Confucianism and ecology : the interrelation of heaven, earth, and humans / edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Berthrong.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Beyond the enlightenment mentality / Tu Weiming -- Think globally, act locally, and the contested ground between / Wm. Theodore de Bary -- Companionship with the world : roots and branches of a Confucian ecology / Rodney L. Taylor -- Early Confucianism and environmental ethics / Philip J. Ivanhoe -- Extending the Neo-Confucian tradition : questions and reconceptualization for the twenty-first century / Michael C. Kalton -- Continuity of being : Chinese visions of nature / Tu Weiming -- Response and responsibility : Chou Tun-i and Confucian resources for environmental ethics / Joseph A. Adler -- Philosophy of environmental correlation in Chu Hsi / Toshio Kuwako -- Ecological implications of Yi Yulgok's cosmology / Young-chan Ro -- Philosophy of Ch'i as an ecological cosmology / Mary Evelyn Tucker -- Trinity of cosmology, ecology, and ethics in the Confucian personhood / Chung-ying Cheng -- Motifs for a new Confucian ecological vision / John Berthrong -- Orientation, self, and ecological posture / Robert Cummings Neville -- Confucianism and garden design : a comparison of Koishikawa Kōrakuen and Wörlitzer Park / Seiko Gotō and Julia Ching -- Some thoughts on Confucianism and ecofeminism / Huey-li Li -- From heaven-and-earth to nature : Chinese concepts of the environment and their influence on policy implementation / Robert P. Weller and Peter K. Bol.

The Confucian and Neo-Confucian tradition of East Asia demonstrates a remarkable wealth of resources for a rethinking of human-earth relations. In its insistence on the life force (ch'l) within all things, in its affirmation of immanence and avoidance of radical transcendence, and in its call for harmony between Heaven, Earth, and humans, Confucianism shows itself to be both theoretically and practically equipped to contribute to current discussions of environmental philosophy and ethics. As a tradition that has helped to form the world's oldest continuing civilization and that continues to inform social, political, and economic structures in East Asia, Confucianism has both historical significance and contemporary endurance.

Indeed, nearly one quarter of the world's population has been influenced by Confucianism in some way, especially in family structures and values. The challenge, as Tu Weiming suggests, is to ensure the continuance of tradition in modernity, thereby achieving an effective counterpoint to the destruction of both human communities and the Earth community.