Ideals of Self-Cultivation, Youth and Citizenship in China

This paper conducts an analysis of the changing ideals for personhood and self-cultivation in China through a comparison of Confucianism, Maoism and today’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. It traces changes and continuities and explores implications for young people’s contemporary identity construction and citizenship. The paper prepares the ground for a China–Europe comparison of ideals about a cultivated person/citizen.