Q. and A.: Michael Schuman on the Return of Confucianism in China
As a veteran correspondent and resident of Beijing, has witnessed the growing use of the Confucius “brand” by the Chinese Communist Party in recent years. And he has seen Confucian values manifested in a variety of ways across Asia, where he has reported widely for Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
Yet writing “Confucius and the World He Created” was somewhat of a departure for Mr. Schuman, who has spent most of his journalism career reporting on business and economics. In an interview, he explained why he wrote his book, and how those relate to the Communist Party:
You open the book with a scene about the impact Confucius had on your love life.
My wife is Korean-American, and though most of our wedding was a standard, white-dress affair, she also wanted to include a traditional Korean ceremony during which we would bow to her parents as a show of respect.
I, however, was very uncomfortable with the bowing. Being Jewish, I was taught that we should have too much respect for ourselves to bow down before anybody. One of our favorite tales from the Bible, the Book of Esther, recounts how one stubborn Jewish guy refused to bow before a haughty Persian official and nearly got the entire local community of Jews wiped out.
However, my wife was taking the Korean ceremony very seriously. Though she can be as American as anyone born and raised in the Midwestern United States, when it comes to her parents, she can be surprisingly Confucian. Honoring your parents is one of the most important virtues in Confucius’s teachings, and she had been indoctrinated in this thinking at home during her childhood. So when I dared to express my discomfort with bowing, she shot back, “Get over it.”
I conceded defeat and plastered my forehead to the floor before her father and mother. Even though 2,500 years have passed since the sage preached his doctrine, I just couldn’t beat Confucius.
You built your career on writing about finance and economics in Asia. Your previous book, “The Miracle,” told the story of the Asian tiger economies. Why did you decide to do a popular history book on Confucius?
Because of East Asia’s tremendous economic success over the past half century, the countries in the region, and especially China, are becoming more and more important players in global politics, business and culture. That means Confucius is becoming more important as well. The fact is that East Asian society is based on an entirely different set of philosophical principles than those in the West — to a great degree, Confucian ideas. So if the West wants to understand and contend with a rising Asia, we have to know a lot more about Confucius.
However, I think people in the West know very little about the great sage. He really should rank among the founders of human civilization, along with Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha, since his teachings still influence the lives of nearly a quarter of humanity. I began to believe that our lack of knowledge about Confucius was actually quite dangerous.
Do you see the Chinese Communist Party today espousing Confucian ideals to any significant degree?
Confucius is definitely back in vogue in Chinese politics today. President Xi Jinping quotes from Confucian texts so often he can sound more like an imperial mandarin than the modern Marxist he claims to be. In 2013, Xi even made a pilgrimage to Qufu, Confucius’s hometown, much like the old emperors once did.
However, it is hard to imagine the Communist Party wholeheartedly embracing and abiding by Confucian principles. Despite widespread perception, Confucius was not supportive of authoritarian regimes. Good government, he believed, was based on virtue, not coercion. If a ruler was benevolent, upright in his own behavior and cared for the well-being of the common man, the people would follow him willingly, making force unnecessary.
Today’s Communist regime would have to change its entire relationship with the Chinese people to qualify as Confucian. That’s why the Communists’ pro-Confucius campaign is more likely a propaganda effort to try to convince the public that the cadres are benevolent Confucian rulers deserving of reverence, without actually changing state practices based on Confucian teachings.
How much of the party’s use of Confucian rhetoric is rooted in a drive to try to strengthen the party’s legitimacy by connecting it to an ancient philosophical tradition? How much of it comes from a genuine desire by party officials to revive that tradition out of nostalgia or pride or perhaps even genuine admiration?
I don’t doubt that President Xi and many other leaders are quite knowledgeable about Confucius, and they probably see real value in these ancient teachings. Xi probably believes a stiff dose of Confucian morality can help in his quest to stamp out corruption. Confucius, after all, believed state officials should govern selflessly, with only the greater good in mind.
At the same time, there is reason to be cynical about the Communists’ new love for Confucius. For much of its existence, the party vilified Confucius as a feudal oppressor and tried to uproot his influence from Chinese society, often violently. Confucius only became acceptable to the party when it became desperate for a new ideological foundation for its iron-fisted rule. Amid the nation’s capitalist quest for wealth, the Marxist bombast of the Mao days rings especially hollow. But with the economy slowing down, the party requires something beyond “delivering the goods” to justify its rule. By resurrecting Confucius, the Communist Party can paint itself as the defender of Chinese tradition and its government as rooted in Chinese political history.
At the same time, the cadres believe Confucius can help them fend off unwanted democratic ideals from the West. By focusing on Confucian concepts like harmony and filial piety, the party thinks Confucius can build support for its authoritarian reign. Confucius, then, has once again become a critical player in China’s political future.
