The Confucian renaissance: It is clear the success of Japan and the "Four Tigers" (Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore) owe much to such essential Confucian precepts as self-discipline, social harmony, strong families and a reverence for education.

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The Confucian renaissance: It is clear the success of Japan and the "Four Tigers" (Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore) owe much to such essential Confucian precepts as self-discipline, social harmony, strong families and a reverence for education.

Group: soc.culture.hongkong · Group Profile
Author: abianchen
Date: Jul 22, 2008 16:28

Rusty OLD FOOL, you should not blame Confucius for your ignorance.
You
should blame your chop suey parents keeping you in their chop suey
restaurant kitchen too long that made you a chop suey idiot. Now,
here
is another Confucianism for you to learn, let's see if you can be
less
chop suey idiot!

Your Confucius

The Confucian renaissance
By Todd Crowell

In his 19th-century classic, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism, German sociologist Max Weber argued that Asian values
were
incompatible with the development of a modern economic system. He saw
in the brand of Christianity practiced in northern Europe the only
ethical system with the attributes needed to make capitalism work.

At the beginning of the 20th century, many Asian intellectuals might
have agreed with him. Commenting on Confucianism, the Chinese leftist
thinker, Chen Duxiu, said in 1916, "If we want to build a new society
on the Western model in order to survive in

the world, we must courageously throw away that which is incompatible
with the new belief, the new society, the new state."

History, of course, has proved Weber and Chen wrong. It is now plain
that the most dynamic practitioners of capitalism at the dawn of the
21st century are to be found in Asia. More strikingly, all of them
are
located within what might be called a Confucian cultural zone.

It is clear the success of Japan and the "Four Tigers" (Korea,
Taiwan,
Hong Kong and Singapore) owe much to such essential Confucian
precepts
as self-discipline, social harmony, strong families and a reverence
for education. That has led to unprecedented - and increasingly
broad-
based international interest in the creed. Yet the Confucian
renaissance may only be in its early phases.

For most of the last century, Confucius (or Kongfuzi - Master Kong)
has been under a cloud in his homeland. Everyone from late Qing
dynasty reformers to revolutionary communists blamed his teaching for
a host of ills, ranging from feudal oppression to economic
backwardness. But recently, Beijing's leaders have begun to
characterize the sage's philosophy as a national treasure that will
benefit today's Chinese.

September's official celebration of the birth of Confucius was the
biggest since the People's Republic of China was established in 1949.
The state-controlled television broadcast festivities surrounding his
2,556th birthday on September 28 on a scale never before seen in
China. More than 2,500, including many fairly high-ranking Communist
Party cadres, made a pilgrimage to the philosopher's birthplace at
Qufu in Shandong province.

The latest government line is that Confucianism can serve as a moral
foundation to help build a more "harmonious society" in keeping with
President (and Communist Party General Secretary) Hu Jintao's efforts
to address social problems such as the polarization of society and a
wide spread "money first" mentality.

It is little surprise that Chinese leaders are seeking to
rehabilitate
their country's most famous and influential thinker. In the moral
void
opened by the decline of Marxism and the abundance of material
temptations, Confucianism can help provide the nation with a much-
needed ethical anchor. And success in these endeavors would allow
China's leaders to strengthen their hold on another Confucian bequest
- the "mandate of heaven", or the right to rule.

What is the relevance of Confucianism in modern times? Which tenets
have served East Asia well - and could help other nations and
cultures? What are the pitfalls to be avoided? Of all the world's
great canons, Confucianism is the most practical. What concerned him
most were people's relationships with one another and with the state.
He also focused on social justice and good government. Ren or
benevolence was the pillar of the master's thought.

Another was learning. Whether East Asian countries include The
Analects (sayings of Confucius) in their social curriculums, they all
understand that education is the root of national strength and
prosperity. The ingrained respect for knowledge - and for the teacher
who imparts it - is the key factor in the outstanding academic
performance of East Asians on a global basis.

One can see Confucianism alive in a modern way in Singapore when a
secondary student is reprimanded for blogging about his teacher in a
negative light. For that matter, the Pennsylvania court that upheld a
school district for expelling a student who, ranting on the Internet,
called his teacher a range of bad names and displayed a picture with
her head cut off was also, knowingly or not, upholding Confucian
values.

Yet the long-time preoccupation with reciting the Nine Classics
(ancient musical pieces) has also produced educational systems in
Asia
that stress memorization at the expense of creative thinking. This is
a distortion of Confucian philosophy, which emphasized both knowledge
and thought. The master said: "He who does not think is lost. He who
thinks but does not learn is in great danger."

To the master, the family was fundamental to the social order. "If
the
family is properly regulated, the state will be too," he reasoned. No
amount of legislation, Confucius taught, could either take the
family's place or perform its function as the linchpin of a well-
ordered society. In the master's world, children defer to parents,
wives to their husbands and subjects to rulers in a natural
progression.

