Two sides of one coin: The party's attitude toward Confucianism in contemporary China

Journal of Contemporary China

Volumn 18, Issue 61, 2009, Pages 689-701

  Jiawen, Ai ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL DISCOURSE; POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY; POLITICAL IDEOLOGY;

ASIA; CHINA; EURASIA; FAR EAST;

EID: 70450031275     PISSN: 10670564     EISSN: 14699400     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10670560903033976     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Full Text of Constitution of Communist Party of China (Xinhua News Agency, 2007), available at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/25/content_6944738.htm (accessed 12 September 2008).
2. He Linglu (Chinese Source), 'Zhongjian jieceng haishi zhongchan jieji?' [Chinese Source] ['Middle stratum or middle class?'], Tianfu xinlun no. 1, (2007), pp. 13-15.
3. See Zhang Xin (Chinese Source), 'Liening jieji fenxi lilun de dangdai bushiyongxing Tansuo' [Chinese Source] ['Analysis of inadaptability of Leninist class theory'], Qiushi xuekan no. 7, (2006), pp. 7-10.
4. See Yang Jianrong (Chinese Source), 'Xingzi haishi xingshe?' ['Chinese Source?'] ['Being socialist or capitialist?'], Nanfengchuang no. 10, (1988), pp. 3-7.
5. See also Yu Guangyuan (Chinese Source), 'Guanyu xingzi haishi xingshewenti De liang feng xin' [Chinese Source] ['Two letters about being capitalist or socialist'],Qiushi xuekan no. 5, (1992), pp. 27-29.
6. Also see Liu Bingying (Chinese Source), 'Fazhan shehui zhuyi shichang jingji yao zhengque duidai xingzi xingshe wenti' [Chinese Source] ['Correctly treating the question of being capitalism or socialism is essential for developing a socialist market economy'], Qiushi no. 10, (1995), pp. 4-8.
7. Deng Xiaoping (Chinese Source), 'Zai Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, shanghai dengdi de tanhua yaodian' [Chinese Source] ['Excerpts from talks given in Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shanghai'], Renmin ribao, (6 November 1993), p. 1.
8. The use of the greatest guiding slogan is shown in Zhao Ziyang (Chinese Source), Shisan da baogao: yanzhe you zhongguo tese de shehui zhuyi daolu qianjin [Chinese Source] [Report to the Thirteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China: Taking the Road of Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics] (Beijing, 1987);
9. Jiang Zemin (Chinese Source), Shiliu da baogao [Chinese Source] [Report to the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China] (Beijing, 1987).
10. Hu Jintao (Chinese Source), Shiqida baogao: baoju zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi weida qizhi wei duoqu quanmian jianshe xiaokang shehui xinshengli er fengdou [Chinese Source] [Report to the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China: Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive for New Victories in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All] (Beijing, 2007).
11. Michael Freeden, Ideology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 126.
12. John Schwarzmantel, Ideology and Politics (London: SAGE, 2008), p. 5.
13. Willy Wo-Lap Lam, Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era: New Leaders, New Challenges (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2004), pp. 38-39.
14. President Calls for Developing Social Sciences (4 September 2005), available at: http://www.chinaembassy.org.in/eng/kj/t186248.htm.
15. Hu Jintao, Shiqida baogao.
16. See, for example, Daniel A. Bell, Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006).
17. Arif Dirlik, 'Confucius in the borderlands: global capitalism and the reinvention of Confucianism', Boundary 22(3), (1995), pp. 229-273.
18. John Makeham, New Confucianism: A Critical Examination (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).
19. Min Lin and Maria Galikowski, The Search for Modernity: Chinese Intellectuals and Cultural Discourse in the Post-Mao Era (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999), p. 160.
20. Zhao Shuisheng, A Nation-State by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004), pp. 70-76.
21. Max Weber, The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism (New York: Free Press, 1951).
22. Arif Dirlik, The Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism in the Age of Global Capitalism (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997), p. 92.
