via: danwei, blogchina
For the past two weeks the editorial sections of major newspapers and newsmagazines have been awash in debate about guóxué 国学, "National Studies." Renmin University in Beijing announced that it was launching a College of National Studies in an attempt to revive interest in the classics nearly a century after they were discarded as relics of feudalism.
as a matter of fact, the attempt to revive confucianism has never been suspended in recent years, you could find many initiatives from both the government and the non-government sides. blogchina has featured a debate on whether young people should learn confucius classics as a supplement to their current knowledge structure.
chinese characters for "debate"
the impact of confucianism could be reviewed in two levels. in the social level, i personally don't see the core values of confucianism will bring new momentum to the social progress in china. the favor on hierarchy, along with its presumed "the real nature of a man is good", are the deep sources of many social ills here in china. just think about how "check and balance" was forstered in christian cultures.
confucius
but when it comes to the impact in the personal level, i am intended to believe the benefits it brings will outnumber the harms. confucianism has high standards on morality, self-control and working ethics, and its assumption of human nature inspires people to get beyond themselves. many chinese who have worked hard for years to finally achieve big success are believers and practicer of confucius doctrines.
certainly there are flaws of this jade. when people, especially children, can not meet the high expectations others set for them, some of them will get frustrated or even abandon themselves.
confucius institute
an interesting story from a recent danwei article tells us how the different views on human nature lead to different approach towards digging sports talent:
When he was 12 years old, some seniors said that Yao Ming was 'totally unfit for playing basketball'; now he is the most successful giant of the NBA. Now the guy that is called a 'blockhead' in China is being pursued in America by the NBA.
The same kid, a different conclusion. Here you can clearly see the differences between the way China and America look at talent: Americans always enthusiastically develop the strong skills of young players, while in China we first look for their weaknesses...
...If it wasn't for lengthy reports in the American media, we in China wouldn't know anything about [Sun Mingming - note from bingfeng: another target that NBA hopes to recruit].
back to the question raised above, i think whether or not to revive the confucianism depends on what we want and what we don't want. furthur studies and debates certainly help us understand the pros and cons of confuciansism in mordern china and i think the china remin university's initiative is a good one towards that direction.
china