Confucius under the Five Red Stars

2011 is a meaningful year for China as both sides of the Taiwan Strait is celebrating the overthrown of the last dynasty, Qing. Since then, China has become a republic, first the Republic of China and later in 1949, People’s Republic of China.

Confucius as the representative of traditional Chinese culture and values had been blamed for the weakness and incapability of Chinese people. However, when Chinese are gaining confident, especially with the economic progress, they make u-turn and begin to appreciate their own cultures and traditions.

12 January 2011 marked a re-emergence of Confucius and significantly, the great philosopher’s statue is established at Tian’anmen square, in front of the China National Museum. It is interesting to note that a giant photo of Mao Zedong is looking, across the Chang’an Street, at the statue of Confucius. Mao denounced Confucius during Cultural Revolution. However, now the new focus is on Confucius and traditional cultures.

Every morning, when the anthem of the People’s Republic is broadcasted and the flag of Five Red Stars is raised, both Confucius and Mao Zedong are witnessing the happenings. History some times is quite funny and creates possibility out of impossibility. Who can imagine such incidence will take place in the heart of China’s political centre?

Coincidently, Taiwan’s Ma also spoke on Chinese heritage and cultures in his 2011 New Year message. And Taiwan, too also wants to promote Chinese values to the world. Two parts of Ma message are reproduced here for a better understanding of Taiwan’s position in the spread of traditional Chinese culture and values. In Pledges from a Century Ago, one will understand the past history of 100 years. And in Visions for the Future, it shows the action plan of Taiwan.

Pledges from a Century Ago. 　 A century ago, as China was besieged by foreign powers and on the verge of collapse, Dr. Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing court and founded the Republic of China—the first republic in all of Asia. He made a pledge to the people to build a strong and prosperous nation.

A century ago, Chinese history consisted only of the succession of dynasties, and the people had no say in the matter. The establishment of the Republic of China was a pledge to the people to bring about a democratic way of life.　A century ago, Chinese society was plagued by a severe wealth gap and widespread illiteracy. The establishment of the Republic of China was a pledge to the people to bring about equitable distribution of wealth and education for everyone.　These pledges embody the ideals of the Three Principles of the People.

Passed down through generations, they have been enshrined in our Constitution and indelibly etched into our lives.　Today, with gratitude in our hearts, we pay our utmost respect to the martyrs and heroes of the Republic. Were it not for people like Lin Jue-min, who left his beloved wife for the cause, or Qiu Jin, who was martyred for her revolutionary ideals, or the countless other heroes and heroines who laid down their lives, the ROC would not be here today.

Visions for the Future 　 My fellow citizens, as the Republic of China begins its second century we should set our sights on the future and make four lofty resolutions: 　 In the next century, the ROC will be the standard-bearer at the leading edge of Chinese culture. Taiwan has never experienced anything like mainland China’s Cultural Revolution. Having preserved the rich roots of Chinese culture intact over the past six decades or so, Taiwan now dazzles the world with an aesthetic sense and artistic verve that are firmly grounded in a deep vein of traditional culture.

Taiwan also possesses the openness and innovation of a maritime culture. Traditional Chinese culture on this island early on absorbed the essence of Western contemporary civilization, which is manifested in its innovative art. Our dance, music, drama, visual arts, motion pictures, and television programming command high international acclaim and are reflective of a Chinese culture with Taiwan characteristics.　Among all the ethnically Chinese societies of the world, Confucian values are practiced more widely and more seriously in Taiwan than anywhere else. The virtues espoused by Confucianism -- benevolence, righteousness, filial devotion, respect for teachers, diligence, kindness, and simplicity -- have long been deeply ingrained in the fabric of our lives. Taiwan is also home to a strong civil society, a diversity of religious groups and other organizations, a free press, and an active volunteer force. We need only display our cultural creativity to the world to attract the world to us. Taiwan is poised to be the standard-bearer at the leading edge of Chinese culture.　 In the next century, the ROC will serve as a paragon of democracy for the Chinese-speaking world.

President Hu did not mention about Chinese culture and values in his 2011 New Year message. However, the following report from Xinhua news on the Confucius statue makes a step forward for the Chinese cultures and traditions.

Confucius erected near Tian'anmen Square

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A bronze statue of Confucius has been unveiled near the Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing.
The statue, at the north gate of the China National Museum, which overlooks the Chang' an Avenue, is 9.5 meters tall, including the stone base. The statue shows the scholar, born more than 2,500 years ago, putting his palms together in front of his chest and looking into the distance.

"Confucius was seen as a saint by many dynasties in Chinese history," said Lu Zhangshen, curator of the museum, at a ceremony to unveil the statue on Tuesday.
"He is the symbol of traditional Chinese culture, with a far-reaching impact across the globe," he said.

The statue was built by Wu Weishan, 48, president of the Sculpture Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts, and a member of Royal British Society of Sculptors. It took him about a year to finish the statue.

Wu has been making statues of famous historical persons since 1990. He started making statues of Confucius in 1994.
"In our social transformation period, we needed a cultural monument to pass down our traditional culture, which was represented by Confucius," said the long-haired artist.
Confucius, of the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC to 476 BC), guided people for thousands of years in many aspects of Chinese life, from raising children to ruling empires.
However, the reputation of the ancient scholar dropped sharply after Confucianism began to be seen as a symbol of outdated and backward feudal culture. Temples dedicated to the philosopher were torn down, and tombs of his descendants were destroyed.