23. Jiawen Ai, 'The refunctioning of Confucianism: mainland Chinese intellectual response toward Confucianism since the 1980s', Issues & Studies 44(2), (2008), pp. 29-72.
24. Robert K. Merton, 'Role of the intellectual in public bureaucracy', Social Forces 23(4), (1945), pp. 405-415 at p. 408.
25. Zhuang Yan (Chinese Source), 'Dui xiandai xin Ruxue jige wenti de zhenglun: "Xiandai xin Ruxue yu dangdai Zhongguo xueshu taolunhui" guandian jianjie' [Chinese Source] ['Debates on several questions of new Confucianism. Conference review. Symposium on New Confucianismand contemporary China'], Xueshu yanjiu [Chinese Source] [Academic Research] no. 2, (1991), pp. 24-25, 60.
26. Qiao Qingju (Chinese Source), 'Makesi zhuyi he Ruxue xueshu yantaohui shuyao' [Chinese Source] ['Conference review: Marxism and Confucianism'], Kongzi yanjiu no. 1, (1996), pp. 121-128.
27. For this, see Liu Guanjun (Chinese Source), 'Makesi zhuyi zhexue shiye zhong de hexie fazhan tujing jiqi shixian lujing' [Chinese Source] ['The blueprint of harmonious development and its path to actualize in Marxist philosophy'], Ziran bianzhengfa yanjiu [Chinese Source] [Studies in Dialectics of Nature] no. 6, (2002), pp. 4-6.
28. Zhuang Yan, 'Dui xiandai xin Ruxue jige wenti de zhenglun'.
29. The document is included in People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education, Department of Policy Regulations, Zhonghua renmin gongheguo xianxing jiaoyu fagui huibian, p. 33, item 28.
30. The text of the document is available online at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2004-11/29/content_2273313.html.
31. Hu Jintao, Shiqida baogao.
32. It was Deng Xiaoping's leadership which first introduced the idea of 'Xiaokang' (Chinese Source) to the mass of China. This idea has been promoted continuously by the leaderships of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. It was Hu Jintao's leadership which first refashioned the idea of 'Hexie' (Chinese Source). 'Hexie' (Chinese Source) and 'Xiaokang' (Chinese Source) originate from Li Ji (Chinese Source The Classic of Rites). Li Ji is one of the Five Classics of the Confucian canons. It describes the social forms, ancient rites, and court ceremonies of the Zhou Dynasty. The original text is believed to have been compiled by numerous Confucian scholars during the Warring States Period. During the first century BC, the text was extensively reworked by Dai De (Senior Dai) and his nephew Dai Sheng (Junior Dai). The version by Junior Dai, which was composed in 49 chapters, is what we regard as the work today, while the version by the Senior Dai is preserved only in fragments.
33. See Maureen Fan, 'Confucius making a comeback in money-driven modern China', Washington Post, (24 July 2007).
34. Bell's book under review here; Jiang Zhihong (Chinese Source), 'Dangqian fuxing ruxue de poqiexing yu biyaoxing' [Chinese Source] ['The urgency and necessity of reviving Confucianism'], Lilun qianyan no. 13, (2006), pp. 41-42
35. Jiang Linxiang (Chinese Source), 'Ruxue fuxing xinlun' [Chinese Source] ['New theory of the revival of Confucianism'], Qilu xuekan no. 1, (2006), pp. 7-12.
36. Jia Jianfang (Chinese Source), 'Goujia shehui zhuyi hexie shehui de zhongdian nandian wenti jiexi' [Chinese Source] ['Analysing the significance and the problems of constructing a socialist harmonious society'], Makesi zhuyi yanjiu no. 3, (2006), pp. 5-11.
37. Yu Yunyao (Chinese Source), 'Goujian shehuizhuyi hexie shehui xu chulihao de ruogan zhongda guanxi' [Chinese Source] ['Several important relations should be dealt with in constructing a socialist harmonious society'], Zhongguo dangzheng ganbu luntan no. 3, (2005), pp. 4-7.
