Le fantasme de l'ordre parfait — et comment en sortir (peut-être)

Abstract

The complexity of their cosmology and the importance attributed to ritual by Confucianists may give the impression that many representatives of that school were infatuated with an idealized vision of the “perfect order”. Still, the many flaws that have emerged in systems elaborated over the centuries have been endlessly debated. Anthropologist Philippe Descola argues that a fascination for a quasi-totalitarian system mixed with an incapacity to agree upon its real physiognomy characterizes the analogic ontology shared by premodern China. More recently, Mark Csikzentmihalyi and Michael David Kaulana Ing have undertaken a detailed analysis of the Wuxing 五行 (Treatise of the Five Virtuous Actions) and the Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites) to show how themes such as ritual or human fallibility have been discussed, providing a possible escape from the fantasy of the perfect order.