A subsequent phase of the Academy Project, directed by Ezra Vogel of
Harvard University, will focus on Japan's global impact in economic, scientific,
political, military, and cultural terms. Because of its economic dynamism,
Japan merits special attention. The intriguing phenomenon of the rise of
industrial East Asia has been variously labeled "The Sinic World in Perspective"
( Edwin Reischauer, 1974), "Japan as Number One" ( Ezra Vogel, 1979), "The
Emerging Japanese Superstate" ( Herman Kahn, 1979), "The Post-Confucian
Challenge" ( Roderick MacFarquhar, 1980), "The Japanese Miracle" ( Chalmers Johnson
, 1982), "The Eastasia Edge" ( Hofheinz and Calder, 1982), and "An
East Asian Development Model" ( Peter Berger, 1988). How to locate Japan
culturally remains a fascinating issue. "Japanese exceptionalism" serves as a
constant warning to avoid facile generalizations about the Sinic world or the
Confucian universe. Our study will examine the rise of East Asia as a complex
whole, in terms of both its traditional roots and their modern transformations
throughout the region.

The events of the student demonstration at Tiananmen Square were folding
during the workshop and lent significance to a key question: To what extent
can Confucian humanism creatively transform itself into a communal critical
self-awareness of the Chinese intelligentsia without losing sight of its moral
demands for public service and political participation? Indeed, the far-reaching
implications of the role and function of Confucian institutions in industrial
East Asia for mainland China and the modern West will be studied in the
future as integral parts of this Academy project.

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