Is China headed for a clash of cultures as Xi Jinping fuses Confucius and Marx?

[Sam.]

Errrrr.... No. If you follow Chinese internal and foreign policy closely it has always follow Confucius doctrine very closely.
Even before Xi.

Oh i agree and one example is fall of Xiongnu by Han dynasty. I see similar tactics is being used against USA currently.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Oh i agree and one example is fall of Xiongnu by Han dynasty. I see similar tactics is being used against USA currently.

And what do you understand by that?

 

[8888888888888]

China's foreign policy has more to do with experience than anything else, for example during the 1st opium war the Qing send an official to talk with the Brits. He bend so far backward and acted very friendly that many Chinese considered him a traitor but that's how China dealt with the Xiongnu, mongols, etc etc for the past few thousand years.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

Is China headed for a clash of cultures as Xi Jinping fuses Confucius and Marx?

• Xi Jinping’s vision is producing an unlikely and contradictory brew of Confucian communism, yoked to the service of a unifying state ideology

Paul F. Scotchmer

Published: 4:10pm, 27 Jul, 2019

A performance of a rite of passage for young women during Confucius’ time, at a village in Zoucheng, Shandong province. The renaissance of Confucianism has led to such performances becoming popular tourist attractions. Under Mao’s leadership, The Analects was banned, artefacts were destroyed, and temples were turned into libraries and museums. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Soon after becoming general secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping revealed his vision for a more distinctly Chinese direction for his country and has strongly encouraged a
renaissance of Confucianism
in China. Yet Marxism – a European import – remains the ideological framework of the government. It would seem, then, that China is headed for an internal clash of cultures.
Xi's cultural tack is diametrically opposed to that of
Mao Zedong
, who dismissed Confucianism as a retrograde social philosophy that could only dampen the revolutionary fire. Under Mao's leadership, The Analectswas banned, artefacts were destroyed, and temples were turned into libraries and museums.
Mao’s contempt for Confucianism was consistent with the materialist conception of history, which lies at the core of Marxist thought. By this view, social standards and religious beliefs are simply reflections of a given mode of production. As Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels put it in The Communist Manifesto: “Law, morality, religion” are nothing more than “bourgeois prejudices, behind which lurk in ambush just as many bourgeois interests”. With his attacks on Confucianism, Mao was simply helping history along, as it were.

By this logic, Xi is now reversing the course of history. In a 2014 address to the International Confucian Association on the 2,565th anniversary of Confucius’ birth, Xi praised Confucianism as “the cultural soil that nourishes the Chinese people”. He also used terms alien to the materialist political philosophy which underpins the Communist Party. “Confucianism,” he said, is the key to “understanding the national characteristics of the Chinese as well as the historical roots of the spiritual world of the present-day Chinese”.

In addition to acknowledging Confucius’ historic influence in China, Xi underscored his relevance for the future. “Some people of insight,” he observed, “believe that the traditional culture of China, Confucianism included, contains important inspirations for solving the troubles facing us today.” Xi then spelt out several traditional ideas that could benefit Chinese society, mostly by helping to reduce corruption in government.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinio...-cultures-xi-jinping-fuses-confucius-and-marx

Nothing will happen. 20 years from now, China Will be the world's 1st EVER Global hyper power, surpassing the USA in EVERY field and dwarfing it.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Errrrr.... No. If you follow Chinese internal and foreign policy closely it has always follow Confucius doctrine very closely.
Even before Xi.

Really?

Until the Cultural Revolution, in the time of Mao, Confucius was an official state enemy, with multiple campaigns to denounce him.

After the cultural revolution, there was a gradual revival of confucius but only to keep people in line.

Can a person using confucius's philosophy, of the virtue of the ruler, of law and the will of the ruled, claim illegitimacy of the current CCP regime?

No, he will be thrown and persecuted instantly.

Confucius himself was a wildly independent spirit who raged against inherited rulers, against vice and such.

The irony of the situation is, that if Confucius were to be alive today, he would have been put behind bars and tortured without any independent legal process.

 

[8888888888888]

I agree that Confucianism can be use to control people though and order them to be submissive. But it only worked in the olden days when the education level of the Chinese peasants is almost non existence. This is pretty much why Mao and the CCP old guards hate Confucianism since it's use to put down the peasantry.

 

[Viva_Viet]

Wow, Xi realize that if Cnese learn more from the West, then they will surely go against the incompetent Govt' like in HK.

CN govt' sucessfully made those Cnese here believe that they have " super weapons, super tech " like Jamming device, HRS etc and those "super things" will make CN become " super power" blah blah blah...but after I gave them the link, it turn out that those " super weapons, super high tech" are just 1960s weapons and US did tried so hard but still failed in VN war. .

Seem like Xi think that Confucianism will make Cnese believe Xi is "the real son of the Heaven" like another CN Kings in history holding "super 1960s weapon" and lead CN to the Paradise

 

[fisher1]

Clash, what clash?

