- #CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION LEADERS MOVIE#
- #CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION LEADERS CODE#
- #CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION LEADERS TV#
What's next? "You will see some top leaders more explicitly talking about reinforcing, promoting. A proposal to amend the law on protecting the rights of the elderly would make clearer that children have the duty to visit and care for their aged parents. So far, the government hasn't made any overt proclamations pushing Confucianism, though one of its favorite recent slogans is "harmonious society." It has backed the creation of hundreds of Confucius Institutes to spread Chinese language and culture abroad. "It's a desperate search for ideology, for a new value system." Top leaders "certainly realize the absence of a value system," said Cheng Li, an expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution. Bell, a philosophy professor at Tsinghua University and author of "China's New Confucianism." ''There's a need for ethics and morals and promoting social responsibility."įor the government, there's appeal in a philosophy that preaches harmony at a time when a yawning rich-poor gap and anger at corruption have fueled instability and when unbridled nationalism has boiled over into raucous protests in recent years. The flip side of economic development is "increased individualism and increased sense of competition and anxiety," said Daniel A.
#CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION LEADERS MOVIE#
A movie about Confucius last year featured Chow Yun-fat, a veteran actor known for starring in stylish gangster thrillers. Over the past decade, interest in Confucius has grown among parents, educators, government officials and intellectuals.īooks about his teachings are best-sellers.
Later, Chinese leaders largely turned to nationalism to fill the void after the collapse of the Communist bloc in Europe. When student protesters erected a Statue of Liberty-like "Goddess of Democracy" on the square in 1989, tanks toppled it in the violent crushing of the Tiananmen democracy movement. His political heirs have repudiated his radical policies, embraced capitalism and reinterpreted him as a founding-father figure who spearheaded the revolution that ultimately led to China's fantastic current rise. Mao must be turning in his grave," said Minxin Pei, a China expert at Claremont McKenna College.īut Mao has been dead for 35 years. "Now the party leaders have resurrected Confucius and practically put Mao and Confucius side by side. "Criticizing Confucius" as a symbol of the old society believed to be holding China back was one of Mao's campaigns. His teachings emphasized duty to family, respect for learning, virtuous behavior and obedience of individuals to the state.Īt the center of Chinese civilization for nearly two millennia, Confucianism suffered under Mao, who spent much of his rule destroying traditional culture.
#CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION LEADERS CODE#
But everyone is too busy and tired."Ĭonfucius laid down a code of ethics that was adopted as a quasi-religious national philosophy of governance and personal behavior. "Confucianism has been governing the lives and ethics of Chinese for thousands of years," said 25-year-old engineer Cui Xiaozhan, on a business trip from the eastern city of Qingdao. Chinese tourists busily snapped photos and agreed that Confucius' teachings bear a message for modern China, where "money worship" and consumerism feel like national preoccupations. The 31-foot (9.5-meter) bronze sculpture depicts a robed Confucius with a serious expression and sits on the east side of the square, facing in the direction of Mao's portrait and amid the bustle of Beijing. And peace and prosperity are what the people are striving for." "The essential thoughts of Confucius are love, kindness, wisdom and generosity. "The rise of a big country requires a cultural foundation, and Chinese culture upholds the spirit of harmony," said Wu Weishan, the sculptor, who has made more than 200 statues of the philosopher. The government is increasingly marshaling his popularity to bolster national identity. His message of harmonious social order and deference to authority is unthreatening to the party, while his emphasis on ethics resonates among Chinese coping with fast-paced social change on the back of torrid economic growth.
#CIVILIZATION REVOLUTION LEADERS TV#
Placing the statue at China's political heart is the authoritarian government's most visible endorsement yet of the 2,500-year-old sage and, selectively, his teachings.Ĭonfucius is enjoying a revival, in books and films, on TV and in classrooms.
It's a jarring juxtaposition for a square the ruling Communist Party treats as politically hallowed ground: a mausoleum holding revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's body sits in the middle and his giant portrait hangs at one end. BEIJING (AP).- There's a new face keeping Chairman Mao company on Tiananmen Square.Ī mammoth sculpture of the ancient philosopher Confucius was unveiled this week off one side of the vast plaza.