Using a flashy mobile phone and enjoying the music of the
Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chow, short-haired and soft-spoken Gao
Yuanxiang looks like a typical contemporary Chinese college
student.
But his field of study dates back more than 2,000 years
Confucianism, an ancient Chinese philosophy and an official
ideology.
Even Gao, 24, who majored history as an undergraduate, admits
Confucianism can be boring sometimes. "But once you get into it,
you find it's interesting and meaningful to modern life," he
said.
Gao's school, the Confucianism School at Qufu Normal University
in Qufu of east China's Shandong Province, is the hometown of
Confucius, known in Chinese as Kong Fuzi.
The university's historical and culture background makes it the
natural place for the first Confucianism study institute in
China.
Gao's courses include reading and reciting Confucianism's
"bibles" known as Four Books and Five Classics. These books were
once the basis for a required course in China's universities.
"Some say Confucianism is irrelevant to modern society," Gao
said. "But its ideology still influences every Chinese. It's still
deep in our blood and flesh. Many people just don't always realize
it."
Gao's enthusiasm for this ancient Chinese doctrine is just part
of a rising awareness in the study of Confucianism in China since
the 1980s.
Today whenever the word "harmony", the core of Confucianism, is
emphasized by the central government, its philosophy goes back to
that of Kong Fuzi.
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"It has become hot in recent years," Gao said. "My tutors have
traveled abroad for academic seminars many times a year, and others
from overseas have come here. Clearly, the research has a bright
future."
Last month, Gao's teacher, Yang Chaoming, 44, hosted an
international conference on campus in honor of the 2,557th
anniversary of Confucius' birth, which was on September 28. The
conference invited scholars, researchers and believers from home
and abroad to exchange their latest achievements and express their
points of view.
The study of Confucianism has mushroomed in recent years at
other universities, as well. Last year, the philosophy department
at Renmin University in Beijing launched its school of
"guoxue" (literally, national studies), referring to
traditional Chinese thought and culture.
The study of Confucianism is a major part of that curriculum.
The school offers a six-year series of undergraduate and graduate
courses and recruits 20 to 30 students a year.
Death and rebirth
It's almost hard to imagine that the study of the ancient
Chinese sage and his philosophies had stopped for more than 100
years. In fact, throughout Chinese history, there had never been an
interruption before, Yang said.
"After the Opium Wars, Western ideology had a great impact on
Chinese society," Yang said. "When scholars of that time lashed out
at traditional culture and ideology, Confucianism was their first
target."
It was during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), Yang said,
that the study of Confucianism hit rock bottom.
"At that time, everything about Confucius seemed like a dirty
word, and academic study was frozen," Yang said.
But the halt couldn't alter basic role of Confucius' philosophy
in China's roots for 25 centuries. In the 1980s, the study
reawakened, and with more than two decades of economic development
and the rise of social ills that inevitably come with it, the
ancient wisdom of Confucius has become a solution for many
thousands of people today.
"As people became richer, they started to want something to fill
up inside," said Simone de la Tour, researcher at the Center for
the Higher Studies of Conscientiology in Iguassu Falls, Brazil, who
is also the academic director of the Sino-Brazilian Academic
Exchange Center in Beijing. "Confucius' doctrine is what their
hearts and minds are looking for."
Shinichi Yanaka, professor of humanities at the Japan Women's
University in Tokyo, said the rebirth of Confucian study is
necessary for China and the world.
In the 1970s and '80s, the depth of the Chinese research in
Confucianism was considered lacking in the eyes of their Japanese
counterparts.
"We didn't think highly of the Chinese scholars," said Yanaka,
58. "Today things have changed. The academic society is very
progressive, and the level of Confucianism study is high, as
well."
Scholars from Japan, South Korea and the United States have been
involved in a program of exchange trips with their Chinese
counterparts, Yanaka said, and "we've gained a lot from it."
South Korean scholar Oh Suk-won agreed, saying significant
progress has been achieved in Confucian studies in China since the
'80s.
"The improvement reflects particularly in the treatment of the
scholars," said Oh, who is the director of the Institute of
Confucian Cultural Studies at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul,
considered the top Confucianism institution in the country. "It's
encouraging."
Even so, Oh added there is still a long way to go to fully
understand the essence of Confucianism and put it into
practice.
"It all comes down to the essence of Confucianism, which calls
for love and tolerance," he said. "That's the best recipe for sound
communication among people."
Taking the lead
Other Asian countries have been influenced by Confucianism in
the past 1,000 years, but Yang says China should seize on its
advantages in the study of the sage and his theories.
Confucian studies in China are no worse than those of any other
country, he said, particularly in researching the original
documents.
"Confucius is not someone from a legend," Yang said. "The fact
that he was a real person and lived in one of the most prosperous
periods in history with an advanced culture has made the study of
his origin meaningful."
One of the Yang's current projects is to reread Confucius'
writings. A course in his major works will be offered at Qufu
Normal next semester.
Reciting ancient verses and poems is required in Yang's classes,
he said, because "being able to recite some chapters of the
classics helps students understand the theories. I told them: 'If
you don't want to recite the books, please don't register for my
class.' "
Yang argues it is vital that China rediscover its cultural
traditions, including Confucian values, to rebuild the country's
moral and social standards.
To encourage the younger generation to learn the ancient Chinese
philosophy, the professor has called upon the government to add
traditional culture into the modern educational system.
"It's not about asking students to dress in ancient costumes or
read ancient books," Yang said. "It is vital for this country to
have its younger generation know that benevolence and trust are the
foundation of a harmonious society."
He disagrees with the practice of parents' sending their
children to study abroad. "They think the West stands for
advancement," he said. "It shows we have no confidence in
ourselves. We should know the essence of our own culture and be
proud of it."
But that doesn't mean everyone needs to learn and grasp
Confucianism, Yang said. "It takes a long time to truly understand
Confucianism," he said, "but that shouldn't stop us from respecting
it, studying it and spreading it."
(China Daily October 6, 2006)