THE DISCOURSE ON THE MEANING OF CONFUCIANISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY (Der Diskurs uber die Bedeutung des Konfuzianismus im 21. Jahrhundert)

The article aims at presenting the meaning of Confucianism in the contemporary countries of East Asia. China has been developing very fast and it is not only a prognosis for the 21st century, but already a fact. The traditional Confucianism is being discovered once again in China nowadays, which seems to be important in the times of globalization. Since 1980s it has been described as the 'new Confucianism', and the Confucian tradition has been modernized. The article analyses the role of the Chinese culture in the process of globalization, presents the debate concerning Asian values, and describes the continuity of tradition in the modern China. It shows that the 'new' Confucianism can be an alternative to the western modernization for China.