He tended to relegate women to the margins of public affairs, though
he may merely have been reflecting the prevalent values of his time.
Today a nation shortchanges itself if it does not follow a saying of
another Chinese thinker, Mao Zedong, "women hold up half the sky".

In return for the loyalty of subjects, Confucius demanded that a
ruler
display benevolence and unstintingly serve their interests. If he
didn't, citizens had the right to remonstrate. Mencius, the second-
most influential Confucian philosopher, later developed the concept
of
a "divine right of rebellion". If an emperor became a tyrant, he
would
lose the mandate of heaven and people would overthrow him. Today they
might simply throw the leader out of office in an election. Confucius
and democracy are not incompatible.

Throughout history, the rigid and unthinking application of Confucian
principles repeatedly produced complacent closed societies that were
unable to make progress. They paid a terrible price: foreign
subjugation and internal upheaval. Modern Confucians must guard
against repeating such mistakes. If they succeed in adapting their
time-tested heritage to contemporary challenges, Master Kong's
teaching may blossom beyond East Asia to enrich all mankind in the
next century.

Veteran Asia correspondent Todd Crowell comments on Asian affairs.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GK16Ad01.html

On Jul 22, 7:25 pm, rst0wxyz yahoo.com> wrote:

> pea-brain abum_chump refuses to change come hell or high water.
> 500BC was during the warring states period. abum_chump likes to play
> with swords.
>
> On Jul 22, 4:03 pm, "abianc...@my-deja.com" my-deja.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>

>> Rusty OLD FOOL, you should not blame Confucius for your ignorance. You
>> should blame your chop suey parents keeping you in their chop suey
>> restaurant kitchen too long that made you a chop suey idiot. Now, here
>> is another Confucianism for you to learn, let's see if you can be less
>> chop suey idiot!

>> Your Confucius

>> 'Confucius' notions of individual freedom and societal harmony are
>> universal.'

>> In all the discussion about the hand-over of Hong Kong, the majority
>> of commentators have only taken sides: whether the communist Chinese
>> way is right or not. In this final instalment before July 1, 1997, CAP
>> explores the only way for China to govern Hong Kong and itself: the
>> principles of Confucius - the same ones that brought prosperity to
>> Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and, to a lesser extent, Japan

>> A L L O W U S to get a common misconception out of the way: first,
>> Confucianism is not a religion, but a philosophy. And it's very likely
>> the only lasting solution for good government in China. Most readers
>> not versed with the history of China may be asking at this point, 'How
>> can a Chinese who lived 2,500 years ago have any relevance for
>> today?'
>> The examples of Singapore - where Confucius is acknowledged as the
>> one who has provided them with their economic and social policies,
>> even by Senior Minister and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew - and
>> Taiwan serve to remind us how sometimes ancient philosophies still
>> work to bring economic success and a peaceful society. Even more
>> importantly, Confucianism is a philosophy about free wills, not about
>> state control, which is compatible with the western notion that a
>> person should determine his or her own destiny.

>> The ideas behind Confucianism
>> Confucius himself lived in the "war nation" era in China. Born in 551
>> B.C., he was a contemporary of Buddha but his ideas were quite
>> different. While Buddha spoke of the after-life, Confucius was a down-
>> to-earth visionary who tried to find the best way for a society to be
>> run.
>> Faced with an unstable China run by feudal lords, Confucius tried
>> to find a "hook" that everyone would understand. His solution:
>> harmony. The concept was familiar with all Chinese, epitomized in the
>> Ying and the Yang, that everything has its equal opposite for a
>> natural balance. Taken to the societal level, he believed that
>> societies and nations would be more stable if there were a two-way
>> flow of duties: the people's duty to work for the development of the
>> state would be balanced by the government's duty to care for the
>> people and to provide for their welfare.
>> If the everyday people could see that the government cared, then
>> they would in turn be more happy to be under that government. This is
>> clearly lacking in some nations who are discontent with the way they
>> are governed, and it can be usually traced to their anger with
>> corruption in high places, or an irresponsible president or prime
>> minister.
>> Then what about each person's free will? Doesn't this mean that
>> every person has his place, with government and commoners? No,
>> believed Confucius, introducing the second principle of morality. If
>> everyone had morality, he reasoned, they would not need to be
>> governed. The government would not need to regulate, impose fines or
>> use the law to punish. State intervention would then be at a minimum,
>> leading to efficient government.
>> For instance, Confucius believed formal laws were only used to
>> oppress people by régimes, while moral principles depended on each
>> person's free will. The use of penal law, reasoned Confucius, would
>> lead to people avoiding punishments and lacking a sense of shame.
>> Leadership with virtue and morality, practised and preached, would
>> have the opposite outcome, leaving people get on with life in an
>> orderly fashion and staying within what is accepted as moral and
>> decent. Interestingly, the interpretations of morality and decency can
>> change with the society and the era.
>> So anyone has the potential to be a leader, as long as that person
>> has a strong sense of morality. He must win the confidence of his
>> superior and his friends first.
>> Also central is the ability to refrain from committing immoral
>> acts. Confucius considered if people left their desires uncontrolled,
>> they are no better than animals. Civility is critical.
>> So here is a philosophy that promotes decent human relationships,
>> efficient governments, freedom for the individual and morality. It's
>> not even sexist - prejudice of any sort was not tolerated.

