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May 4 Movement

May 4 Movement

The May Fourth Movement () was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement in early modern China. Taking place on May 4, 1919, it marked the upsurge of Chinese nationalism, and a re-evaluation of Chinese cultural insitutions, such as Confucianism. The movement grew out of dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Versailles settlement and the effect of the New Cultural Movement.

Background

Following Xinhai Revolution, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown and marked the end of thousands of years of imperial rule and theoretically ushered a new era where political power rested in the people. However, the reality was that China was a fragmented nation dominated by warlords, who were more concerned with their own political powers and and the survival of their own private armies, and by foreigners, who had commerical and semi-colonial interests in China. The Chinese Beiyang government was preoccupied with suppressing internal dissent and did little to counter the influence exerted by the imperialist foreign powers. The Beiyang government made various concessions to foreigners in order to gain monetary and military support against their rivals. This, together with the tangled warfare among warlords which was still continuing led to great suffering among the population. Furthermore, the development of the New Cultural Movement promoted the questioning and re-appraisal of millennia-old Chinese values. In addition, defeats against foreign powers and the presence of spheres of influence only inflammed more sense of nationalism among the Chinese people, particularly in students. These factors were the background which would eventually fuel the May Fourth Movement.

The outbreak and course of the May Fourth Movement

The Beiyang government entered World War I on the side of the Allies in 1917, on the condition that all German spheres of influence, such as Shandong, would be returned to China. However, Japan also entered the war as an Allied power and proceeded to attack German interests in China and annexed German spheres of influence when the war ended. In early 1919, the victorious nations of World War I convened a peace conference in Paris. The representatives of the Chinese government put forth the following requests:
- abolish all imperialist privileges, such as foreigners' immunity in Chinese courts, in China.
- cancel the "Twenty-One Demands" with the Japanese
- return Chinese territorial integrity of Shandong, which Japan had taken from Germany during World War I. Britain and the United States dominated the meeting and rejected the Chinese representatives' demands. The failure in diplomacy of China at the Paris Peace Conference became the incident that touched off the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement. On May 4th, over 3000 students of Peking University and other schools gathered together in front of Tiananmen and held a demonstration. They voiced their anger at the Allied betrayal of China and the government's inability to secure Chinese interests in the conference. They shouted out such slogans as "Struggle for the sovereignty externally, get rid of the national traitors at home", "Do away with the 'Twenty-One Demands'", "Don't sign the Versailles Treaty". They demanded punishment to figures as Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang, and Lu Zongyu, who held important posts as diplomats. The enraged students even burnt down Cao Rulin's house. The Beiyang government suppressed the demonstration and arrested many students. The next day, students in Beijing as a whole went on strike, and students in other parts of the country responded one after another. From early June, in order to support the students' struggle, workers and businessmen in Shanghai also went on strike. So did workers in other places one after another. The center of the movement moved from Beijing to Shanghai. In addition to students and intellectuals, the lower class was also very angry at the current state of affairs, such as mistreatment of workers and perpetual poverty of small peasants. Under intense public outcry, the Beiyang government had to release the arrested students and dismiss Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and Lu Zongyu from their posts. Also, the Chinese representatives in Paris refused to sign on the peace treaty: the May Fourth Movement won the initial victory. However, this move was more symbolic than anything else. It indicated that this would be the last unequal treaty to which the Chinese would submit. However, Japan still retained control of the Shandong Peninsula and the islands in the Pacific it had obtained during the Great War.

Historical significance and the New Cultural Movement

The May Fourth Movement is now claimed by the Communist movement that was to gain control of China in 1949 and keep power until today. A sample of this kind of communist interpretation of the May Fourth Movement follows: The May Fourth Movement was a thoroughly an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolutionary movement. Young students acted as its pioneers. The Chinese working class went up on the political stage, and functioned as the main force in the later period of the movement. Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu and other intellectuals directed and promoted the development of the movement, and played leading roles in it. On the local level, future Communist Party leader Mao Zedong rallied opposition against Hunan's warlorld Chang Ching-yao. The May Fourth Movement covered more than 20 provinces and over 100 cities of the country. It had a broader popular foundation than the Revolution of 1911. Its great contribution lay in arousing the people's consciousness and preparing for the unity of the revolutionary forces. The May Fourth Movement promoted the spreading of Marxism in China, and prepared the ideological foundation for the establishment of the Communist Party of China. The October Revolution pointed out the direction for the Chinese revolution. The May Fourth Movement, which took place after the October Socialist Revolution, was a part of the world's Proletarian Revolution. The May Fourth Movement marked the beginning of the New Democratic Revolution in China. It also served as a intellectual turning point in China. It was the seminal event that radicalized Chinese intellectual thought. Previously Western style liberal democracy had a degree of traction amongst Chinese intellectuals. However the Versailles Treaty was viewed as a betrayal. Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, cloaked as they were by moralism, were specifically and Western centrist thought more generally seen as hypocritical and was jettisoned by the Chinese intellectual community. The adoption of Marxist Leninism began to take hold on the left. It was during this time that communism was studied seriously by some Chinese intellectuals such as Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao.

Imperialist

Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a meansto use it in any reference to thems In the early 21st Centurhas turned its military, political, and Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel have been directly or otherwise substantially influenced is does not includeish Empire]] holdings of the time — n] and Pakistan.) As there are few other countries with such a capability, it has been said by some that U.S. military actions are partly or mostly acts of militarist imperialas groundless criticism against the U.S. whenever it takes a military action. Two unat the U.S. currently has a much larger and more sophisticated " adequately resembles past incarnations — Roman, British, German or otherwise.

Name dualism

One thing to note in some allegthe "melting" between the name -- and in many times, the sense of n and the other territories controlle including the titular nation itself. Some examples are:
- [[Ottoman Empire]] / [[de:Imperialismus ko:제국주의 ja:帝国主義 nn:[[sv:Imperialism]] [[th:ลัทธิจักรวรรดินิยม

May 4

May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). There are 241 days remaining.