Fifty-eight-year-old Kong Lingshao, a 76th-generation descendant of Confucius, had just finished primary school when the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) started. He remembered how the Red Guards pulled down statues of Confucius from the temples and dragged them through the streets, and criticized the philosopher at public meetings.
"As a descendant, I don't have words to express the humiliation I felt," Kong Lingshao said.
However, he noted that, after several years, the Chinese nation had finally begun to reflect on how to treat its traditional culture.

"In Confucianism, there were flaws, but who is flawless?" Kong asked, adding that tolerance and seeking harmony without uniformity were important beliefs under Confucianism.
Confucius has been regaining popularity in recent years. In 2007, a female lecturer attracted nationwide attention with her televised lecture series about the Analects of Confucius.
Then, last September, the Nishan Forum on World Civilization was held in Qufu, where domestic and overseas scholars drew upon the wisdom of the ancient sages, Confucius and Jesus.

By the end of 2010, China had set up more than 320 Confucius Institutes in 96 countries around the globe.

Wednesday was sunny in Beijing, and good for sightseeing. Several passers-by stopped to take photos of the statue.

Among them was 60-year-old Sun Qiqing, a retired official from the cultural bureau of Wuqi in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, a small city where the Long March ends. Sun’s hometown was Tai' an in Shandong, about 80 kilometers away from Qufu, the hometown of Confucius.

"I saw news of the unveiling ceremony and came to take some photos," he said.
He noted that Confucius was an icon of Chinese culture. "His main thought was harmony," he said, adding that building such a statue showed China's attempt to improve social harmony in its peaceful era.

Manuel Pavon Belizon from Spain believed that Confucius was the "top representation" of Chinese culture. Having lived in China for five years, he loves Chinese culture. He found that some of Confucius' ideas, like forgiveness, were similar to some beliefs in Christianity.
He said the statue is "a combination of tradition and modernity." "Its bronze colour was like the colour of ancient cauldrons he saw in museums, he added.

(Xinhua reporters Sun Yi, Tang Shaoming contributed to the report.)

Life is unpredictable

Good thing can easily turn into bad thing! Chinese wisdom always warns Chinese to be aware of pitfalls and to be humble in life.

On New Year Day, the Air Force chief of Taiwan was organising a wedding celebration for his son. It was attended by the Defence Minister and all senior military officers. A happy and honourable day for the wedding couple in deed!

Based on tradition, Air Force personnel will assist in preparation of the wedding party. However, this routine and bad tradition turned into a political issue and caused a demotion for the Air Force chief.

If we look at if from the Yi Jing perspective, it really is not a surprise. Yi Jing is advising talented people, especially those in power, to avoid making mistakes. A high ranking officer, with the potential to take over as the next Chief of General Staff (CGS) of the Taiwan defence force, the Air Force chief should learn to be humble and to be in alert of any possible conflict of interest in the eyes of the public.

Unfortunately, not only he did not stop the bad habit, he continued to allow his subordinates to draw up the strategic plan for the wedding. He even agreed to prepare the wedding party like a war plan with standard military operations procedures. He did not prevent this bad habit but continue to let it be. By Taiwan military tradition and logic, subordinates are allowed to assist superiors in celebration preparations, further other previous officers also practiced the same, so there is no reason to stop the Air Force chief to do the same. Bad luck to him, there are several weak points that he failed observe, in particular, timing, position and situation. These factors are highly stressed by Yi Jing.

Failure to observe Timing: Very soon, there will be a replacement for the Chief of General Staff (CGS) in the Taiwan defence force. By rotation, the CGS will have to come from the air force this time. Being the chief of air force, it is highly possible he will take over the CGS if he has made no mistake. If he has turned the wedding into a low key event, or even postpone the event to a later date, he would have change his “timing” and be in a favourable position.

Failure to observe Position: He had a good position until New Year Day. Being the most senior officer in the air force, quite naturally he will take over the post of CGS. But like the commercial world, other air force commanders are also aiming for the position of CGS. Even he has showed no strong desire to be CGS, other ambitious air force commanders may see him as an obstacle and knocking down the most qualified one, they will have the chance to move up. His “position” changed after the wedding party.

Failure to observer Situation: Since Ma Ying-jeou took over as President in 2008; he wanted to present a clean government. Even the Air Force chief had done nothing wrong as the subordinates were volunteering their services and he just kept the tradition of the military. But the political impact is very different. Perhaps, Chen Shui-bian might allow such a behaviour but certainly not Ma Ying-jeou. He needs to adjust to the changed “situation”.

To be humble
Out of the 64 hexagrams in the Yi Jing, only 1 hexagram (Humble Gua) is good in every (broken and unbroken lines) prediction. Humble Gua will bring luck and benefit to the person who draws it. However, all the guidance principles and instruction for Humble Gua are to be humble. Without practising humble, luck and benefit will be gone. This shows the importance of humility. Again, he is too proud to hold a luxury wedding party.

To be careful from start to end
Laozi even goes further to explain the importance of consistence of doing thing. Besides humility, to achieve success we have to be careful in every step from the beginning until the end. This is especially true that the last few steps are as importance as the first few steps. Many people fail at the end or half way because they do not practice consistency. They have relaxed themselves or lost their concentration and believe that success is within their reach in just a few steps away. It is not easy not to hold a grand party for our loved one’s wedding party but to achieve the final success, you will need to consider the timing, position, and situation.

Life is unpredictable as what the air force chief had experienced. But the Chinese wisdom is always there to remind us and unfortunately, we keep on forgetting the reminder!