Political participation as self-cultivation: Towards a participatory theory of Confucian democracy

Abstract

Challenging the popular perception that Confucianism provides mostly a moral defense of political hierarchy, this article demonstrates that Confucianism is more than compatible with democracy and fundamentally contradicts political hierarchy, be it autocracy or meritocracy. Drawing on Zhu Xi (1130–1200 CE), the spokesperson for the state orthodoxy in late imperial China and one of the towering figures in the Confucian tradition, I argue that to realize the Confucian self-cultivation program for all requires popular participation in politics beyond casting ballots. My argument builds on Zhu Xi’s moral egalitarianism that all human beings can pursue sagehood by self-cultivation and should be given the equal opportunity to do so. Since Zhu Xi’s self-cultivation program requires acquiring and perfecting political knowledge in political practice, to realize his moral egalitarianism requires political equality for all. As such, my participatory theory of Confucian democracy exhorts all people to engage in self-governance and daily administration of the state more proactively. Thus, it enriches the prevalent liberal theory of Confucian democracy that focuses on political representation but not on popular participation in politics.