Confusing Confucius in Contemporary China

[ 206 ] asia policy Confusing Confucius in Contemporary China Russell Leigh Moses A review of Daniel A. Bell China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008 u 280 pp. China is composed of many pieces and places, and for Daniel Bell the biggest piece in the place lately is Confucianism. China, we are told on the dust jacket, “is embracing a new Confucianism that offers a compelling alternative to Western liberalism,” especially as there is a moral vacuum with the rise of capitalism and the erosion of Marxist ideology. Bell’s argument is evinced in a series of chapters—topical essays, really, many of which were published elsewhere in different forms—and the book is divided into three sections: politics, society, and education. A fourth part of the book, labeled “Appendices,” further explores the connection between Confucianism and politics by looking at Yu Dan’s bestselling reappraisal and reapplication of The Analects as well as at how Confucianism might inform constitutionalism. Each section can be read on its own merits, but the common thread running through the book is stylistic. Bell weaves individual anecdotes into the current fabric of the country, presenting these aspects of China as representative of the country and the direction of the system as a whole. For politics, Bell points to scholars and intellectuals who write regularly about Confucianism and insists that the fact that they do publish and have a readership is indicative of their growing hold on political discourse. Democratic alternatives, he argues, are on the wane as far as serious options about China’s future are concerned and debated, and Confucianism fills the void nicely, given its traditional roots and a persistent nostalgia for a simpler time. And where foreign policy is concerned, Bell is quick to point out that Confucian notions of morality might well affect the conduct of military practices in a more humane direction. For all of these notions, causality is at a premium in Bell’s approach. As someone writing as a philosopher, Bell fills that tradition nicely, making russell leigh moses is Dean of the Beijing Center for Chinese Studies, where he also teaches courses on Chinese politics. He writes a column on Chinese political developments for the “China Real Time Report” online section of the Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at . [ 207 ] book reviews a compelling argument by presenting evidence that works in favor of a contention. He does not mention, however, other strands of the political narrative of contemporary China: the urge toward enhancing authoritarian rule evinced by a number of leading intellectuals and many members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the ceiling placed on political commentary on the Internet, the shrinking space for NGOs, and the fact that Confucianism is only very rarely spoken of in party publications, especially when reform is broached. In another instance, Bell submits that the rituals associated with Confucianism “serve to protect the interests of different vulnerable groups,” and he offers examples of family meals and the veneration of the elderly. But nowhere in this section does one read about how effective the new yearning for Confucianism is in the protection of human rights advocates detained or jailed by the state. Perhaps that discussion would deplete the argument of its force. Despite what Bell implies, the assembly of the odd indicator or two is not equivalent to demonstrating that what is noteworthy and new in Chinese society among some is at the same time necessarily pervasive and currently present in Chinese politics and among Chinese officials. Bell contends that the renewed interest in Confucianism is telling, but what about the uptick in attention to such luminaries as Hegel, Jürgen Habermas, and Hannah Arendt? Are German sages dominating Chinese political thinking? Of course not, but why is Confucius the man of the current match? Bell does not offer an opinion on that, eager as he is to promote the wave of Confucianism carrying so much of China before it. Everyday life in China is the subject of the second part of China’s New Confucianism. Sex, singing, sports, and domestic servants are the cases that Bell employs to further...