Chinese Ethics / 中文伦理
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This is an online collection of more than 8'000 documents on ethics in the Chinese context, for a large part in Chinese. Originally the collection was developped on the basis of documents written in or translated into Chinese. As first effort, documents were uploaded by Globethics in Hong Kong and Beijing, and collected by experts, including through the Globethics China regional programme at the Center for International Business Ethics in Beijing. Since 2018, the collection includes harvested documents on chinese ethics, including latest research done on that subject. Topics covered in the collection include bioethics, community ethics, cultural ethics, economic ethics, and environmental ethics, among other subjects.
Recent Submissions
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O consumo de carne de cão na China: uma análise culturalDissertação de mestrado em Estudo Interculturais Português/Chinês: Tradução, Formação e 
 Comunicação Empresarial
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International Fur Trade : Trends, Challenges, ProspectsDuring the past ten years, international fur trade has been on an upturn – markets, sales volumes and prices have been growing drastically. Certification and labelling programs, animal welfare projects, ever-changing fashion and well thought-through marketing strategies targeting younger generation consumers all served as key factors in the fur industry recovery after the difficult 90’s, when ethical aspects of fur farming emphasized by PETA influenced public opinion. Emerging markets of the developing countries such as China and Russia are the main consumers of luxury goods, which do very well in spite of the financial crisis ravaging global markets.
 
 Nevertheless, future prospects of the fur industry are not very clear. The market is volatile and difficult to forecast, ethical disputes are not over and new regulations may be imposed. In this thesis, the major trends, challenges and future prospects of the international fur trade industry are analyzed in order to find out whether current the upturn is of a temporary nature or if further sales growth and expansion to the new markets is likely.
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Regaining honour and regaining legitimacy: shame, obedience and risk practices amongst Chinese communist officialsAs part of its anti-corruption campaigns in China, the Communist Party of China (CCP) provides officials opportunities to redeem themselves and renew their vows of loyalty to the Party and the people they serve. Officials must regain honour through a process of self-confrontation and self-renunciation in compulsory meetings in which they are encouraged to transform their immoral thoughts and behaviours through confessional criticism and self-criticism practices. These meetings facilitate officials’ redemption through a divinized, ritualistic and theatrical process. In the process of confession and penance, officials must expose themselves to a type of ritual martyrdom, which combines elements of shame, a commitment to absolute obedience and exposure to risk. This paper is based on original fieldwork comprising 50 interviews with high-, mid- and low-level officials across China during 2014 and 2015.
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Governing through 'the family' in China: Cultivating ethical political subjects through officials' 'nearest and dearest'In this article we argue that the families of Communist Party members are increasingly being seen as both part of the problem and part of the solution to eradicating corruption in contemporary China. Our findings reveal how families are being investigated as well as co-opted by the party as a mechanism for encouraging its members to become ethical communist subjects. The current anti-corruption campaign in China is the context that has enabled this indirect governance of communist officials through the co-option of their ‘nearest and dearest’ in the party’s power structures. We argue that ‘the family’ in China is a privileged site for the remoralisation of society and the party through the process of facilitating what we call the ‘ethical subjectivities’ of officials. The contribution we make in this article is to analyse the continuum between the formal agencies of socialisation within the communist system and the informal but equally important institution of socialisation, namely, Communist Party members’ families.
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The Ethics of Collective Sponsorship:Virtuous Action and Obligation in Contemporary TibetA significant strand of anthropological work on Buddhist generosity practices in Therāvādin and Tibetan Buddhist societies has examined their role in reproducing and reinforcing social and economic hierarchies. Inspired by the recent ‘moral turn’ in anthropology, this article addresses the moral dimensions of these practices by analyzing debates, decisions, and judgments about what to sponsor and how to do so during times of accelerated ‘modernizing’ change. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in northeastern Tibet (Amdo) conducted between 2008 and 2015, I focus on a mode of collective sponsorship that has, in different contexts, been considered good, problematic, or even wrong. The moral grounds for such evaluations show that sponsorship is evaluated and experienced not only as a Buddhist practice but also as a social and economic practice with direct consequences for both individuals and communities. The moral stakes of generosity practices are shown to extend beyond individual ethics to the common good.
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Book Review of The Ten CommandmentsThis book review discusses You Bin’s intercultural approach to construct a Chinese version of catechism through the Ten Commandments as the vital content for both Chinese Christians and non-Christians in the Chinese context. It shows that integrating God’s Ten Commandments into Chinese traditional culture and social settings is not necessarily meant to compromise its biblical-theological essence with one’s self-critical awareness of culture. It suggests how this book might set an example for both theologians and practitioners to bring back the catechism, to bear upon the needs of contemporary Christians in the non-Western setting.
