Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: One can hardly overstate the importance of the
Confucian virtue chi to Jiang Jieshi's leadership during his tenure
of power in the Nanjing era. Jiang had a daily column in his diary
related to chi. He often alluded to ancient philosophers and kings
about their uses of chi. He even instructed his soldiers, political
officials, and other audiences about knowing chi, frankly and
energetically pointing out areas of behavior or dress that he
considered chi. Chi framed no less than Jiang's overall vision for
strengthening China and for modernizing her citizens.
Translators often encapsulate chi into a single word, shame but, shame as understood in the Western sense, does not do justice to the
various contexts in which one finds chi. Revenge, respect, and even
guilt might also apply to chi. The oddness of using chi in one
leadership (Why draw attention to dishonoring others or to being
disgraced?) might stem from our inability to render the term
meaningfully into the English language. We might try to stretch and to
mold the English language to clarify the contexts in which one uses
chi. Unfortunately, this does not explain why chi is so central to
leading an ethical Confucian life and to sustaining a strong
moral-political order, and hence, why a Chinese leader draws on chi in
the first place. By focusing on why Jiang would draw on chi as an
important cultural resource for his leadership, we are also attempting
to understand better expressions of the Chinese leader, from a Western
perspective. Chi reflects a concept of self that differs markedly from
a Western, or more specifically, a Christian concept of self. To better
understand why a leader uses chi in the first place, we must first
understand this difference in selves. This paper argues that chi serves
as a standard. Putting forth chi as an ideological warrant implies two
things. One must abstain from letting others feel chi, and one must
know when others give chi to one's self. Recognizing chi, defining its
magnitude, and coming up with an appropriate response are bound
together in maintaining the integrity of the individual or the
integrity of the state. Put forth effectively, chi can serve as a
powerful ideological warrant for justifying the authority of one's
leadership.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This ethnographic study looks at the way Mahayana Buddhist philosophy is translated into everyday organizing practices by investigating the communication activities in which people engage to organize the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation in Taiwan, a Buddhist non-profit voluntary organization founded by The Venerable Dharma Master Cheng Yen in 1966. By developing insights into this phenomenon, the study aims to shed light on the paradoxical nature of Buddhist organizing or what some scholars (Keown, 2000; Queen, 2000; Queen & King, 1996; Queen, Prebish, & Keown, 2003) call ?engaged Buddhism.? In turn, it seeks to draw lessons from a form of organizing that has only recently started to receive academic attention by scholars interested in questions of organizing (see Kernochan, McCormick, & White, 2007; Weick & Putnam, 2006).