Lin Yutang. Peculiarities of perception of Confucius

the article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of Lin Yutang's perception of Confucius. In modern science, different ideas about the personality of the founder of Confucianism are common: philosopher, politician, writer, scientist, folklorist, etc. What was Confucius really like? Over the approximately 2,500-year history since his birth, attitudes toward Confucius have changed from extremely positive (“sacralization”) to radically negative – “Criticism of Lin Biao and Confucius.” What are the reasons for such changes? The world-famous Chinese writer Lin Yutang (1895-1976), drawing an exclusively “humane” portrait of Confucius, and gives his answers to these questions regarding the problematic research of Confucius in the field of source study, research methodology, the subjectivity of researchers and objective historical reality. Based on the use of the biographical method of Sainte-Beuve, Lin Yutang comes to the conclusion about the priority of the “Five classics” instead of the “Four books”, as well as the relevance of modern studies of the personality of Confucius and his teachings not only for foreign references in the era of the “turn to the East”, but also for China itself in order to counteract the negative aspects of globalization. To a certain extent, generally accepted criticism of Lin Yutang leans towards his “Taoist subjectivism,” while the analysis of his humanistic and Christian views deserves special attention from researchers. The obtained research results fill out the overall picture not only in the history of research on Confucius, but mainly in the history of research on the work of Lin Yutang.

Confucius, Lin Yutang, “Five classics”, “Four books”, biographical method of Sainte-Beuve, Christianity