Events

- 1471 - Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury – Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.
- 1493 - Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Demarcation Line.
- 1494 - Christopher Columbus lands in Jamaica.
- 1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
- 1675 - King Charles II of England orders the construction of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
- 1776 - Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
- 1814 - Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
- 1855 - American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville – The battle ends with a Union retreat.
- 1865 - Abraham Lincoln buried in Springfield, Illinois, three weeks after his assassination.
- 1869 - The Naval Battle of Hakodate takes place in Japan.
- 1871 - The National Association, the first professional baseball league, begins its first season.
- 1886 - Haymarket Square Riot: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, Illinois, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
- 1904 - Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal.
- 1910 - The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
- 1912 - Italy occupies the island of Rhodes.
- 1919 - May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
- 1924 - The 1924 Summer Olympics open in Paris, France.
- 1930 - British police arrest Mahatma Gandhi and place him in Yeravda Central Prison.
- 1932 - In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
- 1942 - World War II: Battle of the Coral Sea – The battle begins with the launch of attack aircraft from American and Japanese aircraft carriers.
- 1945 - World War II: Liberation of the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg by the British Army.
- 1945 - World War II: Surrender of the North Germany Army to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
- 1946 - In San Francisco Bay, US Marines from the Treasure Island Marine Barracks stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz federal prison. Five people are killed in the riot.
- 1948 - Norman Mailer's first novel, The Naked and the Dead, is published.
- 1949 - The entire Torino football (soccer) team (except for one player who did not take the trip due to an injury) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy.
- 1953 - Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
- 1959 - The first Grammy Awards are announced.
- 1961 - American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
- 1970 - Vietnam War: Kent State shootings – The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after the ROTC building was burnt down, opens fire on students protesting at the United States' invasion of Cambodia. Four students are killed, nine are wounded.
- 1972 - The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changed its name to "Greenpeace Foundation".
- 1974 - An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak.
- 1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1980 - President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia dies in Ljubljana at the age of 87.
- 1989 - Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and was acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.
- 1990 - Latvia proclaims independence.
- 1990 - Robert Murray, Handsome American Jokester, Inventor, Actor, Athlete, Scientist, Chemist, Screamer, DJ, Burger King, Top 10 Guy on www.facebattle.com, and Decorated War Hero is born. The world celebrates, and endangered species are repopulated.
- 1991 - In Rome, Italy, Carola wins the thirty-sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden singing "Fångad av en stormvind" (Trapped in a storm wind).
- 1994 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
- 1996 - José María Aznar is appointed Prime Minister of Spain, thus ending 13 years of Socialist rule.
- 1998 - A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepted a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
- 1999 - In California, Manuel Babbitt is executed for the 1980 murder of Leah Schendel. While on death row Babbitt was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries he received in the Vietnam War.
- 2002 - An EAS Airlines BAC 1-11-500 crashes in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria shortly after takeoff killing more than 148 people.
- 2003 - The Outbreak of 2003 begins. Ninety-four tornadoes begin the week-long outbreak.

Births

- 1008 - King Henry I of France (d. 1060)
- 1654 - Kangxi Emperor of China (d. 1722)
- 1655 - Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian maker of musical instruments (d. 1731)
- 1715 - Richard Graves, English writer (d. 1804)
- 1733 - Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor (d. 1799)
- 1772 - Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
- 1781 - Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher (d. 1832)
- 1796 - Horace Mann, American educator (d. 1859)
- 1820 - Julia Tyler, First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
- 1825 - Thomas Henry Huxley, English scientist (d. 1895)
- 1825 - Augustus Le Plongeon, French archaeologist (d. 1908)
- 1826 - Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
- 1827 - John Hanning Speke, British explorer (d. 1864)
- 1852 - Alice Pleasance Liddell, English schoolgirl model for Alice in Wonderland (d. 1934)
- 1870 - Alexandre Benois, Russian artist (d. 1860)
- 1873 - Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director (d. 1940)
- 1889 - Francis Cardinal Spellman, American religious leader (d. 1967)
- 1903 - Luther Adler, American stage actor (d. 1984)
- 1918 - Tanaka Kakuei, Japanese political leader (d. 1993)
- 1921 - Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (d. 2005)
- 1923 - Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian
- 1928 - Maynard Ferguson, Canadian musician
- 1928 - Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt
- 1929 - Audrey Hepburn, Belgian actress (d. 1993)
- 1929 - Sidney Lamb, American linguist
- 1930 - Roberta Peters, American soprano
- 1931 - Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian composer
- 1936 - El Cordobes, Spanish bullfighter
- 1937 - Dick Dale, American guitarist
- 1939 - Amos Oz, Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist
- 1941 - George Will, American writer
- 1942 - Nickolas Ashford, American record producer, songwriter, musician (Ashford and Simpson)
- 1942 - Tammy Wynette, American musician (d. 1998)
- 1944 - Roger Rees, British-born actor
- 1945 - Narasinham Ram, Indian journalist
- 1949 - John Force, American race car driver
- 1954 - Pia Zadora, American actress
- 1956 - David Guterson, American author
- 1956 - Ulrike Meyfarth, German athlete
- 1958 - Keith Haring, American graphical artist (d. 1990)
- 1959 - Randy Travis, American musician
- 1962 - Oleta Adams, American singer
- 1967 - Ana Gasteyer, American actress
- 1972 - Mike Dirnt, American musician (Green Day)
- 1976 - Jason Michaels, baseball player
- 1979 - Lance Bass, American musician (
- NSYNC)
- 1981 - Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
- 1984 - Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
- 1985 - Anthony Fedorov, American singer
- 1987 - Rebecca Wagoner, American college student
- 1989 - Becca Evans, Alcoholic rocker
- 1994 - Alexander Gould, American actor

Deaths

- 1471 - Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (killed in battle) (b. 1453)
- 1471 - Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, English military commander (executed)
- 1506 - Husayn Bayqarah, ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
- 1519 - Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
- 1566 - Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
- 1615 - Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish mathematician (b. 1561)
- 1626 - Arthur Lake, Bishop of Bath and Wells, English bishop and Bible translator (b. 1569)
- 1677 - Isaac Barrow, English mathematician (b. 1630)
- 1684 - John Nevison, English highwayman (b. 1639)
- 1729 - Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
- 1734 - James Thornhill, English painter
- 1737 - Eustace Budgell, English writer (b. 1686)
- 1774 - Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1714)
- 1776 - Jacques Saly, French sculptor (b. 1717)
- 1790 - Matthew Tilghman, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. [1718]])
- 1799 - Tipu Sultan, Indian military leader
- 1824 - Joseph Joubert, French essayist and moralist (b. 1754)
- 1849 - Hokusai, Japanese artist (b. 1760)
- 1880 - Edward Clark, Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
- 1903 - Goce Delchev, Macedonian revolutionary (b. 1872)
- 1938 - Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1889)
- 1955 - Georges Enescu, Romanian composer (b. 1881)
- 1961 - Anita Stewart, American film actress (b. 1895)
- 1969 - Osbert Sitwell, English writer (b. 1892)
- 1970 - Kent State victims:
- Allison Krause
- Jeffrey Miller
- Sandra Scheuer (b. 1949)
- William Schroeder (b. 1950)
- 1972 - Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
- 1975 - Moe Howard, American actor and comedian (b. 1897)
- 1980 - Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
- 1984 - Bob Clampett, American cartoonist (b. 1913)
- 1984 - Diana Dors, British actress (b. 1931)
- 1986 - Henri Toivonen, Finnish race car driver (b. 1956)
- 2005 - David Hackworth, U.S. Army officer and military journalist (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

- International - World Asthma Day
- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Saint Monica (d. 387)
- Ladislaus of Gielnow
- Saint Florian
- Saint Godehard
- Titianus
- Malou
- Saint Ethelred
- John Houghton, Robert Lawrence (martyr), Augustine Webster, Richard Reynolds (martyr), and John Hale (martyr); all put to death in 1535.
- The Netherlands - Remembrance of the dead (1940-1945)
- People's Republic of China - Youth Day (青年节, commemorating May Fourth Movement)
- Republic of China - Literary Day (文藝節, commemorating May Fourth Movement)

Puns

- Star Wars Day. May the Fourth (be with you)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/4 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050504.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- May 3 - May 5 - April 4 - June 4 – listing of all days ko:5월 4일 ms:4 Mei ja:5月4日 simple:May 4 th:4 พฤษภาคม

Chinese nationalism

Chinese nationalism refers to cultural, historiographical, and political theories, movements and beliefs that assert the idea of a cohesive, unified Chinese people and culture under state(s) that are primarily Chinese. One difficulty in this definition is the wide variation and ambiguities in the definition of the term Chinese.

