Confucianism as a Religion in the System of Ideas of Kang Youwei. Kang Youwei, Editorial Article for the Inaugural issue of the Journal of the Confucian Religious Association (1912), Trans. from Chinese into Russian and Comm. by Dmitry E. Martynov

The article is devoted to the project of creating a Confucian religion, which was undertaken by Kang Youwei (1858–1927). Chinese, Western and Russian sinolo­gists began a profound study of the religious context of Kang Youwei’s reformist and philosophical activities only in the 21st century. Educated in the doctrine of orthodox Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism, Kang Youwei, who experienced enlightenment, early recognized himself as a historical figure, to whom higher powers entrusted prophetic service. Kang Youwei first proposed turning Confu­cianism into a functional analogue of the Christian church in 1895, and during the 100 days of reforms in 1898, he achieved the issuance of a decree banning folk cults and transferring religious buildings to the temples of Confucius. In 1912, the Confucian Religious Association was founded, and immediately recognized by the Yuan Shikai regime. The philosophical basis of these projects was reformed Confucianism, which Kang Youwei considered in a single context with Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. The thinker believed that Confucianism was no less transcendental and spiritualistic than the above-mentioned teachings, and could well compete, provided that the proper state policy was carried out. In a sense, this was a radical reformatting of Confucianism into a religion of sal­vation, which completely failed primarily due to Kang Youwei’s methodological focus on fundamental monism, partly due to his orientation toward the model of interaction between European states and the papacy, which was already ar­chaic at the beginning of the 20th century.