The Return of Confucius
June 4, 2014The bronze sculpture of Confucius stands tall at 31 feet (9.5 meters) and is described as having a serious expression. Four months after appearing in Tienanmen Square staring at Mao portrait hanging from the walls of the Forbidden City, the statue—without fanfare—was quietly moved to the courtyard of a museum in Beijing.
Chang writes, “Confucius is enjoying a revival, in books and films, on TV and in classrooms…” In fact, a $500-million dollar museum-and-park complex is under construction in his hometown of Qufu in Shandong Province that includes a statue of Confucius almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
For those who don’t know, Mao declared war on Confucianism and education during the Cultural Revolution.
My wife, who grew up in China during Mao’s era, still believes Confucian values for harmony and peace are what made China weak and a victim to Western Imperialism during the 19th century and to the Japanese during World War II. She may be right. At the time, China believed it was too civilized to worry and wasn’t prepared to defend itself as it is today.
However, she also says to pay attention to the small things the government does. Don’t expect Chinese to be as direct as Westerners.
There’s a strong message in Confucius standing opposite Mao across the vastness of Tiananmen Square as if he were scolding Mao for what he did and few mainland Chinese will miss the meaning. Mao, the student, has been chastised and Tiger Mothers such as Amy Chua are being sent a message to stay tough with their children when it comes to having the kids eat bitterness and sacrifice having fun while working hard earning an education.
Confucius wouldn’t want it any other way.
Now that China is a capitalist/socialist nation with an open market economy, the need for Confucian values is making a comeback with government support. Confucius taught duty to family, respect for learning, virtuous behavior (three traits rare in the West) and obedience of individuals to the state.
What Chang doesn’t say is that Confucius also had expectations for the state to lead by example and to act the part of a gentleman. China’s leaders are aware that they are responsible to provide security for the nation and economic progress for the people in ways that most Western rulers would never consider.
Although China’s central government hasn’t launched a Western style public relations campaign to resurrect Confucian values, which are still a strong foundation for most Chinese families, Chang indicates that we will see some top leaders promoting Confucianism.
In fact, in 2010, a movie of Confucius with Chow Yun Fat was filmed and released in China.
There’s another message that most American weapons’ manufactures and conservative hawks won’t want the world to understand. If China is really moving back to Confucian values, that means China will not be the aggressor in war but will keep a modern military for defense only.
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Lloyd Lofthouseis the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.
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China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Confucianism, history, religion, tourism | Tagged: Confucius, the return of Confucius to China | 
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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
Greenpeace in China
June 3, 2014If China is a totalitarian country without much freedom as critics such as Liu Xiaobo claim, why is Greenpeace thriving there without harassment from China’s central government?
Then, if democracies are so desirable, why did Japan send two Greenpeace activists to jail for one year after exposing widespread corruption in the Japanese government’s Southern Ocean whaling programme?
While in China, efforts to combat climate change demonstrate that China’s government acknowledges the challenge as well as the responsibility of China to tackle them.
Listen to Greenpeace China’s Tom Wang in Tianjin calmly being honest about China’s pollution challenges.
In fact, Greenpeace China has offices in Hong Kong (opened 1997), Beijing and Guangzhou (opened in 2002) and is the largest non-governmental organization (NGO) in the People’s Republic of China.
Then in 2006, Greenpeace China was the only NGO to be consulted on an early draft of renewable energy law by China’s National People’s Congress.
Has the US government consulted with Greenpeace?
China has also allowed two Greenpeace expeditions to China’s Himalayan region in 2006 and 2007 where evidence was discovered of the dramatic retreat of glaciers, which was reported in National Geographic Magazine.
One Greenpeace China campaign focused on stopping Monsanto, a US-headquartered biotechnology giant, from patenting a Chinese indigenous soybean variety.
Earlier campaigns in China focused on food, agriculture and electronic waste while highlighting the dangers of PVC in children’s toys.
Today, Greenpeace China runs five major campaigns focused on climate, energy, food and agriculture, water pollution and a campaign on air pollution focused in Hong Kong.