38. Zhongguo kongzi jijinhui jianjie [Chinese Source] [An Introduction of China's Confucius Foundation], (7 June 2008), available at: http://www.chinakongzi.org/bhxx/bhjj/.
39. The related reports of the 2,540th, 2,545th and 2,550th anniversary of the birth of Confucius include: Jiang Hanzhen (Chinese Source), 'Zhongwai xuezhe jinian kongzi danchen 2540 zhounian' [Chinese Source] ['The Chinese and Foreign Scholars Commemorating the 2,540th Anniversary of the Birth of Confucius'], Renmin ribao, (8 October 1989), p. 1.
40. Jia Jianzhou (Chinese Source),Weizheng (Chinese Source)Wu and Liangjie (Chinese Source)Wei, 'Qufu guoji kongzi wenhuajie kaimu' [Chinese Source] ['The International Cultural Festival of Confucius is open in Qufu'], Renmin ribao, (27 September 1994), p. 4
41. Wang Li (Chinese Source), 'Jinian kongzi dancheng 2550 nian zuotanhui zai jing juxing' [Chinese Source] ['A symposium to commemorate the 2550th anniversary of Confucius's birth is held in Beijing'], Renmin ribao, (10 September 1999), p. 4.
42. Jiang Zeming's appearance at the symposiums to celebrate the 2,540th and the 2,545th anniversary of Confucius is reported by Zou Aiguo (Chinese Source), 'Jiangzemin huijian kongzi taolunhui zhongwei pengyou' [Chinese Source] ['Jiang Zeming meeting the Chinese and foreign friends participating in the symposium on Confucius'], Renmin ribao, (9 October 1989), p. 1.
43. Lü Yansong (Chinese Source), 'Jiang Zemin huijian ruxue zhuanjia xuezhe' [Chinese Source] ['Jiang Zemin meeting the specialists and scholars on Confucianism'], Renmin ribao, (8 October 1994), p. 1.
44. Howard W. French, 'Another Chinese export is all the rage: China's language', The New York Times, (11 January 2006).
45. For this, see Bell's book under review here; Fan, 'Confucius making a comeback in money-driven modern China'.
46. Jiang Zhihong, 'Dangqian fuxing ruxue de poqiexing yu biyaoxing', pp. 41-42.
47. Min and Galikowski, The Search for Modernity, p. 160.
48. Zhao Shuisheng, A Nation-State by Construction, pp. 70-76.
49. Cai Shangsi (Chinese Source), 'Ruhe kandai ruxue de wenhua yichan' [Chinese Source] ['How to treat the Confucian cultural legacy'], Renmin ribao, (25 July 1988), p. 5.
50. See Fang Keli (Chinese Source), 'Makesi zhuyi yu Zhongguo chuantong wenhua de guanxi wenti' [Chinese Source] ['The question of the relations between Marxism and the Chinese traditional culture'], Mao Zedong xixiang yanjiu [Chinese Source] [Mao Zedong Thought Studies] no. 3, (1991), pp. 62-63.
51. Also see Li Jinquan (Chinese Source), 'Xiandai xin Ruxue sichao de lishi fansi' [Chinese Source]['Thinking of the history of contemporary new Confucianism'], Xiandai zhexue [Chinese Source] [Modern Philosophy ] no.2,(1990), pp. 52-56.
52. Li Langdong (Chinese Source), 'Jingshen wenming jianshe de silu yu duice' [Chinese Source] ['The ways and measures of moral cultivation'], Renmin ribao, (28 May 1996), p. 9.
53. Wang Li, 'Jinian kongzi dancheng 2550 nian zuotanhui zai jing juxing', p. 4.
54. Jiang Zemin (Chinese Source), 'Zai quanguo xuanchuan sixiang gongzuo huiyishang de jianghua' [Chinese Source] ['Address in the National Work Meeting of Propaganda and Ideology'], Renmin ribao, (7 March 1994), p. 1.