Some scholars have asserted that Mr. Xi appears to base some of his principles of power on Legalism.
I would characterize Xi Jinping as a Legalist, not a Confucian. The Legalists were a rival school to the Confucians. Their political ideology argued for the maximization of state power. The short-lived but immensely influential Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.) governed based on Legalist principles, and in the process formed China’s first true totalitarian state. The Qin controlled information, introduced strict legal codes and inflicted severe punishments on the populace.
Xi has made it known that he is familiar with Legalism — in his references to Chinese classics, he has quoted Han Feizi, one of Legalism’s key proponents — and I think he is influenced by Legalist doctrine. He has intensified state control over the Internet and cracked down hard on dissent. Xi seems intent on wiping out any civil activity not linked to the state. Such policies are more Legalist than Confucian.
Though the Confucians and Legalists have somewhat common roots — Han Feizi was supposedly a student of one of the greatest of Confucian scholars, Xunzi — the Legalists were critics of Confucius. They believed Confucius’s ideals led to the destruction of state power since he argued a man’s primary responsibility was to his family, not the government. Confucius also spoke out against harsh punishments, such as the death penalty. So if you want to be a dictator, and Xi Jinping most likely does, then you’re better off following Legalism than Confucianism.
Do you see Confucianism manifesting itself strongly in the day-to-day lives of people?
Confucianism is still very much a part of life in China and the rest of East Asia. Confucius’s teachings still influence family relations, attitudes towards authority and interpersonal interactions of all sorts. All those eager “tiger moms” egging on their kids to academic excellence are definitely a Confucian legacy.
The impact of Confucianism today is unfortunately not always positive. The continued discrimination against women, which limits their participation in government and business across the region, is one downside of persistent Confucian social norms.
To what degree do young Chinese care about Confucianism?
Whether young Chinese like it or not, they are probably going to learn a lot more about Confucius than their parents did. For much of the Communist period, Chinese were not taught much about Confucius. What they did learn, in relentless state propaganda, was that Confucius was a relic from a backward age who had to be purged from society.
Now that the attitude towards Confucius has warmed, there are indications that the study of Confucius is making a comeback. Confucian academies have opened to teach the classics to a new generation of Chinese. Xi has made comments encouraging more study of the Chinese classics in state schools. Confucianism is discussed openly in the media. In 2010, a movie was released in China about Confucius’s life. Some youngsters are embracing the old Confucian practices, too. Visit a Confucian temple around the time when students are taking the university entrance exams, and watch teenagers praying at the shrine for Confucius’s aid as their predecessors had done for centuries.
At what point in modern China was Confucianism most on the wane? What catalyzed the revival?
In the early 20th century, when China’s economic and political power was arguably at the lowest point in its history, reformers blamed Confucius for all the ills of Chinese society. Confucius’s influence was so pervasive, the argument went, that it stifled political openness, prevented the emergence of capitalism, condemned women to subservience and left China backward and at the mercy of the ascendant West. If China was to become truly modern, Confucius had to go, and the country had to adopt the ways of the West.
That attitude led to a drastic shift in Confucius’s position in East Asia. Confucian education was replaced by Western learning. In place of Confucian government, regimes based on Western concepts of democracy and Marxism emerged.
But, these days, attitudes are changing. The astounding economic success of Confucian-influenced societies — Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and China — has created a new appreciation of Confucius. Some aspects of his legacy, such as devotion to education and family, have been credited with contributing to East Asia’s economic success.
People across the region are discovering a new appreciation for their own traditions. No longer does an Asian have to be Western to be modern. What’s happening is the emergence of a new, global culture, in which the best of the West is being mixed together with Asian traditions into something potentially very powerful.
What were some of the most interesting trips you made in doing research for the book?
I’d recommend a trip to Qufu, Confucius’s hometown in Shandong Province. The Confucian temple there is a marvel of sedate but moving architecture. You can also visit the old family mansion of Confucius’s descendants, the Kongs, and Confucius’s gravesite. The often overlooked but recently restored Confucian temple and Imperial Academy in Beijing are also worth a visit.
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Sinosphere, the China blog of The New York Times, delivers intimate, authoritative coverage of the planet's most populous nation and its relationship with the rest of the world. Drawing on timely, engaging dispatches from The Times’ distinguished team of China correspondents, this blog brings readers into the debates and discussions taking place inside a fast-changing country and details the cultural, economic and political developments shaping the lives of 1.3 billion people.
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Mr. Schuman, who has spent most of his career reporting on business and economics, explains why he wrote “Confucius and the World He Created,” his ideas about the philosopher and how those relate to the Chinese Communist Party.
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