I admit finding this information about Greenpeace China surprised me because all I’ve heard in the Western media of Greenpeace is that they are a gang of dangerous activists doing crazy things to get attention.
Until reading about Greenpeace in China, I didn’t know what a positive force this NGO was for cleaning the environment.
Now I want to know why the US isn’t doing more. But I already know the answer: the Koch brothers, who own most of the U.S. Congress.
Visit Greenpeace East Asia to discover more of what Greenpeace is up to in China.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.
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Sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top of this page, or click on the “Following” tab in the WordPress toolbar at the top of the screen.
3 Comments | China, environment | Tagged: China and Greenpeace, Greenpeace in China, Greenpeace in East Asia, saving the environment | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
Smoking Gun Three: Linking Education Fraud from Obama to GOP
May 29, 2014Will China lead the way when it comes to education?
Here’s more evidence that the fake education reform movement in the United States and the international PISA test are both frauds. After two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that lifted limits on political campaign contributions so the wealthiest Americans can buy the U.S. government, there may be only one country left on the earth that billionaire oligarchs like Bill Gates, the Walton family, the Koch brothers and American Hedge Fund billionaires can’t buy. To discover the answer, watch the video and read the rest of this post.
What Does the PISA Test really reveal about U.S. Public Education?
Guess who may be dropping out of the PISA?
China
Here’s a piece that appeared in The Washington Post on May 26, 2014: “No. 1 Shanghai may drop out of PISA”:
The Washington Post says: “First in 2009 and then in 2012, Shanghai’s 15-year-old students (or, rather, a supposed representative group) were…
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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
Feng Shui for Beginners : Part 2 of 2
May 28, 2014
A guest post by Tom Carter
Angela Wilde’s new pocket-guide to Feng Shui, Heal Your Home, Fix Your Life! The Easy Guide to Love and Money offers easy tips of Feng Shui.
I am personally dubious of any self-help book with the word “easy” in the title.
However, as I have lived in Asia for almost a decade, I figured I should at least explore the Feng Shui genre before outright dismissing it.
While I have yet to report any results (positive or negative) because of following Feng Shui, I stand by my original premise that it can’t hurt and can only help.
As Wilde writes in the book’s introduction, “Lots of people can’t afford to have a complete Feng Shui consultation. They just want something that works, and fast.”
With this, she offers an efficiently minimalist A-Z guide outlined in handy alphabetical layout.
Curious about dried flowers (“Potpourri is definitely spiritually bad!”)? Just flip to the D or F sections. Wondering what herbs are auspicious? Turn to H (page 54) for a complete list of herbs and their respective powers.
book’s cover
Coming in at a mere 90 pages, the book is small and convenient enough to flip through for reference during house-cleaning day, yet the information therein goes a long way.
Did you know, for example, that by just boiling some cinnamon and basil together then adding that to a floor wash of nothing but salty water you will have instantly improved your wealth AND personal protection? Now that’s profitable multi-tasking!
Wilde also offers advice on speaking normal words in everyday life: “affirmations and even ordinary words should contain no negatives such as “no” or “not”. Overlooking the fact that this sentence itself uses the word “no,” it nonetheless is profoundly good advice and one I will attempt to incorporate in my day-to-day dealings.
For anyone interested in giving Feng Shui a precursory attempt before investing major time and money into revamping your lifestyle, Heal Your Home, Fix Your Life! The easy guide to Love and Money is a good starting point. Beginners will appreciate Wilde’s quick, A-Z reference layout and efficiently brief prescriptions.
Return to Part 1
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Travel Photographer Tom Carter traveled for 2 years across the 33 provinces of China to show the diversity of Chinese people in China: Portrait of a People, the most comprehensive photography book on modern China published by a single author.
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2 Comments | book review, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, cultural differences, family values | Tagged: Feng Shui, Feng Shui made easy, the history of Feng Shui, the imporance of Feng Shui to the Chinese | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
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