 The relationship between Confucian ethics and liberal democratic values has received vigorous and diverse discussion starting from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This discussion has centered on three kinds of tension: Confucian perfectionism versus pluralism in the recognition of what constitutes a good and worthwhile human life; the Confucian value of social harmony versus individual rights; and the Confucian value of meritocracy versus the grounding of a government’s legitimacy in its acceptance by the governed. 