Ideological basis

Chinese nationalism has drawn from extremely diverse ideological sources including traditional Chinese thinking, American progressivism, Marxism, and Russian ethnological thought. The ideology also presents itself in many different and often conflicting manifestations. These manifestations have included the Three Principles of the People, Chinese communism, the anti-government views of students in the Tiananmen protests of 1989, Fascist blueshirts, and Japanese collaborationism under Wang Jingwei. Although Chinese nationalists have agreed on the desirability of a centralized Chinese state, almost every other question has been the subject of intense and sometime bitter debate. Among the questions on which Chinese nationalists have disagreed is what policies would lead to a strong China, what is the structure of the state and its goal, what the relationship should be between China and foreign powers, and what should be the relationships between the majority Han Chinese, minority groups, and overseas Chinese. The vast variation in how Chinese nationalism has been expressed has been noted by many commentators including Lucian Pye who argues that this reveals a lack of content in the Chinese identity. However, others have argued that the ability of Chinese nationalism to manifest itself in many forms is a positive trait in that it allows the ideology to transform itself in response to internal crises and external events. Although the variations among conceptions of Chinese nationalism are great, Chinese nationalist groups maintain some similarities. Chinese nationalistic ideologies all regard Sun Yat-Sen very highly, and tend to claim to be ideological heirs of the Three Principles of the People. In addition, Chinese nationalistic ideologies tend to regard both democracy and science as positive forces, although they often have radically different notions of what democracy means.

Chinese self-consciousness

Although there has been a self-consciously Chinese state for several thousand years, the Chinese concept of the world was largely a division between the civilized world and the barbarian world and there was little concept of the belief that Chinese interests were served by a powerful Chinese state. Some authors such as Lucian Pye have argued that the modern "nation state" is fundamentally different from a traditional empire, although some have controversially argued that dynamics of the current People's Republic of China (PRC) share an essential similarity with the Ming and Qing Empires. There were only a few periods in Chinese history when China fought total wars against foreigners (most notably the Mongols and Manchus), whereas all other conflicts were mainly civil wars that led to dynastic changes. This particular property of Chinese history was not conducive to realize a Chinese nation-state until contact with Western countries in the 19th century.

Chinese nationalism and ethnicity

Defining the relationship between ethnicity and the Chinese identity has been a very complex issue throughout Chinese history. In the 17th century, the Manchus invaded the Chinese heartland (see China proper) and set up the Qing dynasty. Over the next centuries they would incorporate groups such as the Tibetans, the Mongols, and the Uighur into territories which they controlled. The Manchus were faced with the issue of maintaining loyalty among the people they ruled while at the same time maintaining a distinctive identity. The main method by which they accomplished this was by portraying themselves as enlightened Confucian sages part of whose goal was to preserve and maintain Chinese civilization. Over the course of centuries the Manchus were gradually assimilated into the Chinese culture and eventually many Manchus identified themselves as a disctinct Manchurian ethnic minority. The complexity of the relationship between ethnicity and the Chinese identity can be seen during the Taiping rebellion in which the rebels fought fiercely against the Manchus on the ground that they were barbarian foreigners while at the same time people fought just as fierce on behalf of the Manchus on the grounds that they were the preservers of traditional Chinese values. It was during this time that the concept of Han Chinese came into existence as a means of describing the majority Chinese. In the late 19th century, Chinese nationalism identified Han with Chinese and argued for the overthrow of the Manchus who were considered outside the realm of the Chinese nation. This led to many rebellions by Han Chinese. Sun Yat-sen once declared: "In order to restore our national independence, we must first restore the Chinese nation. In order to restore the Chinese nation, we must drive the barbarian Manchus back to the Changbai Mountains. In order to get rid of the barbarians, we must first overthrow the present tyrannical, dictatorial, ugly, and corrupt Qing government. Fellow countrymen, a revolution is the only means to overthrow the Qing government!" After the 1911 Revolution, the official definition of "Chinese" was expanded to include non-Han ethnicities as part of a comprehensive Zhonghua Minzu, although many historians argue that this was due mainly to the realization that a narrow definition of "Chinese" would result in a loss of Chinese territory, and that the Manchus were too sinicized to be considered an outside group. The official Chinese nationalistic view in the 1920s and 1930s was heavily influenced by modernism and social darwinism, and included advocacy of the cultural assimilation of ethnic groups dominated by the Han state into the "culturally advanced" Han state, to become in name as well as in fact members of the Zhonghua Minzu (Chinese ationality). Furthermore, it was also influenced by the fate of multi-ethnic states such as Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire versus officially monocultural states such as Germany. Over the next decades Chinese nationalism was influenced strongly by Russian ethnographic thinking, and the official ideology of the PRC asserts that Han Chinese are one of many ethnic groups, each of whose culture and language should be respected. However, many critics argue that despite this official view, assimilationist attitudes remain deeply entrenched, and popular views and actual power relationships create a situation in which Chinese nationalism has in practice meant Han dominance of minority areas and peoples and assimilation of those groups. During the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese nationalism within Mainland China became mixed with the rhetoric of Marxism, and nationalistic rhetoric become in large part subsumed into internationalist rhetoric. On the other hand, Chinese nationalism in Taiwan was primarily about preserving the ideals and lineage of Sun Yat-sen, the party he founded, the Kuomintang, and anti-Communism. While the definition of Chinese nationalism differed in ROC and PRC, both were adamant in claiming Chinese territories such as Diaoyutai Islands. In the 1990s, rising economic standards, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the lack of any other legitimizing ideology has led to what most observers see as a resurgence of nationalism within China.

Chinese nationalism and overseas Chinese

Chinese nationalism has had mutable relationships with Chinese living outside of Mainland China and Taiwan. Overseas Chinese were strong supporters of the 1911 revolution. After decolonization, overseas Chinese were encouraged to regard themselves as citizens of their own nations rather than as part of a Chinese nationalistic project. As a result ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia have sharply divided the concept of "ethnic Chinese" from the concept of "political Chinese" and have explicitly rejected being part of the Chinese nationalist project. During the 1960s the People's Republic of China and Republic of China (ROC) maintained different attitudes toward overseas Chinese. In the eyes of the PRC government overseas Chinese were considered capitalist agents, and maintaining good relations with southeast Asian governments was more important than maintaining the support of overseas Chinese. By contrast, the ROC desired good relations with overseas Chinese as part of an overall strategy to avoid diplomatic isolation and maintain its claim to be the sole legitimate government of China. With the reforms under Deng Xiaoping the attitude of the PRC toward overseas Chinese became much more favorable, and overseas Chinese were seen as a source of capital and expertise. In the 1990s, the PRC's efforts toward overseas Chinese became mostly focused on maintaining the loyalty of "newly departed overseas Chinese", which consisted of mostly graduate students having emigrated, mostly to the United States.

