Interweaving nationalism and cosmopolitanism in the cultivation of Confucian citizens through classics reading in contemporary China.

This article examines how contemporary Confucian educational practitioners in China intertwine nationalism and cosmopolitanism in citizenship education through the revival of Confucian classical education, particularly focusing on the grassroots "dujing" (classics reading) pedagogy. By analyzing the theoretical discourses of Wang Caigui's dujing education and fieldwork at a Confucian school, the study reveals a cultural nationalism that prioritizes Confucian classics as superior and urgent to learn, alongside a cultural cosmopolitanism that embraces global cultural integration through the study of both Chinese and Western classics. The pedagogical practices emphasize extensive memorization of Confucian texts to cultivate students' national identity while also fostering cosmopolitan awareness via Western classics, aiming to develop "great cultural talents" who embody both Chinese cultural identity and universal human values. The study contributes to citizenship education scholarship by highlighting the complex, non-oppositional relationship between nationalism and cosmopolitanism in Chinese Confucian education and advocates for a post-orientalist perspective that integrates local cultural resources with global citizenship concepts.