Abstract: In recent Confucian studies in the English-speaking world, Confucian political philosophy, which has long been regarded a weak spot in the Confucian tradition, has become the most prominent area of interest. There are two unique features of this interest in Confucian political philosophy. On the one hand, instead of being exclusively focused on interpretations of relevant Confucian classics, it aims to bring the ancient Confucian tradition to bear on the social and political issues we are facing today. On the other hand, it is carried out in living dialogues with prominent Western political philosophers, which makes it possible for Confucianism to make its unique contributions to contemporary political philosophy. This trend in the interest of Confucian political philosophy has produced high quality works in, among others,(1) virtue politics,(2) state perfectionism,(3) distributive justice, and(4) Confucian democracy, each of which includes a number of creative positions.

Key words: virtue politics, state perfectionism, distributive justice, Confucian democracy