Chinese nationalism and Taiwan

One common goal of current Chinese nationalists is "reunification" of Mainland China and Taiwan. While this was the common stated goal of both the PRC and the ROC before 1991, both sides differed sharply on the form of the unification. After 1991, the ROC unofficially moved away from supporting eventual unification to a much more ambiguous position. One reason for the ambiguity is the stated threat that the PRC will take military action if a "Republic of Taiwan" is declared. Another reason is that the ROC itself remains split between supporters of Chinese nationalism, who support eventual reunification, and supporters of Taiwan independence, who reject political reunification as an ultimate goal and believe Taiwan is and should be an independent republic separate from the PRC. Much of the dispute in Taiwan on whether or how to reunify Taiwan and Mainland China has been muted because there is a general consensus on both sides in Taiwan to at least temporarily support the status quo, that is, to continue the current situation. Despite a consensus on status quo, the relationship between Chinese nationalism and Taiwan remains very controversial, with much of the controversy focused on symbolic issues such as the use of the Republic of China for the official name of the government on Taiwan. Broadly speaking, there is almost no support on Taiwan for immediate unification and the argument is over issues of culture and how Taiwanese should see themselves. Supporters of the pan-blue coalition tend to see mainland China as a economic and cultural opportunity and believe in greater links between Taiwan and the Mainland as well as a common Chinese identity, while supporters of the pan-green coalition see Taiwan as already an independent nation with its own identity whose independence must be preserved.

Counter-nationalism and opposition

In addition to the Taiwan independence movement, there are a number of ideologies which exist in opposition to Chinese nationalism. Opponents of Chinese nationalism attack it on various grounds. Some have asserted that Chinese nationalism is inherently backward and dictatorial and incompatible with a modern state. Others have asserted that Chinese nationalism is fundamentally an imperialist and/or racist ideology which in practice has led to oppression of minority groups such as Tibetans and Uighurs. On the other hand, Chinese nationalists support Chinese nationalism because it arose in an era of imperialism, and is fundamental to the founding of the modern Chinese state that is free from foreign domination. In this respect, the anti-imperialist aspect of Chinese nationalism is drastically different from types of nationalism that led to fascist states such as Nazi Germany.

Controversial division in northern and southern Chinese nationalism

Edward Friedman has controversially argued that there is a northern governmental, political, bureaucratic Chinese nationalism that is at odds with a southern, commercial Chinese nationalism. This division is rejected by most Chinese and many non-Chinese scholars, who believe that Friedman has overstated the differences between the north and the south, and point out that the divisions within Chinese society do not fall neatly in north-south divisions. See also: North China and South China.

Chinese populist nationalism

During the 1990s, Chinese intellectuals have vigorously debated the political meaning and significance of the rising nationalism in China. From their debates has emerged a multifarious populist nationalism which argues that anti-imperialist nationalism in China has provided a valuable public space for popular participation outside the country's political institutions and that nationalist sentiments under the postcolonial condition represent a democratic form of civic activity. Advocates of this theory promote nationalism as an ideal of populist politics and as an embodiment of the democratic legitimacy that resides in the will of the people. Detractors, however, disparage populist nationalism in China today, especially that expressed on the Internet, as a "hooligan culture" in which "Internet Red Guards" hurl obscenities not only against foreign "devils," but also against moderates and liberals who warn of the excesses and dangers that nationalism could pose to China's modernization. Chinese nationalism has recently found an outlet in anti-Japanese sentiment. Populist nationalism is a comparatively late development in Chinese nationalism of the 1990s. It began to take recognizable shape after 1996, as a joint result of the evolving nationalist thinking of the early 1990s and the ongoing debates on modernity, postmodernism, postcolonialism, and their political implications -- debates that have engaged many Chinese intellectuals since early 1995.

Contemporary Chinese Nationalism and China Can Say No

The end of the Cold War has seen the revival throughout the world of nationalist sentiments and aspirations. In China, the rapid decay of Communist ideology had led the CCP to emphasize its role as the paramount patriotic force and the guardian of the national pride in order to find a new basis of legitimacy to sustain its role. However, nationalist sentiment is not the sole province of the CCP and its propagandists. One truly remarkable phenomenon in the post-Cold War upsurge of Chinese nationalism is that Chinese intellectuals became one of the driving forces. Many well-educated people--social scientists, humanities scholars, writers and other professionals -- have given voice to and even become articulators for rising nationalistic discourse in the 1990s. As an indication of the popular, or market origins of recent Chinese nationalist sentiment, all coauthors of China Can Say No, the first in a string of defiant rebuttals to "American imperialism," are college educated, and most are self-employed (a freelancer, a fruit-stand owner, a poet, and two journalists working in the partly market-driven field of Chinese newspapers, periodicals, and television stations).

Confucianism

]] Confucianism (Chinese: 儒家, Pinyin Rújiā, lit. "The School of the Scholars"; or, less accurately, 孔教 Kŏng jiào, "The Religion of Confucius") is an East Asian ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius. It is a complex system of moral, social, political, and religious thought which had tremendous influence on the history of Chinese civilization down to the 21st century. Some have considered it to have been the "state religion" of imperial China. Debated during the Warring States Period and forbidden during the short-lived Qin Dynasty, Confucianism was chosen by Han Wudi for use as a political system to govern the Chinese state. Despite its loss of influence during the Tang Dynasty, Confucianist doctrine remained a mainstream Chinese orthodoxy for two millennia until the 20th century, when it was attacked by radical Chinese thinkers as a vanguard of a feudal system and an obstacle to China's modernization, eventually culminating in its repression and vilification during the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China . After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Confucianism has been revived in mainland China, and both interest in and debate about Confucianism have surged. The cultures most strongly influenced by Confucianism include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. This includes various territories, including mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macao), Taiwan, Singapore (settled predominantly by ethnic Chinese), the Korean peninsula, and Vietnam. Confucianism as passed down to the 20th and 21st centuries derives primarily from the school of the Neo-Confucians, led by Zhu Xi, who gave Confucianism renewed vigour in the Song and later dynasties. Neo-Confucianism combined Taoist and Buddhist ideas with existing Confucian ideas to create a more complete metaphysics than had ever existed before. At the same time, many forms of Confucianism have historically declared themselves opposed to the Buddhist and Taoist belief systems.

