Older than the New Testament

March 20, 2010

A conservative friend once said that Communism was evil and that China needed a proper legal system. Since China already has a legal system, what did he mean?  I’ve known this individual for decades, and I’m sure he meant that China should have a legal system like the one in America or the U.K. After all, he claims scripture guides his life and the Christian Bible has been around for centuries proving it comes from God. There is no other choice.

The problem with that logic is Confucius walked the earth long before Christ, and the New Testament didn’t exist for centuries after Christ was gone. What Confucius taught has been around longer.

What about China’s legal system? The highest agency in China is the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.  This agency is responsible for both prosecution and investigation in the People’s Republic of China.  Similar institutions influence the office of the Procurator in the Socialist legal system. Its direct predecessor in China is the Supreme Court of the Republic of China, which in turn is descended from the Procuratorial Office of the late Qing Dynasty.

China's Supreme Court

The Chinese legal system may have been broken during Mao’s Cultural Revolution but not any longer.  It also appears that China’s legal system is an organic institution capable of change as seen in this piece from the Dui Hua Human Rights Journal.

This series of posts about the legal system in China started with Officer in Action http://wp.me/pN4pY-ho

 

Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Christianity, Confucianism, legal system | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

A Global Misunderstanding

March 20, 2010

“There is nothing wrong with thanking your father and mother, but you should thank your country first,” Yu Zaiqing, China’s State Sports deputy director said. “You have to put the country ahead of your parents.” Source: Vancouver Sun

Yu Zaiqing

What Yu probably meant was “community” instead of “country”. The rest of the piece in the Vancouver Sun goes on with more examples of wrong thinking (by Western standards) from Chinese officials. I disagree with the opinions of the journalist, who wrote the piece, Aileen McCabe, Canwest News Asia Correspondent. Her ignorance of Chinese culture shines.

The reason I disagree is because of Confucius (551-470 B.C.E.), who is considered the founder of China’s ethical and moral system based on the family and his Five Great Relationships. These values have been learned from the family and the community for more than two millennia.

1. between ruler and subject
2. father and son
3. husband and wife
4. elder and younger brother
5. friend and friend

Did you notice the first of Confucius’s relationships? There’s a reason it is number one. Is China supposed to throw out its two thousand years of behavior and thought because a foreigner does not approve?

The first post in this series about Chinese law was Officer in Action http://wp.me/pN4pY-ho

 

1 Comment | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Confucianism, family values, legal system, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Different Cultures Different Laws

March 19, 2010

Language is a powerful tool. When abused by the media or “any” political agenda, the audience is misled and forms incorrect opinions. The Western media often judges actions in China based on Western law from a Judeo-Christian foundation.

Chinese law uses the Chinese Constitution as its basis—not the American Constitution.

China’s Legal System weighs the Law from different values

When the legal system in China arrests and finds political activists guilty, consider Article 28 from China’s Constitution. “The State maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes acts that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms criminals”.

If you are not a Chinese citizen and you do not agree, don’t go to China. Understand that Chinese criminal law uses a mixture of Legalism, Confucius, Marxist, and a Leninist, Maoist philosophy as its guide in addition to being modeled on German Law.

Since 1979, China has educated its people about the law in the universities and other education institutions like the primary, middle and high schools. China has also publicized information about their legal system through the China Law Journal and many provincial and municipal journals, magazines, and newspapers. Public lectures are often organized in factories, mines, and rural communes in order to increase the people’s understanding of China’s Constitution and laws. Chinese citizens probably understand their country’s law better than most Americans do.

Discover Justice–a Matter of Opinion

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. 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.

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Leave a Comment » | America, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Confucianism, legal system, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Influence of Confucius

March 11, 2010

Confucius (551-470 B.C.E.) lived during the warring states period before China was unified as one nation. Confucius is considered the founder of the Chinese ethical and moral system based on the family and his Five Great Relationships:

1. between ruler and subject
2. father and son
3. husband and wife
4. elder and younger brother
5. friend and friend

In each pair, one role was superior and one inferior; one role led and the other followed. Yet each involved mutual obligations and responsibilities. Failure to properly fulfill one’s role could lead to the termination of the relationship.

Confucius

Did you notice that religion and God are not mentioned among the Five Great Relationships?

Discover The Meaning of “Honor” to Most Chinese

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar. 

1 Comment | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, family values, religion | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Cults and Christian Cannon Balls

March 11, 2010

Organized religions and cults like the Falun Gong have been in China for centuries, but have never played a major role in the culture until the 19th century when Christianity was forced on China. C.M. Cipolla wrote in his book, Guns, Sails and Empires, “While Buddha came to China on white elephants, Christ was born on cannon balls.”

In the early months of 1900, thousands of Boxers, officially known as Fists of Righteous Harmony, roamed the countryside attacking Christian missions, slaughtering foreign missionaries and Chinese converts.

Confucius and possibly Lao-Tse have influenced the foundation of Chinese culture and morality the most.  These two along with Buddha offer more of a blended influence on Chinese culture than Christianity or Islam. Thanks to Confucius, China’s mainstream culture understands the importance of people within the family and society more so than many other countries and cultures. This may explain why China is a powerhouse of industry today.

Discover  The Man Who Made China

______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. 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.

Subscribe to “iLook China”!
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.

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1 Comment | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Christianity, religion, Taoism | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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