Why fast-changing China is turning back to Confucius
By Richard McGregor in Beijing

Published: April 11 2007 18:33 | Last updated: April 11 2007 18:33

China's Communist party is usually deeply hostile towards any popular
social or religious movements that proffer alternatives to its own
rule. But when Yu Dan, a Beijing academic, published a bestseller on
Confucius late last year, the authorities gave their silent assent.

The book by Ms Yu, a professor of culture and media at Beijing Normal
University, was a kind of Confucius for dummies, a simple introduction
to the ideas of China's most famous philosopher, who lived 2,500 years
ago. It was a publishing sensation, selling upwards of 2m copies.

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