International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2022

Using “Public-Private” Concept to Interpret “Gratitude and Loyalty”: Reflection on Chaxu Geju from China-West Comparative Perspective 

(Abstract)

Hanyi Xu

Within the Western social sciences framework Fei Xiaotong defines China’s social structure as “chaxu geju (the differential mode of association)” in contrast with the West. By re-reading The Differential Mode of Association and related Confucian literature, this paper points out that the root of Chinese social action is rather than “self,” but the primary relationship; only by understanding the logic and substantiality of “relationship” in the Chinese context can we understand that the “differential association” centered on family relationship is sequential and inevitable. In the context of the family and the nature, Chinese people can not only distinguish the Western concept “public vs. private” but also use it as a footnote to “the feelings of gratitude and loyalty” which serves as the ethical basis of their actions. This paper attempts to differentiate the philosophical foundations of the Chinese and Western academic traditions. By comparing the two traditions of ontology and theory of life, it can be found that the Western social science concept represented by chaxu geju has defined Chinese society, while at the same time, reducing the possibility of using Chinese intellectual tradition to understand own social reality.