ABSTRACT
Confucian ethics and the economic modernization of East Asia have been in discussion for over 30 years in the US In the 1980s, the discussion aroused more concern and became a universally acknowledged serious academic issue. Moreover, on the basis of earnest analysis, we must distil the essence useful to the modernization and cultural development of China. Weber’s statement that Chinese people have great capacity of assimilation implies the desire for earning money is one of the factors of this capacity. However, he does not make clear whether the assimilation “ability” here includes the Confucian ethic, which is taken as the spiritual condition of social changes. People who used to accept Weber’s theory naturally come up with his method, i.e., “explanation based on cultural ethic”. However, if set against the secular Confucian ethic, the Confucian value system which is the core of Chinese culture can hardly be discussed in a comprehensive way.