Development of early Confucianism

Confucius (551–479 BCE) was a famous sage and social philosopher of China whose teachings deeply influenced East Asia for twenty centuries. The relationship between Confucianism and Confucius himself, however, is tenuous. Confucius' ideas were not accepted during his lifetime and he frequently bemoaned the fact that he remained unemployed by any of the feudal lords. As with many other prominent figures such as Siddhartha Gautama, Jesus, or Socrates, we do not have direct access to Confucius' ideas. Instead, we have recollections by his disciples and their students . This factor is further complicated by the "Burning of the Books and Burying of the Scholars", a massive suppression of dissenting thought during the Qin Dynasty, more than two centuries after Confucius' death. What we now know of Confucius' writings and thoughts is therefore somewhat unreliable. However, we can sketch out Confucius' ideas from the fragments that remain. Confucius was a man of letters who worried about the troubled times he lived in. He went from place to place trying to spread his political ideas and influence to the many kings contending for supremacy in China. The disintegration of the Zhou Dynasty in the third century BCE created a power vacuum filled by small states. Deeply persuaded of the need for his mission — "If right principles prevailed through the empire, there would be no need for me to change its state" Analects XVIII, 6 — Confucius tirelessly promoted the virtues of ancient illustrious kings such as the Duke of Zhou. Confucius tried to amass sufficient political power to found a new dynasty, as when he planned to accept an invitation from a rebel to "make a Zhou dynasty in the East" (Analects XV, 5). As the common saying that Confucius was a "king without a crown" indicates, however, he never gained the opportunity to apply his ideas. He was expelled from states many times and eventually returned to his homeland to spend the last part of his life teaching. The Analects of Confucius, the closest we have to a primary source for his thoughts, relates the discussions with his disciples in short sayings. This book contains a compilation of questions and answers, excerpts from conversations, and anecdotes from Confucius' life, but there is no account of a coherent system of thought. Unlike most Western philosophers, Confucius did not rely on deductive reasoning, the law of non-contradiction, logic, or proofs to convince his listeners. Instead, he used figures of rhetoric such as analogy, aphorism and even tautology to explain his ideas. Most of the time these techniques were highly contextualised. For these reasons, Western readers might find his philosophy muddled or unclear. However, Confucius claimed that he sought "a unity all pervading" (Analects XV, 3) and that there was "one single thread binding my way together." (op. cit. IV, 15). The first occurrences of a real Confucian system may have been created by his disciples or by the disciples of his disciples. During the philosophically fertile period of the Hundred Schools of Thought, great early figures of Confucianism such as Mencius and Xun Zi (not to be confused with Sun Zi) developed Confucianism into an ethical and political doctrine. Both had to fight contemporary ideas and gain the ruler's confidence through argumentation and reasoning. Mencius gave Confucianism a fuller explanation of human nature, of what is needed for good government, of what morality is, and founded his idealist doctrine on the claim that human nature is essentially good (性善説). Xun Zi opposed many of Mencius' ideas, and built a structured system upon the idea that human beings were essentially bad (性悪説) and had to be educated and exposed to the rites (li), before being able to express their goodness. Some of Xun Zi's disciples, such as Han Feizi and Li Si, became Legalists (a kind of law-based early totalitarianism, quite distant from virtue-based Confucianism) and conceived the state system that allowed Qin Shi Huang to unify China under the strong state control of every human activity. The culmination of Confucius' dream of unification and peace in China can therefore be argued to have come from Legalism, a school of thought almost diametrically opposed to his reliance on rites and virtue.

The spread of Confucianism

Confucianism survived its suppression during the Qin Dynasty partly thanks to the discovery of a trove of Confucian classics hidden in the walls of a scholar's house. After the Qin, the new Han Dynasty approved of Confucian doctrine and sponsored Confucian scholars, eventually making Confucianism the official state philosophy (see Emperor Wu of Han). Study of the Confucian classics became the basis of the government examination system and the core of the educational curriculum. No serious attempt to replace Confucianism arose until the advent of communism in the 20th century. After its reformulation as Neo-Confucianism by Zhu Xi and the other Neo-Confucians, Confucianism also became accepted as state philosophies in Korea and Japan. Korea of the Yi Dynasty has been termed a "Confucian state." [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-35013] Many sources, including the Baltimore Sun (U.S.), have called Singapore the modern world's "only Confucian state." [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/message/435] The Asian values debate of the 1990s stems in large part from the question of the role of Confucian social approaches in modern societies, especially economic development.

Rites

Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously. (Analects II, 3)

The above explains an essential difference between legalism and ritualism and points to a key difference between Western and Eastern societies. Confucius argues that under law, external authorities administer punishments after illegal actions, so people generally behave well without understanding reasons why they should; whereas with ritual, patterns of behaviour are internalised and exert their influence before actions are taken, so people behave properly because they fear shame and want to avoid losing face. "Rite" (禮; Lǐ) stands here for a complex set of ideas that is difficult to render in Western languages. The Chinese character for "rites" previously had the religious meaning of "sacrifice" (the character 禮 is composed of the character 示, which means "altar", to the left of the character 曲 placed over 豆, representing a vase full of flowers and offered as a sacrifice to the gods; cf. Wenlin). Its Confucian meaning ranges from politeness and propriety to the understanding of everybody's correct place in society. Externally, ritual is used to distinguish between people; their usage allows people to know at all times who is the younger and who the elder, who is the guest and who the host and so forth. Internally, they indicate to people their duty amongst others and what to expect from them. Internalisation is the main process in ritual. Formalised behaviour becomes progressively internalised, desires are channelled and personal cultivation becomes the mark of social correctness. Though this idea conflicts with the common saying that "the cowl does not make the monk", in Confucianism sincerity is what enables behaviour to be absorbed by individuals. Obeying ritual with sincerity makes ritual the most powerful way to cultivate oneself. Thus "Respectfulness, without the Rites, becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without the Rites, becomes timidity; boldness, without the Rites, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness, without the Rites, becomes rudeness" (Analects VIII, 2). Ritual can be seen as a means to find the balance between opposing qualities that might otherwise lead to conflict. Ritual divides people into categories and builds hierarchical relationships through protocols and ceremonies, assigning everyone a place in society and a form of behaviour. Music, which seems to have played a significant role in Confucius' life, is given as an exception as it transcends such boundaries, 'unifying the hearts'. Although the Analects promotes ritual heavily, Confucius himself often behaved otherwise; for example, when he cried at his preferred disciple's death, or when he met a fiendish princess (VI, 28). Later more rigid ritualists who forgot that ritual is "more than presents of jade and silk" (XVII, 12) strayed from their master's position.

Governing

"To govern by virtue, let us compare it to the North Star: it stays in its place, while the myriad stars wait upon it." (Analects II, 1)

Another key Confucian concept is that in order to govern others one must first govern oneself. When developed sufficiently, the king's personal virtue spreads beneficent influence throughout the kingdom. This idea is developed further in the Great Learning and is tightly linked with the Taoist concept of wu wei: the less the king does, the more that is done. By being the "calm centre" around which the kingdom turns, the king allows everything to function smoothly and avoids having to tamper with the individual parts of the whole. This idea may be traced back to early shamanistic beliefs, such as that of the king (wang, 王) being the axle between the sky, human beings and the Earth. (The character itself shows the three levels of the universe, united by a single line.) Another complementary view is that this idea may have been used by ministers and counsellors to deter aristocratic whims that would otherwise be to the detriment of the population.

