Scholar’s Corner: The Responses of Jiang Qing and New Confucians to Same-Sex Marriage: Key Points and Criticisms

• Published in: Yugyo munhwa yŏnʼgu. pp. 5 - 23
• Main Author: Ying-kit Chan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 유교문화연구소 01.02.2025
• Subjects: 유교학
• ISSN: 1598-267X; 2734-1356

This article serves as an informative piece for scholars who may be unaware that contemporary New Confucians have been debating the legalization of same-sex marriage. It links the rise of Political Confucianism—an offshoot of New Confucianism—with the global discourse on gender issues and social progress. The views of Jiang Qing, the doyen of Political Confucianism, and of New Confucians on same-sex marriage reveal a common intellectual strategy: conceptual bifurcation. Despite their differences, Jiang and the New Confucians offer a Chinese alternative to Western liberal democracy, one that reaffirms the role of Confucianism in resolving the contradictions of global capitalism and contribute to ongoing discussions on matters that affect all societies. My modest aim is to introduce their discussions on same-sex marriage to anglophone readers, given same-sex marriage’s political and philosophical implications, which have been assessed from a feminist perspective. The key contribution of this article, then, lies in the identification of the intellectual strategy of bifurcation adopted by Jiang and New Confucians to frame the debates and their own arguments. KCI Citation Count: 0