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The development of animal welfare science in China: An explorative analysisThis paper presents results of a search and analysis of research projects on animal welfare registered in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database in the period 1996–2019, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of developments in animal welfare science in China. The title-abstract search of publications in this database resulted in over 260 articles that could be linked to 200 research projects with an animal welfare component. These projects were analysed for: (a) involved academic disciplines; (b) studied animal species; (c) contexts of animal use; (d) concepts of animal welfare; and (e) attention to ethical dimensions of animal welfare. The analysis shows an increased attention to animal welfare science, with a particular focus on farm and laboratory animals. We observed an increase in the number of studies and of animal species studied. The majority of research projects start in or include a view of animal welfare that is close to Fraser’s ‘biological function’ view. We conclude that the increased attention to animal welfare in science reflects recent developments in China in terms of public concern about animal use, academic debate about the importance of animal welfare, and animal-related political and economic developments linked to China’s ambitions to be a global player in science and food production. For the further development of animal welfare science in China stable funding and more interdisciplinary collaboration are necessary to study and publish on fundamental aspects of animal welfare, on issues not directly related to applied problems, and on the ethical dimensions of animal welfare.
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The development of animal welfare science in China: An explorative analysisThis paper presents results of a search and analysis of research projects on animal welfare registered in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database in the period 1996–2019, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of developments in animal welfare science in China. The title-abstract search of publications in this database resulted in over 260 articles that could be linked to 200 research projects with an animal welfare component. These projects were analysed for: (a) involved academic disciplines; (b) studied animal species; (c) contexts of animal use; (d) concepts of animal welfare; and (e) attention to ethical dimensions of animal welfare. The analysis shows an increased attention to animal welfare science, with a particular focus on farm and laboratory animals. We observed an increase in the number of studies and of animal species studied. The majority of research projects start in or include a view of animal welfare that is close to Fraser’s ‘biological function’ view. We conclude that the increased attention to animal welfare in science reflects recent developments in China in terms of public concern about animal use, academic debate about the importance of animal welfare, and animal-related political and economic developments linked to China’s ambitions to be a global player in science and food production. For the further development of animal welfare science in China stable funding and more interdisciplinary collaboration are necessary to study and publish on fundamental aspects of animal welfare, on issues not directly related to applied problems, and on the ethical dimensions of animal welfare.
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Can new corruption legislation drive guanxi out of business? - Western and Chinese Multinational managers’ perceptions" The study examined executives’ attitude to and perception of guanxi and the ethical ramifications of guanxi practices in relation to Western values and ethics. The research involved semi-structured interviews with twelve high level Western and Chinese multinational executives. A contribution of the paper is to highlight that, though it challenges some deeply rooted Western stances on ethical values, guanxi remains a necessary passport to access Chinese business. The executives believe that the tenacity of guanxi is associated with the ongoing strength of Chinese culture and economy. Thus, while some Western executives may feel uneasy about guanxi in modern business, their Chinese counterparts do not perceive guanxi as contravening ethics. The managerial implications for organisations centre on the need to assess guanxi as social capital. The research contributes to fill empirical gaps related to using Guanxi as social capital to enhance international business. "
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Executive alumni and corporate social responsibility in China This study investigates whether corporate executives, who are university alumni, influence each other's firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Drawing on social network theory, the authors hypothesise that a firm's CSR performance is positively associated with its peer firms' average CSR performance when the executives of the firm and its peer firms are university alumni. The study employs data from 1,685 listed firms and 4,906 executives who graduated from 585 different universities in China and runs multivariate regressions. The results reveal a sizeable university peer influence on CSR performance. Such influence is even stronger for executives who graduated from elite universities (e.g. 985 or 211 universities), and universities or programmes that provide more opportunities for alumni reunions or networking (e.g. MBAs/EMBAs). Executives who are more influential in making firm decisions (e.g. CEOs/CFOs), as well as firms that are more likely to mimic the behaviour of others, also show higher degrees of university peer influence. The results highlight the role of education in ethical decision-making. This study documents evidence on a new determinant of firm CSR performance. The study sheds light on the impact of non-institutionalised personal ties, for example, university alumni networks, on CSR performance.
