Revival of Confucianism in China

Not Your Father's Confucius

2011-10-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

Check out this article by Chris Livaccari on the new artistic interpretation on Confucius' image in contemporary China. Source: http://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/not-your-fathers-confucius

Australian news network report on the 'Come Back' of Confucius

2011-06-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZueSWGnYmZE

an over simplified report, but it does has some interesting footage from the sishu.
I categorize the type of 'Confucius school' shown in this footage as part-time program, because it most like are one of those places that offer summer camp in high-price range.

BIG NEWS -- Confucius Statue removed!

2011-04-22T23:18:00.000-07:00

(picture from the Maoflag.net)

I just read the stories from the New York Times.
To be honest, I'm not surprise by the flip-flopping at all. We see that kind of ambiguous attitude towards Confucianism already in the classic-reading education movement.

Honestly, I want to thank Chinese government for providing me so many exciting data to work with. =)

What make it even more interesting is that the Xinhua News -- one of the official media of Chinese government that address mainly to the English audiences -- has NOTHING about it. It is pretty unusual because that site has one of the highest concentration of news related to the term 'Confucius' (well, most of them has to do with the soft-power expansion of the Confucius Institute...)

My favorite quote from the NYT article is the voice of the leftist:

'Unrepentant Maoists celebrated the move on Friday. “The witch doctor who has been poisoning people for thousands of years with his slave-master spiritual narcotic has finally been kicked out of Tiananmen Square!” one writer, using the name Jiangxi Li Jianjun, wrote on the Web site Maoflag.net. '

The discussion about Confucius statue on Maoflag.net is a secret gem to reveal one of the underlying dilemma that this so-called 'revival of Confucianism' is facing, on top of the modernist. Just like secularization is commonly shared favorite by the communist and the 'rightist' liberals, so as anti-Confucianism ~~~

Debate about Confucian Education continues...across the Straits

2011-04-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to another big Confucius statue raised in Beijing, the issue of Confucian education is being brought under the spot light again by the media.

It is interesting to see how the proposal of bring back Confucian classics to the existing education system had been sort of portrayed negatively by media on both side --mainland China and Taiwan.

In the recent gathering of National People's Congress in March 2011, a representative from Hubei Peng Fuchun proposed government control over the 'over-heated' popularity of the classic-reading education movement. He argues that having children to receive classics such as Dizigui, Sanzijing, and other Confucian classics are 'anti-democracy, anti-science' and is the obstacles for modernization of education in China. Although he recognize the the values in Confucian classics, he sees the importance of government intervention in standardizing the text and make sure that only the 'appropriate' materials (pro-science, pro-democracy) are included.

In Taiwan, students are protesting online against the government decisions to make studying Confucian classics mandatory in school. Teachers and students question the usefulness of the text in changing students' behavior (namely, bullying). Liberal media, however, sees the problem more along the link with Peng in mainland China -- that is, Confucianism contradict with the value of democracy and modernization. And of course, we know that what Peng meant by democracy may well be very different from the Taiwanese' understanding of democracy.

The logic of modernization is still prevailing in the discourse of Confucianism. Its compatibility with the 'modern' had been an issue for scholars and intellectuals since the May-fourth movement in the early 20th century. The question is till remain unresolved.

What make it even more complicated, as suggested by Joseph Tamney and Linda Chiang (2002), is that China is simultaneously influenced by the modern and late-modern development in which self-actualization ethos, globalization and the lost of the naive faith in persons are shaping Chinese social life. That is, in my understanding, while the work of 'de-secularizing' the role of Confucianism from political and other social institutions is yet to be completed, the challenge of late-modern society and the yearning for solution to crisis of meanings is already kicking in. Therefore, we see that while on the one hand, people are crying for the 'threats' (regardless of validated empirically or not) of Confucianism to modernity. At the same time, one cannot completely reject the re-emerging public roles of Confucianism.

As Peng correctly put it: ' There are needs to raise awarness in studying Guoxue (or, 'National Studies') in our time. The Chinese economy is rising, so as our pride to our national identity. We now see the values in the ancients traditions that we had abandoned before. There are lot of good things in our traditional culture, which is even better than those in Western society. There are things in Chinese traditional culture that we need to continue and transmit. Furthermore, there are too much competition in economic sphere and too little seeking of satisfaction in spiritual life in our society. We need the traditional culture to fill the gap, providing value and emotional support to our spiritual needs'. [ 国学热确实有其时代需求。中国经济崛起，中国人民的民族自豪感提高了，过去曾经抛弃了很多老祖宗的东西，现在看来，很多传统文化、传统思想是很好的，甚至比西方社会的东西还要好。这让很多人开始重视中国传统文化的传承和发扬。

　　另外，在当前的社会上，经济层面的追求太多，精神层面的追求确实很少，我们需要国学来弥补，寻找传统文化所传承的价值观念和情感的支持，是一种精神寻根的需求。]

Confucianism filling the spiritual vacuum -- the next question is: how and why?

It's another year, what they have to say about the Confucius Birthday?

2010-09-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

It had been four years since I first follow on the reports about the worship of Confucius' Birthday on 28 September. The high point, I have to say, was still 2007. The vibe was extremely strong back then -- not only because of the fact that it was my 'fresh' and 'new' discovery of this bizarre return of Confucianism in post-reform China. The context was different back then -- it was the year before the Olympics, and the state is working so hard to recreate Confucius as the cultural symbols for the nationalistic 'sports' event (they announced the five-selected-verses from the Analects as one of the slogans for the Olympics). The UNESCO was established in 2005 but actually presented the award for the first time in 2007, also added the excitement for this 'international' event. But above all, the direct funding from the Central Government sponsoring the rituals and 'upgraded' that as 'state event' , I believe, explains the significance of the event.

Journalists and scholars had a lot to say about the ritual in 2007. From the 'vacuum of Marxism' to the 'return of Confucianism', everyone has their opinion to raise even though no one can tell us (back then, at least) how the revival of Confucianism is ACTUALLY HAPPENING among the people. What happened outside of the ritual hall that only invited special guests were allowed to participate? (since I've tried to find a way to get 'inside' but failed to do so, with my foreign-graduate-student-with-no-connection status -- why the pity-the-student card doesn't work for me?).

2008, the vibe was still high. It's just few weeks after the Olympics, tourists are still lingering around China and it's one of the must-go 'cultural event'.

2009, mmm, I don't remember I see much report on that anymore, especially in the out-of-China media. That was the year when I tried to get access to the ritual in Qufu but failed to do so.

2010, what they have to say about the ritual? Up to now I still haven't found anything report on the Qufu rituals yet. I saw news about the Taiwanese rituals, performed by the President Ma Yingjiu (and then, people outside fighting for the 'wisdom brushes' for calligraphy, not quite sure where the transcendent power is coming from that granted the 'wisdom', since it's just a 2 minutes-segment in the evening news). And the Guardian has this report -- and it focuses on the resume of rituals in the Beijing Confucius temple and not the large cultural event in Qufu. But other than that, it seems that the 'Confucian teacher' and the scholar of Confucianism has nothing new and exciting to tell us. The narrative remains the same for the past few years -- state need new symbols for legitimacy; rapid social change created yearning for new ethical and moral guidance/anchor; it's something 'rooted' in Chinese people's mind and it's about time for it's return...

The kind of reporting is still remaining at the superficial level -- scratching the surface, highlighting the visual and the meta-narratives (which almost became too convenient to make as it had been the same for the past few years) without actually telling us the complexity of the revival of Confucianism in China more than 'the musician' who found it not that personally appealing. I know it's 'just' a newspaper report, but isn't it about time to develop some more insight into the phenomenon?

Picture of Children reading the Analects of Confucius at the Confucius worship in Tianjin from the Xinhua News. (source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-09/28/c_13534300_4.htm)

Confucius Invasion?!

2010-08-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Obviously, Confucianism in classroom is not only an issue in China, but also in the US!!

But wait a minute, it's not really about 'Confucianism' here per se, the parents are upset about the invasion of 'communism' .....

Communism under the name of Confucianism, that, my dear readers, is the dilemma of all!

Sources: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_15909074

Tensions swell over Confucius Classroom; board member retains lawyer

Read more:http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_15909074#ixzz0xqsXxF1v

By Maritza Velazquez, Staff Writer

Posted: 08/26/2010 11:04:07 PM PDT

INDUSTRY - Tension surrounding Hacienda La Puente Unified's plans for a Confucius Classroom accelerated Thursday night as vocal opponents of the Chinese government-funded program threatened a recall and one board member has secured a lawyer to protect himself from slanderous comments.

Following a 4-1 vote in January, a group of opponents have spoken at nearly every board meeting in an effort to persuade board members to abandon the Chinese language and culture program, funded by the Chinese Language Council International, or Hanban.

Board members Thursday delayed a vote on an agreement to partner with a Chinese university to develop the Confucius Classroom at Cedarlane Middle School. According to the agreement, Yunnan Normal University would provide guidance, study abroad opportunities, books and reference materials to the Chinese language and culture elective class. In addition, two university representatives would serve on an advisory board for the program, also made up of district administrators, parents and teachers.

