Give me a place to stand and I will move the world.

Archimedes

 

The Confucian ethic failed to move the world precisely because its worldliness denied it a place to stand outside the world. The Protestant ethic, on the other hand, had such a place to stand, its transcendental God and its conception of salva-tion. In precisely the ascetic aspect of its ethic lay its driving force.

Parsons

 

China is changing. The speed of economic growth and social change is impressive to many people both in China and throughout the world. A great energy has been released which built up over years, decades or even centuries. Today people are full of excite-ment, fascination and imagination in the effort to improve their material life, create a prosperous society, and strengthen the nation. The sleeping lion, as Napoleon once said of China, may be in the process of awakening. This must be one of the most exciting pe-riods in the long history of China. However, the dramatic changes also cause uncertainty which worries people as well as excites them. Accompanying the great changes, there are increasing social problems: society-wide corruption, a mood of social degeneration, the disintegration of the family, unscrupulousness in production and commerce, an expansion of selfishness and egoism, irrespon-sibility, superficiality, impetuosity, and so on.

It may be a common historical phenomenon that along with great social change there is an increasing moral crisis. This might be so common that many people regard it as natural or even nece-ssary, and think there is nothing that can be done about it. The problems have reached such a dangerous degree that they may seriously imperil society and its healthy development. Without a sober grasp of the current situation and potential problems, without an effective understanding and exploration of the alternatives, we may soon encounter irreversibly destructive developments in our society. People who share these concerns are working hard -- as they must -- to discover the wisdom needed to deal with the problems and to strive for a healthy development of the society. In order to fulfill this historic responsibility, it is a necessity for us to draw ideas from all available resources and examine them from all available angels and aspects. This paper, based on unavoidably limited knowledge and reading of social history, would call attention to the concept of "tension" in social development. A healthy development of the society needs tension; the more rapid the social changes in its material aspects, the more tension the society needs.

The following pages will first trace the development of the concept tension, then examine its expression in history and in contemporary Western society: tension in the differentiation of moral authority and civic authority, in the parallel revolutions of material advancement and spiritual renewal, and in social change. The social organizational aspects of tension also will be noted. Lastly, I will try to point out some misunderstandings regarding related aspects of Western culture.

"Tension" has not been a central concept in academic writings. However, there have been some relevant discussions in various sociological works following Max Weber, one of the founding fathers of sociology. These follow two lines of develop-ment. On the one hand, Weber raised the concept of "tension" as one of the important terms in understanding the religious function in social changes, though his comparison of Confucianism and Christianity in relation to tension has been criticized by many contemporary scholars. On the other hand, Weber’s ideal-typical classification of religious institutions has been developed into theories of social institutions and movements in which the "tension" variable is used to replace "ideal types." In this and the next sections I will discuss these two lines of development res-pectively, with a view to a clear understanding of the concept of "tension."

In Sociology of Religion Weber introduced the concept of "tension" in analyzing the attitude of various religions toward the world. One religious attitude toward the world is called "asceti-cism"; it calls for rejecting or opposing worldly things and interests. This rejection or opposition to the world causes tension with the world. The asceticism of those who completely reject, and hence withdraw from, the world is "other-worldly"; the asceticism of those who oppose the world, but stay within it and try to trans-form it according to the ascetic ideals, is "inner-worldly". Very often Weber’s usage of "asceticism" refers to "inner-worldly" asceticism. According to Weber, a person who holds this kind of asceticism would become a reformer or revolutionary because the constant tension with the world would be a force driving the person to strive to reshape the world and society (Weber, 1963:166). When the ascetic ethic becomes the ethic of a social institution, it can be an institutional force in opposition to other social institutions:

To the extent that a religious ethic organizes the world from a religious perspective into a syste-matic, rational order and a cosmos, its ethical ten-sions with the social institutions of the world are likely to become sharper and more principled. . . . Indeed, the very tension which this religious ethic introduces into the human relationships toward the world becomes a strongly dynamic factor in social evolution (1963:209-210).

 

The more a religion systematizes and internalizes an ascetic ethic, "the greater becomes its tension in opposition to the world (1963:207), and the more strongly its driving force produces social change.

Weber believes that Puritanism is the best example of this asceticism. Following the biblical teaching "to be in the world but not of the world", Puritanism generated high tension with the surrounding word and worked vigorously to change society and the world with religious zeal. It did not lead to an abandonment of the world, but to its reformation. Puritan asceticism emphasized the importance of the spiritual life, salvation, and the Kingdom of God; it opposed material goods and worldly interests. However, "by a unique paradox, asceticism actually resulted in the contradictory situation, . . . namely that it was precisely its rationally ascetic character that led to the accumulation of wealth (1963:218).

