The strong collectivist culture in East Asian societies stems from the idea of study abroad, which emphasizes the role of human beings in social relationships and as moral agents, and thus emphasizes social harmony and moral growth. Studying abroad aims for personal moral perfection and social harmony, which played an important role in the formation of East Asia’s collectivist culture.
Why is East Asian society considered to have a strong collectivist culture? The answer can be found in the ideological foundation of East Asian society, the idea of study abroad. To better understand the relationship between collectivist culture and Confucianism, we need to take a look at the basic way Confucians viewed human beings, as expressed in the Confucian texts of the Qin dynasty. The Qin period of studying abroad is the period of primitive establishment before the Qin dynasty unified China. It is centered on the ideas of Confucius, Mencius, and Sun Tzu.
First, they understood human beings as social relations. They viewed human beings as living in relationships between parents and children, rulers and subjects, husbands and wives, adults and children, and friends and friends, and thought that the meaning of human existence could not be found apart from social relationships. This led to the view of the individual as a “complex of roles, duties, and considerations” in social relationships, and scholars saw relationships as the driving force behind most social behaviors, and the end goal of many social behaviors was to establish and maintain good relationships with others in one’s group.
The importance of social relationships is also strongly reflected in the political and social environment of the time. For example, the Confucian texts The Analects and The Analects of Mencius emphasized the need for social harmony and interdependence. In particular, Confucius argued that all human relationships should be based on mutual respect and consideration, so that society can be stable and prosperous. This is the idea at the root of collectivism, the idea that individual behavior should be coordinated for social harmony. Thus, collectivism in East Asia tends to prioritize the interests of the community rather than the individual, which stems from Confucian thought.
Next, Confucians viewed human beings as active agents. In other words, the scholastics viewed the desirable attitude of life as active moral awareness and practice. In order to live such a life, the scholastics argued that humans should control their selfish desires and emotions by virtue. In this way, they said that it is important for humans to control themselves, to place all responsibility on themselves, and to restrain themselves.
In this process, Confucianism emphasized efforts to shape the human self within the framework of social morality. This is in contrast to Western ideas that emphasize individual freedom and independence. In the West, an autonomous and independent individual is considered a member of society, while in East Asia, it is important for individuals to regulate themselves to the standards of virtue while fulfilling their social roles. This perspective continues to provide a fundamental foundation for the moral codes and collectivist attitudes of East Asian societies today.
They also viewed human beings as infinite possibilities. They saw human beings as capable of attaining virtue through teaching and learning, and then applying this virtue in their social lives to become soldiers and saints. In addition, the scholastics considered human beings as individuals as ‘processual and variable beings’ and thought that they could achieve self-improvement by recognizing their shortcomings and improving them through learning. In this sense, the final goal of the scholastic’s self-cultivation, the virtue of virtue, involves not only cultivating virtue for oneself, but also helping others with whom one lives to cultivate virtue. Therefore, this viewpoint is both moral and social in that it seeks moral perfection and helps others achieve virtue.
As such, Confucian thought closely links human self-perfection and moral growth to interactions within a group. This ideological background has played an important role in shaping the collectivist cultures of East Asia into cultures that emphasize individual moral growth and social harmony. The teachings of studying abroad are not merely aimed at the moral cultivation of individuals, but at the harmonization and development of society as a whole. This has contributed to the creation of a social structure in modern East Asian societies that ensures that the goals of the group and the goals of the individual are in harmony with each other.