Opponents continued to assail the program at the school board meeting Thursday, arguing the district is inviting communism into the classroom.

"This is not about race," said Teresa Macias. "Those who oppose the Confucius Classroom are not racist, we are Americans against communism."

Following several comments made at previous board meetings insinuating a darker agenda for his trips to China, board member Norman

Hsu said he has retained legal council to protect his privacy.

"I will take legal action against any individual or organization making defamatory comments against me," Hsu said before public comment.

One parent called Hsu's comments a scare tactic and threatened to try to remove board members who support the elective class.

"I hope that when we start a recall, you will join us and that will be very soon," Manuel Maldonado, a district parent, told the audience.

Rudy Obad, a World War II veteran, questioned the amount of money the school district spent on trips to China. He also said board members were inviting Communism into the classroom.

"I think we might have some communist here in this room," he said.

More than once, Hacienda La Puente Superintendent Barbara Nakaoka cautioned audience members in making accusations against board members and reiterated board policy that individuals would be removed for disruptive behavior. An extra uniformed district police officer was also on hand.

Student supporters also voiced their opinions and one former district teacher became emotional over some of the comments made by those who oppose the program.

"I really feel like why are we talking about this like we're at war with China," said Tina Tsai, a former Cedarlane educator. "If you keep pushing this you're passing on something that is antagonistic for the next generation."

As board members made their final comments, board member Jay Chen sought to address some of the concerns from community members, who said China was targeting the school district. Officials said no instructors from the nation would be in the classroom.

"China is not targeting our school district, we're not even the first district to bring this program here," he said.

Nakaoka said the board may vote on the partnership between Cedarlane and the Chinese university next month.

maritza.velazquez@sgvn.com

626-962-8811, ext. 2718

Past Masters -- China Daily report about my fieldsite in China

2010-07-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

Sources: http://www.chinadailyusa.com/news/NewsInfo.asp?range=&lv2=6&id=20393

Life

Past masters

Wang Wudong listens to a student reciting Dizigui (The Standard Rules for Young Students). Joy Lam / For China Daily

By Zhang Yue
Published:7/14/2010

On a Sunday afternoon last month, some 20 primary school students are reading The Analects of Confucius aloud in a private class in Auhui’s capital city Hefei.

Dressed in a white Tang suit, Wang Wudong, the teacher, stands at the front of the classroom, following with the rhythm of the students reading with his fingers tapping on a table and his eyes half-closed.

Wang and his wife, Lu Yi, have committed themselves to the voluntary full time teaching of Chinese traditional literature since 2004.

Over the past six years, they have taught, for free, more than 2,000 children aged from 3 to 13 to read Chinese classics, such as The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius, and The Works of Mencius — the four must-read classics for Chinese ancient intellectuals. The couple established Xiao Shaizi, a non-profit Chinese teaching class whose Chinese name literally means “The Little Griddle” in English, guiding primary school students to learn about China’s ancient civilization as an extra-curriculum activity.

“I named the school The Little Griddle because I hope the children here will pick up the best part of our country’s ancient civilization, just like a griddle,” says Wang.

A small lobby outside the classroom allows the students’ parents to take a rest and chat while waiting for their kids. At the back of the lobby is a big bookshelf, where Wang puts his own collection of over 100 books of Chinese classic literature.

Spreading the knowledge of the past has been a 37-year-old dream since he was a teenager.

Wang’s passion for ancient Chinese civilization started when he began to learn taichi — a type of traditional Chinese martial arts — at 17 and read a lot of Chinese ancient literature works to understand the essence of the martial art.

“Words from ancient times, once read by my heart, helped me to take a positive attitude towards life and the difficulties I encounter,” Wang says.

In 2004, Wang and his wife listened to a lecture online by Wang Caigui, the first to promote classical reading among children in Taiwan.

“I felt that this was something I wanted to do,” Wang says.

At that time, Wang was working in the computer center at Anhui University with a monthly income of 1,200 yuan. Though respected as a teacher, he didn’t feel much sense of accomplishment, as his daily job was mainly recording cassettes for university students.

After discussing matters with his wife, who has always been supportive, the couple quit their jobs and used their savings of 40,000 yuan to found the school and rented a classroom of 50 square meters.

“We spent a week introducing ourselves to kindergartens and primary schools nearby,” Lu recalls. “Only 15 students showed up for the first class. Most of them came because their parents did not have time to care for them after school and they did not have high expectations.”

The first class was a mess, Lu says. “Children under 6-years-old can only focus on reading for a short time. The students started to run and play 10 minutes after I started teaching.”

Learning from that experience, Wang and Lu now play a piece of Chinese folk music during the 2-hour class to help the students calm down and focus on class.

The first class of 30 students soon enjoyed great improvement, not only in knowledge but also in their daily behavior.

“Children develop their views on life and the world between the ages of three and six,” Wang says. “I believe the legacy of our ancestors is extremely valuable, and will assert a positive influence on this process.”

Wang mainly guides them to read and explain Dizigui (The Standard Rules for Young Students) and some other classics in class and talks to them about appropriate behavior in life.

The students are required to recite 500 words of Dizigui every week. If one fails to finish reciting or does not behave well in class, Wang will lightly hit the student’s palm with a ruler, a traditional way of punishing students in China’s old-style private schools.

“My son was very naughty and was punished almost every class during the first two months,” says Cheng Peng, father of 8-year-old Cheng Bo. “He is now quite a disciplined boy. I think the traditional way of punishing students still applies to kids nowadays.”

Wang says that he is also strict with his own son, who is now 2-years-old. He sits in the back row of the class when his mother is teaching.

Li Wenqing, a 12-year-old girl at Hefei Nanmen Primary School, has been with The Little Griddle for four years. Now, her quotes from the ancient classics sometimes surprise her parents.

“Once, I was talking about a dress that was too expensive for us to afford,” says her mother. “And she interrupted by saying, ‘Dresses should be tidy and appropriate instead of being costly,’ which is a quote from Dizigui.”

At the moment, the school has over 700 students and has moved into an office building with better facilities such as an air-conditioner and water dispenser.

Paying the 3,500-yuan monthly rent and teaching so many children is not an easy task for Wang and Lu. But they are not alone.

Many students’ parents offer help. Wang and Lu now receive donations of around 20,000 yuan each month. The couple takes 1,600 yuan for their living expenses, while the rest goes to the class.

“Reading ancient classics with Wang for two years helped my son to be a well-behaved boy,” says a grateful parent who has made donations to the school and prefers not to be named. “I believe helping them keep running The Little Griddle is a way to help many kids with early childhood education just like my son.”

Some others, like Li’s mother Xu Yuan, have become volunteer teachers. Xu, once a full-time housewife, has been working for The Little Griddle three evenings a week for three years.

While The Little Griddle has benefited an increasing number of children and their parents, it’s also drawing attention from overseas.

Joy Lam, a sociology PhD candidate from University of Southern California, is doing research at The Little Griddle for her doctoral dissertation focusing on the social implications of the revival of Confucianism in contemporary China.

“By providing free classes, The Little Griddle provides a public space where people interested in traditional culture can gather, and where discussions about the compatibility of Chinese traditional culture with modern society is possible not only among academics but people in general,” Lam says.

Wang says he is particularly impressed by the gratitude shown by students’ parents and their willingness to help.

“Donations for The Little Griddle continue to pour in even though I tell them that we’ve enough to keep the class running,” Wang says. “So I suggest we use the surplus of donations to develop a project similar to the ‘Project Hope’, providing financial help for the poor in the remote areas. They love the idea.”