For Max Weber, Confucianism is at the other extreme, for there is no tension whatsoever toward the world in its ethic. Weber believes that the Confucian ethic simply appropriates the general virtues of life within the world, for example, it places tremendous stress on familial piety. In contrast, congregational religion, especial Protestant Christianity, sets one’s co-religionist in the place of fellow clansmen. The Christian advocacy of brotherly love within the congregation, rather than within the family or along blood lines, produces tension, whereas Confucian emphasis on filial relations conforms to the worldly and natural tendencies of people. In The Religion of China, the sharp polemic contrast be-tween Confucianism and Protestantism in terms of the state of tension occupied an extremely important position and was treated at length. In this book, Weber repeatedly expressed the view that Confucianism, or the traditional Chinese mind in general, lacked a sense of tension between the sacred and the secular orders. Neither in Confucianism nor in could Chinese religiosity produce suffi-ciently strong motives for a religiously oriented life as presented by Puritanism.

According to Weber, the lack of tension in Chinese traditions resulted from the lack of a concept of the transcendent or super-natural and superhuman God. Orthodox Confucianism was almost purely an ethical doctrine, a collection of practical precepts without any explicit metaphysical foundation. Not only was a tran-scendental God absent, but almost anything beyond this world was ignored, if not totally denied:

In Confucianism there prevailed, anyway, an absolutely agnostic and essentially negative mood opposed to all hopes for a beyond. Even where this stand had not permeated or where it was out-weighed by Taoist or Buddhist influences the in-terest in man’s fate in the beyond remained quite subordinate to the possible influence of the spirits on life here and now (1964:145).

 

Because of the lack of a transcendent or of a personal God, there was no foundation on which tension between the categorical de-mands of spirituality and worldly reality, between high standards of morality and secular trends, could be based. Without the tension and its foundation -- the transcendent -- prophecy became impossible:

A true prophecy creates and systematically orients conduct toward one Internal measure of value. In the face of this the ‘world’ is viewed as material to be fashioned ethically according to the norm. Confucianism in contrast meant adjustment to the outside, to the conditions of the ‘world’ (1964: 235).

 

This was a practical rationalism seeking adjustment to the world. For this adjustment it developed an ethic which remained inner-worldly and lacked tension. Therefore, Weber concluded:

Completely absent in Confucian ethic was any tension between nature and deity, between ethical demand and human shortcomings, consciousness of sin and need for salvation, conduct on earth and compensation in the beyond, religious duty and sociopolitical reality. Hence, there was no leverage for influencing conduct through inner forces freed of tradition and convention (1964:235-236).

 

Compared to Protestantism, Confucian rationalism was not the type which could inspire the spirit of capitalism.

From the above brief description of Weber’s discussion we may summarize the meaning and connotation of "tension." Tension is a concept used to describe an attitude of opposition or rejection of worldly things. This may be expressed in many forms, including that between the sacred and the profane, between moral demands and worldly needs, between spiritual ideals and material desires, between religious duty and social-political reality, etc. Tension, especially internalized and systematized in an institutional ethic, may need the transcendent as its ground, based upon which pro-phecy as a call for change becomes possible. Throughout history tension has been the driving force for great social changes.

Weber’s assertion that Confucianism lacks tension has met much criticism, especially among sinologists or scholars in Chinese spirituality. Some scholars argued that there was some concept of the transcendent in the traditional Chinese mind, which is reflected in the concept of "heaven" (Titan), or the "Dao", and that this transcendent may have provided the foundation of tension between the moral ideals and social reality (e.g., Yu. 1975; Metzger, 1977; Eisenstadt, 1985). Some scholars also argued that even if there was no clear concept of the transcendent, there were tensions nevertheless. These tensions have a different form from that in the Christian tradition, as have their solutions (e.g., De Bary, 1975; Eisenstadt, 1985). These criticisms have contributed to understanding Chinese culture, though most either concern minor details or lose focus by departing too far from Weber’s original meaning and concern. Many scholars would agree that the concept of Tian or Dao had some transcendental dimension. However, these elusive and impersonal forces could hardly provide the solid and absolute ground upon which a high moral tension with society could be proclaimed and required against the traditional political order. Although they have some transcendental attributes, their impersonal nature severely limited their power to produce ethical prophets as social reformers.

It may not be too difficult to discover some kinds of tensions in the long history of China. The question is what kind of tension is it, how strong was this tension, and to what resolution did it lead. As many scholars of Chinese philosophy have convincingly argued, the central characteristic of traditional Chinese culture is its emphasis upon harmony or unity (e.g., Tang, 1991). This ethic of social and cosmic harmony failed to bring a radically different ethical order, as it did in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Nevertheless, Weber’s assertion that Confucianism or the Chinese mind was completely lacking tension seems problematic. There have been many rebellions and revolts in the long history of China. Although none of them brought such a dramatic change as causing the rise of a capitalist social system, some did contribute to social changes. Weber neglected change while focusing solely on what was stagnant in traditional Chinese society. Probably we can say only that tension was not typical of traditional Chinese society.

