ABSTRACT
To search for the spiritual tradition of freedom in a country “where the sages and the wise in past dynasties had a fear of freedom,” does it not mean, to borrow a phrase from Mengzi, to climb trees to catch fish? For people who have not yet begun to think philosophically this is the first doubt that must arise. It must become even more difficult to understand, if we bear in mind that now is a time when the cry “Down with Confucianism” that came from the May Fourth Movement can still be continually heard. So to speak of the idea of freedom in Confucianism must be unexpected for many people. In recent years, liberalism and communalism in the West have been reproachfully questioning each other. Against this background some people even claim that liberalism in the modern West is coming to an end. In the face of such a complicated situation, this chapter answers whether it is too late to speak of the dialogue between Confucianism and liberalism or of “Confucian liberalism”?