Apple Daily critique on the movie "Confucius"

2010-02-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

探針：誰在強姦周潤發與《孔子》

2010年02月22日

孔捷生

《加勒比海盜：魔盜王終極之戰》遭大陸廣電總局剪掉十分鐘，挨剪的全是周潤發的戲份，理由是「有損華人形象」。戲中發哥光頭、爛面、留的小辮子不在後腦，卻在下巴，總之面目猙獰。海盜匪首應該甚麼模樣？張保仔倘若玉樹臨風，氣宇軒昂，就能長華人志氣？

周潤發演海盜相當出彩，他的失敗之作卻是《孔子》，該片塑造的是一個偽孔子，發哥演得越投入就越虛假，這和他的功力沒關係，而是《孔子》的立意宏旨和孔子真正的理想南轅北轍。這部大爛片不但「有損華人形象」，更有損中華文明。
孔子是獨立士人，用今天的話來說，就是公共知識分子。他周遊列國，宣傳仁政，效法周禮。其時列國君主廣納諸子百家，欲討教的卻是富國強兵之道，或者如何興農耕和建立嚴刑峻法，總之要圓強國夢。孔子不理會那些，他只去批判社會，針砭時弊，認為做君主和做人都要講仁義道德，有誠信廉恥，否則就禮崩樂壞。他畢生堅持自己的理想信仰，卻為現實政治所不容。
孔子為甚麼要講克己復禮，可參閱蕭建生的《中國文明的反思》，他指出西周比起商朝，是一個君權弱，人權興，有邦聯制、共和制互相制衡的社會，因起義奴隸協助周武王滅掉暴君紂王，所以西周基本廢除奴隸制，從出土墓葬和文獻記載中，絕少再見到活人殉葬。蕭建生這部學術著作竟淪為禁書，只緣他用自由、法治、人權的觀點去探究歷史，道出秦始皇中央集權的郡縣制是千年專制噩夢的開始。
同樣，一個真實的孔子更不能見容於現今的國家意識形態。連「公共知識分子」這個名詞，都被斥為「挑撥黨和知識分子的關係」和否定黨的領導地位。那麼孔子及其思想怎能以完璧示人？於是周潤發版的孔子就成了一個愛國者，成了宣揚「如果人不能改變世界，那應該改變自己內心」的怯懦偽君子。試問先後游說過十幾個諸侯國的孔子，怎麼可能是愛國者？他愛哪一國？他四處碰壁後與君王絕裾而去，回到魯國興辦私學，有教無類，不仰權力鼻息。我們今天紀念孔子，就要秉持他的獨立精神和道德人格，而非「改變自己內心」委身於強權。
《孔子》真實性、藝術性、商業性的多重失敗，令韓寒舉手加額，他在博客寫道：如果《孔子》大賣座，當局就會繼續去糟踐老子、莊子、孟子、墨子……我卻覺得，當局斷不會給孟子焚香上供，明太祖朱元璋已把孟子趕出二聖廟，共產黨怎能接受孟子「君之視臣如犬馬，則臣視君如國人；君視臣如土芥，則臣視君如寇仇」之說？尤其是「民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕」，這和愛國忠黨相剋相冲，依孟子此言，董建華「沒有國，哪有家」的金句便不成立；至於認定「中國人需要管」的成龍，去歲十．一大典獻唱《國家》，豈止歌詞「有了強的國，才有富的家」不成立，就連歌名都要顛倒過來了。所以孔子尚可按黨意志重塑金身，若說再打造一個偽孟子，當局真是半點興趣都沒有。

Confucius Lottery Tickets!

2010-02-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

Here's the China Daily report on the 'ire' created by the lottery ticket with Confucius' images on it in Qufu. I just like this kind of story because it really challenges the academics who did our research but only able to capture the social condition at a certain moment but unable to catch up as fast as how the symbol transform its meaning (or the fact that there are multiple and even contradicting meanings that are circulating around).

I also like to read those logic-confusing statement that made by the 'authority' of lottery ticket, saying that "The Confucius-themed lotteries are the country's most real culture-centered tickets'. So can Confucius' image help the sales of lottery ticket? seems not, according to the China Daily report. Bummer.

A salesman at a welfare lottery outlet in Liaocheng, Shandong province, holds lottery tickets that use the image and sermons of Confucius. [China Daily]

An interesting point to me is : who really has the claim to capitalize the cultural capital of Confucius (and his image) -- and the Shandong province sees itself as the 'legitimate' player in this discourse because it was the birthplace of Confucius, and his image represents the 'region characteristics'. Sebastien Billioud and Joel Thoraval's recent article published in China Perspective discusses in details the whole 'enterprise' of the ceremonies for worshiping Confucius and the 'cultural festival' associate with it that take place in Qufu, Shandong annually. They suggests that it reflects 'two characteristics of Chinese socieity: its ideological background and the increasing merchandising of culture. The ideological agenda intertwines here with the economic needs of local authorities, for which cultural heritage and tourism revenue constitute important trup cards for local development' (Billioud & Thoraval 2009).

The Shandong government can capitalize the image of Confucius through their annual 'festivals' from tourism and 'trade show' surrounding the theme of Confucianism (No wonder Confucius need the copyright law to protect his image), but what and where the line should be anyway? While Confucius' name and image can be associated with stationaries, books, coins, or even wine, somehow his face appears on lottery ticket 'cross the line'.The dilemma, as I see it, is that while reconstructing the sacred image of Confucius is crucial in the process of 'opportunity maximization' (or, capitalization), the process in itself undermines the moral authenticity of the sacredness.

As the talk about the revival of Confucianism is becoming a 'hot topic' these days and the analysis about how the Chinese state is 'using' Confucianism to fulfill whatever 'vacuum' that they are facing, one question that we should have in mind is that how can the state capitalize on the cultural capital of Confucianism when its moral authenticity is in question?

Billioud, S. and Thoraval, J.. 2009. 'Lijiao: The Return of Ceremonies Honouring Confucius in Mainland China'. China Perspectives , 2009/4:82-100.

Confucianism, Google, and missionary to China?

2010-02-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

How they are all connected?? check this out: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704878904575031263063242900.html?mod=wsj_share_facebook

Ian Buruma (2010), Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy in Three Continent.

The dispute over Avatar vs Confucius continues...

2010-01-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

The media in the West is crying out loud about this now, see here

http://www.yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/confucius-vs-avatar and http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/01/24/china-how-does-the-young-generation-view-confucius/

But also, let's see what the academics have to say -- listen to the show about the dispute over Confucius and Avatar on NPR with guest discussants Tu Weiming, Zhang Xudong and Pei Minxin: http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/01/examining-confucius

And check out Stanley Rosen's blog entry, the professor of political science, on the issue from a different perspective: http://www.thechinabeat.org/?p=1397

The People's Daily review of the 'anti-Confucius' feeling:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2010-01/29/content_9396402.htm

'Confucius school' vs. 'Confucian school'

2010-01-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

Reported by the China Youth Daily on 20 Jan 2010, one student dead and two went missing during a TV shoot in Wenchang, Southern part of Hainan province in China. 100 students from a local middle school were recruited to appear as extras in a TV drama that commerocate the 60th anniversay of the 'liberation' of Hainan Island. A big wave came in when they were shooting in the water, and 10 students got carried away.

What's added more to the story, as I found out in another report from the Apple Daily from Hong Kong, is that these students were recruited from the local 文昌孔子學校 (Wenchang Confucius School) . It is suspected that the principle, Liu Debing, had received RMB2500 from the production team and talked the students into working as extras. (report from Apple Daily attached below). So the paper says that this is example to satirize the effort that the Chinese government using Confucianism to reinstate the ethic order for the country.

When I see report like this, it reminded me the first question that I encountered when I think seriously about the revival of Confucianism in China -- how much it is are state-driven? and what they had actually done to drive it? Did the state encourages school like 'Wenchang Confucius School' to establish? If so, why the Shanghai Meng Mu Tang had been called as illegal schools and shut down by the government? It is strange to me that during my fieldwork in China, there are so many principals of Confucian school who complained about how difficult it is to start a school with classic-reading as the key syllabus, but then, Confucius school like this one in Wenchang can have a well-equipped campus (check their school website ) and have no trouble with the authority. The message is mixed, does the state want the Confucian education or not?

I use the term 'Confucian school' as a category in my analysis of classic-reading education movement in China. I use that to describe the kind of government-approved privately funded school that adopt the Confucian pedagogy and aim to nurture children's academic and language ability through classic-reading,and also focusing on children's character development and behavioral changes. But they are not 'Confucius school' per se because although Confucian classic plays a major role there, other classics including the Daoist and Buddhist one, are also playing an important role. None of the Confucian schools that I researched about use 'Confucius' as the school name, but term 'classic' (jindian 經典) is occasionally used. I assume that by calling themselves a 'Confucius school' and highlight the exclusiveness of Confucianism is not actually what most of the activists in the children classic-reading movement (兒童讀經運動) (which is highly associated with the revival of Confucianism movement) wanted. And it's large due the the historical and cultural baggages that the term 'Confucianism' had been carrying since the May Fourth Movement or the so-called 'Chinese Enlightenment' period.

I want to say something about this, not because I am a supporter of the conservative reform of classic-reading education. I have the same questions and suspicion about this movement (see how I am still calling it a 'conservative reform'?) , but during the process of researching about it in China, visiting schools and programs and interviewing teachers and parents, I found that this is something more complicated than simply a movement that fueled with state conspiracy (not to say that it is not there). To implement the 'actual' classic-reading program and the Confucian pedagogy is such an intensive work that one has to ask why parents and teachers want to go all the way to find an alternative education for their children? why it is so important for them to do that that even when it is extremely inconvenient and entails conflict with the authority (e.g. withdrawing students from the official school system)? To me, a big group of parents and teachers are making 'conscious choice' for their children that they think it is something better for their children. And that is the reason why we really to look careful, what this whole idea of revival of Confucianism and Confucian education really means.

I prefer to think that social agents are something more than just a subject of the state, even though they are subjugated under a strong authoritarian one in this particular context. They are (and should be) the one who make social changes possible, even though in the way that we do not like, prefer, or expected.

