Bringing back Confucius

The China Study Group quotes Leaders ponder a return to society's roots to stop the rot, a South China Morning Post article:

Academics have urged the leadership to launch a drive to promote higher moral standards by lending more official support for traditional culture and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius...

One mainland academic said: "Promoting traditional values and Confucius' teachings does not contradict the rule of the party. Actually, this could help enhance the rule and relevancy of the party."...

"The central government should take the lead by introducing Confucianism into the national education curriculum," one academic said.

He and others said the leadership should also accord Confucius and Mencius the same national respect as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

They also argue that Beijing should give more official recognition to Buddhism, which is representative of traditional Chinese values and culture.

They suggest Beijing should also show respect by making traditional festival days such as the birth of Buddha, the Qing Ming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival public holidays...

They say more respect for traditions would also have immediate political implications for Beijing's efforts to contain Taiwan's independence movement and its goal of eventual unification. Mr Chen recently labelled Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China, "a foreigner" and instructed the Ministry of Education to rewrite textbooks to highlight Taiwan's history instead of Chinese history. Beijing could use this opportunity to win over millions of overseas Chinese who are immersed in traditional Chinese values and have high respect for Sun.

"Shouldn't Beijing consider giving the same respects to Sun as Mao and Deng and hang his portrait along with others on Tiananmen Square on important occasions?" one academic asked.

Beijing should also consider reintroducing the use of complex Chinese characters along with the use of the simplified characters adopted on the mainland.

Hee-hee.