Posted on 09/15/2006 11:00:02 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Marxism no longer serves as Chinese society's guiding ideology. But that doesn't mean the end of ideology. Western experts hope liberal democracy will fill the void, but...
In China, the moral vacuum is being filled by Christian sects, Falun Gong and extreme forms of nationalism. But the government considers that such alternatives threaten the hard-won peace and stability that underpins China's development, so it has encouraged the revival of Confucianism.
..."Confucius said, 'Harmony is something to be cherished,'" President Hu Jintao noted in February 2005. A few months later, he instructed China's party cadres to build a "harmonious society." Echoing Confucian themes, Hu said China should promote such values as honesty and unity, as well as forge a closer relationship between the people and the government.
The teaching curriculum for secondary schools now includes teaching of the Confucian classics, and several experimental schools have been set up that focus largely on the classics....
For the government, the promotion of Confucian values has several advantages. Domestically, the affirmation of harmony is meant to reflect the ruling party's concern for all classes. Threatened by rural discontent - there were 87,000 illegal disturbances [reported]last year - the government realizes that it needs to do more for those bearing the brunt of China's development. Internationally, the call for peace and harmony is meant to disarm fears about China's rapid rise.
How does Confucianism resonate in society at large? At some level, especially regarding family ethics, Confucian values still inform ways of life. Filial piety, for example, is still widely endorsed and practiced: Adult children have a legal obligation to care for their elderly parents.
Many intellectuals have turned to Confucianism to make sense of such social practices and to think of ways of dealing with China's current moral and political predicament. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
ping
Confucism:
Man with one watch know what time it is, man with two, never sure.
The problem is, and will continue to be that "harmony" will be used as an excuse for "control" and anything that threatens the control of the communists will be sold by the government-controlled media as something that threatens "harmony". It will actually be true also that what threatens that control will threaten the civil harmony, because the dictators will fight such threats forcefully.
The Chinese people clearly understand that all their apparent "freedoms" now (to buy and sell stuff only) are not rights under the communists, but privileges granted by the dictators and able to be removed whenever needed to squash dissent.
"...a ball of Confucians...that's what the world is today, hey-hey..."
Careful, you're showing your age............
You couldn't be more wrong.
Confuciansm is all about obedience and subordination to other man. The subject must obey the ruler, the son must obey the father, the wife must obey the husband, etc. It has for centuries made China a society of only slave masters and slaves.
Confucianism was originally only one of many theories of social order taught in China, but sometime around 100 B.C. an Emperor of China decided it was such a good tool to maintain his power that he decreed that it would be the only one allowed to be taught and all other political theories were to be banned. And since then for 2000 years it has been the tool the rulers of China used to brainwash the populace into blind obedience.
It is no surprise that since the Communist rulers of China feel a discontent in the population, that they are pushing for Confusianism again, just like all the despots of China before them. They are doing this to fight off Western influence.
Confucianism is a good way to perpetuate Chinese nationalism, now that Marxism has been discredited.
In fact, I suspect that the Chinese always saw Marxism through a Confucian lense.
They've already lost that battle...big time.
Gimme another reason.
He who go to bed with itchy butt, wake up with smelly finger
I actually knew it from Tina Turner's cover version in the Eighties. (Yeah, I watched a lot of MTV back then. Why do you ask?)
Temptations' original circa 1969-70..............I think.........
I don't need to give you another reason, that is the reason. They can't retreat behind Communism to any more, so they are retreating behind nationalism.
Now that can no longer sell to their democracy is incompatible with communism, they will say that democracy is incompatible with Confuscianism, incompatible with the Chinese tradition. So that to advocate against their rule is no loner "counter-revelolutionary", but a betrayal of one's heritage and one's culture.
All you need to know about the current regime in China is this, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, they do, is aimed at maintaining their power to control China. They have no goals other than that one.
It's Confucian Marxism Leninism somowhat modeled after the USSR during the early 1920s (the NEP era).... on steroids.
Confucianism is not all bad. Having lived in China, I find the respect that children show their parents, teachers and elders over there to be a refreshing change from the bad attitudes and spoiled brattishness of so many children here in the US. On the other hand, I couldn't live without good old US individualism, which is certainly a virtue lacking in Chinese society. There are good and bad points about both types of societies, and perhaps a good society could marry elements of both.
Nothing is all bad.
But make no mistake, Confusicanism is mostly about enslaving the mind of people.
Trust me, I've studied extensively.
Even the part of Confusianism that promotes the child's respect for the parent is ultimately a method of brainwashing to create an obedient subject.
I am translating directly from writings of Confuscius:
"A man who obeys his parents is unlikely to challenge authority, a man who doesn't challenge authority is unlike to rebel against the ruler. Therefore, to have people who won't rebel against the ruler, it is imperative we emphasize that children should obey their parents."
Confucisus' philosophy is strongly oriented toward law, order, and filial piety, and hence culturally favors stability more than dynamism, and tradition rather than liberation. That has both its good and its bad aspects, but on the whole, I think a society organized along thee lines makes it possible for most people to have a virtuous family life and honest work, which are the principal requirements for human fulfillment.
Its meritocratic features keep it from being totally stagnant and caste-trapped, providing an outlet for the constructive specially talented and the specially ambitious.
I do not think that natural virtues are the ultimate good (as a Christian, I am convinced we are made for more), but I think it's a lot bettter than some of the alternatives. Considering the horrible trauma of the various "Cultural Revolutions" and "Great Leaps Forward" that this great nation has had to endure in the past, Confucism could make a healing and constructive contribution.
Obedience and subordination are aspects of Christianity as well (see the Epistles for St. Paul's "Household Codes.") In the hands of some, this might turn into oppression; but at its best, it would inculcate a shared devotion to the common good.
Surely you can see some good possibilities here?
To say Confusianism has "some good possibilities" is akin to saying that communism has "some good possibilities".
Confuscianism is in reality a form of secular humanism. The ruler takes the place of God is is worshipped as such. But such absolute power in the hand of man will always inevitably leads to tyranny. The insidious thing about Confusicianism is that is prepares the people to accept tyranny.
The fact that China has never been able to break free from its cycles of dynastic rise and fall is that its Confuscian dominated culture is so deferential to the ruler that even when a bad tyrannt has been overthrown, those who overthrew him have no desire to change the system which now benefits them, and instead would rather take the tyrannt's place atop the system rather than make any changes, and if they do make changes it is usually to make the next rebellion harder.
This is why if you study Chinese history, it is a progression toward more central control, more tyranny. Each ruling dynasty more despotic and controlling than the previous one.
Confucis says: "Man who has hand in pocket gets cocky all day."
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