Meritocracy

"In teaching, there should be no distinction of classes."
(Analects XV, 39)

Although Confucius claimed that he never invented anything but was only transmitting ancient knowledge (see Analects VII, 1), he did produce a number of new ideas. Many western admirers such as Voltaire and H.G. Creel point to the (then) revolutionary idea of replacing the nobility of blood with one of virtue. Jūnzǐ (君子), which had meant "noble man" before Confucius' work, slowly assumed a new connotation in the course of his writings, rather as "gentleman" did in English. A virtuous plebeian who cultivates his qualities can be a "gentleman", while a shameless son of the king is only a "small man". That he allowed students of different classes to be his disciples is a clear demonstration that he fought against the feudal structures in Chinese society. Another new idea, that of meritocracy, led to the introduction of the Imperial examination system in China. This system allowed anyone who passed an examination to become a government officer, a position which would bring wealth and honour to the whole family. Though the European enthusiasm toward China died away after 1789, China gave Europe one very important practical legacy: the modern civil service. The Chinese examination system seems to have been started in 165 BCE, when certain candidates for public office were called to the Chinese capital for examination of their moral excellence by the emperor. Over the following centuries the system grew until finally almost anyone who wished to become an official had to prove his worth by passing written government examinations. Confucius praised those kings who left their kingdoms to those apparently most qualified rather than to their elder sons. His achievement was the setting up of a school that produced statemen with a strong sense of state and duty, known as Rujia 儒家, the 'School of the Literati'. During the Warring States Period and the early Han dynasty China grew greatly and the need for a solid and centralized corporation of government officers able to read and write administrative papers arose. As a result Confucianism was promoted and the corporation of men it produced became an effective counter to the remaining landowner aristocrats otherwise threatening the unity of the state. Since then Confucianism has been used as a kind of "state religion", with authoritarianism, legitimism, paternalism and submission to authority used as political tools to rule China. In fact most emperors used a mix of legalism and Confucianism as their ruling doctrine, often with the latter embellishing the former. They also often used different varieties of Taoism or Buddhism as their personal philosophy or religion. As with many revered men, Confucius himself would probably have disapproved of much that has been done in his name: the use of ritual is only part of his teachings.

Themes in Confucian thought

A simple way to appreciate Confucian thought is to consider it as being based on varying levels of honesty. In practice, the elements of Confucianism accumulated over time and matured into the following forms:

Ritual

Ritual (lǐ, 禮) originally signified "to sacrifice" in a religious ceremony. In Confucianism the term was soon extended to include secular ceremonial behaviour before being used to refer to the propriety or politeness which colours everyday life. Rituals were codified and treated as an all-embracing system of norms. Confucius himself tried to revive the etiquette of earlier dynasties, but following his death he himself became regarded as the great authority on ritual behaviour. (Cf. contemporary term lǐmào 礼貌, "polite"; mào 礼貌 = "appearance")
Relationships
One theme central to Confucianism is that of relationships, and the differing duties arising from the different status one held in relation to others. Individuals are held to simultaneous stand in different degrees of relationship with different people, namely, as a junior in relation to their parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to their children, younger siblings, students, and others. While juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe strong duties of reverence and service to their seniors, seniors also have duties of benevolence and concern toward juniors. This theme consistently manifests itself in many aspects of East Asian culture even to this day, with extensive filial duties on the part of children toward parents and elders, and great concern of parents toward their children.
Filial piety
Filial piety, filiality, or filial devotion (xiào, 孝) is considered among the greatest of virtues and must be shown towards both the living and the dead. The term "filial", meaning "of a child", denotes the respect and obedience that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents, especially to his father. This relationship was extended by analogy to a series of five relationships or five cardinal relationships (五伦 Wǔlún): #father and son (父子), #ruler and subject (君臣), #husband and wife (夫婦), #elder and younger brother (兄弟), #between friends (朋友) Specific duties were prescribed to each of the participants in these sets of relationships. Such duties were also extended to the dead, where the living stood as sons to their deceased family. This led to the veneration of ancestors. In time, filial piety was also built into the Chinese legal system: a criminal would be punished more harshly if the culprit had committed the crime against a parent, while fathers exercised enormous power over their children. Much the same was true of other unequal relationships. The main source of our knowledge of the importance of filial piety is The Book of Filial Piety, a work attributed to Confucius but almost certainly written in the third century BC. Filial piety has continued to play a central role in Confucian thinking to the present day.
Loyalty
Loyal (zhōng, 忠) is the equivalent of filial piety on a different plane, between ruler and minister. It was particularly relevant for the social class to which most of Confucius' students belonged, because the only way for an ambitious young scholar to make his way in the Confucian Chinese world was to enter a ruler's civil service. Like filial piety, however, loyalty was often subverted by the autocratic regimes of China. Confucius had advocated a sensitivity to the realpolitik of the class relations that existed in his time; he did not propose that "might makes right", but that a superior who had received the "Mandate of Heaven" (see below) should be obeyed because of his moral rectitude. In later ages, however, emphasis was placed more on the obligations of the ruled to the ruler, and less on the ruler's obligations to the ruled.
Humaneness
Confucius was concerned with people's individual development, which he maintained took place within the context of human relationships. Ritual and filial piety are the ways in which one should act towards others from an underlying attitude of humaneness. Confucius' concept of humaneness (rén, 仁) is probably best expressed in the Confucian version of the Golden Rule phrased in the negative: "Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you". Rén also has a political dimension. If the ruler lacks rén, Confucianism holds, it will be difficult if not impossible for his subjects to behave humanely. Rén is the basis of Confucian political theory: it presupposes an autocratic ruler, exhorted to refrain from acting inhumanely towards his subjects. An inhumane ruler runs the risk of losing the "Mandate of Heaven", the right to rule. Such a mandateless ruler need not be obeyed. But a ruler who reigns humanely and takes care of the people is to be obeyed strictly, for the benevolence of his dominion shows that he has been mandated by heaven. Confucius himself had little to say on the will of the people, but his leading follower Mencius did state on one occasion that the people's opinion on certain weighty matters should be polled.
The perfect gentleman
The term "Jūnzǐ" (君子) is a term crucial to classical Confucianism. Literally meaning "son of a ruler", "prince", or "noble", the ideal of a "gentleman," "proper man," or "perfect man" is that for which Confucianism exhorts all people to strive. A succinct description of the "perfect man" is one who "combine[s] the qualities of saint, scholar, and gentleman" (CE). (In modern times, the masculine bias in Confucianism may have weakened, but the same term is still used; the masculine translation in English is also traditional and still frequently used.) A hereditary elitism was bound up with the concept, and gentlemen were expected to act as moral guides to the rest of society. They were to:
- cultivate themselves morally;
- participate in the correct performance of ritual;
- show filial piety and loyalty where these are due; and
- cultivate humaneness. The great exemplar of the perfect gentleman is Confucius himself. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of his life was that he was never awarded the high official position which he desired, from which he wished to demonstrate the general well-being that would ensue if humane persons ruled and administered the state. The opposite of the Jūnzǐ was the Xiǎorén (小人), literally "small person" or "petty person." Like English "small", the word in this context in Chinese can mean petty in mind and heart, narrowly self-interested, greedy, superficial, and materialistic.
Debates