The direct discussion of the concept of "tension" raised by Weber, as shown above, is focused mostly on the cultural-ethical dimension or moral-motivational aspect. However, there is another line of development which focuses more on the institutional dimension; this began as a criticism of Weberian methodology.

Weber proposed "ideal types" as means of social analysis. Ideal types are analytical constructs:

In its conceptual purity, this mental construct cannot be found anywhere in reality. . . . They are used as conceptual instruments for comparison with the measurement of reality (Weber, 1949:91, 97).

 

Weber used the ideal types extensively as an effective analytical tool. Employing this methodology Weber introduced two ideal types of distinctive religious institutions: church and sect. Fol-lowing Weber, Ernst Troeltsch elaborated the ideal types of church and sect which were regarded as the two main varieties of religious bodies in pre-19th century Christian Europe. Each type was identified by a host of characteristics that were seen as correlates of one another. Many scholars since then have worked on refining these ideal types. According to Thomas O’Dea’s summary of these classifications of church and sect (1966:68) the ideal type of church has as attributes: (1) membership from birth, (2) formalized hierarchy and dogma, (3) inclusiveness, (4) orientation toward all, and (5) compromise with the existing society. The ideal type of sect has as attributes: (1) separation from the general society, (2) exclusiveness, (3) membership by conversion, (4) voluntary adhesion, (5) a spirit of regeneration, and (6) ascetic ethics. How-ever, no matter how refined be this typology, in the real or em-pirical world it is hard to find any religious group that fits exclusively the definition of church or sect; most religious groups have attributes from both.

Gradually, it is being realized that the ideal-typical classifi-cation hindered rather than helped further research and theorizing, especially in the empirical social sciences. At this point, so-ciologist of religion, Benton Johnson, made a breakthrough by insisting on a single concept of "tension" in theorizing regarding religious institutions. According to him, "A church is a religious group that accepts the social environment in which it exist" (1963:542). The state of tension is the religious group that rejects the social environment in which it exists" (1963:542). The state of tension is the variable, and in a spectrum the ideal sect falls at one pole where the surrounding tension is greatest, while the ideal church anchors the other end of the continuum where the tension with the social-cultural environment is minimum or impossible to detect. On the one hand, church represents the established insti-tution -- a stable sector of the social structure, a cluster of roles, norms, values, and activities associated with the performance of key social functions. On the other hand, sect is formed often with a wish to cause or prevent change in a system of beliefs, values, symbols, and practices. Religious movements are often organized by sects with high tension toward the social-cultural environment, striving to or wishing to become the dominant faith in the society. However, when they succeed and gain some dominance in the society, they become more institutionalized and the tension is reduced. Over time some sects or sectlike religious groups may become churchlike institutions. Their initial other-worldliness is reduced and worldliness is accommodated. This tension-reducing process is a process of secularization. However, this secularization process should not be seen as the destiny of religion in human history. Actually, this secularization process is "a self-limiting process that engenders revival and innovation." (Starr and Bain-bridge, 1985:429430). In other words, while the existing religious groups reduce their tension with the social-cultural environment some new religious groups with high tension will form and grow, and possibly replace the old groups in the religious market. His-torically, there has been the movement of the forming and growing of sectlike religious groups as well as the fading away of churchlike groups. Finke and Stark’s sociological study of the religious his-tory of the United States clearly illustrates historical scenarios which provide evidence for this theory. Since the American Revolution in the 1770s up until 1990, some religious groups (denominations) have grown while some others have declined. Whereas those denominations which reduce their tension with the society also decrease in membership over tire, religious organiza-tions with high tension gain membership and influence. The mainline denominations are churchlike religious organizations: they stopped growing when the tension reduced. However, the decline of mainline denominations cannot be seen as the decline of religion as a whole. Actually, many sectlike religious groups are formed and growing, and some factions within the mainline deno-minations which desire higher tension are mobilized into some special religious organizations and movements (Wuthnow, 1988). The assumption or the conventional wisdom about secularization is problematic, if not completely wrong. We will return to the secularization issue later.

What is of concern to us here is the development of the concept of "tension." Tension is no longer understood as an ideal type but as a variable of continuum. Looking at things in this way, it is rare that one tradition completely lacks tension while another has tension. The question turns out to be how much tension there is. Further, the tension concept is not only a concept, ethic or individual psychology, it is also an attribute of institutions, es-pecially religious institutions. Social institutions may be em-pirically tested on their tension with the social world and secular trends. In any given society, there are always various social groups with various levels of tension, and a group’s tension may be reduced or maintained over time. With this understanding, it may be more accurate to say that traditional Confucianism in general had low tension with the socio-cultural environment. More detailed research is needed on the various social organizations in different periods of Chinese history to examine their level of tension. However, the overall characteristic of the Confucian tradition, or even of the traditional Chinese mind in general, may safely be said to be one of low tension.

