Between Hierarchy of Oppression and Style of Nourishment: Defending the Confucian Way of Civil Order

By clarifying the original meanings of the Confucian maxims of sangang 三綱 (three norms [bonds]) and wulun 五倫 (five tenets [relationships]) and Dong Zhongshu’s yin-yang theory, I argue that the foundation of Confucian civil order is not a hierarchy of power and domination, but the graded structure of honor and dedication. Contrary to liberal and feminist accusations, the “structural limitations” for women and the masses are not means of oppression but expedients for the general culture of devotion and the cosmic cycle of grace and sacrifice.