Confucius is Back in China

[Frodo]

Ancient wisdom of Confucius reverberates in modern China

By Andrew Higgins
Saturday, May 15, 2010

QUFU, CHINA -- Zhong Yong, a wealthy metals trader from the far west of China, recently took a long weekend off work, boarded a four-hour flight across the country and then drove for two hours. His mission: to dress up in a long black robewith crimson trim and tap his head on the ground in front of a wooden statue of Confucius.

"Any businessman with some success wants to do more than just get rich," said Zhong, the chairman of EverSunny trading, who traveled here to the birthplace of Confucius as part of a crash course in Chinese philosophy and religion. It cost him nearly $12,000.

Dressed in mock ancient garb, Zhong, 45, knelt on a gold cushion and sipped Chinese wine from a bronze goblet. Then, amid giggles from bystanders and smoke from burning incense, he kowtowed to honor the ancient sage.

The ceremony, a mix of theme-park gimmickry and earnest ritual that dates back more than two millennia, took place at Qufu's Confucius Temple, the focal point of what, in imperial times, was China's guiding creed.

Today it's the center of a burgeoning personality cult built around a philosopher who died in 479 B.C. It's a movement endorsed by the government but one that is also providing cover to some who question China's direction.

A revival of interest in Confucius and other aspects of what Mao Zedong vilified as China's noxious feudal past has been underway for years, spawning best-selling novels, television dramas and films set in the Imperial Era. The Communist Party, tapping into a deep vein of cultural nationalism, has encouraged the trend, in part as an antidote to Western ways.

Overseas, Confucius has become China's standard-bearer, with dozens of state-sponsored Confucius Institutes, including one at the University of Maryland, promoting the study of Chinese language and culture.

But a Confucian revival sanctioned and initially steered by the party has grown into something more vibrant and also more unpredictable. It has become a quest for alternative ideas that challenge not only foreign imports such as democracy but also some of the homegrown results of China's dash to modernity.

Confucianism, an elaborate system of moral philosophy and political theory, has always been a two-edged sword, both deeply conservative and potentially subversive.

[anvi]

Thanks for posting.  It's definitely true.  After one hundred years of being criticized by New Culture Movement intellectuals, women's movement advocates and Mao Zedong, Confucianism is back in a big way in China.  It's studied at universities, there are nationally televized Confucian "self-help" series (the most famous one by Yu Dan, a woman), national and international celebration of Confucius' birthday in Qufu, and even the teaching of ancient Confucian rituals to Chinese high school students in rural areas. 

[Derek]

That religion was designed to keep ppl where they are at in society and under control of those in power. It is disgusting and appalling but disguised as friendly.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

That religion was designed to keep ppl where they are at in society and under control of those in power. It is disgusting and appalling but disguised as friendly.

Just like Christianity, Islam, etc. etc.

[The Ex-Factor]

I'm fairly dubious of this new Confucian revival taking place. As it is being driven by the CCP for the main purpose of propagating nationalist sentiment, its been heavily politicized. Emphasis on merely hierarchy, stability, and harmony means that the Confucianism promoted by the party is an empty one, void of the gentleman-like cultivation of benevolence and righteousness that was central to traditional Confucian thought. Sure, you have your smorgasbord of people who have a legitimate interest in studying Confucianism, but the significant majority of Chinese could give a sh**t less about Confucian values.