Patheos Featured Writers

Jeffrey Richey
Patheos Author

Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Religion and Director of the Asian Studies Program at Berea College in Kentucky. He was educated at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Harvard University, the Graduate Theological Union, and the University of California at Berkeley. A specialist in ancient and early medieval Chinese and Japanese religious history, especially Confucian and Daoist studies, he has published widely in scholarly journals, encyclopedias, and edited anthologies. His publications include The Sage Returns: Confucian Revival in Contemporary China (co-edited with Kenneth J. Hammond and forthcoming from State University of New York Press), Teaching Confucianism (Oxford University Press, 2008), which he edited and to which he also contributed a chapter, as well as chapters in Confucius Now: Contemporary Encounters with the Analects (Open Court Publishing Company, 2008) and Riding the Wind with Liezi: New Scholarship on the Daoist Classic (State University of New York Press, 2011). He also serves as Chinese Philosophy Area Editor for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://www.iep.utm.edu/).

Works by Jeffrey Richey
Worship and Devotion in Daily Life
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
To live one's life as the best person one can be, to constantly strive to cultivate......
Gender and Sexuality
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Women were expected to demonstrate exemplary behavior and uncomplaining obedience.......
Vision for Society
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius envisioned a society in which all lived in harmony, content with their place......
Principles of Moral Thought and Action
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius provided few specific moral principles. One should obey one's elders and......
Symbolism
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Symbols specific to Confucianism are relatively rare, and almost always pertain to......
Community Organization
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
In traditional China, Confucianism prevailed within the courts of the nobility and in......
Leadership
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
The model Confucian leader was the scholar-official. Years of education in the classic......
Sacred Space
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius stated that divine realms are beyond human comprehension, so there is no......
Sacred Time
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
As Confucius stated that ultimate reality is beyond human comprehension, there is no......
Sacred Narratives
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
The idea of learning from the past is fundamental to Confucian thinking, and the early......
Ultimate Reality and Divine Beings
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius did not deny the existence of a reality beyond the human world, but he said......
Afterlife and Salvation
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius stated that the afterlife was beyond human comprehension. Humans should live......
Modern Age
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucianism has been both lauded and condemned in the modern age. Confucianism, along......
Exploration and Conquest
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Han Feizi's philosophy was of profound importance to the Qin emperor who first unified......
Human Nature and the Purpose of Existence
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucian scholars have long debated essential human nature without reaching agreement......
Rites and Ceremonies
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Despite his disinterest in ultimate questions, Confucius was a strong advocate for......
Missions and Expansion
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
There were few regional differences in Confucianism, but specific interpretations......
Schisms and Sects
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
While there were differing interpretations of Confucianism and disagreements about its......
Suffering and the Problem of Evil
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
According to some interpretations of Confucianism, suffering and evil are inevitable in......
Early Developments
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucianism as an institution was not established until long after the death of its......
Influences
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius attributed his teachings to the Duke of Zhou, a heroic figure from his home......
Historical Perspectives
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Some Western scholars have argued that "Confucianism" was manufactured or invented by......
Beginnings
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius's ideas became well known only after his death. The 4th-century B.C.E.......
Founders
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius, whose Chinese name was Kong Qiu (K'ung Ch'iu), was born around 552 B.C.E. and......
Sacred Texts
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucius left no writings, although the "Five Classics" of Chinese literature are......
Confucianism
Jeffrey Richey | June 19, 2017
Confucianism, though commonly labeled a religion, could more accurately be understood as......
Disaster in Japan
Jeffrey Richey | March 28, 2011
When monstrosity strikes, the character of a culture is revealed....