Mencius even talks about if the ruler treated you like a stranger—if the ruler treats you like dirt—you can treat him like an enemy,” Chiu-Duke told the Georgia Straight at the time. “And Mencius even said it is all right to kill a tyrant. So, tyrannicide is justified in Mencius’s teachings.”
The state ideology, which Chiu-Duke called “Official Confucianism”, emerged when a strong-willed emperor named Wu Ti codified legalistic teaching that refused to acknowledge a reciprocal relationship.
“In other words, the reciprocal relationship between ministers and rulers, sons and fathers, and wife and husband no longer exists,” she said.
This informs the governance of the People’s Republic of China, where dissent is ruthlessly repressed. Chiu’s interview came in advance of her talk at Vancouver TAIWANfest in 2021, which was entitled “Confucius or Confusions”.
According to the UBC website, Chiu-Duke will argue in her capstone lecture “that if China today is genuinely serious about its 2023 projected ‘global civilization initiative’, it should see Taiwan and its democracy as a most viable reference for the success of this project instead of as a target for annexation”.
“Only in this way can Taiwan democracy continue its support for the healthy development of the Chinese humanistic tradition with the values of this tradition continuing on to serve as a source for elevating the civility and quality of Taiwan democracy,” the website notes. “Perhaps, only in this way can Taiwan democracy and the Chinese humanistic tradition also make a contribution to the twin goals of world peace and stability.”
Watch Prof. Josephine Chiu-Duke’s Hope Talk at Vancouver TAIWANfest in 2021.
Event details
Prof. Josephine Chiu-Duke’s capstone lecture, “Taiwan Democracy and the Chinese Humanistic Tradition”, takes place at 3 p.m. on Thursday (March 6) in the Asian Centre Auditorium (1871 West Mall). For more information and to register, visit the UBC website. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social. Pancouver is also on Instagram @PancouverMedia. In addition, follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social.
