Word: confucius
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...Confucius, whose name is a Latinized version of King Fu-tzu or Master Rung, would likely be amused at all the attention he is getting. His own life was singularly lacking in worldly success. Born in 551 B.C. of an impoverished noble family in what is now Shantung province, he spent his life as an itinerant office seeker, wandering throughout the feudal kingdoms into which China was then divided, looking for a ruler who would put his ideas about government into practice. Except for a few months as a minister in his native state of Lu, he remained unemployed until...
...most baffling features of China's latest cultural revolution is the concerted ideological attack on the sayings and teachings of Confucius. Last week the posthumous drubbing of the ancient sage, whose name is frequently linked with that of the dead, disgraced former Defense Minister Lin Piao, continued unabated. New meetings of the masses denounced Confucius "and his like" as "buffoons who had a place only in the garbage of history." Lin was again condemned for "preaching the rubbish of Confucianism as part of his attempt to restore capitalism in China." It is almost as if the gentle philosopher were...
...Confucius' ambition was to restore order to a chaotic society. The China of his tune, 300 years before the founding of the first dynasty, was torn by constant warfare among the country's greedy feudal princes, who were described by Confucius as "stuffing themselves with food all day while never using their minds at all." He envisioned an ideal ruler of benevolence, moderation and humanity, a type that he believed had existed in a halcyon era long past. While the bad ruler relied on terror and force, the Confucian prince would restore order simply by the strength...
...ethical rather than a religious doctrine. The cultivation of virtue was the key to political tranquillity. Confucius rejected the concept of life after death as a spiritual reward and felt that the desire for wealth was found only in the "small man." Although theoretically anyone could become a cultured man, Confucius stressed a hierarchical ordering of society in which each accepted his position. Personal satisfaction lay in cultivating the virtues of obedience, filial piety and benevolence toward others: summed up as "the Way." "Having heard the Way in the morning," Confucius taught, "one may die content in the evening...
...mainly capitalist world, any foreign influence can be damaging. If Western classical music in China leads to a more general influx of capitalist art and culture, the effects of the Revolution may begin to reverse themselves. The attack on Western music has been combined with a denunciation of Confucius and with militant policy statements condemning backsliding in collective agriculture and on relations between soldiers and civilians. Some sort of political confrontation is taking place; one of the few details now known is that Teng Hsiaoping, a capable economic administrator, has recently jumped into the lineup of Politburo members ahead...