Does Confucianism promote corruption?
Different from many other political philosophies, Confucianism is reluctant to employ laws. In a society where relationships are considered more important than the laws themselves, if no other power forces government officers to take the common interest into consideration, corruption and nepotism will arise. As government officers' salary was often far lower than the minimum required to raise a family, Chinese society has frequently been affected by those problems, and still is. Even if some means to control and reduce corruption and nepotism have been successfully used in China, Confucianism is criticized for not providing such a means itself. One major argument against this criticism is that the so-called Confucian East Asian societies such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and China have exhibited the most extrordinary growth rates in economic history. Singapore has also consistently been noted as one of the most corruption-free states on earth. If Confucianism promotes corruption, how can such rapid growth be possible? Critics point to continuing problems with nepotism and corruption in those countries and slowing economic growth in the past decade, not only in Japan, but also, to a lesser extent, in the others. Furthermore, Singapore may be classed as an example of a Western, Kantian system of rule by law, or perhaps a Legalist system, rather than Confucian.
Was there a Confucianism?
One of the many problems in discussing the history of Confucianism is the question of what Confucianism is. In this article, Confucianism can be understood roughly as largely "the stream of individuals, claiming Master Kong to be the Greatest Master" while it also means "the social group following moral, political, and philosophical doctrine of what was considered, at a given time, as the orthodox understanding of Confucius". In this meaning, this "group" can be identified, during periods of discussions with others doctrines, like Han and Tang dynasty, with a kind of political party. During periods of Confucian hegemony, such as during the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, it can be identified roughly with the social class of government officials. But the reality of such a grouping is debated. In his book, Manufacturing Confucianism, Lionel Jensen claims that our modern image of Confucius and Confucianism, which is that of a wise symbol of learning and a state-sponsored quasi-religion, did not exist in China from time immemorial, but was manufactured by European Jesuits, as a "translation" of the ancient indigenous traditions, known as "Ru Jia", in order to portray Chinese society to Europeans. The notion of Confucianism was then borrowed back by the Chinese, who used it for their own purposes. Therefore, we could define Confucianism as "any system of thinking that has, at its foundations, the works that are regarded as the 'Confucian classics', which was the corpus used in the Imperial examination system". Even this definition runs into problems because this corpus was subject to changes and additions. Neo-Confucianism, for instance, valorized the Great Learning and the Zhong Yong in this corpus, because their themes are close to those of Taoism and Buddhism.
The Script controversy
The origin of this problem lies with the attempt of the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to burn all of the books. After the Qin dynasty was overthrown by the Han, there was the monumental task of recreating all of the knowledge that was destroyed. The method undertaken was to find all of the remaining scholars and have them reconstruct, from memory, the texts that were lost. This produced the "New Script" texts. Afterwards, people began finding fragments of books that had escaped the burning. Piecing those together produced the "Old Script" texts. One problem that has plagued Confucianism, through the ages, is the question of which set of texts is the more authentic; the "Old Script" texts tend to have greater acceptance. In actuality, the verification and comparison for authenticity between the 'old scripts' and 'new scripts' text has remained the works of Confucian scholars for 2000 years up to the twentieth century. Their work also involved interpretation and derivation of meanings from the text under a field of study was known as Jingxue 經學 ("the study of classics").
Is Confucianism a religion?
It is debatable whether Confucianism should be called a religion. While it prescribes a great deal of ritual, little of it could be construed as worship or meditation in a formal sense. Confucius occasionally made statements about the existence of other-worldly beings that sound distinctly agnostic and humanistic to Western ears. Thus, Confucianism is often considered an ethical tradition and not a religion. Its effect on Chinese and other East Asian societies and cultures has been immense and parallels the effects of religious movements, seen in other cultures. Those who follow the teachings of Confucius are comforted by it; it makes their lives more complete and their sufferings bearable. It includes a great deal of ritual and (in its Neo-Confucian formulation) gives a comprehensive explanation of the world, of human nature, etc. Moreover, religions in Chinese culture are not mutually exclusive entities — each tradition is free to find its specific niche, its field of specialisation. One can be a Taoist, Christian, Muslim, Shintoist or Buddhist and still profess Confucianist beliefs. Although Confucianism may include ancestor worship, sacrifice to ancestral spirits and an abstract celestial deity, and the deification of ancient kings and even Confucius himself, all these features can be traced back to non-Confucian Chinese beliefs established long before Confucius and, in this respect, make it difficult to claim that such rituals make Confucianism a religion. Generally speaking, Confucianism is not considered a religion by Chinese or other East Asian people. Part of this attitude may be explained by the stigma placed on many "religions" as being superstitious, illogical, or unable to deal with modernity. Many Buddhists state that Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy, and this is partially a reaction to negative popular views of religion. Similarly, Confucians maintain that Confucianism is not a religion, but rather a moral code or philosophic world view. The question of whether Confucianism is a religion, or otherwise, is ultimately a definitional problem. If the definition used is worship of supernatural entities, the answer may be that Confucianism is not a religion, but then this definition could also be used to argue that many traditions commonly held to be religious (Buddhism, some forms of Islam, etc.) are also not, in fact, religions. If, on the other hand, a religion is defined as (for example) a belief system that includes moral stances, guides for daily life, systematic views of humanity and its place in the universe, etc., then Confucianism most definitely qualifies. As with many such important concepts, the definition of religion is quite contentious. Herbert Fingarette's Confucius: The Secular as Sacred is a good treatment of this issue.
Names for Confucianism
Several names for Confucianism exist in .
- "School of the Scholars" (pinyin Rújiā)
- 儒家 (Traditional and Simplified Chinese)
- "Teaching of the Scholars" (pinyin: Rujiao)
- 儒教 (Traditional and Simplified)
- "Scholarly study" or "Scholar studies" (pinyin: Ruxue)
- 儒學 (Traditional)
- 儒学 (Simplified)
- "Teaching of Confucius" or "Religion of Confucius" (pinyin: Kongjiao)
- 孔教 (Traditional and Simplified) Three of these four (namely Rujia, Rujiao, Ruxue) use the Chinese term Ru, meaning a scholar. These names do not use the name "Confucius" (Kong Zi) at all, but instead central on the central figure/ideal of the Confucian scholar. Rujia, in addition to "School of the Scholars" also literally means "Scholar house" or "Scholar family." Rujiao and Kongjiao contain the Chinese term jiao, the noun "teaching", used in such as terms as "education" or "educator", but also, notably, the term most frequently used for constructing the names of religions in Chinese. The terms for Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and other religions in Chinese all end with jiao: Jidujiao (Christianity: literally, the Teaching or Religion —jiao—of Christ—Jidu), Youtaijiao (Judaism: the Youtai—from Judah or Yehuda, Hebrew for "Jew"—religion) and Yisilanjiao (Islam). Ruxue contains xue, meaning literally "study" or "studies", but parallel to the suffix "-ology" or "-ics", used in the Chinese term for most sciences and academic fields (e.g. Huaxue 化学, "chemistry"; xinlixue 心理学, "psychology").
Confucianism and other schools of thought
Inter-religious or inter-philosophical dialogue has occurred in the modern period between scholars of Confucianism and scholars of several religions, including Islam and Christianity.
Confucianism and Catholicism
Representing a relatively traditionalist-humanist viewpoint of Catholic thought, the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia declares: "In Confucianism there is much to admire." The Encyclopedia praises its "noble conception of the supreme Heaven-god" as well as the high standard of morality, and the "refining influence of literary education and of polite conduct" it holds Confucianism to have brought about. The Encylopedia goes on to say, however, that Confucianism is nonetheless "encumbered" with serious defects deriving from what it calls the "imperfect civilization of its early development." The work has criticized Confucianism's association of the Supreme Being or Heavenly Being (Tian or Tien) with nature spirits, its "superstitious" use of divination, and sacrifices to spirits and ancestors. It suggests that Confucianism cannot "answer fully to the religious needs of the heart" since it deemphasizes active participation in worship of the deity, has "little use of prayer," recognizes no concept of grace, and has "no definite teaching" regarding the afterlife. The social system promoted by traditional Confucianism, it claims, "has lifted the Chinese to an intermediate grade of culture, but has blocked for ages all further progress." The Encyclopedia cites "rigid" customs, a "patriarchal system with its attendant evils of polygamy and divorce," repression of women, little emphasis on individual freedom as features for concern.
Quotations