55. This is cited in Makeham's book under review here on p.65. Also, see Li Lanqing (Chinese Source), 'Kongzi danchen 2545 zhounian jinian dahuishang de jianghua' [Chinese Source] ['Transcript of a speech given to commemorate the 2,545th anniversary of Confucius's birth'], Kongzi Yanjiu no. 1, (1995), pp. 4-5.
56. Also, see Li Lanqing (Chinese Source), 'Kongzi danchen 2545 zhounian jinian dahuishang de jianghua' [Chinese Source] ['Transcript of a speech given to commemorate the 2,545th anniversary of Confucius's birth']
57. See Kang Xiaoguang (Chinese Source), Ren zheng [Chinese Source] [Rule by Morality] (Singapore: Bafang Press, 2005).
58. Kang Xiaoguang (Chinese Source), 'Ruanliliang jianshe yu Rujia wenhua fuxing' [Chinese Source] ['The construction of soft power and the revival of Confucian culture'], Tianya [Chinese Source] [Frontiers] no. 1, (2007), pp. 32-38.
59. Fang Guogen (Chinese Source) and Luo Benqi (Chinese Source), 'Rujia sixing, wenhua jiaoliu yu goujian hexie shehui: "Rujia sixiang yu kuawenhua jiaoliu" guoji xueshu yantaohui zongshu' [Chinese Source] ['Confucian thoughts, cultural exchange, and constructing a harmonious society: review of "Confucian Thoughts and Cultural Exchange" International Academic Conference'], Shehui kexue zhanxian [Chinese Source] [Social Science Front] no. 2, (2007), pp. 328-330;
60. Jiang Qing (Chinese Source), 'Ruxue de zhen jingshen yu zhen jiazhi: zai Xiamen daxue de yanjiang' [Chinese Source] ['The true spirit and value of Confucianism: a speech delivered at Xiamen University'], Lilun cankao [Chinese Source] [Theoretical Reference] no. 7, (2007), pp. 21-26.
61. Fang Keli (Chinese Source), 'Guanyu suowei "ertong dujing" wenti zhi Jiaoyubu buzhang Zhou Ji de xin' [Chinese Source] ['A letter about the question of so-called "educating children with the traditional originals" to Education Minister Zhou Ji'], (2005), available at: http://cq.netsh.com/bbs/762502/html/tree_11531985.html (accessed 28 December 2007).
62. Fang Keli (Chinese Source), 'Guanyu dangqian dalu xin Ruxue wenti de sanfengxin' [Chinese Source] ['Three letters about the current problem of new Confucianism in mainland China'], Xueshu tansuo [Chinese Source] [Academic Exploration] no. 2, (2006), pp. 4-10.
63. I would like to note that I will not be dealing with the CCP's interest in and suspicion of Confucius in detail in this book review because of the limit on the number of words. I will write about this elsewhere.
64. Bell has written that 'in China the political future is wide open' (Bell, p. 3).
65. As Bell has noted, there are three strands of Confucianism. One is the strand popularized by Yu Dan (Chinese Source). Her account for the Analects seems relatively apolitical. She aims to help people deal with the pressures of modern society. The second strand of Confucianism has been manipulated by Chinese governments for their own purposes since the Han Dynasty. This Confucianism has been combined with Legalism (Chinese Source) to justify such practices as blind obedience to the ruler, the use of harsh punishments, and the subordination of women. The third strand of Confucianism is 'left Confucianism', which owes its origin mainly to the original Confucianism. Actually, from my point of view, the first and second strand of Confucianism are seen and employed by the CCP as political strategies, and the third has the capacity to get rid of the Marxist influence and to evolve into a political ideology. Here by using the word 'Confucianism', I actually mean the third strand of Confucianism.