Revitalization of Ancient Institutions: The 1394 Governance Code for the Joseon Dynasty of Korea by Jeong Do-jeon

<p>The Code of Governance for the Joseon Dynasty written by Jeong Do-jeon in 1394 was the first legal document written in justification of a new Korean dynasty. The eminent Korean historian Han Young-woo has credited the political scheme formulated in the Code for promoting democratic ideas of power separation. This study argues that the Code cannot be considered as an attempt to introduce a new power structure in this way, as it was primarily concerned with revitalizing idealized Confucian institutions mobilized by the ideological force of weixin 維新 (revitalization) of guzhi 古制 (ancient institutions) and with creating a society modelled on Confucian values and hierarchical order laid out in the Chinese work, the Zhouli (Rites of Zhou). In his Code, Jeong used this system of government structure as the principle of ancient state institutions, to justify the position of the new Joseon throne, and he also adopted the legal format of the 1331 Yuan law book, Jingshi dadian, in which royal authority took precedence over that of the government. This study emphasizes not only Jeong Do-jeon’s conservative adherence to the continuity of state institutions from the previous Goryeo dynasty (a replica of the Chinese Tang and Song systems), but also the priority he gave to the new Joseon monarch as a stabilizing force within the new dynasty, and argues that the Code was written to ensure continuity and priority, and cannot be considered as an attempt to introduce a new power structure.</p>

Revitalization of Ancient Institutions: The 1394 Governance Code for the Joseon Dynasty of Korea by Jeong Do-jeon

<p>The Code of Governance for the Joseon Dynasty written by Jeong Do-jeon in 1394 was the first legal document written in justification of a new Korean dynasty. The eminent Korean historian Han Young-woo has credited the political scheme formulated in the Code for promoting democratic ideas of power separation. This study argues that the Code cannot be considered as an attempt to introduce a new power structure in this way, as it was primarily concerned with revitalizing idealized Confucian institutions mobilized by the ideological force of weixin 維新 (revitalization) of guzhi 古制 (ancient institutions) and with creating a society modelled on Confucian values and hierarchical order laid out in the Chinese work, the Zhouli (Rites of Zhou). In his Code, Jeong used this system of government structure as the principle of ancient state institutions, to justify the position of the new Joseon throne, and he also adopted the legal format of the 1331 Yuan law book, Jingshi dadian, in which royal authority took precedence over that of the government. This study emphasizes not only Jeong Do-jeon’s conservative adherence to the continuity of state institutions from the previous Goryeo dynasty (a replica of the Chinese Tang and Song systems), but also the priority he gave to the new Joseon monarch as a stabilizing force within the new dynasty, and argues that the Code was written to ensure continuity and priority, and cannot be considered as an attempt to introduce a new power structure.</p>

Structural trends of globalization and new accents of economic science

The article analyzes significant shifts in the structure of the balance of power and global leadership associated with the rapid growth of China's financial and economic power and the US infrastructure initiatives in the Indo-Pacific aimed at containing China. The key structural trends of globalization in the context of competition between liberal and communitarian paradigms have been identified. On this basis, the probable shifts in accents of contemporary economic thought are predicted. It is substantiated that due to strengthening the global role of China, particularly in the economic, financial, and infrastructural spheres, today there is a tangible influence of Confucian values and East Asian models of successful modernization of the economy and society on the socio-economic policy of some countries of Central and Eastern Europe against a backdrop of a relative consolidation of their economic positions in the EU. With this regard, the heritage of the German Historical School of economic thought is becoming more relevant. The need to revise the dominant approaches in economic science towards greater focus on ethical, socio-political and other specific historical conditions and factors of economic activity is emphasized.

Confucian Values and School Leadership in Vietnam

<p>This research focuses on school leadership in the Vietnamese context, particularly the Confucian-influenced context within Vietnamese cultural boundaries. Confucian values are believed to be the significant and dominant value structure within Vietnam, therefore this research seeks to understand how Vietnamese school leaders exercised leadership within the construct of a Confucian discourse. It examines how the exercise/practice of four leadership functions (exercising power, building relationship, making decisions, and conflict solving) are influenced by Vietnamese cultural values. A qualitative research approach was applied for this phenomenological interpretive study. Four methods of data collection were adopted, consisting of interviews (individual and focus-group interviews), observations, document analysis and questionnaires. School leaders and teachers, drawn from three case study schools were invited as participants. The findings suggest that, although Confucian thought has waned in the contemporary Vietnam, Confucian values are still reflected in participants' perceptions about school leadership and in the manner of everyday leadership and management practices, particularly in the four pre-defined leadership functions. Confucian authority chains, seen as the paternalistic culture of obedience and respecting authority, have transferred into contemporary Vietnamese school leadership and management. These are preserved and reinforced by the political and administrative structures and contemporary leadership practices. A reconceptualised model of có uy leadership is offered, together with suggestions for leadership effectiveness based on Confucian values within a Vietnamese context.</p>