With this understanding of "tension," let us turn now to the social history of the West to see how tension has operated. First of all, let us examine the differentiation of moral authority and civic authority.

In medieval theology the secular world and the sacred world were distinguished. God created the world and gave a set of sacred laws for governing the world and human society. These laws are recorded in the Holy Scripture and in nature. The secular laws composed by people and imposed by secular authorities may not always be in accord with sacred law, and when discordance between the sacred and the secular laws arose it would be necessary to correct the secular law to accord with the sacred law. The Church was seen as the moral authority over the civil authority, which was one of the reasons for the constant conflict between the Emperor (secular authority) and the Pope (sacred authority). The conflicts between the sacred and the secular expanded further within the Church itself. This was reflected especially in the Reformation which began in th early 16th century when the spiritual reformers, based upon conviction in the sacred message of the Bible, strongly criticized and protested against the Church for its corruption and cooperation with the Empire, and called for spiritual renewal and the upholding of high morals. Therefore, the Reformation can be seen as a religious movement for the increase of tension between the sacred and the secular, between the moral authority and the worldly authority. The Reformation resulted in the formation of Protestantism, which is a convenient name for various Christian denominations -- churches which broke the ties with the Roman Catholic Church and organized into different groups or "families." Institutionally, moral authority was diffused.

Modernization is a complex process with many dimensions. From a sociological perspective, institutional differentiation in general is one of these dimensions. Max Weber regards moderniza-tion as a process of rationalization in which institutions are diffe-rentiated in their structures and functions. In this process, two grand institutions -- moral authority and governmental authority -- are differentiated or separated through painful, sometimes bloody, struggles. At the beginning of the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther, which soon expanded to many areas in Western Europe, many of the spiritual reformers had to rely for support upon the secular powers -- the emerging nation-states -- in order to protest against the powerful hierarchical Roman Catholic Church which had the support of the Holy Roman Empire. The Reforma-tion resulted in the formation of Protestant denominations some of which for a period achieved the monopoly status of official religions in different countries. In the society where there was the alliance of one religious institution and the governmental insti-tution, those who had different beliefs were often suppressed, persecuted or expelled from the country. Many persecuted Christians immigrated to America in order to practice their beliefs freely. However, in the American colonies, those who were once persecuted in their original countries also gave their own church a monopoly in their territory, while those with different beliefs were sometimes suppressed or persecuted.

Not until the birth of the new nation after the Revolution and the constitutional disestablishment clause could the separation of church and state be legalized. This separation is one of the greatest achievement in human history, whose full significance is yet to be recognized and understood. Because of this legal separation, persecution of those with different religious beliefs becomes difficult. Individual freedom of conscience becomes a principle which is legally protected. Because of this legal separation, the functions of these two institutions are better defined and executed and the tension between moral demands and worldly reality can operate all the time. Churches and other religious organizations as an important sector of civil society constantly provide the checks and balances to government authorities, which provides a better chance for a healthy development of the society.

What is this formal separation of church and state resulting from the differentiation of institutions? Many people have a wrong impression of this separation, understand it as no relationship between religion and politics, or even freeing the government from the influence of religion. Actually, the separation is institutional separation: what is emphasized is freeing religion from govern-mental interference in any direction, either in favor or in dis-approval. The first amendment of the Constitution said, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This disestablishment clause rules out the possibility of the government imposing one religion as the official faith or persecuting members of another because their beliefs are repugnant.

The institutional separation of church and state does not stop the mutual influences of religion and politics, and religious influence upon politics has been taken for granted. Not only does the Constitution itself make explicit reference to the transcendent, but also the currency, national seal, national anthem, legislative prayers, and oaths sworn in federal courts all make explicit reference to belief in God. In presidential inaugurations, the oath of the President is sworn on the Bible, the ceremony is participated in by clergy, and the Presidents have no reluctance to make explicit reference to God in their presidential speeches, as well as at other important political events. It is not unusual for the government sometimes to seek input from the churches in the formation of public policy, especially those related to moral issues. Mann scholars, such as Robert Bellah (1967), believe there is a civil religion of the United States which has been, and should be, the common ground for a democratic society.

Tension has been in operation in the modernization process of the West. Along with a technological and material revolution, there has been a religious and spiritual revolution. There is a pattern of parallel revolutions in the modem Western history, which many scholars have difficulty seeing and accepting.

