ECNS –Another Spring Festival has arrived, the season of family reunion. For Chinese people, without the presence of “family”, most traditional festivals would lose their true meaning—especially the Spring Festival. No matter where they are, memories associated with “family” always stir warmth and deep emotion in their hearts. Throughout five millennia of national memory, the cultural identity rooted in “family” has played an essential role in the long history of Chinese civilization. Roger T. Ames, an American sinologist who has been connected with China for decades, has a profound appreciation for the Confucian philosophy of family and kinship. Recently, in an exclusive interview with China News Service’s W.E Talk, Ames elaborated—through the lens of comparative philosophy—on the Chinese attachment to “family” and the global significance of the Confucian kinship philosophy.
Kinship: the root of Confucian society that endures through generations
In 1985, Ames became a visiting professor at Peking University. After retiring from the University of Hawai‘i in 2016, he returned to China as a Chair Professor of Humanities at Peking University. During his years in Beijing, he was deeply touched by the warmth and friendliness of Beijingers. Friends often treated one another like family, and especially in the university setting, he could strongly feel the family atmosphere. Gradually, Ames developed an interest in the Chinese “family” culture and its philosophy of kinship.
Roger T. Ames and his family in Qingdao, Shandong. (CNS)
From a historical perspective, the family is a vital form through which generational transmission of human life occurs, and it is also an important channel for cultural traditions to manifest in the present. Ames believes that although different civilizations emerged in different parts of the world, to truly understand these “differences,” humanity must seek insight from a more fundamental, shared sense of empathy. The concept of family and the concept of kinship provide exactly such a foundation of “empathy”.
“Looking back at Chinese history, certain ‘major motifs’ immediately come to mind, motifs that have been repeatedly expressed in everyday Chinese life. Among them, the most prominent is the central place of ‘family.’ At least since the early Neolithic period, the concept of ‘family’ has deeply permeated China’s political, economic, and moral fabric,” Ames noted. “‘Family’ has nurtured wisdom about mutual dependence. Its true meaning lies in the indivisibility of relationships, responsibilities, and obligations. It stands as a model of human organization—an alternative to the ideology of self-serving individualism.”
On January 26, 2024, the 40-day Spring Festival travel season began. Passengers aboard train K4562 waited inside Guangzhou Railway Station, setting off on their journey home. (CNS)
As a scholar of comparative philosophy, Ames often frames his thoughts within West-East comparisons. He summarizes Chinese philosophy’s view of life as a philosophy of “becoming human,” whereas Western philosophy emphasizes an “ontology of essence”. In his book Confucian Role Ethics, he vividly wrote: “The constitutive being of ‘existence’ and the Confucian life of ‘becoming human’ are fundamentally different, yet people have long failed to pay sufficient attention. As a result, they unwittingly force Confucianism’s feet into Greek shoes with a shoehorn…”To truly understand the differences between Chinese and Western philosophy, Ames studied Confucian classics such as the The Analect sin depth. He pointed out that kinship, arising from the family, is not only the foundation of Confucianism’s minimal moral program but also the root and basis of a Confucian society that regenerates endlessly and provides the order for “all under heaven.” For Chinese people, familial and social roles gradually develop into a normative force that guides all behavior.
The Chinese language is filled with “family”
Ames has said in interviews that Chinese philosophy is “written into the lives of the Chinese people, not just in books.” Through his deep exploration of Confucian kinship philosophy, he gradually came to understand that “the continuity of Chinese civilization is inseparable from the consciousness of ‘family’ and ‘filial piety’. These are embedded in blood kinship, linking the idea of ‘Sheng Sheng’ in Confucian Philosophy of Life with moral cultivation. Even today, they remain deeply engraved in the conduct of the Chinese people. The values born of family affection may well be the very reason that Chinese civilization has remained continuous and unbroken for millennia.”
Roger T. Ames. (CNS)
The major affairs of a state lie in sacrifice and warfare. “China’s oldest rituals are mostly associated with ancestral sacrifice, highlighting the deep respect and emotion Chinese people hold toward their ancestors. Many oracle bone characters are connected to sacrificial rites. For example, the character ‘you’ (有, to have) in oracle bone script depicts a hand holding a piece of meat, symbolizing offering one’s best food to ancestors, or sharing it with family and clan.” Ames explained.
On February 5, 2024, the Youfanggang Community in Changqing Subdistrict, Hefe, Anhui, invited local seniors and members of families in need to share in a community banquet for the Spring Festival, experiencing the festive atmosphere together. (CNS)
Such details reveal how deeply the Chinese sense of “family” is embedded even in language. Ames contrasted this with English vocabulary, giving examples: in Chinese, “人” (person) becomes “人家” (other person or other family); English “everyone” is expressed in Chinese as “大家” (big family). The English “country” becomes “国家” (country-family) in Chinese. “Chinese also do not say ‘Confucianism’, but ‘Ru family’ (儒家). Chinese students call one another ‘学姐’ (older sister in study) or ‘学弟’ (younger brother in study). In class, I am not only a teacher but also ‘师父’ (master-father). Through these Chinese expressions, I directly and vividly experience the importance of family and kinship in Chinese cultural thought.”
Ames once joked: “When you look at your grandmother’s photo, you see yourself. From her, you have inherited your way of speaking, your lifestyle, your thinking, and your values.” To him, this living transmission of civilization across generations is the true Chinese story.
Compared to Western ethics, family affection is the source of moral sense
When talking about the significance of Confucian kinship philosophy for today’s world, Ames often begins with the rise of China from the late 20th to the 21st century, the changing world order, and even with the Peace of Westphalia signed more than 370 years ago, which ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe. In his view, the “Westphalian model”—a zero-sum game of winners and losers—no longer offers convincing solutions to the pressing problems of today’s world. By contrast, the Confucian idea of “cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to all under heaven,” and the moral ethics embedded in the philosophy of family kinship, should serve as valuable references in building a new geopolitical order. They can also provide precious experience for fostering a global consciousness of “community” among the peoples of the world.
Ames emphasized that in Confucian thought, personal growth must be rooted in the family itself. If we are to understand a new ecological and geopolitical order from a Confucian perspective, we must recognize the structural homologies that exist between family, politics, and global order. These homologous structures all stem from the cultivation of character within the family. He further explained that Confucian role ethics is based on kinship, and that the state is a direct extension of the family. As Mencius said: “There is a popular adage heard among the people who all say: ‘The world, the state, the family.’ The world is rooted in the state, the state in the family, and the family in one’s own person.”(人有恒言，皆曰‘天下国家’。天下之本在国，国之本在家，家之本在身。)
Ames has also written: “The vibrant Confucian legacy that inspires and stimulates humanity toward new cultural directions is precisely the resource we are seeking… Compared to Western ethics, family kinship is the true source of moral sentiment.”
By Tao Siyuan
This article was originally written on Feb. 2nd 2024