Five thousand years ago, several linguistically related civilizations with state forms emerged in the Yellow River basin and Yangtze River basin in eastern Asia. These civilizations gradually merged and integrated into one, known as Chinese civilization, and continued to expand until it encountered natural obstacles in every direction. To its northeast lay the cold and harsh Siberia, while the north was dominated by the desolate Mongolian Deserts. The west was composed of many mountain ranges with altitudes exceeding 5,000 meters, among them the highest Himalayas are 8,848 meters above sea level. The south featured the rugged terrain of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and dense tropical jungles, and to the southeast and east lay the vast Pacific Ocean. These formidable natural barriers, insurmountable in ancient times, effectively isolated China from the outside world. Protected by these natural barriers, the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins enjoy a temperate climate and abundant rainfall brought by the Pacific monsoon, making these regions suitable for agriculture. This unique geographical environment has played a significant role in shaping the distinct characteristics of Chinese civilization.
The Chinese civilization was able to develop its unique and remarkable culture, largely due to geographical barriers that prevented outside influence. These same barriers also provided protection against foreign aggression, allowing China to remain the only civilization to survive uninterrupted for five thousand years. Confined by geographical barriers the ancient Chinese thought that the land they lived in constituted the main body of the world, which they called tianxia, literally, "under heaven." The Yellow River and Yangtze River basins are located in the center of that world; thus China was named Zhongguo, or literally, "central country." Richly endowed by nature, China was much more developed than the surrounding uncivilized fringe lands. Chinese peasants who settled in kinship-based villages were attached to their fertile farmland and showed little interest in exploring the deserted areas beyond their borders. This fostered their restrained and peaceful temperament. Instead of expanding outward militarily, they built the Great Wall to protect themselves from the nomads of the north. This 21,000-kilometer wall, locates on the 400 mm isoprecipitation line and spanning from east to west, served as a dividing line between agrarian life and nomadic life. The nomads who entered the Great Wall were eventually assimilated by Chinese farming culture, becoming Chinese themselves. Therefore, Chinese civilization is a product of its geography, attesting the advantage of the sedentary, productive way of life over the nomadic, predatory way of life. The Chinese take great pride in their land, culture and lifestyle, as China has been the most civilized, advanced, sophisticated, and prosperous country in the world until the Industrial Revolution.
Due to this closed geographical environment, the ancient Chinese formed their holistic worldview, believing that the world was an integrated whole rather than as distinct parts. The Chinese world was not a pluralistic world composed of many sovereign countries, but a monist world with China being the only civilized empire. The surrounding ethnic tribes were viewed as vassals in the Chinese tributary system, many of which were gradually sinicized and became part of China. In 221 BC, the state of Qin (pronounces chin) achieved the unification of China by defeating all other Chinese states. Qin established a unified empire with a centralized government, abolished enfeoffment, set up prefectures and counties, and standardized the law, writing system, currency, vehicle tracks, weights, and measures. Researchers pointed out that the need to share water resources and carry out large-scale water conservancy and irrigation projects involving large areas of land and huge human investment was an important reason why the ancient Chinese attached importance to unity, sharing, cooperation and a centralized system. Qin's system, inherited by all succeeding Chinese dynasties, laid the foundation for China's long-term unification and had a profound impact on shaping the stability, sophistication and continuity of Chinese culture. In return, this culture has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for tolerance, assimilation and integration. The Confucian notion of dayitong, or grand unity, reflects this magnanimous and all-encompassing nature of Chinese culture. Its influence is so great that neighboring vassal states sought to emulate it. Throughout history, many ethnic groups who conquered or partially conquered China were eventually assimilated and integrated into Chinese culture. This process of sinicization, rather than military expansion, is responsible for the vast territory of China and stands as a testament to the strength of Chinese civilization.
Consistent with this monistic worldview is the Confucian outlook on society, which, too, is holistic. The Datong society, or the great unitary society, as spelled out in Confucian classics, is a society where people all care about the well-being of society as a whole, the wise and virtue are selected to govern, honest people live in harmony, the weak and sick are taken care of, and there is no evil and crime. It is the ideal harmonious society in the minds of the Chinese people. Unlike in the West where individuals are deemed independent and autonomous, accountable only to their own interests, and where the strong bully the weak is the norm, causing people to be egocentric, aggressive and hostile, Confucianism promotes a society that is like a large family, where members cooperate, seek common ground, prioritize communal interests over personal interests, and work together as a team. In Confucianism, individuals are not seen as independent and autonomous, but rather as members of society who are born into certain relationships with specific roles and responsibilities to fulfill. They follow etiquettes designed to maintain social harmony, just like tango dancers need to observe the milonga codes in the milongas. These etiquettes or proprieties were practiced before the time of Confucius by the people of the West Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-771 BC). Confucius (551 BC-479 BC) and his disciples were advocates and scholars of these ancient rites. In other words, Confucianism is rooted in an earlier Chinese tradition.