Source: The Apple Daily

Date: 21 January 2010

拍劇紀念中共佔據海南 60年　被轟「拿人命做獻禮」
海浪捲走臨記學生

2010年01月21日

為紀念中共佔據海南 60周年，海南省與中央電視台合作拍攝電視劇《解放海南島》，並請了當地 100多名中學生充當臨記，扮演解放軍由海上登陸搶灘的場面。不料，突如其來的大浪將 10多名「解放軍」捲走，致一死兩失蹤。當局一度出動直升機搜尋但無果。內地網民怒轟當局「拿三條人命做獻禮」！

《解放海南島》被視為中共佔據海南 60周年（中共 1950年 6月 5日佔領海南島）的獻禮片，被喻為政治工程。全劇 30集，總投資逾千萬元（人民幣．下同）。據悉，劇集拍攝期間雖出了人命，但劇組未受影響，拍攝工作仍在進行中。

事發在上周五（ 15日）下午約 3時半，當時劇組人員正在文昌市的大澳灣拍攝解放軍搶灘登陸的鏡頭。 100多名來自當地孔子中學的學生，個個準備就緒。但沒有一個學生察覺，這時的海底已經發生了很大變化。在 10多名學生的前方，海底已形成了一個很深的沙坑，由此產生的暗流正在海底猙獰旋轉。當同學們靠近沙坑的時候，身後一個大浪打來，部份學生開始東倒西歪。緊接着再一個大浪打來， 10多名同學全被捲入海中。
「當時，大澳灣的風特別大，浪特別高，海水特別凉，同學們被組織起來排成數個隊列，走到齊腰深的海水中。劇組的攝影機架在沙灘上，同學們要迎着鏡頭從齊腰深的海中衝向岸邊。」大難不死正躺在病床上的付冬冬回憶說。

事故發生後，劇組和所有參演的學生都慌了神，大家迅速開始自救。雖有多名同學被當場救出，但仍有一些學生不見了蹤影。文昌市公安局在接報後，迅速趕到現場。最終一人經搶救無效死亡，兩名學生失蹤，多名受傷的學生被送院救治。次日，直升機在海面上盤旋搜尋失蹤學生，但一無所獲。死亡和失蹤的三人均屬中五生。

校長收錢挑選男生拍攝

「怎麼會這樣啊？」失蹤學生的家長隨後被帶到了大澳灣，他們由當地政府的工作人員攙扶着，邊走邊哭着說。有獲救的學生指，校方和劇組選人時，除身高有要求，也不問會不會游泳、有無身體不適，且參加拍攝首日，他們主要負責扛道具，做苦力。
更令人感到氣憤的是，該校校長劉德斌事後被揭發曾收取攝製組 2,500元，但沒有入公賬。他現已被拘留。
海南省委宣傳部事後禁止當地媒體報道。但北京媒體千里迢迢前往當地採訪而揭露事件。有網民怒斥當局罔顧人命，「《解放海南島》播出當日，中央電視台應該下半旗向三位學生致哀！」而海南當局迄今未回應事件。
《中國青年報》/本報記者

盡論中國：命都敢賣　還怕賣學生？

2010年01月21日

在中共總書記胡錦濤欽點為主旋律作品的電影《孔子》即將上畫之際，海南文昌市孔子中學爆出人命醜聞：校長只收了 2,500元，就把 100多位學生賣給電視劇《解放海南島》劇組當臨時演員，結果造成學生一死兩失蹤。校長如此無恥地出賣學生，對當局大張旗鼓地宣傳孔子、期望重塑公眾道德，無疑是一大諷刺。

熱捧孔子　難喚回社會道德感

胡錦濤主政以後，曾針對利慾薰心的社會問題掀起多次政治運動，包括針對中共黨員的「保先」（保持黨員先進性）及針對公眾的「八榮八恥」。「保先」要求黨員人人過關，但結果落個「保先」不如「保鮮」的笑話；「八榮八恥」被封為新時代的道德指針，大學要開專題講座、中小學要納入課堂教育，甚至要求傳唱「八榮八恥」歌，但結果諸如「以腰纏萬貫為榮、以一貧如洗為恥；以二三四奶為榮、以一條光棍為恥」的調侃，遠比胡錦濤「以服務人民為榮，以背離人民為恥；以艱苦奮鬥為榮，以驕奢淫逸為恥」的訓話流傳更廣。
當局不着力於政治制度的改革，以約束、制裁官員的貪腐行為，從而確立社會規範和公眾道德觀，反而樂於搞政治運動、樂於宣傳政治口號，與其說是要倡導正確的人生觀、道德觀，不如說是要吹捧領導人，走的是「一句頂一萬句」、萬民表態效忠的造神舊路。結果，貪官越打越多，民間鋌而走險、為錢賣命的事件越來越多，福利院賣孤兒、醫院賣病人、學校賣學生，屢見不鮮。
中共近年熱捧孔夫子，極盡宣傳之能事，僅是海外孔子學院已辦了近 300間，一方面是試圖向世界宣揚中國文化，以孔子的睿智、和平形象，緩和西方的中國威脅論，另一方面則是試圖倡導儒家的禮義廉恥和忠孝君臣觀念，作為強化統治的工具。但是，文昌孔子中學校長的行徑說明，當局到處大打孔子的旗號，根本無力喚回社會的道德感、無力挽回社會走向墮落的趨勢。

電郵： China@appledaily.com

(李平)

Avatar is supressed so that Confucius will success

2010-01-17T23:09:00.001-08:00

My favorite movie of the year just won the best picture from the Golden Globe (although I also think that will deserve that too). Yet, reported from Apple Daily, a newspaper from Hong Kong, the Chinese government limited the showing of this world-wide success movie to only the 3D-version (since there are limited number of cinema equipped with the facilities for showing 3D movie). The movie is a big box-office success, and had a record-making ticket-sales for 5 billion RMB in 2 weeks. The Propaganda Department requests that media should focus their report on the movie <> instead, since it's identified as the 'main melody' by the higher ranking central government officials. The article argues that there are two possible reasonse for the Chinese government to do so: 1) since it's so popular, it is over-taking the movie market from the locally-produced movie; 2) the storyline may remind audiences about forced demolition and relocation, and it encourages violent resisteance.

'main melody', according to Baidu.com, means something more than just theme or motives but also refers to 'film, television shows and other products of art that is accord with the benefit of the ruling class. Promotion of these products is usually lead by the ruling class'. The movie became part of the 'main melody' identified by the Propaganda Department in March 2009, when Hu Jintao said that 'it's about time to release a movie about Confucius'. It is described as 'a great film with singificant political, cultural, and historical meaning', and the icon to promote Chinese Confucian culture around the world.

Is becoming the tool for communist China's propaganda? This question remind me the article by Peter Foster at the Telegraph (see here) when he discusses the concept of 'propaganda' in China context. It seems to me that, according to Foster, the key difference between propaganda versus a government promotion of certain policy/ideas is depending on whether one have the right to refuse/challenge. While people in China may have the right to choose to see or not to see the movie (or simply, cannot afford to see the movie), it seems that the modern way of propagate certain idea is to limited choices.

Source: Apple Daily

Accesses date: 16 January 2010

北京捧《孔子》驅趕《阿凡達》
恐劇情惹強拆遷聯想　強勁票房危及國產片

2010年01月18日

全球熱播的荷李活巨片《阿凡達》（ Avatar）在內地遭截擊。中國電影發行放映公司（中影公司）指示各地停映《阿凡達》普通版，僅放映立體版；而中共中央宣傳部（中宣部）則下令媒體不准再炒作《阿凡達》熱。據悉，當局截擊《阿凡達》有兩大原因，一是該片吸金過度，搶了國產片市場；二是影片引起觀眾對強迫拆遷聯想，並有煽動暴力抗爭之嫌。

內地接近中影公司人士昨對本報證實，中影公司近日向各地發出指示，要求在本周初撤下《阿凡達》 2D和膠片版（即普通版），僅保留 3D版繼續上映。

《孔子》將於本月 22日在內地各地同步上映。

放大圖片

《孔子》成為中共力推的主旋律影片。

抽起 2D僅保留 3D版

因內地 3D影院不多，該指令實際是限制《阿凡達》在更大範圍繼續傳播。該人士稱，有關決定來自國家廣電總局，「可能是帶有政治性的決定。」據悉，即使是 3D版可能也只能放映三至四周。《阿凡達》是在本月四日開始在內地上映。
消息透露，中宣部近日也發出指示，要求各地宣傳主管部門管好媒體，不要再炒作《阿凡達》掀起的熱潮，並正確引導相關輿論。中宣部同時要求，媒體娛樂新聞報道重點，應轉到即將在全國上映的國產巨片《孔子》。由香港明星周潤發主演的《孔子》將於本月 22日（周五）在內地各地同步上映。
北京影評人劉毅認為，中影公司和中宣部同時出手截擊《阿凡達》，原因之一是該片在內地上映短短半個月，票房已近五億元人民幣，打破內地影片吸金紀錄；當局要扶持國產片，不想讓一部進口電影佔據太大市場份額；另外，《孔子》是獲中共高層力捧、被定為「主旋律」的獻禮影片，當局不想讓它被一部外國進口片搶去風頭。