Since the Enlightenment in the 18th century, especially since the second half of the 19th century, secularization has become the dominant theme in assessments of the future of religion. It is common wisdom for most of the intelligentsia both in China and in the West to believe that erosion of belief in the supernatural will be a necessary consequence of the development of science and technology, and of social evolution. Many great thinkers, such as Karl Marx, August Comte, and Sigmund Freud even predicted the dawn of a new era within two or three generations in which the infantile illusions of religion would be outgrown. However, today we have evidence that at the least these predictions are notably illusory. In today’s society, religion is still vital in many ways, and is still an important sphere in the life of people in the United States -- one of the most advanced modern societies. Based on empirical studies in past decades, scholars now realize that secularization is a myth hardly proven in reality (Hadden, 1987). The overall religiosity of the people in the United States can be characterized more accurately as "stable" than as "in decline" on the basis of available empirical data (Greeley, 1989). Some empirical findings even indicate an increase in church adherence over the more than 200 year history of the United States (Fake and Stark, 1993). There is an increasing literature opposing the secularization theory or the postulation of a decline of religion.

With this reading of the social reality, looking back over modern history, we can easily see a parallel pattern of two re-volutions in tandem with each other -- the industrial, technological and material revolution, on the one hand, and the moral, spiritual and religious revolution, on the other. As mentioned above, modern history began with a religious Reformation which resulted not in the decline of religion as a whole, although the Roman Catholic Church did suffer greatly, but in the rise of the new Pro-testant denominations. While the waves of material revolution are reflected in the industrialization, urbanization, the information revolution, etc., the waves of spiritual revolution are expressed in religious revivals, awakenings, and reforms. For example, in the United States, there have been four religious awakenings, each of which preceded certain essential social changes (McLaughlin, 1978). Economic development or material revolution by itself cannot create a society with liberty, equality and justice. The evil tendencies and results in the secular world must be challenged, condemned, and corrected by the power arising from spiritual resources. No human society to date is perfect, but with spiritual power a society can move in a better direction and avoid evil catastrophes.

In the past people have paid much attention to the material revolution and secular social changes, but consciously or uncon-sciously ignored or downplayed the spiritual revolution and re-ligious changes. A more accurate description of modern history to date is a pattern of "parallel revolutions". The spiritual revolution should not be ignored, but should be seen as necessary for the healthy development of the whole society and humankind. Tension is necessary for the healthy development of human society. Together these two aspects of social life may be conceived as walking on two legs: if one of them is lacking or severely damaged, one cannot walk smoothly, and a fall or breakup of the whole body becomes likely. With parallel institutions in balance, both the material world and spiritual world will prosper, and society will develop in a healthy manner.

Religion provides leverage for social change because of the tension it provides. Examples of religion as leverage, other than in the rise of capitalism, are many. In the history of the United States, liberation of blacks from slavery and the Civil War, as well as the anti-discrimination and the Civil Rights movements in the middle of this century are good examples. Surely political, economic and other factors were in force, and were sometimes strong factors in social changes; however, we should not ignore or deny the religious factors in operation.

Before the U.S. Civil War, many Christians from some Christian sects, such as Quakers and Baptists began the abolitionist movement by organizing an anti-slavery crusade, publishing journals, and preaching that linked directly biblical themes and anti-slavery objectives. In the Civil War the South defended slavery which was regarded as normal by many people at that time. The North sought to end slavery which was seen as immoral, anti-Christian, and anti-Constitutional. The war was led by President Lincoln, the son of a conservative Baptist. He gave eloquent voice in both his Gettysburg and second inaugural addresses to the moral duty and religious destiny of an "almost chosen people", and regarded slavery as an offense to God that should be removed. Many of his contemporaries referred to Abraham Lincoln as a modern Moses for leading the nation out of slavery.

Before and after the Civil War, many black people became Christians and later the black churches arose as the most stable institutions among them. These common religious beliefs and practices provided a form of social cohesion and empowered them in the fights against racial separation and discrimination. The black churches provided the route through which many black leaders became public officials, a trend which continues to this day. In the mid-20th century, Martin Luther King, Jr, a Christian minister, became the main leader of the victorious Civil Rights movement against racism. It would be difficult if not impossible, to imagine these successes without the Christian empowerment of blacks, and of whites as well.

This is not to say, however, that any religion can become a leverage for social change. What is important is the presence of "tension" for which religion is often the most systematic source and expression. Only those social organizations or institutions, re-ligious or not which can hold appropriately high tensions with the social-cultural environment with an absolute ground on which the believers and participants can stand with conviction and hope a the right moments of history, can become the leverage for social change.

On the other hand, not all social changes are necessarily healthy for human society. Sometimes social changes may destroy the social good. For example, in today’s society, there are the perils of growing materialistic greed, disintegration of the family and community, destruction of moral norms for human sexuality, increasing individualism and egoism, the untamed invention of new weapon technologies and so on. These changes are regarded by some religious people and organizations as driven by evil forces against which a battle must be fought. The central issue here is still the concept of "tension." In the United States, the so-called "conservative Christians," including Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, as well as mainstream Christian churches, may be a healthy force to preserve the society from changes toward the destruction and disintegration of the society. They are a force for spiritual growth and against the degradation of society.