Confucianism values the harmonious relationships among people and the well-being of society as a whole. It believes that the people are the foundation of society, and only with a solid foundation can society be stable. A Confucian ruler is like the head of a large family whose authority is derived from the people and whose responsibility is to ensure the well-being and safety of the people. Confucius said, "The ruler is the boat, and the people are the water. Water can carry the boat, and water can overturn the boat." Mencius (372 BC-289 BC), another Confucian sage, also emphasized the role of the people, stating that they are the most important, followed by the state, and the monarch is the least. Confucianism holds that the legitimacy of the ruler comes from the support or mandate of the people, and a ruler who is unrighteous will lose that mandate. In other words, Confucianism is a people-centered, rather than ruler-centered, God-centered, or capital-centered, collectivist humanism, as opposed to the individualistic humanism of the West. This collectivist humanism has had a profound impact on Chinese politics, including Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People, the CCP's aim of serving the people, and more recently Xi Jinping’s initiative on building a community with a shared future for all mankind. (See Democracy vs. Plutocracy.)
Based on this collectivist humanism, Confucianism promotes the idea of benevolent governance. Benevolence is a core concept in Confucius' teachings. Unlike Machiavelli who separated morality and politics, Confucius held that personal morality and the governance of the country are closely related. Only through self cultivation can a ruler manage his family, govern his country, and bring peace to the world. Confucius emphasized that benevolence is the essence of human nature and is what distinguishes humans from animals. He maintained that proprieties are the external expression of benevolence and must be grounded in benevolence in order to be authentic, or else they become nothing more than a facade of insincerity. His followers, however, split into two camps. The school that emphasized benevolence was later recognized as the orthodoxy of Confucianism. The school that prioritized proprieties later evolved into Legalism. Qin’s unification of China in 221 BC was achieved through the use of military power and severe penal laws under the influence of the Legalist school of thought. Due to its brutality, the Qin Dynasty survived with only two rulers before it was overthrown by widespread rebellions. Learned from this lesson, in 134 BC Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty accepted the advice of a Confucian scholar, Dong Zhongshu, to replace other schools of thought with Confucianism exclusively and practice benign rule. Since then Confucianism has become the orthodoxy of China. Different from Christianity and Machiavellianism, which maintain that human nature is inherently evil, Confucianism believes that human nature is inherently good, therefore opposes the Legalist idea of using strict laws and harsh punishments as the main means of governing, and advocates for ruling with virtue and education, thus beginning the Chinese tradition of respecting for morality and learning.
In 587 AD, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system, which combined education and official selection into one system, further promoted Confucian learning, opened the way for talented people from all walks of life to enter politics, giving rise to the scholar-official class, the litetati. The imperial examination system played a key role in forming China's advanced and effective political bureaucracy. China's modern civil servant selection system is developed from the imperial examination system. Many researchers believe that, compared with Western electoral democracy, China's meritocratic system is more capable of producing leaders with moral integrity and practical knowledge and abilities, as attested by China's achievements over the past 40 years, and more recently China’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic. In the past, the imperial examination system failed to prevent dynastic cycles. Now the Chinese try to fix that by political reforms such as collective leadership, clean government, self-correction, disciplinary inspection, anti-corruption, people's supervision of the government, complaint and petition mechanism, age restriction, term limit, and impeachment procedures, etc., to improve their system, ensure good governance, and prevent it from becoming an autocracy.
It is also from this people-centered collectivist humanism that Confucianism advocates for the equitable distribution of wealth, and denounces the practices of putting economic interests above morality, using unethical means to accumulate wealth, fighting for monetary gains, and widening the discrepancy between rich and poor. Confucians argued that the state should disperse the nation's wealth among the people and not compete with the people for wealth. Confucius said, “Rulers should not worry about not having enough but inequality.” This moral view encouraged Chinese rulers through the ages to adopt more egalitarian policies and implement benevolent governance. On the other hand, this emphasis on morality and learning over business has led to a historical devaluation of merchants in traditional Chinese society, where they were ranked below scholars, peasants, and craftsmen. The early practices of the CCP after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 reflected this Confucian tendency, prioritizing morality and scholarship over business. However, during the reform and opening up era initiated by Deng Xiaoping, the government shifted its stance to encourage business and entrepreneurship, with the slogan of "letting some people get rich first." Subsequently, the Chinese government has also introduced policies aimed at poverty alleviation and anti-monopoly, upholding the Confucian tradition of egalitarianism, while recognizing the importance of economic development as the means to achieve common prosperity. The Confucian emphasis on production over commerce also has resulted in China's physiocratic tradition, focusing on agriculture and manufacturing instead of taking the path of profit-oriented capitalism, mercantilism and financialism that may initially stimulate the growth of the economy but will umtimately lead to its hollowing out, corruption and failure. (See Mammonism.)