Clash happens where there is freedom.

If someone was brave enough to disagree on something, he would be thrown straight to a concentration camps.

 

[CHN Bamboo]

Clash, what clash?

Clash happens where there is freedom.

If someone was brave enough to disagree on something, he would be thrown straight to a concentration camps.

In Fujian & Kunming, there had been many people who opposed the construction of PX factories, contrary to the wishes of the local government. In the end, these people not only stopped the construction of the project, but also encountered no problems.

Photos of the mass parade in those days.
​

There have been a lot of parades against a certain government policy in China, but I never heard someone has been put into so-called 'concentration camp'.

If China were to put opponents of a government policy in 'concentration camp', there would be few people on the streets of China.

 

[Zsari]

Really?

Until the Cultural Revolution, in the time of Mao, Confucius was an official state enemy, with multiple campaigns to denounce him.

After the cultural revolution, there was a gradual revival of confucius but only to keep people in line.

Can a person using confucius's philosophy, of the virtue of the ruler, of law and the will of the ruled, claim illegitimacy of the current CCP regime?

No, he will be thrown and persecuted instantly.

Confucius himself was a wildly independent spirit who raged against inherited rulers, against vice and such.

The irony of the situation is, that if Confucius were to be alive today, he would have been put behind bars and tortured without any independent legal process.

You are confusing Confucius with liberalism. Confucius says if the ruler want his subject to die, then he is obligated to.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

You are confusing Confucius with liberalism. Confucius says if the ruler want his subject to die, then he is obligated to.

Can you quote the source of this?

In fact this is the philosophy of Legalism which was the contemporary contesting philosophy of Confucianism.

Confucius has repeatedly emphasized on a system where the power of rulers was constrained. It was constrained based on ability, talent, and virtue. It was also constrained by truth and honesty. That everyone was free to speak the truth. It was based on respect and not fear.

In fact Mao was a great fan of Qin Shi Huang and the legalist philosophy and in some way the CCP, if it were to be said to follow anything, is closer to following the legalist tradition.

 

[Viva_Viet]

In Fujian & Kunming, there had been many people who opposed the construction of PX factories, contrary to the wishes of the local government. In the end, these people not only stopped the construction of the project, but also encountered no problems.

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Photos of the mass parade in those days.
​

There have been a lot of parades against a certain government policy in China, but I never heard someone has been put into so-called 'concentration camp'.

If China were to put opponents of a government policy in 'concentration camp', there would be few people on the streets of China.

Thats protest is ok, cos ppl cant survive when the environtment is too poluted.

But Cnese can not questtion why Xi is allowed to rule CN forever like another Cnese Kings.U guys must accept that Xi is "the real son of Heaven"

Can you quote the source of this?

.

Thats true. Thats why VN kings also used Conficianism. When the king want u die, then u must commit sucide.

Thats why CN, VN were so backward and were occupied by the West...and VN had to overthrown the feudal system that can not protect VN against the West invasion.

 

[CHN Bamboo]

Thats protest is ok, cos ppl cant survive when the environtment is too poluted.

But Cnese can not questtion why Xi is allowed to rule CN forever like another Cnese Kings.U guys must accept that Xi is "the real son of Heaven"


Thats true. Thats why VN kings also used Conficianism. When the king want u die, then u must commit sucide.

Thats ot.

I can't understand your broken English.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

I can't understand your broken English.

What he is saying is that protest for small issues like pollution etc. is still tolerated a bit. And just a bit, because recently there was a violent crackdown on the protest in Wuhan.

There is no tolerance of any kind of questioning on core policies of CCP leadership.

Can you openly criticise Xi Jinping's decision to remove term limits?

Can you openly criticise the cult of personality that is building around Xi?

 

[Zsari]

Can you quote the source of this?

In fact this is the philosophy of Legalism which was the contemporary contesting philosophy of Confucianism.

Confucius has repeatedly emphasized on a system where the power of rulers was constrained. It was constrained based on ability, talent, and virtue. It was also constrained by truth and honesty. That everyone was free to speak the truth. It was based on respect and not fear.

In fact Mao was a great fan of Qin Shi Huang and the legalist philosophy and in some way the CCP, if it were to be said to follow anything, is closer to following the legalist tradition.

The quote comes from Dong Zhong Shu, the most famous Han dynasty Confucius scholar who was credited for converting the legalist Han to Confucius.
Constraint the power of the ruler? You won't find that in either Legalist or Confucius, maybe Mohist. Legalists argue for law being the tool of the ruler, while Confucius calls for virtue, but neither are to bind the hands of the ruler, but rather to legitimize the rule.
It is direct opposite of Confucius teaching for anyone to challenge the legitimacy of the ruler, as its all about duty and obedience. That's actually what Mao's sharpest criticism on Confucius was. Your understanding or rather misunderstand is actually the opposite what really was. Remember, Mao was the revolutionists while Confucius was the establishment.