An Exploration Into Neo-Confucian Ecology

Abstract

In this article, I lay the groundwork for hermeneutically reconstructing Neo-Confucian discourse as a viable, twenty-first century ecological worldview. I begin by outlining the tenets of complex systems theory, which are integral to contemporary ecological worldviews. I then provide an ecological reading of central concepts in the Neo-Confucian cosmology of Wang Fuzhi. As Neo-Confucian cosmology is rooted in the Book of Changes, I provide an ecological interpretation of this classic. This discussion demonstrates that contemporary ecological discourse provides a cogent hermeneutic position from which we can productively read Neo-Confucianism.