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The Influence of Moral Knowledge on Urban Villages in Shenzhen, ChinaChinese moral knowledge, immensely informed by the primitive cosmology and the ethical philosophy of Confucianism, had deeply affected people’s attitudes and way of life. It had been practiced throughout history by framing and ordering social practice on the land, becoming a part of the path of Chinese beauty (Li 1988). However, when China has gone into its fast urban development that is much influenced by the global economy and political movements, these traditional practices face extensive challenges from the dominant western paradigms. The understanding of the traditional knowledge as cultural forces shaping the distinct characteristics of Chinese spaces and urban life (Li 2004) is urgently needed. Chinese urban village is one of the areas where the local traditions confront modernisation. It is a particular phenomenon where the traditional rural villages are gradually surrounded by built-up urban areas in the process of rapid urbanisation (Wang et al., 2009; Pan and Du, 2021). Shenzhen, a metropolitan city in southern China, has more than 1000 urban villages (Du, 2020). The urban village has its essential roles in cities: it offers social opportunities to migrants, including the facilitation of temporary practices that meet their aspirations and needs; it fits into the landscape and generates inclusive social interactions beyond the lineage origins; it also embraces the notion of urban heritage that recognises its existing cultures and accumulated experiences as related to diversity and identity (UNESCO 2019). As the city’s land resources are quickly consumed driven by the market benefits, urban villages as such have become the main target for urban redevelopment. Huaide Village is no exception, and the process is demolished-oriented. Existing studies started to acknowledge the importance of urban villages, but they mainly focused on affordable housing, typologies, and other physical elements. What are the core values of urban villages that make the distinct characteristics of Chinese spaces? How should the values of urban villages be recognised in the transitional time towards sustainable development? This paper explores the concept of moral knowledge and analyses how it influenced the spatial configuration that bears the socio-ecological values in Huaide Village in Shenzhen. The lessons and insights from the tradition provide alternative ways for future urban renewal strategies that engender better citizen engagement.
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The Chinese “Streetscape” Investigations on the performative destiny of a social and linguistic space In Europe the street is traditionally the place of self-representation: the “Strada Nuova” in Genova has been designed in 1550 to allow noble families to build their own palaces in a competition of beauty, richness and power. In the American tradition the street became overall a place dominated by its market role (Venturi on Las Vegas, 1972). In China streets are the real public space for people’s daily life and its essential activities (trading, eating, playing, discussing): their role in urban life is so strong that sometime a street can appear even where the planning didn’t establish that. The western main urban public/social space is the square, but for the eastern countries - especially China- the streets represent the most representative urban public space that can be used together without the class differences. However, from the ancient cities to today’s high-density cities, the Chinese streets, because of their social role, have experienced also a very important connection with shop signs, posters, notices of all kinds, flags and signs, luminous writings. All these objects are a kind of ornament of daily-life as well as a real interesting documentary material, useful to understand permanencies and variations in the use of the cities during their transition from the former order to the new one. The paper introduces the framework and the contents of a multidisciplinary research project at work, between urban morphology and Chinese language and culture. (max. 1500 characters, spaces included)
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The amalgamation of eastern and western philosophies within Idokan KarateEvery school of the Japanese martial art of karate possesses special values and norms unique to its practice. Unsurprisingly, the philosophy of Idokan karate is therefore similar to other schools while remaining distinct in the myriad of martial art practices. Idokan karate possesses a practical philosophy (i.e., applicable to everyday life) influenced by Eastern and Western belief systems that are internalized and utilized by its practitioners as forms of today’s civilian warrior path. This single case study examines the prominent Idokan ethics, values, and rules as well as details its specific and symbolic content. It makes use of the hermeneutic phenomenology research method to present a content analysis of literature on Idokan within the wider discourse of martial arts studies. A broad discourse analysis of these topics in both scientific studies and popular publications was conducted. In doing so, this study’s practical implications are that it not only provides a glimpse into the uniqueness of Idokan karate philosophy but also into that of the vastness of the great martial arts menagerie. Idokan karate philosophy is derived distinctively from its founders’ understandings of Chinese and Japanese martial arts, Taoism, and Christianity and dictates practitioners a unique morality. Such teleology comes from special values, rules, and aims embedded in Idokan teachings. In normative ethics, the Decalogue and nobility of spirit (the Homo Creator Nobilis) are most important. Tao in Idokan is understood as God’s Word, the principle of love, and the way of (Christian) heaven.
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Zhuang Zi and the “Greatest Joyousness”: Wang Fuzhi’s ApproachThe present article presents Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 (1619-1692 C.E.)’s reading of the eighteenth chapter of the Zhuang-Zi 莊子 (ZZ) by looking at his entry from Zhuang-Zi-Tong 莊子通 and other key glosses from Zhuang-Zi-Jie 莊子解. The philosophical upshot, I aim to show, is that Wang takes ZZ as presenting the consummation of “the greatest joyousness” (zhi-le 至樂) as requiring getting rid of joyousness as one’s desideratum. Using Derek Parfit’s work as a point of reference, I aim to show that this is not paradoxical or even inconsistent or even (directly or indirectly) self-defeating but is instead an interesting instance of a self-effacing theory.