Confucian Values and School Leadership in Vietnam

<p>This research focuses on school leadership in the Vietnamese context, particularly the Confucian-influenced context within Vietnamese cultural boundaries. Confucian values are believed to be the significant and dominant value structure within Vietnam, therefore this research seeks to understand how Vietnamese school leaders exercised leadership within the construct of a Confucian discourse. It examines how the exercise/practice of four leadership functions (exercising power, building relationship, making decisions, and conflict solving) are influenced by Vietnamese cultural values. A qualitative research approach was applied for this phenomenological interpretive study. Four methods of data collection were adopted, consisting of interviews (individual and focus-group interviews), observations, document analysis and questionnaires. School leaders and teachers, drawn from three case study schools were invited as participants. The findings suggest that, although Confucian thought has waned in the contemporary Vietnam, Confucian values are still reflected in participants' perceptions about school leadership and in the manner of everyday leadership and management practices, particularly in the four pre-defined leadership functions. Confucian authority chains, seen as the paternalistic culture of obedience and respecting authority, have transferred into contemporary Vietnamese school leadership and management. These are preserved and reinforced by the political and administrative structures and contemporary leadership practices. A reconceptualised model of có uy leadership is offered, together with suggestions for leadership effectiveness based on Confucian values within a Vietnamese context.</p>

“Confucianism”, an Alternative Source of Belief in Contemporary Chinese Society: An Empirical Study of the Founding of Xin 信 in a “Confucian” Company

Open claims to Confucian values, often associated with cultural traditionalism and a larger revival of Confucianism among the Chinese population from the 2000s onwards, have gained momentum in the world of entrepreneurs. The intensity of this phenomenon can be explained by a wide variety of motivations, among which a desire to establish a belief, a sort of xin 信 towards traditional values, has emerged from within the “Confucian” company. Based on fieldwork carried out between 2017 and 2018 at TW, a private company located in Dongguan (Guangdong), this paper aims to analyze the efforts undertaken by “Confucian” managers to use the spiritual guidance role of Confucianism. Our work is organized into three sections. First, we analyze the main modalities of proselytizing within TW. Then, based on the personal experiences of three employees of this company, we try to understand how they live the jiaohua and to what extent this “educational” experience inspired by Confucianism has allowed them to reorient themselves towards a new way of perceiving the world. Finally, by placing it in a broader context, that of contemporary Chinese society’s crisis of values, we question the role Confucianism can play in the foundation of a population’s beliefs.

SELF-ASSESSMENT TO SUBJECTIVE CREATIVITY AND NEW IDEAS: DETERMINANT WITHIN RISK TAKING, AUTONOMY AND TRADITION

Individuals’ creativity and new ideas today are not only essential for firms, agencies or organizations but also indispensable even for a nation. This article analyzes impacts of autonomy, risk taking and, especially, factor of tradition on self-assessment to subjective creativity and attitude to new ideas. Specifically, the article empirically analyzes how those factors affect creativity and new ideas and tests whether tradition is more meaningful than others in explaining creativity or new ideas. Most of previous research has theoretically concluded that, because of rigid and unchangeable norms and rules in tradition, individuals are not easy to generate or do new things, especially in Eastern countries. South Korea, with a long tradition within Asian and Confucian values, it is said that these values may limit creativity and new ideas. However, South Korea has achieved satisfactory outcomes in process of creative development, which could positively be affected by its tradition. Using the data from World Values Survey for South Korea at the latest wave 6th, the results show that tradition has a positive impact on subjective creativity beside significantly positive influence of risk taking, which is not considered to be important from cultural perspective.

"THE CONGRUENCE EFFECTS OF CONFUCIAN AND WESTERN MANAGEMENT VALUES ON INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM THE KOREAN PUBLIC SECTOR"

"This study examines the effect on Korean public employees’ in-role performance and organizational performance of Confucian values and of two organizational management values developed in the West, specifically collective public service motivation-oriented (PSMO) management values and entrepreneurship-oriented (EO) management values. Using data from the Public Sector Entrepreneurship Survey the study finds that some Confucian values can enhance in-role and organizational performance in the Korean public sector, but others can have negative or no effects. The mixed results suggest that the relationship may be more complex than assumed and that some variables may mediate the effects. This has implications on how the positive effects of Confucian values on performance can be maximized while minimizing the negative effects. The collective PSMO and EO management values developed in the Western context both enhance in-role performance but only EO management values positive effects extend to organizational performance. Lastly, the study finds that the data does not support the hypothesized positive interaction effects between Confucian values and PSMO and EO management values and both in-role and organizational performance. More investigation is required to fully understand these interaction effects."

Crafting a Confucian Culture in Chinese Corporations: A Case Study of Guangzhou Borche

Corporate culture is an important source of enterprise’s soft power. Confucianism, which has been regarded as official teaching over a thousand years, manifests its profound values in modern management and is adopted by a number of private companies in China. This paper employs a case study method, concentrating on the development of Borche - a private enterprise in Guangzhou. Data and other information were collected from interviews, open reports and historical records and got ensured by triangulation verification. It seeks to explain how the Confucianism got internalized as part of a corporate culture and serves us its management guideline. The result demonstrates that the internalization of Confucian values in a corporation will go through three stages: cultural identity, identity strengthening and spontaneous order. Confucianism’s corporate culture is reflected in four aspects: of spirit, institution, behavior, and matter. The cultural infiltration mechanism is thus created. Keywords: corporate culture, Confucianism, cultural internalization mechanism, culture evolution