The modern world is often described as highly secularized. This secularization can distort our view of the past, and also of societies in which secularization holds less sway than in other places. In this essay, I examine Confucianism and Dharmaśāstra as two paradigms for the study of pre-secular or non-secular societies, comparing and contrasting Confucian and Hindu societies while comparing and contrasting both with the current, "secular age".
Keywords: China; Confucianism; Dharmaśāstra; Hindu law; India; Japan; Manu; Rigveda; Secularization; St. Louis IX; Veda.
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