Religion, whether liberal or conservative, is often at odds with the political and economic powers, and secular trends. The American Council of Churches has been a moral voice criticizing immoral politics and society. Since the late 1970s, the Catholic Bishops in the United States have issued several pastoral letters to voice their moral and religious concerns about such issues as nuclear weapons, the economic system and social justice. Various special purpose organizations organized by religious conservatives have mobilized people to take measures to fight against what they consider immoral developments in American politics and society. These activities of a conservative nature are directed at preventing some social changes. However, just as religion can be a leverage for social change during certain historic moments, it can also be a preserving force for the healthy development of the society. In both ways, this is tension with society, which here is the crucial point.

Can tension come from other forces which may provide leverage for social change or for the prevention of unhealthy change? The tension between the moral demands and worldly reality, the sacred and the profane, the holy and the secular, may come from all kinds of sources. However, to become the leverage of social change in the direction of a higher moral standard or for preventing immoral development, various social resources must be mobilized to form a social force. Recently, a Chinese intellectual called for this kind of tension to be carried on by intellectuals in the humanities. In his article published in Du Shu, a journal favored by many intellectuals and people with an interest in cultural issues, Zhao Yihong (1994) called for intellectuals to take on this responsibility and for their being allowed to provide social criti-cism. The problem he sees does exist, but his solution may not be warranted.

No doubt, in contemporary society, academic scholars, journalists as well as people in other social sectors, all should take this responsibility of working toward the healthy development of the society. Unfortunately, however, these "intellectuals" are often in alliance with the mainstream of the social-cultural environment. The main stream of these intellectuals often is tilted toward libera-lism, rather than sustaining tension with the society and the govern-ment. In the United States, the most powerful challenge to possible immoral and unhealthy development still comes from religious organizations. The institutional structure of the Judeo-Christian tradition enables the churches as well as individual believers to fight against degeneration and evil development in society.

"Tension" has been the central concept in this article. By this point, for some readers with knowledge of Chinese and Western philosophy, the stereotypical distinction between the Chinese and the Western minds may already have been recalled. It is common to hear that the Western mind tends to divide things whereas the Chinese tends to unite things, and that the Western philosophy is typically dualistic while the Chinese philosophy is typically monistic. With this stereotypical distinction, it would not be difficult to think of the West as emphasizing tension where the Chinese emphasize harmony. But stereotypes are not accurate, and often depend on incorrect assumptions. In terms of emphasizing harmony and lacking tension, the characterization of the traditional Chinese mind may not be too far from the truth. However, the general characterization of Western mind is not correct.

Tension is necessary for the healthy development of the society. While there is economic development and material revolu-tion, the need for moral reconstruction and spiritual renewal is urgent. People in all sectors and in different positions may share as common goals prosperity and the strengthening of the nation, the happiness of individuals, and a healthy future for society, but these goals may not be achieved without the growth of moral principles and moral authorities. In efforts to modernize Chinese society, intellectuals as well as all people have a responsibility to find solid moral grounds.

1. Weber was not alone in attempting to validate his hypo-thesis by his analysis to the comparative studies of the great traditions of Chinese culture, Judaism and Hinduism. Many scholars have been inspired to investigate the development or modernization of other cultures and societies. For example, Robert Bellah’s Tokugawa Religion on the modernization of Japan, and on the development of Southeast Asian societies. Peter Berger and Hsiao, Hsin-huang’s In Search of an East Asian Development Model.

2. Christianity was born out of Judaism, the religion of the Jews, who were under the rule of the Romans. Jesus and his disciples were Jews, but Jesus was handed to the Roman govern-ment by Jewish religious leaders for execution. The disciples and believers of Jesus were also persecuted by the Roman Empire.

3. For a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between these two institutions, please refer to Kenneth Wald’s Religion and Politics in the United States.

4. Weber’s thesis is hardly tested, for the rise of capitalism is one historical process without another repetition. Although there are other areas in the world where capitalism is developed later, these cases cannot invalidate Weber’s thesis, because they are not cases of the rise of capitalism, but the introduction or importation of capitalism.

5. Erik Erikson’s psychoanalytical biography of Martin Luther, the leader of the religious Reformation in the 16th century, Young Man Luther, has a very good analysis of this.