放大圖片

《阿凡達》被指有煽動觀眾「以暴抗暴」之嫌。

放大圖片

《阿凡達》票房強勁，已收近五億元人民幣，打破內地影片吸金紀錄。

被指煽動「以暴抗暴」

放大圖片

《阿凡達》勾起民眾被逼遷之痛。圖為上海一群被強拆的業主誓言維權。

還有消息指，中宣部下令輿論冷待《阿凡達》還有一個重要原因，就是該片挑起觀眾對強迫拆遷的聯想，甚至有煽動觀眾仿效片中情節對逼遷「以暴抗暴」之嫌。隨着影片熱播，內地互聯網出現不少相關議論，有網民直指影片「講的就是發展商和政府以開發為名，強迫搬遷的故事」，「要向納美人（片中反抗外來者強拆的外星人）學習」！
內地近年因強迫拆遷釀發悲劇不斷，居民不時以自焚或自殘等方式抗議。有網民指，《阿凡達》導演一定在中國住過，受中國社會強拆逼遷事件啟發，才想出這個故事，「唯一差別是，電影結局是有希望的，而中國被強拆的民眾只有絕望」。網民又說：「《阿凡達》是紀念釘子戶抵抗強迫拆遷的成功輓歌。」

中共力撐　圖以儒治國

2010年01月18日

北京截擊《阿凡達》原因之一，是本周將上映的國產影片《孔子》，當局一方面要扶持國產片，另一方面因《孔子》是中共總書記、國家主席胡錦濤力撐的「主旋律」影片。中共期望以孔子的儒家思想灌輸民眾，維持統治。

內地媒體披露，去年 3月全國人大會議期間，胡錦濤在江蘇團遇到全國人大代表、電影女導演胡玫。胡錦濤問：「你在做甚麼？」胡玫答：「我在拍《孔子》。」胡錦濤聞訊大悅：「哎呀，那可是一個重大的……」停頓數秒後胡錦濤說：「現在推出《孔子》，正是時候！」
正是因胡錦濤這句話，正在籌拍的《孔子》就被中宣部納入「主旋律」作品之列，譽之為中國首部「具重大政治、文化、歷史意義的巨片」，決定作為中國儒家文化思想代表在全球推廣。據悉該片製作拷貝多達 2,500個，超過建政 60周年獻禮片《建國大業》（ 1,450個），更創下內地電影拷貝紀錄。
內地文化人昝愛宗指，馬列意識形態今天在中國難獲認同，中共處心積慮搬出孔子，欲以儒治國，因儒家的「忠、孝、君、臣」等觀念，十分適合中共在社會動盪之際維持統治的心態。他表示，胡錦濤對電影《孔子》的熱情及中共在全世界推廣孔子學院的做法，都是證明，「孔子與馬列格格不入，馬列哲學已徹底破產，共產黨救不了自己，要孔子救共產黨，恐怕也是毫無出路。假如孔子在世，一定討厭自己被政客所利用。」

Left Confucianism?

2010-01-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

Daniel Bell's new article on explaining what is Left Confucianism: http://www.viennareview.net/node/1102

What's Left of Confucianism?

by Daniel A. Bell

01/02/2009

The Chinese government's very public display of compassion and transparency in response to the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province appears to have strengthened its authority and its bonds with ordinary Chinese people. The government and army worked hand in hand with legions of volunteers and private networks to rescue quake victims. Even die-hard cynics were won over by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's emotional comforting of the survivors.

But heroic rescue efforts will not be able to help the government forever, so it is worth asking what can provide long-term political legitimacy. After all, communism has lost its capacity to inspire the Chinese. So what should replace it?

Most Westerners think the answer is liberal democracy, as did many Chinese liberals in the twentieth century. But there is another answer, which takes the form of the old and venerable tradition of Confucianism, which is being revived by government officials, critical intellectuals, and ordinary citizens.

The opening ceremony of the Olympic games underlined this revival: it featured not quotes from Marx, but sayings from the Analects of Confucius. Such sayings as 'The world's peoples are all brothers' and 'Isn't one of life's greatest pleasures to have friends visiting from afar?' were be beamed to billions worldwide, expressing the best that Chinese culture has to offer.

Here, however, we run into trouble. Ever since the Han dynasty (more than 2,000 years ago), Chinese governments have manipulated the most prominent political interpretations of Confucianism for their own purposes. Confucianism has been combined with Legalism, China's other main political tradition, to justify such practices as blind obedience to the ruler, subordination of women, and the use of harsh punishments. The 'official' Confucianism being revived today may be less dangerous -- it emphasizes social harmony, meaning the peaceful resolution of conflicts -- but it remains a conservative morality.

But there is another interpretation of Confucianism -- let's call it 'left Confucianism' -- that stresses intellectuals' obligation to criticize bad policies, obliges governments to provide for the people's material well-being and support those without key family relations, and calls for governments to adopt a more international-minded outlook and to rely on moral power rather than military might to pursue political aims. It leaves open basic metaphysical commitments and takes a plural and tolerant view of religious life. It emphasizes equality of opportunity in education as well as meritocracy in government, with leadership positions being distributed to the community's most virtuous and qualified members.

Such values owe their origin to the 'original Confucianism' of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, which existed before Confucianism became established as state orthodoxy. In imperial times, the critical tradition was carried forward by such scholars as Huang Zongxi. Today, new Confucian leftists such as Gan Yang are calling for the creation of a 'Confucian socialist republic.'

Confucian scholars such as Jiang Qing openly acknowledge that their interpretation of Confucianism most closely parallels socialist ideals: not the 'actually existing socialism' in today's China, but the socialist ideals defended by Karl Marx and others. This Confucian tradition aims to influence contemporary politics, but it also remains separate from state power and orthodoxy, always ready to point to the gap between ideals and reality.

Indeed, left Confucianism's departure from the status quo is precisely the point: it is meant to provide a moral standard for social critics and to inspire visions of a more desirable political future. Unlike communism, it offers a future that derives its legitimacy from tradition and building upon what the past has to offer -- including the socialist tradition -- rather than destroying it.

Thus, left Confucians favor institutional reform, arguing that the long-term stability and legitimacy of political institutions requires that they be founded on Chinese traditions. Jiang Qing advocates a tri-cameral legislature -- a democratically elected People's House representing the common people's interests, a House of Exemplary Persons to secure the good of all those affected by government policies, including foreigners and minority groups, and a House of Cultural Continuity that would maintain China's various religions and traditions.

Such concrete proposals for political reform inspired by Confucian values can rarely be published in mainland China. In fact, there are fewer constraints imposed on public discussion of liberal-democratic institutions precisely because few Chinese are inspired by Western-style liberal democracy. Today, the most viable alternative to China's political status quo is left Confucianism.

Daniel A. Bell is professor of political theory at Tsinghua University (Beijing). His latest book is China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society.

Copyright: Project Syndicate/Institute for Human Sciences, 2008.

www.project-syndicate.org

'We respect Confucius, but we do not try to court favour of him'

2009-12-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

This is a statement made by Chen Han, one of the writers for the Hu Mei's 2009 version of , in respond to the criticism of their new movie (ready to be released in Jan 2010) mainly from the posterity of Confucius (the Kong's family). (see here for the original article publish on Chen Han's blog, in Chinese)

I'm actually very excited to see this article -- I have this crazy and unorganized thoughts about how this kind of interpretation of Confucius and Confucianism and its 'sacredness' (very different from what I saw in the 1940s version) demonstrate the shift of 'power' of culture interpretation. It's like, 'hey dude, Confucius is cool, but he is not necessary who YOU think who he is!' The reasons why Confucius is a sage to us maybe be different from yours, but that does not we do not respect him.

Highlight from the discourse about the 'sagehood' of Confucius in the film by Chen Han:

'We try to emphasize the humanity of Confucius in the film and avoid too much emphasis on his sageness. Confucius' greatness is based on his human character and contribution to the culture. He is not perfect as a divine being. As our director and Chow Yunfat had came to this shared understanding: no halo' (电影中的孔子尽力去圣而还原为人，他之所以伟大，在其人格和文化上的成就，他不是完美得像神一样毫无瑕疵的。正如导演和周润发公开表示过的共识：不要光环)
'Jesus and Skahyamuni had all been tempted in the wilderness. They overcame the temptation, which at the same time reinforced/ justified their divine nature. Therefore,by illustrating how Nanzi seduces Confucius in the film, we are actually emphasizing the classical chapter that highlights Confucius's sagehood'.(耶稣、释迦牟尼都在荒野上受到了诱惑，他们超越了，所以更显其神性、佛性。其实，写南子诱惑孔子，才是写伟人的经典一章，才更显其为圣者也)

What are the things that the posterity of Confucius upset about in the film (or, to be specific, in the trailer!)?