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The Center, 1987, V2 N1, JanuaryThe Park Ridge Center, Park Ridge, IL: Issue of the publication from the Park Ridge Center - An Institute for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics, associated with Lutheran General Hospital. This issue features articles on Chinese traditional medicine, medical ethics, Florence Nightingale, and psychiatry.
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Governance strategies to achieve zero-energy buildings in ChinaIn response to climate change, governments are developing policies to move toward ultra-low-energy or ‘zero-energy’ buildings (ZEBs). Policies, codes, and governance structures vary among regions, and there is no universally accepted definition of a ZEB. These variables make it difficult, for countries such as China that wish to set similar goals, to determine an optimum approach. This paper reviews ZEBs policies, programmes, and governance approaches in two jurisdictions that are leading ZEBs development: Denmark and the state of California in the United States. Different modes of governance (hierarchy: principal–agent relations, market: self organizing and network: independent actors) are examined specifically in relation to policy instruments (prescriptive, performance or outcome-based). The analysis highlights differences in institutional conditions and examines available data on energy performance resulting from a building policy framework. The purpose is to identify ZEBs governance and implementation deficits in China and analyse alternative governance approaches that could be employed in China, which is currently developing ZEBs targets and policies. Conclusions suggest that the ZEBs governance structure in China could benefit from widened participation by all societal actors involved in achieving ZEBs targets. China's ZEBs policies would benefit from employing a more balanced hybrid governance approach.
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Ethical Dilemmas in the Dermatology Outpatient Department in ChinaSisi Wang,1– 3 Jinghui Song1– 3 1Department of Dermatology, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450003, People’s Republic of China; 2Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450003, People’s Republic of China; 3Henan University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450003, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Sisi Wang, Department of Dermatology, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 7 of WeiWu Road, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450003, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 0371 6589 7690, Fax +86 0371 65964376, Email wang_ssi@yeah.netBackground: Recently, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a sensitive issue within generally healthy environments. Different countries have developed various principle-based approaches to tackle the ethical issues surrounding STDs. Due to lacking any relevant laws or code of conducts to deal with the ethical issue, it has become a notable ethical problem in China.Objective: Ethical principles involve a sensitive clinical problem, this paper intends to reflect upon and discuss how nurses as moral agents deal with ethical dilemmas within Chinese culture and provided some orientations for further study.Methods: This paper briefly presented the nurses’ ethical dilemma related to the issue of confidentiality and disclosure of STD patients’ information via a case scenario. Based on Chinese cultural tradition, we focused on how to solve this situation as a clinical nurse with ethical principles and philosophical theories. The process of discussion provided eight steps by the Corey et al model to solve the ethical dilemma.Conclusion: The ability to deal with ethical dilemmas is a necessary quality for nurses. On the one hand, nurses should respect patients’ autonomy and contribute positively to the relationship between confidentiality and the nurse-patient therapeutic relationship. On the other hand, nurses should combine with the current situation and make a targeted decision where necessary. Of course, professional code supported by related policies is necessary.Keywords: ethics, sexually transmitted diseases, Chinese culture, utilitarianism, deontology
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Kiniškos psichosomatinės saviugdos praktikos Vakaruose ir Lietuvoje : modernizuotos formos ir iššūkiai vakarietiškajai kūno kultūraiStraipsnyje aptariama kinų psichosomatinės saviugdos praktikų įtaka ir iššūkiai dabartinei vakarietiškajai kūno kultūrai ir asmeninei saviugdai, jos sampratų bei idėjų sklaida Vakaruose ir Lietuvoje. Pirmiausia bus apžvelgiama saviugdos samprata tradicinėje kinų kultūroje, jos santykis su daoizmu ir kinų medicina, taip pat pokyčiai XX-XXI a. Kinijoje, siekiant išsiaiškinti, kaip juos veikia kultūros modernizacija ir globalizacija. Taip pat nagrinėjamos šiandien Lietuvoje ir Vakaruose aktualiausios bei populiariausios kinų psichosomatinės saviugdos formos – kovos menų, qigong ir kitos energetinio kūno lavinimo praktikos, idėjų apie saviugdos taikymą kasdieniame gyvenime sklaida, išskiriami tokių praktikų akcentai Lietuvoje. Atkreipiamas dėmesys, kad receptuojant šias praktikas, dažnai praleidžiamas pro akis vienas svarbus jų aspektas – moralė, be kurios Kinijoje nebuvo įsivaizduojamas joks visavertis tobulėjimas ir kūno ugdymas