6. About the "unity of heaven and man" in Western spiritu-ality, please refer to the paper by Yang and Lee (1993) and Yang (1988). The Western version of the "unity of heaven and man," as expressed in the God-centered theology and philosophy, has provided the foundation for the development of modern sciences by a "naturalization" process of the notion of God, and the foundation for modern humanitarianism by a "humanization" process of the notion of God. When the concept of God is thrown away from the realm of knowledge, we fail to find the theories of unity or harmony in the Western mind. It is a problem of our Chinese intellectuals, rather than a problem of the Western mind.

evolve. This is similar to the theory of modern ecological ethics which also upholds that everything on earth has the right to exist and develop.

Modern ecology requires us to change nature and protect it. The co-existence of the objectives of nature and humanity requires that we adopt a policy of both changing and protecting the nature.

Humankind cannot use nature’s objective to replace his own, but he be at the mercy of nature. For the same reason, we cannot supplant nature’s objective by that of humanity. We must acknowledge and respect nature’s objective, and protect its ecological balance, structure and reproductive capacity. At same time, under certain conditions, we must transform nature, change the course of realizing its objective, and enable the human objective to be realized. From this starting point, we must draw upon the treasures of ancient philosophy and strive vigorously to construct and develop ecological ethics.CHAPTER XX

The development of an ideal personality is a necessity for every human and is a topic of philosophical research. In history there is a parallel between the development of the personalities of both men and a women, but the difference between the two is much more conspicuous. Generally speaking, the molding and improvement of women’s personality is more difficult and requires more attention. Of course, the forming of personality is influenced by many elements, among which is the economical activity. From the point of view historical materialism this is the primary and the most immediate factor. This study concerns the relation between development of economics and of the personality of women.

The theme here is that both males and females are subjects of a creative society, but under different socio-economic forms which imply that the female has a specific experience. During economically primitive times women held a higher position as authorities of families and society, but were not self aware in this regard. In agricultural economies, women’s authority collapsed and they lost their whole personality, manifesting thereby the antinomy which can exist between the development of the economy and of women’s personality. The development of the industrial economy and the establishment of the system of democracy awoke and helped evolve women’s personality. However, backwardness of thought regarding the development of the economy and consequent male behavior created difficulties for women’s personality development. A modernized economy will enrich the female subject’s personality and open the possibilities for women to rediscover their self and improve their personality.

Almost every nation has undergone a time when they worshiped female goddesses and had beautiful legends concerning their authority. Female goddesses could not only repair heaven and make the earth, but could also create and multiply human beings. The worship of female goddesses reflects the authoritive position of female in material things and in producing human beings during primitive economic times. With respect to material production, their level then was very low. Women collected natural fruit, while men hunted for animals, but because of poor instruments men often came back with nothing, whereas the collection of fruit by women was the main source of food. In their state of group marriage, everyone knew his or her mother without knowing the father; child bearing was considered the business of women alone. In both material and human production women occupied a dominant position and were respected by everybody. With men they worked hard for the development of humankind, but did not ride roughshod over people by means of their position. Hence, their personalities were sound and beneficial. In such a time women had both position and personality, but they could not be said to have had independent individual personalities. They were conscious of a heavy dependence upon nature and human beings; there was no place for a sense of independent personality.

Progress in productive tools changed the natural division of labor. The rise of agriculture and livestock provided a new productive force. In addition, individual marriage replaced group marriage so that people knew their own parents. Child bearing was no longer a holy affair, but a burden binding women in the family. Men came to occupy the authoritive position in society originally held by women. With the establishment of the system of private property, women no longer had an independent personality, but became an exploited and oppressed part of men’s property.

The development of economy and the progress of the marriage relation need not have led to the loss of women’s personality, but the fact is just the contrary. We have seen several antinomies above: first, women invented primitive agriculture, contributed to the invention of fire and livestock farming, and helped to bring about the development of the economy and progress in history. At the same time, women showed themselves less competent than men in such productive activities as agriculture and livestock farming, which made them subordinate to men; second, women contributed to the continuation of the human race, but child bearing bound them in families and deprived them of the opportunity to take part in social activities; third, males created the culture and value system and made themselves subjects of the society, while treating females as object and tools. Although these are historical antinomies, they were inevitable for human beings in their efforts to free themselves for the bonds of nature. In a society of low productive power, it is an axiom that the weak are prey to the strong. The backwardness of production and its corresponding feudal system and culture could not provide room for an equality of both sexes. Therefore, for the progress of the economy it was unavoidable that women’s personality would be sacrificed. In the dark ages in China as well as in the West women could not participate in politics and the praiseworthy characters of the female were also distorted: women become jealous due to living together with their husband’s concubines; they became self effacing due to being subject to maltreatment; and they became narrow-minded through living for a long time in the boudoir without going out. In the meantime, the distortion of the male personality was manifested in another way. Many men were subordinate to other men due to the social system which gave primary to the father’s rights so that they had no personality of their own. In the family, marriage for the sole purpose of child bearing and expression of the sexual impulse without love alienated the human essence of males.