Since Confucius is historically recognized as the sage for Chinese people....your company should stick with the fact as stated in history and protect the image of Confucius as sage, and should not destory the image of Confcuis as 'the teachers for thousands of generations' for commercial purpose'　(一、孔子作为中华民族的圣人地位，是历史公认的。他的事迹和形象，是千百年来历史记载和流传下来的，不容篡改和歪曲。贵方拍摄《孔子》电影，应当尊重历史，尊重史实，维护孔子圣人的形象，不应只顾及商业利益而做出有损于孔子“万世师表”形象的行为。)
Based on the 45-second trail, we suggest the following changes in the film: a) to cut all the dialogue that does not reflect the 'factual' historical background of Confucius. Original quotes and dialogue of Confucius from historical documents and the Analects should be used. (.删除“给个话儿”等明显不符合历史背景和孔子本人形象的话语。尽量采用史书和《论语》中所记载的孔子原话); b) to delete all the conversation between Nanzi and Confucius that are disgraceful, lack of historical support, and destructive to the image of Confucius as the sage (删减孔子与南子的暧昧对白等明显缺乏史实依据并严重有损于孔子圣人形象的内容); c) to delete excessive war and fighting sences that Confucius involved in the filim, instead, emphasize more on Confucius' demeanor as sage and his teaching about kindness and love. (削减片中“孔子”过多的武戏和战争戏，重点突出孔子的仁爱精神与圣人风范
Your company should respond to our request immediately and positively, and halt all other activities that will destroy Confucius' image. Otherwise, we will manipulate all possible legal means to protect the image of Confucius as the sage. (贵方应当对我们提出的改动要求立即做出积极处理，并立即停止其它一切有损于孔子形象的举动。否则，我们将在必要的时候不排除诉诸法律手段，以维护孔子“至圣先师”、“万世师表”的圣人形象)

Souces: http://www.xwhb.com/news/system/2009/12/11/010079287_01.shtm

Confucius protrayed in Chinese Movies

2009-12-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

In 2009, one of the most 'eye-catching' events that highlight the revival of Confucianism could be the release of the movie 'Confucius'. The Hong Kong actor Chow Yunfat plays the role of Confucius. I am still looking forward to the releasing of this film in the US, so that I'll have the chance to see it. ( <The Confucius>, directed by Hu Mei)

In September, I went back to Hong Kong to see a showing of another movie about Confucius directed by Fei Mu, one of the leading film directors of China before 1949. The film was lost for decades and had recently been restored by the Hong Kong Film Archive.

I am not a film aesthetic person nor a film critic. However, what interested me are the socio-historical context and how it related to the cultural and social symbolic meanings of these two films. I am all ready for serious work for comparison, but I can only do that when I have the chance to see the 2009 version of 'Confucius'.

To look at the historical context, 1938-40 when Fei Mu's version was being made and released, China was still in the middle of WWII with Japan. The message of yearning ( for peace; for a 'savior' for the nation; for 'restoration' of the 'values') and condemning (war; traitors; the fall of morality) were not subtle at all in the movie. And it made so much sense once you look at it together with the historical context.

2009 -- China is 'rising' to be one of the largest economic powers in the world. There is no war (at least, not for the Chinese). Yet, Do they still need a 'savior' to salvage their declining morality? if so, is Confucius the person to do so? I doubt it. Not that I disagree that the Confucius is lack of the cultural capital to do so (and his possibility being transformed into the ultimate moral symbols for the nation by those who are able to). I just don't see that the current regime (who also control the film industry, btw), will allow Confucius to be transformed as such role in a movie. And by 'such role', I mean, a sacred sage for the nation.

The sacredness of Confucius in Fei Mu's version can be found at the very beginning of the film -- in which the birth of Confucius was being narrated together with the birth of Jesus and Buddha. Throughout the film, Confucius always dominated in the 'sacred' places among his students (on top of the hill; on top of teaching altar etc) and the kind of suffering they experienced together after Confucius decided to travel around and preach his teachings is (to me, at least) highly resembled the kind of master-disciple sufferings that we read in the bible story. A normal citizen was being tortured and killed, and he cried out 'Oh Heaven*! Please send a sage to save us the people!'. And this sacred role of the Confucius is further reinforced towards the end of the film, with a song dedicated to Confucius that says 'Confucius, Confucius, the Great Confucius! your teachings will be passed on for thousands of generations, and it will be around in this world'.

Portraying the sacred does not make Confucius 'other-worldly', after all, he is still human. In fact, in Fei Mu's version, the story of Confucius continue -- he failed his preaching work, returned home, and suffered the loneliness of aging (when most of is disciples left and only his grandson had stayed with him). He did not got raised up to the Heaven by the supernatural power and left this world, he stayed here and suffered just like all of us. And that probably added the sacredness to the morality that he preached, as he had stood firm to it with his life.

I wonder how the same story will be told in the 2009 version. Or, would it be a 'same' story at all. Can these sacredness still exist? I seriously doubt it. The meaning of 'being religious' had been transformed drastically since 1949 in China. The inferiority of being religious is not just condemned by the elitist intellectuals of the Chinese Enlightenment era that highly influenced by secularism, but it is administratively challenged under the atheistic regime. Marxist scholars, including the recently deceased and former chairperson of the Institute of World Religions in the Chinese Social Science Academy Ren Jiyu, had identified that Confucianism is a religion. Therefore it is as problematic as the other religions and required strong administrative order (if not complete destruction, like what happened during the cultural revolution) to control it. As Julia Ching states, 'Marxist scholars have shown sensitivity for discerning religious directions and sentiments in tradtional philsophical teachings. Presumably, this effort is motivated by the insistence on atheistic humanism, accompanied as this is by the need t osearch out religious trends if only to manipulate or oppose them' (Ching 1990: 126).

Since sacredness easily give people (especial social scientists like US!) the impression of 'religious' (and does constitute the quality of being religious, sociologically speaking), it is alarming to have too much of it. So what kind of 'Confucius' they will portray in the movie? or to put it in a profane way, will Confucius have an affair with Nanzi in the movie? I can't wait to see!!

More reviews of the 2009 Confucius:

http://twitchfilm.net/news/2009/12/new-trailer-for-confucius-hits-all-the-right-notes.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgiM1ubNCYc -- Trailer

Reference:

Ching, Julia. 1990. Probing China's Soul: Religion, Politics, and Protest in the People's Republic. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

US House of Representative 'wasting' time with Confcius?

2009-11-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.92add9d8b299aef692d2ebae569be1ca.c81&show_article=1

US lawmakers honor Confucius, but some grumble

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly but not without some complaints Wednesday to honor the 2,650th anniversary of the birth of the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Lawmakers voted 361-47 -- with 13 voting "present" and 11 absent altogether -- to celebrate the Chinese philosopher and "his invaluable contributions to philosophy and social and political thought."

Some of US President Barack Obama's Republican critics had grumbled about voting on the symbolic resolution at a time when the United Statesis locked in two wars and faces a bitter debate over legislation to remake US health care.

"He who spends time passing trivial legislation may find himself out of time to read health care bill," quipped Republican Representative Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Democrats pointed out that Republicans have pushed for a symbolic resolution to honor a recent demonstration outside the Capitol that drew tens of thousands to protest Obama's agenda.

The ancient teachings of Confucius (551-479 BC), centering on peace and social harmony, have enjoyed a renaissance in China in recent years, after being suppressed in Maoist China.

Obama channels Confucius to connect with Shanghai students

2009-11-16T16:53:00.001-08:00

Obama channels Confucius to connect with Shanghai students

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Research Fieldwork in China Round ONE --- focusing on the dujing movement and sishu

2009-10-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have conducted my first round fieldwork in China to better understand the phenomenon of the revival of Confucianism focusing on the dujing 讀經(reading classics, especially Confucian one) movement and the development of sishu in contemporary China. Since 14 July till mid-October, I've visited different part of China including metropolitan cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hefei), the second-tier cities (Lanzhou, Chongqing, Xiamen) and the semi-rural area (e.g. Laizhou in Shandong, Loudi in Hunan). I had visited sishu and other forms of dujing education inistutions in these places; observed their classes; interviewed their principals, organizers, teachers and parents.

This trip is extremely rewarding in many senses.

First of all, I see the importance of 'locating the context' instead of just talking about the revival in a board/general sense. It is only through that we can have a more in-depth understanding of the social implication of this 'revival'. I found that the current analysis about the revival focus too much (or at one point, exclusively) on the political aspect of the revival. The key argument is that since there is a political and ideological 'vacuum' in the post economic reform China that Confucianism is being 'hand-picked' by the government as an ideological tool to 'fill the vacuum', through providing any set of 'narrative' (such as 'harmony' or 和) for its legitimacy.

