However, a picture of Xi’s agenda is beginning to emerge through the usual haze of secrecy surrounding communist leaders, and it features a man who lived 2,500 years ago: Confucius, the most influential of history’s Chinese philosophers. Simply, Xi is turning to China’s glorious past to provide an ideological foundation to his 21st century rule.
Though Xi has also invoked other figures from Chinese history — from philosophers of competing schools to more modern personalities like Mao Zedong — the President seems to take special interest in Confucianism. “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire,” he said in a September speech, quoting one of Confucius’s most-famous sayings. Earlier in the year, he extolled the wonders of benevolent rule in an address to party cadres with another, well-known passage from the Analects, the most authoritative text on Confucius’s teachings: “The rule of virtue can be compared to the polestar which commands the homage of the multitude of stars without leaving its place.” Last year, Xi, like so many Emperors of old, visited Qufu, Confucius’ hometown. During his tour, he pledged to read Confucian texts and praised the continuing value of Chinese traditional culture. 0293名無しさん＠１周年2018/02/18(日) 16:45:25.11ID:mxKWYlok0 なんやこれ！
econd, Xi’s speech particularly praised traditional Chinese culture, as exemplified by Confucianism. Xi said that the “values and spiritual world of the Chinese people have always been deeply rooted in the fertile soil of China’s traditional culture.” He then claimed that “the Chinese Communist Party is the successor to and promoter of fine traditional Chinese culture.” Obviously, President Xi Jinping wants to emphasize the uninterrupted relevance of Confucianism and Chinese culture. In this shared cultural background, Xi sees political unity, the traditional idea of the Chinese nation as one big family. This is similar to Martin Jacques’ claim that China is a “civilization state” rather than a Western-style “nation state” since cultural elements such as Confucian values played a significant role in the formation and development of the Chinese nation.
Of course, the more significant message in President Xi Jinping’s speech underlines the role of the Chinese Communist Party in this “civilization state.” The CCP is held up as “successor to and promoter of fine traditional Chinese culture.” This is a firm attempt to establish the political legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, both to the Chinese public and to the West. Under Xi’s formula, to reject the CCP means rejecting Chinese culture itself, including Confucianism.
