The Shibunkai’s Confucian Diplomacy and the Flight of Kong Decheng

This chapter assesses the rise and fall of the “Confucian Diplomacy” pursued by the Japanese sinology organization the Shibunkai toward the Kong family estate in Qufu, Shandong Province, China, home of the designated descendants of Confucius. This chapter clarifies the cultural soft power aims of this diplomacy, especially when it came to focus during the 1920s-1930s on cultivating the young 77th descendent of Confucius, Kong Decheng, as a potential future ruler for China. It also considers evidence for the coordination of this diplomacy with the Japanese government, and evidence that the Chinese Nationalist government was aware of, and able to counter the goals of that diplomacy. Last, it discusses the reasons for the wartime failure of that diplomacy, which included the Shibunkai leadership’s inability to comprehend how much the Nationalist government had successfully cultivated the Kong family’s loyalty for its own nation-building goals.