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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Predators and idealists vie for our souls
By Tan Chung |
January 12, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AT the height of China's intellectual upsurge for national survival and revitalization in the early decades of the 20th century, the progressive and radical thinking Chinese intellectuals issued an invitation to two Western guests to settle down in China.
They were "Mr De" (Democracy) and "Mr Sai" (Science). Mr Sai's naturalization in China was relatively smooth, though he had to fight hard against the tenacious resistance of diehard superstitions.
Mr De, however, did not acclimate well on Chinese soil for two reasons: (a) his being too Eurocentric, and (b) a local rival having marginalized his influence and appeal.
I want to tell the story of this rival.
Wangdao, usually translated as the "king way," is the critical mass of the mature Chinese civilization. In fact, I have no hesitation in translating wangdao as "Wangcracy," a parallel institution to "Democracy." It is this "Mr Wang" that has marginalized the appeal and influence of the white-man's-burden-carrier, "Mr De."
The sustainable vital sociopolitical and cultural structure of Chinese civilization is projected by the visual symbol of wang with its three horizontal lines interconnected by a vertical - a political scheme of not only acknowledging the paramountcy of the state, but also giving real clout to the society and people.
There is no gainsaying the fact that it is this three-and-one structure that guarantees the coagulating forces and centripetal dynamism of China, which has a population as big as one fifth of humanity. China would have disintegrated had she allowed Western-style Democracy to supplant Wangcracy.
On the other hand, we must recognize that Wangcracy is not the antithesis of Democracy. The line that interconnects the state, the society and the people can be sufficiently broadened to enable bottom-up energies to grow to match, complement and interact with the top-down forces.
This, I think, is the recipe for success for which the Shanghai Expo (which relied not only on the power of the state, but the mighty support of the society and people) is a shining example.
The Chinese Wangcracy is not an infrastructure of tyranny as many uninformed foreigners have misconceived).
This is because the quintessential spirit of Chinese society is ren. Confucius defined it thus: renzhe ai ren. The second part, ai ren, means "to love others." The first part, renzhe, can be interpreted as "the term of ren" or "the person of ren."
The latter interpretation yields a "Mr Ren" and "Mr Ren loves others" as the essential spirit of the Chinese society.
Famous Indian sage-poet Rabindranath Tagore once observed: "The truth is that the spirit of conflict and conquest is at the origin and in the center of Western nationalism. Its basis is not social cooperation. It has evolved a perfect organization of power, but not spiritual idealism. It's like the pack of predatory creatures that must have its victims."
Here he actually contrasted the Eastern spirit of "social cooperation" and "spiritual idealism" with the Western pursuit of "conflict and conquest."
His description of a "pack of predatory creatures" that preyed on fellow humans echoed with what Mencius had said more than 2,000 years ago.
In the first chapter on "Liang Huiwang" (King Hui of Liang) in Mengzi (Mencius), there is the striking observation of shuai shou shi ren, meaning "leading a pack of predatory creatures to prey on fellow humans."
Mencius, who was the champion for "Mr Ren loves others," would castigate those who deviate from the spirit of ren as "the brutes" (qinshou) - the "predatory creatures" in Tagore's words.
The crucial element in the spirit of "social cooperation" and "spiritual idealism" of the Chinese society is ren - Mr Ren. Those who are devoid of ren are condemned by the Chinese society as yiguan qinshou (predatory creatures who don human garb).
In short, Mr Wang and Mr Ren are the Siamese twins, and the spirit of ren is the soul of the Chinese sociopolitical and cultural structure.
This Wangrencracy is the systemic engineering for China to realize what Chairman Mao Zedong wished to achieve in July 1957: "a vibrant situation of having both centralism and democracy, discipline and freedom, solidarity of will power and individual ease."
(The author is a Sino-Indian historian who now lives in Chicago. The views are his own. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
They were "Mr De" (Democracy) and "Mr Sai" (Science). Mr Sai's naturalization in China was relatively smooth, though he had to fight hard against the tenacious resistance of diehard superstitions.
Mr De, however, did not acclimate well on Chinese soil for two reasons: (a) his being too Eurocentric, and (b) a local rival having marginalized his influence and appeal.
I want to tell the story of this rival.
Wangdao, usually translated as the "king way," is the critical mass of the mature Chinese civilization. In fact, I have no hesitation in translating wangdao as "Wangcracy," a parallel institution to "Democracy." It is this "Mr Wang" that has marginalized the appeal and influence of the white-man's-burden-carrier, "Mr De."
The sustainable vital sociopolitical and cultural structure of Chinese civilization is projected by the visual symbol of wang with its three horizontal lines interconnected by a vertical - a political scheme of not only acknowledging the paramountcy of the state, but also giving real clout to the society and people.
There is no gainsaying the fact that it is this three-and-one structure that guarantees the coagulating forces and centripetal dynamism of China, which has a population as big as one fifth of humanity. China would have disintegrated had she allowed Western-style Democracy to supplant Wangcracy.
On the other hand, we must recognize that Wangcracy is not the antithesis of Democracy. The line that interconnects the state, the society and the people can be sufficiently broadened to enable bottom-up energies to grow to match, complement and interact with the top-down forces.
This, I think, is the recipe for success for which the Shanghai Expo (which relied not only on the power of the state, but the mighty support of the society and people) is a shining example.
The Chinese Wangcracy is not an infrastructure of tyranny as many uninformed foreigners have misconceived).
This is because the quintessential spirit of Chinese society is ren. Confucius defined it thus: renzhe ai ren. The second part, ai ren, means "to love others." The first part, renzhe, can be interpreted as "the term of ren" or "the person of ren."
The latter interpretation yields a "Mr Ren" and "Mr Ren loves others" as the essential spirit of the Chinese society.
Famous Indian sage-poet Rabindranath Tagore once observed: "The truth is that the spirit of conflict and conquest is at the origin and in the center of Western nationalism. Its basis is not social cooperation. It has evolved a perfect organization of power, but not spiritual idealism. It's like the pack of predatory creatures that must have its victims."
Here he actually contrasted the Eastern spirit of "social cooperation" and "spiritual idealism" with the Western pursuit of "conflict and conquest."
His description of a "pack of predatory creatures" that preyed on fellow humans echoed with what Mencius had said more than 2,000 years ago.
In the first chapter on "Liang Huiwang" (King Hui of Liang) in Mengzi (Mencius), there is the striking observation of shuai shou shi ren, meaning "leading a pack of predatory creatures to prey on fellow humans."
Mencius, who was the champion for "Mr Ren loves others," would castigate those who deviate from the spirit of ren as "the brutes" (qinshou) - the "predatory creatures" in Tagore's words.
The crucial element in the spirit of "social cooperation" and "spiritual idealism" of the Chinese society is ren - Mr Ren. Those who are devoid of ren are condemned by the Chinese society as yiguan qinshou (predatory creatures who don human garb).
In short, Mr Wang and Mr Ren are the Siamese twins, and the spirit of ren is the soul of the Chinese sociopolitical and cultural structure.
This Wangrencracy is the systemic engineering for China to realize what Chairman Mao Zedong wished to achieve in July 1957: "a vibrant situation of having both centralism and democracy, discipline and freedom, solidarity of will power and individual ease."
(The author is a Sino-Indian historian who now lives in Chicago. The views are his own. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
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