Monika Gaenssbauer
Confucianism and Social Issues in China - the Academician Kang Xiaoguang
Investigations Into NGOs in China, the Falun Gong, Chinese Reportage, and the Confucian Tradition
edition cathay, Band 56
Herausgegeben von Monika Gaenssbauer und Isabel Hess-Friemann
2011; 122 S.; Sprache: ENG
ISSN 0946-2325
ISBN 978-3-89733-230-0

Kang Xiaoguang, b. 1963, is a prominent academic and an independent thinker in mainland China. He once served as an advisor to Premier Zhu Rongji. Since the early 2000s Kang has been an ardent advocate of Confucianism and of the establishment of Confucianism as China´s state religion. His books, however, cover a broad range of other topics, too. This publication offers the first book-length introduction into and discussion of topics and content of Kang´s work. Kang Xiaoguang is a prolific scholar dealing with rural development in China and NGO project work and has also done extensive research on the religious movement Falun Gong, which he sees as an important agent for China´s modernization. Another study he did is a piece of reportage literature. Here Kang looks into the case of Li Siyi, the death of a 3-year-old child and the failure of individuals and societal agents to prevent the tragedy. This study also collects together responses to Kang Xiaoguang’s various theses from other authors belonging to the Chinese-speaking world.

Monika Gaenssbauer, b. 1968, is Visiting Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of Middle Eastern and Far Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of Erlangen. She earned her Ph.D. in 1996 in Bochum and completed her post-doctoral degree in 2008 at the University of Erlangen. In 2005/2006 she spent one term as Visiting Professor at the University of Freiburg i.Br. For several years she served as Director of the China Study Project in Hamburg and taught at Hamburg University. Her main research interests are Chinese literature, political developments in China and also religions in China. Monika Gaenssbauer has published numerous articles and several books including "Trauma der Vergangenheit. Der Autor Feng Jicai und die Kulturrevolution" (monograph, 1996) and "Parteistaat und Protestantische Kirche. Religionspolitik im nachmaoistischen China" (monograph, 2004).

"Kang is worthy of study ... To date, he has been noticed in the West mainly for his writings on Confucianism, and Gaenssbauer helpfully introduces other aspects of his full range of interests and activities. Gaenssbauer's treatment of Kang serves as an excellent introduction to this fascinating figure."
David Ownby, in: China Perspectives 2/2012

"A very readable and accessible overview of a most interesting … contemporary Chinese thinker, Gaenssbauer's contribution should appeal to most China scholars focusing on China's present development." Geir Sigurdsson in: "China Review International" vol. 17, No. 3/2010