>> OK, but even communism works in theory
>> Here's the most interesting part about Confucianism: China has
>> implemented it over the last 2,500 years and each time it has worked
>> for long periods. The times when it fell down was when a corrupt
>> emperor came on the scene and used laws to oppress people, for
>> instance, during the time of the Mongols in the thirteenth century,
>> and in 1585 during the Ming dynasty. Confucian policies during the
>> Sung dynasty (the Marco Polo visits came during this time), when China
>> was the undoubted global superpower with the world's highest standard
>> of living and prosperity, meant that China was a peaceful nation, not
>> a threat to any other state.
>> Most recently, variants of Confucianism appear in Singapore and
>> Taiwan. While there are strict laws there, one can see they are seldom
>> implemented. Singapore, for instance, follows Confucius' ideas of
>> minimizing legal formality but having just a sitting judge on cases.
>> Laws are not used to oppress people in the Asian tiger economies - and
>> that is the most visible difference between them and the traditional
>> common and civil law systems in the west. Where there is conflict, the
>> Confucian solution is to negotiate, compromise, and find consensus and
>> harmony. What can be found is a stronger community feeling in the
>> Confucian society.
>> There are giant state-run enterprises, however, in Taiwan, but that
>> is seen more as a function of the state looking after the people so
>> they can get on with their work, whether that be in the private or
>> public sector.
>> What is out of hand in some Asian economies, including Taiwan, is
>> corruption - something that would not happen in the orderly Confucian
>> society. Indeed, Singapore, a fairly corruption-free city-state, is
>> the closest living example of Confucianism and a traditional Chinese
>> society at work.
>> What about Singapore's control, say, of the internet? Surely
>> Confucius advocated freedom of speech? That is true - he believed in
>> free speech as long as it was articulated in a reasonable and
>> civilized way. Ideally, Singaporeans would be able to see whatever
>> material was on the 'net and make the choice between what is
>> acceptable and what is not. Censorship of the internet is, we feel,
>> not the way approved by Confucius. We do understand that Singapore
>> feels that immoral literature on the 'net or in the press is harmful
>> to her brand of national harmony, and has approached the censorship
>> from that angle.
>> What is approved by Confucius is democracy which functions through
>> participation and not through conflicting claims to rights. Education
>> is also key - witness how Taiwanese families sent their children to
>> learn high-tech skills in the 1950s, who later returned to build up
>> that country's current position in technology and computing. It was an
>> initiative supported by the government; in return, the students helped
>> build up the nation.
>> Similar forces were at work with Hong Kong families. Although not
>> funded by the state, at the least HK citizens could leave the colony
>> to get education elsewhere - education which, ultimately, would be
>> used to build up the technology and knowledge of the colony's
>> professionals. In Hong Kong, Confucian philosophies were at the
>> foundation of many of the leading Hong Kong Chinese-owned
>> corporations. The freedom of speech in Hong Kong has been successful,
>> too - the proliferation of media actually provides citizens with
>> information with which they can make up their own minds. China,
>> regrettably, sees the media as tools for manipulating the citizenry -
>> allegedly the same thing happens in many western nations, although it
>> is somewhat better hidden.

>> Why isn't it in place in mainland China?
>> Looking through Chinese history, formal laws and bureaucracy are
>> indicative of régimes wanting to seize political control. Confucianism
>> was banned in Communist China as the leaders believed it would prove
>> harmful to them. Chairman Mao believed that the stability that
>> Confucianism provided would be an impediment to his authority,
>> according to legal writer Forte. This was, in fact, foolish on the
>> part of the Politburo in Beijing: the reality is that Confucianism
>> could have potentially made China easier to govern for the Chinese
>> leaders. Today, China finds that her Marxism is not compatible with
>> the late Deng Xioping's Open Door Policy of 1979, or its promise to
>> keep Hong Kong unchanged after 1997.
>> Li Zehou of the Colorado College feels that Confucianism fills the
>> void of China's damaged faith in Marxism. Prof Li believes it is the
>> philosophy most compatible with Chinese culture.
>> If so, then the Chinese government should take heed of Prof Li's
>> viewpoint. In fact, some Chinese government-sponsored scholars have
>> set up conferences on Confucianism. Now, if the Beijing administration
>> can see to getting to the next stage - acting on the conferences'
>> findings and principles - then there is a chance of success for
>> preserving the way of life in Hong Kong, but efficient

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