Confucian category of joy in works of Kang Youwei and Nobuya Hamada

Abstract

The article examines various aspects of the understanding of joy in the Confucian doctrine. The common perception of joy in Chinese culture differs from its philosophical reflection, the standard of which is presented by Mencius. Formally based on the Neo-Confucian understanding, Kang Youwei (1858-1927) associated joy with cosmic challenges in his utopian doctrines, and gave hedonistic interpretations of it. The little-known Japanese thinker Nobuya Hamada, in his book "The Ideal World" (1922) presented a sociological interpretation, in a state of account, going back to the anthropology of Mencius. In addition presented Russian translation of the "Datong shu" (Kang Youwei's "The Book of Great Unity") and the final chapter of Nobuya Hamada "An Ideal World".