I think that this is a valid analysis of the current political context for the revival of Confucianism. And I agree that such context is very important to explain why the revival is possible. However, what I disagree is that this should not be the only significant aspect of the revival. Even though the state's change of attitude towards Confucianism (or to a certain extend, manipulated the Confucian narratives for its legitimacy), that does not means that we can jump to the conclusion that everything's happening are state-led project and the activities and phenomenon that we can observe during the revival (such as the emergence of modern sishu, and the dujing movement) a 'less genuine' social movement.

To understand the revival of Confucianism not just another state-led project but a social phenomenon and has 'real' social implication, there are few main points that we need to be aware of:
1) According to Kang Xiaoguang's study (2008), dujing movement is the major activity that the activists in the revival of Confucianism are actually participating in. Therefore, if we want to observe and truly understand the nature and the CONTENT of the revival, this is an important aspect that should not be ignored.
2) Based on my initial fieldwork in China, there are many forms in promoting the reading of Confucian classics and they all have their own agenda other than allying with the state's policy. In many cases, dujing activists are actually facing the suppression from the state (e.g. the Shanghai Meng Mu Tang incident)

Currently, there is lack of organized study about the dujing movement in China. Therefore, the findings from my initial fieldwork will provide a general descriptions of the different forces that are active in promoting the reading of Confucian classics in contemporary China and the different forms of educational institutions that emerged from that.

I'll definitely share more later, after I recover from the hectic 3-month-around-the-country fieldwork tour. Stay tune.

2009-06-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

More on the English translation on the 'Confuius from the Heart' by Yu Dan.

http://china.org.cn/books&magazines/2009-06/09/content_17912997.htm

Confucianism and Democracy

2009-05-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

Daniel Bell's articles on The New York Times.

Yu Dan's Book being translated into English

2009-05-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Telegraph talks about it.

And of course, the Xinhua News has to talk about it too~~Confucius goes international (in the way that they want!!)

Religious leaders and a Confucian scholar

2008-09-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

A group of religious leaders from China visited the US recently. It by itself is an interesting news already, to see how the Chinese government is 'reaching out' to the international community in religious affairs. I had recently translated an article that discusses the impact of globalization on religion in contemporary China. It states that politics and religions is always intertwined throughout the history in China with politics situated above religion and have the power to control over how religious should be in society. In a sense, religion and politics are not separated because politics controlled religion. And if we understand Confucianism as a religion, that even reinforced the point because it is the state official ideology. The understanding of whether Confucianism is a religion is crucial in the understanding of the relationship between state and religion in China.

So, when I found out that there is a Confucian scholars among the religious leaders visiting China, I found that is pretty interesting. I see that as a statement of the government position in how they understand whether Confucianism is a religion or not .... it is a semi-religion! Definitely, the 'Confucian scholar' was singled out and does not belong to the 'religious leaders' category. Of course, officially, there are only five religions in China and Confucianism does not belong in it. However, the fact that they need a Confucian scholar to tag along with the visit of religious leaders also implies that 1) the special role of Confucianism in Chinese religious landscape; 2) we cannot talk about Chinese religion without talking about Confucianism; 3) Confucianism is an important 'spiritual ideology' for the government yet it is not officially religion.

http://www.religionandpolicy.org/show.php?p=1.1.2085
http://stories.globalatlanta.com/2008stories/016287.html
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/15/religious-leaders-end-10-day-trip-to-america/

Interview with Danile Bell @ VOA

2008-08-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

Where is the revival?

2008-07-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is the time to recap what I've been doing so far. I had conducted multiple interviews and participant observations in the past few weeks. Although I had identified certain area that I want to look into, the question of how to locate the revival is still a crucial one.

This point is confirmed by one of the activist I interviewed. He used 'boiling water' as a metaphor to describe the situation about the revivalism now. Without the support of the government and the obscure treatment from the media, which make it difficult to observe what's going on here now in China in terms of the revival. Like the bubbles in boiling water, things are keep changing and transforming every minute and it is hard to describe/ pin-point what is the current status is like.

For instance, in terms of learning about Confucian classics. Different groups who are doing it in different ways, have different purpose in mind and do it in different ways. There are private Shishu, which charges a lot for summer camp and extra-curriculum classes on reciting and reading the classics. There are also rural full-time schools that only teaches Confucian classics and serves as the only education institute in the area. And of course, there's free/ volunteer classes provided by individual and group. And when they talk about 'classics', the definition is also varied : some only refer to the Four Books (Confucians classics), some include classical literature, and some even include English classical literature.

Things could be even more complicated in terms of worshiping Confucius. I don't think that we can see this worship as a worship of deity/god at all. It is more appropriate to understand this as a symbolic political rituals. Two things I need to understand is the purpose of doing that for the state; and also the purpose of doing that as an individual.

I feel that there's revival. As one of the interviewee told me that 'yes, the government and the media had talked a lot about it. But they can only talk about it because there's this kind of interests from the people!' But to describe it what exactly had revived and how it is reviving, I'll still need more research and thinkings to sort it out!

Confucian Temple in Beijing

2008-07-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Starting from 25 June, I began a preliminary fieldwork about Confucianism in China. My plan is to visit scholars who are working/ researching about this topic, and most importantly, to see if I can find a group that I can do fieldwork with. So far, I had found one group that is very interesting. I am intruded by their organization because of their consistency. Furthermore, this is a voluntary group that is funded by private donation, which make this group more 'civilian' than the others I can find so far.

On the 3rd day I arrived Beijing (28 June), I visited the Confucian Temple. Before that, I went to the Lama Temple. It is an very interesting contrast because the Lama Temple is considered as 'religious place' by the government with the 'regulations on the size of incnese in religious location' at the entrance. I was so impressed by the amount of people who worship inside the temple and concluded that it is a house of worship. Contrast to the Confucian Temple, where there were no people who burn incense whatsoever. The number of visitors there in Confucian Temple were drastically lesser than the Lama Temple as well.

Having said that, I observed that there are few interesting things inside the Confucian Temple:
1) the exhibition hall that reconstructed Confucianism by emphasizing its impact AROUND the WORLD (in a way, making it as universal)
2) although there were no incense burning, a newly introduced way of worship to Confucius was introduced -- by putting a charms on the fenses set up outside the temple and also around the main hall in Imperial College
3) there was a Shishu inside the Confucian TempleTo me, new function(s) of Confucian Temple are being reconstructed.

Who's Confucius?

2008-06-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

I think I should explain a little bit more about the picture for this site. The key idea is that different presentations of Confucius represent different knowledge/power relationship. While there's a Catholic Church to regularized the image of how Jesus 'should' looks like (and of course there's controversy about the racial representation), there is no such institution to regulate how Confucius 'should' look like....until recently.

In 2006, the China Confucius Foundation announced a standardized image of Confucius (see Chinese news release here). The rationalize is that it'll help to propagate Confucian Culture to the non-Chinese audience. According to the General Secretary of CCF, Mr. Shuhua Zhang, 'Confucius is the representative of Chinese history and culture. His teaching is getting acknowledged by people from different part of the world. Thus, different images of Confucius may create obstacle to established an legitimated representation of Confucius' . ( "孔子是中国的历史文化名片，他的学说正被越来越多不同地域的民众所关注、认同，而孔子形象不统一，不利于树立世界范围内公认的孔子形象。”)

But then, who has the power to say which Confucius image to use?
Well, legitimacy seems is coming from Confucian scholars, historian, artists and the offspring of Confucius (the Kong's family). Or, this is what the CCF 'thinks' that where the legitimacy should be coming from. However, if we get to understand the background of CCF, a quasi-government organization (receive financial support from the central government of the PRC), that's a whole different story.

Putting the political agenda aside, if we just look at it as a cultural issue, the image of Confucius raise series of interesting questions on representation. Lionel M. Jensen's book Manufacturing Confucianism(1997) had an in depth account on the Western construction of Confucius and Confucianism. While the West gained the power to define the culture of the 'Others' through imperialism and colonialism, it is an interesting twist to see how the Chinese government is regaining its power to define what Confucianism is about. Not to say that they had successfully done so, but when the issue of 'how to present Confucius to the global audience' became an issue, and the fact that the government is actually putting in resources to deal with it, that is something interesting.

Daniel Bell's book review

2008-06-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/05/30/news0076.htm

Religion in China on the Eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics

2008-05-01T15:03:00.001-07:00

Pew survey on the general religious landscape in China.
Well, Confucianism is not considered as religious affiliation here~~
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=301

Ideology in China - Confucius makes a comeback!

2008-04-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

A story about the revival published in the Economist in 2007.

Daniel Bell's Lecture on Confucianism

2008-04-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Daniel Bell is one of the most famous scholars on Confucianism. A political scientists and the first Westerner who acquired professorship in Tsing Hua University, he gave lecture on the TVO about the revival of Confucianism in contemporary China. His book is going to release the end of April, can't wait to see it.

Click here for the MP3 link to the lecture.

I'm in the process of transcribing the lecture, will post here when it's ready.

Today I found another link to an interview by Jesse Hirsh, basically he said the same thing

Exporting Confucian culture

2008-04-06T23:11:00.000-07:00

The National Public Raido had a series on China, featuring the rise of Confucius Institute in the United States

Taoism is also experiencing the same kind of treatment?

