The Religion of China

出版者:Free Press

作者:Max Weber

页数:308

译者:Hans H. Gerth

出版时间:1968-5-1

价格:USD 19.95

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780029344507

具体描述

"The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism" (original Free Press edition 1951) is one of a number of works by the German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) published in English translation only long after his death, during a post-World-War II boom in Anglo-American interest in his writing. Such interest has recurred at irregular intervals since (one marked by this 1968 paperback reprinting), and Weber's major works, including technical and methodological studies, apparently have all been translated. Initially familiar to readers of English only for his theories on the relation between the Protestant (mainly Calvinist) world-view and the capitalist "rationalization" of economic life ("The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"), Weber gradually has been revealed as an explorer of the nature of human societies in many times and places.

Sinologists have given his studies of China (here and in a few essays published elsewhere) a somewhat mixed reception. On the one hand, it was an important example of China being taken seriously as major civilization, illustrating basic trends in human social behavior, instead of an exotic footnote ("Oriental Despotism," "The Oriental Mode of Production"). A product of Bismarck's Germany, Weber was acutely aware of the effects of bureaucracy, centralization of authority, and economic rationalization on traditional societies, and used China as a test case for his general theories. The religious responses to China's social and political order are a main, but not the only focus, and his treatment of both Confucianism and (mainly philosophical) Taoism as embodying genuine religious experiences was then unusual. Weber's mastery of the available translations and secondary literature is often mentioned as amounting to nearly a professional command of the field.

On the other hand, Weber *was* unable to consult the primary sources directly. He was acutely aware that much of his information came from missionaries with ideological biases; according to some, however, he often chose the *wrong* missionary to believe. He seriously underestimated the antiquity of some developments in Chinese government. His examples are sometimes wrong, sometimes not especially pertinent; and better ones are missing because he had no access to them. He accepted the view of Confucius as a sort of learned academic with an interest in ethical government (popular among some modern Chinese as well as westerners), without seeming to notice that he has often been regarded as a supernatural figure, a prophet, or, in Weber's own terms, a "charismatic" leader. And the study of Buddhism in China was in its infancy, and its transformative impacts on Confucian and Taoist thought and practice only beginning to be grasped. The study of the very complex history of Taoism *as a religion* is also mostly a more recent development.

Bearing these limits in mind, Weber's study remains fascinating. His suggested interpretations of Chinese society have set the terms for much research attempting to confirm or refute his ideas. He was sometimes wrong about both absolute and relative datings, but he recognized many important trends, and successfully framed them in larger contexts.

As very much an amateur in Chinese studies (with greater limits than Weber, and not nearly as industrious, but able to benefit from modern scholarship), I have long found the book illuminating; I just try to check it against recent studies. For those who are familiar with Weber only for "The Protestant Ethic" (and the attendant controversy), this volume, and its companions on "Ancient Judaism" and "The Religions of India," may come as a considerable surprise.

Those interested in the sociology of Chinese religion (rather than beliefs and practices) will want to take a look at a book by C.K. Yang, the author of the Introduction to this translation. Yang's "Religion in Chinese Society: A Study of Contemporary Social Functions of Religion and Some of Their Historical Factors" (originally University of California Press, 1961) provides information on Chinese religion in relation to government policies, and community and family structures, with documentation for specific regions. I consider it a complement, not a substitute, for Weber, because several chapters are probably too statistical to make it attractive to many readers. Yang also assumes familiarity with a body of professional sociological thought that Weber was still establishing. Of course, it too is beginning to show its age.

读后感

韦伯的这本书系统庞杂。如果不去细细的梳理，于我而言印象最深的有三点。 一是杨庆堃在导论里面总结的。 韦伯选择用卡尔文主义作为新教教义的范例。 卡尔文写到，上帝是如此令人敬畏地高高在上，他乃是超乎所有人类所能祈求与理解的。在此上帝面前，人类孤零零地站着。 这种人...

马克斯·韦伯(Marx Weber)是近代德国著名的社会学家、历史学家和经济学家，他的名字与涂尔干和马克思的名字一起，被奉为社会学的“三大神明”。德国特色的大学制度造就了韦伯的博学多才，使他具有极其宽广的学术涉猎范围。他的思想体现在著作上，他的著作自然也就富含多种学...  

马克斯·韦伯(Marx Weber)是近代德国著名的社会学家、历史学家和经济学家，他的名字与涂尔干和马克思的名字一起，被奉为社会学的“三大神明”。德国特色的大学制度造就了韦伯的博学多才，使他具有极其宽广的学术涉猎范围。他的思想体现在著作上，他的著作自然也就富含多种学...  

韦伯之《儒教与道教》一书，连同其《新教伦理与资本主义精神》，对中国知识界产生了深刻而广泛的影响，许多人接受了韦伯或者漫画化了的韦伯观念，即只有新教支持资本主义，儒家不利于经济发展。 清算韦伯是儒家在思想学术上得到重估的前提之一。为此，弘道书院联合开放时代杂志...  

用户评价

第一部分可能比后面儒家道家部分更重要，它显示出韦伯思考宗教问题的社会基础：东方社会从神魅向传统转型到何种阶段（尤其封建制和战争英雄叙事让位给稳定与统一大帝国，政治合法性来源与官僚阶层形成路径），经济运行中有无、有多少理性成分存在，是否具备向资本主义转化潜力（尤其市场机会与经济货币化程度）。而韦伯将儒家道家称为中国宗教，亦因为两家在此中国社会中扮演宗教式角色：儒家解释与维系此岸世界，提供核心精神与文化气质，将精英社会化；道家残留部分上古魔法巫术思维，保留个人主义思维和彼岸理想，接近于大众。韦伯称儒家本质上是一理性思维，因其为现世世界背书，以精英道德文化为标杆格致现实世界且不反对经济获益；但又无法内生出西方资本主义精神，因其理性化只维系传统秩序与道德，且缺乏来自彼岸召唤的狂热与献身基础。

great book. by putting his theory of religion and society in the context of Chinese history, he made his points clearer to me

第一部分可能比后面儒家道家部分更重要，它显示出韦伯思考宗教问题的社会基础：东方社会从神魅向传统转型到何种阶段（尤其封建制和战争英雄叙事让位给稳定与统一大帝国，政治合法性来源与官僚阶层形成路径），经济运行中有无、有多少理性成分存在，是否具备向资本主义转化潜力（尤其市场机会与经济货币化程度）。而韦伯将儒家道家称为中国宗教，亦因为两家在此中国社会中扮演宗教式角色：儒家解释与维系此岸世界，提供核心精神与文化气质，将精英社会化；道家残留部分上古魔法巫术思维，保留个人主义思维和彼岸理想，接近于大众。韦伯称儒家本质上是一理性思维，因其为现世世界背书，以精英道德文化为标杆格致现实世界且不反对经济获益；但又无法内生出西方资本主义精神，因其理性化只维系传统秩序与道德，且缺乏来自彼岸召唤的狂热与献身基础。

文化历史不同，随意链接对比，不认同。

文化历史不同，随意链接对比，不认同。