James D. Sellmann – författare

For over two thousand years, Confucianism has built up sophisticated approaches exploring social, political, and environmental harmony. As a valuable cultural resource and one of the main drivers of societal norms across much of East Asia, Confucian philosophy has been going through a global academic revival over the last three decades. It has insights that can help us reflect on the root causes of, and remedies for, disorder in the 21st century, and can build bridges of dialogue across alternative philosophical, political, diplomatic, educational, and religious systems. This volume presents diverse ‘Confucianisms’ as hybrid, evolving traditions that have been indigenized and creatively interpreted to support human fulfilment, using the vast cultural resources of the past to meet the needs of the present and the future.Living Confucianisms: Strategies for Optimizing Harmony explores contemporary harmony from a wide range of perspectives across philosophy, religion, politics, linguistics, diplomacy, international relations and education, with writers from numerous cultural and national backgrounds.

This companion is the first comprehensive study in the English language of the Lüshi Chunqiu 吕氏春秋 – the 3rd BCE Chinese literary gem devoted to political philosophy, and the art of rulership. Leading scholars from North America, Europe, Australia, and East Asia investigate the work’s literary form, rhetorical strategies, metaphysics, leadership theory, and reception in imperial, and modern China. The volume offers a robust analysis of how different philosophical and political concepts and influences were welded together by the work’s authors to create a coherent philosophy of ideal, moral rulership of All Under Heaven. The Lüshi Chunqiu has for centuries suffered the fate of a work of secondary importance in China. Quite unfortunately labelled “miscellaneous” or “eclectic”, it was read as nothing more than a derivative of the pre-Qin Masters. In fact, it is a highly original and coherent work, presenting concepts developed from Daoist, Confucian, Legalist, Yin-yang, Mohist, and other traditions. This companion presents the latest research on this remarkable but little-known work, showing a versatile, all-inclusive look at the Chinese political and ethical thought of 3rd century BCE, just before the establishment of the Empire. It appeals to students and researchers and provides unique insights into the very foundations of Chinese political philosophy, as well as valued inspiration for the modern theory and practice of leadership.

Explores proper timing and the arts of rulership in the work that inspired China's first emperor.Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals (Lüshi chunqiu) inspired the king who united the warring states to become China's first emperor. In this work on the Lüshi chunqiu, author James D. Sellmann finds that the concept of "proper timing" makes the work's diverse philosophies coherent. He discusses the life and times of its author, Lü Buwei, and the structure of the work. Sellmann also analyzes the role of human nature, the justification of the state, and the significance of cosmic, historical, and personal timing in the Lüshi chunqiu. An organic instrumentalist position begins to emerge from the diverse theories of the Lüshi chunqiu. In conclusion, Sellmann looks at the implications of the syncretic philosophies of the Lüshi chunqiu for contemporary conceptions of time, human nature, political order, and social and environmental ethics.