2008-03-31T23:44:00.000-07:00

I just came across these news articles today. The interesting thing is that it strike me how similar the pattern of this re-emergence of Taoism is similar to the revival of Confucianism. Well, after all, it's the 3-in-1 power that dominated the religious sphere of China in the past 1000 years (at least)...

Daodejing is now 'the Taoist bible' - interesting translation. This again raise again the question of the issue of how we can translate religious concept from one cultural context to another...like the Jesuit missionaries try to comprehend what Confucianism is and call it religion....

This is getting even more interesting now...
First Taoist Research Association Inaugurated
China to Build Harmonious Society with Wisdom of Taoism

A State project? or a local project? The Controversy of buidling the Chinese Cultural Symbolic City

2008-03-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

Asia Times reports the debate of constructing a Chinese Cultural Symbolic City in Confucius' hometown in Shangdong during the two-week section of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Here's a full story reported in the Asia Times.

This is an good example to illustrate that why this who revival of Confucianism movement is a political project. As the editor indicates, local tourism is an important sources of income for many local governments. Obviously, the Qufu Temple of Confucius is not 'big' enough for the Shangdong government, they want it even bigger.

Wu's question about the representation of Confucianism as the 'Chinese culture' is valid. I see that part of this revival is about reclaiming traditions, but at the same time, these traditions are reinvented in order to gain legitimacy. This sounds very much like the nation-building project in Southeast Asia during the postcolonial period, when Islamic culture/identity were constructed as the core component of the new national identity and everything other than that became marginalized.

However, the context in China is different and that even the government have the same intention, it might not be successful. After all, it is not a post-colonial construction in China. Other intense social forces such as class and rural-urban inequality, internal migration, ethnic segregationist etc. which make this kind of 'cultural/national identity construction project' almost impossible to succeed.

Of course, this is just telling the story from one perspective. We don't know much about the Han Chinese, how they see these kind of 'Chinese culture' and whether they really see that a sources of unification. We only hear the politicians and scholars talk, but not the people who are in those movement, who are sending their kids to learn the Confucians classics etc. Thus, it is still early to have any conclusion.

Confucius Birthday Ceremony 2007

2008-03-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

Since the fall of 1984, the Shangdong (northern part of China) government organizes the annual ceremony for Confucius’ birthday and a series of performing arts program under the name of ‘Journey of Confucius Birthplace’. In 1990, the program changed its name to ‘China Qufu International Confucius Cultural Festival’ and it was described as ‘an international tourism program that integrated the commemoration of the late philosopher, cultural exchanges, tourism, academic exchange, promotion of trade and economic development’. Over the years, the program expanded from one day to ten days. Ceremony for Confucius’ birthday, performing arts/cultural programs, trade shows (especially for ‘cultural’ products such as office stationeries, publications on the Classics and calligraphy) and academic conferences on Confucianism were included in the program. The politically meaning of this event had significantly shifted in 2004, when the Central government of PRC officially sponsored the event – commemoration of Confucius once again became the ‘state event’. In 2007, for the first time in history, the ceremony was co-organized by the Central government and the local government.

At the first glance, the involvement of the Central government it seems to be an attempt to establish some kind of political legitimacy by presenting itself as one chapter in a historical narrative of descent and authenticity. The party-state replaced the role of the emperor in this ancient ritual. However, the historical relations of the Communist Party with the imperial state and feudal system have been too antagonistic to make that argument plausible. While Confucianism was seen as the obstacle of China’s development in the earlier 20^th century and the rotten ideology that meant to be destroyed, how can we understand this dramatic change of state attitude towards Confucius in contemporary era?

CCTV Broadcast Part I
CCTV Broadcast Part II

Rap the Analects?

2008-03-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

This might not seems totally relevant to the movement in China now, but an interesting song. I saw the Shangdong Television used that as background music when they were showing a segment about the revival of Confucianism during their broadcast of the 2007 Confucius Birthday ceremony.

This is a Taiwanese singer, who wrote this rap song and put part of the Analects into the lyrics (begining and the end of the song), the song's name = Confucius Says

Maybe the scripture readings classes should have the kids to learn this song......

Revival of Confucianism in China - Why do I Care?

2008-03-16T11:30:00.001-07:00

2007 is the time when I first pay attention to the so-call 'revival of Confucianism' in China. What does that mean? Put it simply, we see that Confucianism is 're-entering' into the public space in China. Tang (2001) describes the ‘revival’ of Confucianism is signified by the discourse on the ‘religious nature’ of Confucianism among scholars and intellectuals. This movement, according to Yang (2007), is still at the early stage of development and received little notice by the Western scholars and media.

Politically, the State of PRC provides financial sponsorship to the annual worship of Confucius in Qufu (Shangdong province) on his birthday since 2004 ; the government also establishes 'Confucius Institute' worldwide to promote the study of Chinese language and culture. As Daniel Bell (2006) suggests, the government is trying to use Confucianism to fill in the 'ideology vacuum' of the country -- since Marxism (together with Western liberal democracy) can no longer play the role of leading ideology, and religious sects and extreme nationalism are too radical for the Beijing government, promoting Confucianism is seen as the best way to protect 'social stability'.

Since the state 'opened-door' policy to discussion and promotion Confucianism, we then can see a series of social changes that illustrates how Confucianism is once again visible in Chinese social life. The worship of Confucius is revitalized again. Confucians Temples are once again became the site of worship and also a site of memory.

Moreover, there is a trend of revisiting the Confucian classics. Walking into any megabookstore in

China

, it is not difficult to find numerous publications on the Analects, Mencius, Xunzi and other classics of Confucianism. Although the study of Confucian classics had defined Chinese scholarship in past centuries, the current ‘revival’ of the classics has a different spin – the emphasis on ‘individual interpretation’ of the classics and how these meanings can be related to daily life issues. It is departing from the traditional scholastic tradition of word-by-word interpretation of the meaning of the Confucian classics. What I am observing now in

China

is a movement that is occurring within mass cultures – television, book and internet, in general public. Although scholars are participating in this movement, the ‘discourse’ is not an academic one; rather, the concern is to reinterpret the ancient wisdom to deal with everyday life issue. The Yu Dan phenomenon is one of the most significant examples.

Yu Dan is a professor of Beijing Normal University. In 2006, she conducted a 7-part daily lecture series analyzing the Analects on the popular program "Lecture Room" on

China

's Central Television CCTV 10. It brought about a surge in audience ratings. In December 2006, Yu Dan published her book Thinking about the Analects 論語心得. It sold 12,600 volumes in just one day, breaking the previous sales record in Beijing. In just one month, her book sold 900,000 copies. Sales of her book surpassed 1.5 million within 40 days of publication. It was definitely the hottest book in 2006. Media describes her book as a ‘Chinese version of Chicken Soup for the Soul’.

In addition, public schools started to develop new syllabus that includes of Confucians Classics (including the Analects). Other than that, the spreading of scripture-reading classes and institutes devoted to the study of guoxue (the ‘learning of the nation’); the emergence of traditional-style Sishu schools (private schooling that resonate with the pedagogy style in Confucius’ time); and the promotion of Han dress (Han fu, 漢服) are also identified as the signifier of the New Confucianism Movement (Yang 2007).

To me, the recent changing attitude towards Confucianism by the Chinese government is bizarre and intriguing. During the Cultural Revolution (1967-1977), Confucianism was considered as one of the ‘Four Olds’[1] that needed to be eliminated. Like other religions, which are considered as the ‘opiate of the people, Confucianism was considered as the ‘ideology of the feudal’. Three decades later, Confucianism regained its role as the ‘core cultural value’ of the Chinese people and the government. This is the phenomenon that can tell us a lot about the relationship between religion, state and nationalism; also, religion, secularization, late-modernity; globalization and identity etc.....and this is where I began my journey of exploring all these issues.

Reference:

Bell, D. 2006. China's leaders rediscover Confucianism. International Herald Tribune, 14 September 2006. (click here)

Sun, A. X. D. 2005. The Fate of Confucianism as a Religion in Socialist China: Controversies and Paradoxes. Pp.229-254 in Fenggang Yang and Joseph Tamney eds., State, Market, and Religions in Chinese Societies.

Tang, Y. 2001. Some Reflections on New Confucianism in Mainland Chinese Culture of the 1990s. Pp.123-134 in Gloria Davies ed., Voicing Concerns: Contemporary Chinese Critical Inquiry. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield.

Yang, F. 2007. Cultural Dynamics in China: Today and in 2020. Asia Policy (4): 41-52.

[1] The Anti-Four Olds campaign is one of the stated goals in the Cultural Revolution started by Mao Zedong in 1964. The four olds are referring to ‘Old Custom, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas’. The definition is very vague and basically everything that exist before 1949 is considered as part of the ‘Old Culture’. Together with ‘foreign religions’ and ‘Jesus followers’, scholars of Confucianism are the victims of this political movement.

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