- The Master said, "I have been the whole day without eating, and the whole night without sleeping — occupied with thinking. It was of no use. The better plan is to learn." (Analects XV. 30. tr. Legge)
- Zilu (an impetuous disciple of Confucius) asked how one should serve ghosts and spirits. The Master said, "Till you have learnt to serve men, how can you serve ghosts?" Zilu then ventured upon a question about the dead. The Master said, "Till you know about the living, how are you to know about the dead?" (Analects XI. 11. tr. Waley)
- "Show respect to the spirits and deities, then keep away from them." (Confucius is held to have refused to discuss the subject of magic, devils, and Heaven).
See also

- List of Confucianists
- Traditional Chinese religion
- Eastern philosophy
External links

Translations

- [http://www.comparative-religion.com/confucianism/ Confucianism and Confucian texts]
- [http://afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Lunyu The Analects of Confucius] in Chinese with English translations of James Legge and D.C. Lau
Articles and books

- [http://www.mti.gov.sg/public/NWS/frm_NWS_Default.asp?sid=39&cid=223 Chinese Culture and Politics] by George Yeo, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore, at The Golden Jubilee Anniversary Of New Asia College, Hong Kong
- Fingarette, Herbert. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1577660102/103-3648291-0906232?v=glance Confucius: The Secular as Sacred]. ISBN 1577660102.
- [http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~yuenck/c De-Mystifying Confucius] Category:Secularism Category:Chinese traditional religion ko:유교 ja:儒教

Xinhai Revolution

The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution (Chinese: 辛亥革命; pinyin: Xīnhài Gémìng), named for the Chinese year of Xinhai (1911), was the overthrow (October 10, 1911–February 12, 1912) of China's ruling Qing Dynasty, sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, and the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution began with the armed Wuchang Uprising and the spread of republican insurrection through the southern provinces, and culminated in the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor after lengthy negotiations between rival Imperial and Republican regimes based in Beijing and Nanjing respectively. The Revolution inaugurated a period of struggle over China's eventual constitutional form, which saw two brief monarchical restorations and successive periods of political fragmentation before the Republic's final establishment.

Beiyang

The term Beiyang (Chinese: 北洋; pinyin: Běiyáng; Wade-Giles: Peiyang) originated toward the end of the Qing dynasty, and it refered to the coastal areas of Fengtian (Chinese: 奉天; pinyin: Fèngtiān) (today's Liaoning), Zhili (Chinese:直隶; pinyin: Zhílì) (today's Hebei, and Shandong in northeast China. For more detailed treatment see Beiyang Army. category:History of China

Spheres of influence

A sphere of influence is a metaphorical region of political influences surrounding a country or a region of economic influence around an urban area. It is also known as a SOI. When a country falls into another's "sphere of influence" that country frequently becomes subsidiary to the more powerful one, operating as a satellite state or de facto colony. For example, during the height of its existence, the Japanese Empire had quite a large sphere of influence, with the Japanese government influencing, or directly governing events in Korea, Manchuria, Vietnam, Taiwan, and parts of China. The Japanese "sphere of influence" could thus be quite easily drawn on a map of the Pacific Ocean as a large "bubble" surrounding the islands of Japan and the Asian nations it controlled. During the Cold War, Western Europe, Japan, and South Korea were often said to lie under the sphere of influence of the United States, while Eastern Europe, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and (until the Sino-Soviet split) the People's Republic of China were said to lie under the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. Sometimes portions of a single country can fall into two distinct spheres of influence. In the colonial era the buffer states of Iran and Thailand, lying between the empires of Britain/Russia and Britain/France respectively, were divided between the spheres of influence of the imperial powers. Likewise, after World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, which later consolidated into West Germany and East Germany, the former a member of NATO and the latter a member of the Warsaw Pact. In California "sphere of influence" has a legal meaning as a plan for the probable physical boundaries and service area of a local agency. Spheres of influence of California local agencies are regulated by Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCO). Each county in California has a LAFCO.

Disambiguation

- Sphere of Influence Inc. - Consulting firm

External link

- [http://commoncensus.org The CommonCensus Map Project] - Calculates the spheres of influence for American cities based on voting Category:Sociology Category:Political theories Category:International relations

Nationalism

Nationalism is an ideology which holds that the nation, ethnicity or national identity is a "fundamental unit" of human social life, and makes certain political claims based upon that belief; above all, the claim that the nation is "the only legitimate basis for the state", and that "each nation is entitled to its own state". In this form, nationalism is a universal ideology; but the term also refers to the specific ideology of nationalist movements, which make political claims on behalf of specific nations. Nationalism is also defined as a "specific conceptual perspective," born in 16th century England and eventually spread to other communities, that forms "the constitutive element of modernity." These movements may dispute each others specific claims; nevertheless, they share the same general nationalist ideology. Two of the standard (and methodologically dissimilar) works in nationalism are Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities" and Liah Greenfeld's "Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity." Nationalists define individual nations on the basis of certain criteria, which distinguish one nation from another; and also determine "who is a member of each nation". These criteria might include a shared language, a shared culture, and/or shared values; but the most important is probably now ethnicity, the belonging to or membership of an ethnic group. National identity refers both to these defining criteria, and to the "sense of belonging" to that group. Nationalists see membership of nation as exclusive and involuntary, meaning that you can not simply "join it", like any other association. Nationalism sees most human activity as national in character. Nations have national symbols, a national character, a national culture, a national music and national literature; national folklore, a national mythology and - in some cases - even a national religion. Individuals share national values and a national identity; admire the national hero, eat the national dish and play the national sport. Nationalism has had an enormous influence upon world history and geopolitics, since the nation-state has become the dominant form of state. Most of the world's population now lives in states which are, at least nominally, nation-states. The word 'nation' is often inaccurately used as a synonym for these states. The nation state is intended to guarantee the existence of a nation, to preserve its distinct identity, and to provide a territory where the national culture and ethos are dominant. Most nation-states appeal to a cultural and histo

May 4 Movement

Background

The outbreak and course of the May Fourth Movement

Historical significance and the New Cultural Movement

See also

Imperialist

Name dualism

May 4

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Puns

External links

Chinese nationalism

Ideological basis

Chinese self-consciousness

Chinese nationalism and ethnicity

Chinese nationalism and overseas Chinese

Chinese nationalism and Taiwan

Counter-nationalism and opposition

Controversial division in northern and southern Chinese nationalism

Chinese populist nationalism

Contemporary Chinese Nationalism and China Can Say No

Further reading

See also

Confucianism

Development of early Confucianism

The spread of Confucianism

Rites

Governing

Meritocracy

Themes in Confucian thought

Ritual

Relationships

Filial piety

Loyalty

Humaneness

The perfect gentleman

Debates

Does Confucianism promote corruption?

Was there a Confucianism?

The Script controversy

Is Confucianism a religion?

Names for Confucianism

Confucianism and other schools of thought

Confucianism and Catholicism

Quotations

See also

External links

Translations

Articles and books

Xinhai Revolution

See also

Beiyang

Spheres of influence

See also

Disambiguation

External link

Nationalism