The industrial economy destroyed the natural sense of the family as the basic unit. Great quantities of labor were needed by large industry. This created opportunities for women to enter social life, to participate in economic activities, to earn salaries, and hence no longer to be the property of others. This provided a good basis for their positions as social subjects. In addition, the democratic system, corresponding to the industrial economy, promoted such ideas as "all are equal in terms of money"; "all are equal before the law", "all are equal before God". This gave rise to public opinion favorable to the independence of women as regards their personality. All this was helpful in awakening women’s personalities as subjects. In industrial society women actively fulfilled their obligations while seeking their legitimate rights and interests in activities which constantly improve their personality. However, the following elements in industrial society frustrated the development of women’s personality or even subjected it to certain deviations.

First, industrial production places the machine at the center; it aims at producing material objects and is determined by the investment of human power and other resources; it emphasizes physical labor and operational technology, and the proportion of physical labor is much greater than that of mental work. This situation is unfavorable to women; they suffer sexual discrimination in seeking a job, which hinders the establishment of women’s personalties as subjects.

Second, due to the backwardness of ideas in comparison to the progress of the economy, certain feudal ideas such as "the male has dignity while the female is humble" and "a woman should be subordinate to a man" still fetter women, and influence social expectations regarding their role and value. This gives rise to certain dilemmas for women in seeking their rights and fulfilling their obligations. Many women feel a tension between their role in society and in their family, and in seeking a position in social life while feeling a sense of obligation to be a good wife and mother.

Third, the male culture inclines women to be masculine: as society has long been dominated by men the behavior of successful men in social life is taken as the pattern for all people. As women have not created their own pattern of behavior, they must conform to the pattern of man’s behavior so that their role in social life will more easily be accepted. This stage cannot be surmounted until women fully participate as subjects in society. Although the slogans such as "equality for both sexes" play a great role in freeing women from the fetters of family to become subjects in society, they are harmful to the maintenance of the distinctively female personality. In China, a trend toward the masculinization of women was strong after the 1950s, and reach its height in the 1970s. The "Iron Young Woman" in the 1950s was very similar to the male physique; in the 1970s the dress, even the style of women’s hair, was masculinized. Coming into 1980s, people exclaimed with surprising that "there are no woman in this country"; they began to doubt whether the "strong woman" was perfect in personality. Women refused to be masculinized.

However, people have no answer to the question what is the ideal personality for women? They sink into puzzlement and inertia. Men are afraid of their wives being "strong women", and women themselves fear being "strong women". In order to be thought of as tender, many women do not dare to show their talent, but then they worry about being too feminine; they do not know how to mould their personalities. The solution to the problem requires further development in the economy as well as constant progress in ideology; one is complementary to the other.

The modernized economy is a great revolution over the traditional one and will bring about change in all facets of society. The female personality will be developed and improved in the process of the modernization of society and its ideal will be realized.

First, the productive mode of the modernized economy helps manifest the personality of women as subjects. In modern industry, what determines the production is no longer physical human strength, but the application of a high level of technology, which increases the proportion of mental work. Now in some developed countries, the proportion of mental work versus physical labor approximates 1:1, while the value created by the former far exceeds that created by the latter. Therefore, the application of high level technology will reduce or eliminate the physical inferiority of women in production, and enable women to give play to their superiority in patience, carefulness and nimbleness. This is obviously indicated in developed countries: in the U.K. women have more job opportunities than men.

Second, the operational mode of a modernized economy enables women to choose the job suited to them. The open, dynamic pattern of the economy enables women to find positions of their own in a wider range of social activity. In developed countries, women are exploring molding ideal personalities. They are not the traditional good mothers and wives who sacrifice themselves in a closed family context, nor are they the so-called strong women of industrial times. They develop their own standard and hope to get a valuable job with flexible hours and a good location; they hope to take account of both family and career. Some women give up work and become housewives while bring up their children, but their return to the family is for the purpose of educating their children and giving their children the natural love of a mother so that the children can grow soundly. In the meantime, they engage in further studies to give play to their potentialities or to develop their interests, so that they will be more competitive when they take up a career after their children have grown up. Such exploration is praiseworthy under the conditions of a modernized economy; it advances the civilization of the whole society.

Third, the high educational level of society, the high degree of democracy and the modernization and socialization of house work due to the modernization of the economy will enable women to elevate their quality as human beings, to demonstrate their personality, to strengthen their competitive power in social life, and to realize a sound personality. There will be a day when we need no longer emphasize that the male and the female differ and recognize that there is something common to both sexes. Then the peculiar and varied beauty of the character and personality of the female will demonstrate itself naturally in the world.

Of course, molding the female personality depends not merely on the progress of economy and is not merely a matter for women alone. It depends on the consistent efforts of the whole society; this requires theoretical work by scholars to find the incompatibilities and in time eliminate them.