Another Confucian concept that has had a profound influence on the Chinese people is the Golden Mean, which emphasizes the virtue of moderation and harmony. Confucius believed that harmony is the fundamental law of nature, while the golden mean is the way to achieve it, that extremism turns things into their opposite, that being escessive is as bad as being dificient, and that humility, politeness, impartiality, and avoiding extremes are qualities of a true gentleman. (See Meeting in the Middle.) It is worth noting that these Confucian values are incompatible with Western liberalism and individualism. Chinese people lack the arrogant, extreme, domineering and aggressive spirit of many Westerners, Confucianism is the main reason. This emphasis on balance and harmony has prevented the Chinese from engaging in Western-style partisan politics, which tend to create division, conflict, hostility and polarity. While Western culture emphasizes partisanship and competition, Chinese culture prioritizes unity and cooperation. The Chinese tend to look at issues in a holistic, comprehensive and balanced manner. Today's Chinese politicians are acutely aware that both morality and personal freedom are important and an excessive focus on either one can be detrimental. Overemphasis on morality can stifle initiative and creativity, while overemphasis on individual liberty can worsen conflict and inequality. The balance, however, is not easy to achieve. Historically, Confucian morality has been transformed by Neo-Confucianists into a rigid ideological shackle that restricted personal freedom. Western liberalism and individualism are the opposite extreme. The Chinese now strive to find a balance and build a harmonious society with both social morality and individual freedom. (See Pluralism vs. Monism.)
The peaceful life of the Chinese has finally come to an end. In 1839, Western powers used opium, warships and cannons to finally bombard China's door open, forcing the government of the Qing Dynesty, the last Chinese dynesty, to sign a series of unequal treaties for ceding territories and indemnities. Under such humiliation and the realization of the gap between agricultural China and the then already industrialized West, the Chinese began to look for ways to save their country. In the next eight decades since China's defeat in the First Opium War in 1840, they tried the Westernization Movement (1861-1895) that attempted to develop China's modern industry and modern armies and navies, the Reform Movement of 1898 that attempted to reform China's imperial system, and the Revolution of 1911 to overthrow the monarchy. All these failed to save China. Predations by Western powers and decades of civil strife have drained China's resources, turning China from the richest country in the world into one of the poorest.
Some Chinese eventually concluded that the root of China's ills lay in its culture. In 1919, the radical May Fourth New Culture Movement broke out. Willing to try anything in a desperate situation, some Chinese intellectuals blame China's failure on Confucianism, accusing it of limiting individual freedom and initiative, and propose bringing it down and replacing it with Western-style democracy and capitalism. Other Chinese intellectuals were skeptical about liberalism and capitalism, turned to another Western ideology, Marxism, for help, believing that socialism is more in line with China's national conditions. This led to the confrontation between the KMT and the CCP. In the end, the side with the support of the majority of the Chinese prevailed, and the loser, the KMT, fled to the Chinese island of Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait. In the first three decades after the founding of New China in 1949, the Chinese, while facing the blockade by Western powers, did many groundwork for its latter development, including land reform, women's liberation, universal free education and healthcare, and basic industrial infrastruture building, etc. Many lessons were learned from trial and error. In 1978, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the CCP re-examined the lessons learned from the previous thirty years, made the decision to reform and open up in an attempt to release people's initiative by introducing market mechanisms into the Chinese economy while maintaining the structural advantages of its socialist system.
We have all witnessed what happened afterwards. In just 40 years, China has been miraculously transformed from a poor and weak country into the world's second largest economy with a 42-fold increase in GDP, become the world’s largest manufacturing powerhouse, lifted 770 million people out of poverty, created a middle class of over 400 million people, with per capita income increased by 23 times, made the average life expectancy of its population now longer than that of the US, become the world's largest investment market, largest consumer market and largest trading partner with more than 130 countries, and is playing an increasing role in world economy and international affairs. Unlike some Western power that practices hegemonism, bullying, intervention, containment, subversion, and coercive diplomacy, China’s foreign policies stand fast to the five principles of international relations, namely, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence, along with China's Belt and Road initiative for global common prosperity and the initiative for building a community of shared future for mankind. These foreign policies have obvious Confucian influence and are supported by more and more countries in the world.
China is entering the most prosperous era in its history again, and it is accomplishing this not by aggressing, conquering and looting other peoples, but by leading its own people to work hard and cooperate with other countries for win-win results. What China has achieved have restored the confidence of the Chinese people in their own culture, philosophy, system, and path. The core values of Chinese civilization were established by Confucianism, without these values, socialism with Chinese characteristics and Chinese-style modernization - a different kind of modernization that emphasizes fairness, justice, equality, civilized values, green economy, common prosperity, peaceful development, and international cooperation and sharing - would not have been possible. Confucianism embodies the accumulated wisdom of the Chinese people, emphasizing the unity, balance and harmony between man and nature, individual and society, law and virtue, ruler and the people, morality and economy, and between individuals. With its holistic vision, magnanimity, idealism, and positive thinking, Confucianism has served as a unifying force and the source of strength for the Chinese nation, encouraging its people to continuously improve themselves and their country. While Confucianism must adapt to changing times, as it has always done in the past, it is deeply embedded in the language, literature, culture, thinking, conducts and consciousness of the Chinese people. For more than two thousand years, Confucianism has been repeatedly tested, replenished and enriched by every generation of Chinese. It will continue to have an impact on their quest for a better future. (See Understanding China: Yellow River and the Character of the Chinese Nation.)
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