The Chinese Government And Confucius' Teachings Of Compassionate And Humble Leadership

“Do not do unto others what you don’t want done to yourself,'' is a teaching that has been kept since Confucius and is a moral code very commonly used and still taught today, it can also be applied in a majority of situations you find yourself in this teaching has become like a way of thinking, for example it is used to encourage people to think things through before we do or say something we might later regret. For example, if someone makes you angry and you act out of emotion if you think it through you can refrain from doing something you might later regret. This teaching has been kept because it holds a lot of significance in how people should treat each other but also has been used as it is also found in multiple other religions so it is a common teaching of religions today. However some of the other Confucius teachings have been disposed of in modern society, and not applied the way that they should. Such as Confucius’ teachings about leadership, a leader needs to have the ability to utilize self-discipline so that they will stay humble and to lead his followers with compassion modesty and acceptance. However these teachings may be starting to come back but possibly not for the right reasons.

The modern world has headed in an almost opposite direction of Confucius with things such as war, communist governments, corruption, fraud etc. and not just on behalf of leaders but on citizens to. According to an article on the National Geographic “Ordinary people are returning to Confucian ideas in search of the spiritual nourishment they feel is missing in their lives.” The Communist Party has realized Confucius might be useful for them again, but not for the right reasons. But the version of Confucius they are using isn’t the same as the one in The Analects (book of Confucius), his most famous collection of ideas and sayings. Beijing focuses on the imperial Confucius who was all about obedience to the emperor, hierarchy, and loyalty. The Communist Party has witnessed an incredible rush of wealth in China in the past 35 years through old-fashioned capitalism. But the old Marxist rhetoric of the Mao years doesn’t fit anymore. So they went looking for a new way to be able to justify their government and they’ve turned to Confucius. By bringing back Confucius they are trying to prove that China is basing its political culture on its own political and philosophical history. So now China would then not have to become a democracy which is what Western advocates would like to happen, this ignores the Confucius teaching about leaders and how leaders should be humble and compassionate however in a communist society there isn’t as much freedom for citizens and in the teachings of Confucius a leader should be willing to listen to what others need to say.

The Chinese Government and Confucius like to use the word “harmony” and harmonious society. However in Confucian thinking, it means something very different than it does to communists. In Confucianism it’s about living in a society where everyone fulfills their responsibilities, live and creates a peaceful lifestyle where everybody succeeds. What the Chinese Communist Party is doing is taking apart that definition and Confucius’ significance, and manipulating it to create a version of Confucianism that helps them push the ideas they think can help convince the public that the system they’re running is a part of a political system that China has always had. One Confucian scholar said that “China is having a moral crisis, and it’s the worst crisis China has ever had. There are incredibly high levels of corruption, widespread fraud, and counterfeiting. There are incredible problems with pollution and environmental degradation. People look around and say, “OK, we’ve gotten rich, but look at everything we’ve lost.” The aspects of this religion that has been lost are Confucius’ teachings and the overall meaning and its identification both have been twisted, manipulated and taken out of context to suit the way they want Confucius to seem to justify their actions. With a communist society as stated before people are not given as much freedom compared to those living in a democracy Confucius talks about the importance of respecting leaders but both communist and democracy respect leaders but their very different types of leadership and communism isn’t very closely associated with Confucius' teachings. This essay shows that communism is trying to manipulate the significance of Confucius to others and trying to manipulate what they believe in, and taking away their freedom to choose what they want to believe in. Religion and beliefs are choices an individual makes for themselves so by the communist government orchestrating these beliefs and giving people a twisted version of what they want Confucius to be and telling them this is how it’s always been is not an example of compassionate and humble leadership.