In the coming week, China will commemorate the birth of a two-millenia-old sage. Confucius remains one of the most renowned Chinese philosophers around the world, and his thoughts are laid in the cultural foundations of the country.

China has ushered in a renaissance of traditional culture in recent decades, and Confucianism, a school of thought developed from and centered on the teachings of Confucius, has drawn intense domestic interest, from the academic community to the public, a phenomenon described by many as China "turning back to Confucius."

The resurgence has been accompanied by claims from Western scholars and media that Confucianism has become nothing but a means of political posturing, with some even saying its principles are "dead" in modern China.

However, according to Wei Heli, a Chinese scholar on Confucianism, the archaic but evolving wisdom in Chinese history still serves as the spiritual root of China's collective and political consciousness in the modern era.

Why is Confucianism the 'chosen one'?

Confucianism comprises two main dimensions – moral ethics and political principles – and remained in the mainstream of traditional Chinese culture after Dong Zhongshu, a philosopher and politician in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), dismissed the Hundred Schools of Thought that blossomed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770-221 BC) and instead revered Confucianism.

The event profoundly changed China's politics in ancient times, as Confucianism became the only official ideology in the political order and hierarchic power structure of Chinese imperial states for the next 2,000 years.

The reason Confucianism was chosen to be central to political guidance in Chinese history ahead of other theories is embedded in the nature of the thought itself, according to Wei, who is a scholar on Confucianism from the School of Philosophy at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The core of Confucianism is the notion "Ren (仁)." It compounds a wide range of ideas from benevolence and humaneness to righteousness, and from which, a whole set of concepts in managing family relations, self-cultivation and the governance of the state were created.

"The left side of the Chinese character 'Ren' means 'person' and the right side is 'two,' which reveals that 'Ren' can only be realized when there are at least two subjects, and that despite being separate individuals, we find our best selves in our relations with others," said Wei.

He explained that in Confucianism, interpersonal relationships are further extended to familial, communal and national relationships, and even relationships between men and everything in the world.

"It thus provides an effective way of organizing and uniting people and society, conforming to the idea of the 'Great Unity' proposed by Dong," Wei said.

Another factor comes from Confucian notion of unifying the triad of heaven, Earth and humanity, which provides a moral justification for political authority based on the doctrine of the "Mandate of Heaven," according to Wei.

The notion is also quite different from the Western tradition, which believed there was an external transcendence to be worshiped, leading to the formation of religious faiths. "China, on the contrary, pursues an immanent transcendence, that is, through self-cultivation and self-knowledge, one can perceive the 'Mandate of Heaven' and work in balance with heaven and Earth," he said.

Confucianism never dies

Confucianism's dominance in the Chinese political arena was believed to have ended after the abolition of the imperial examination system in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as the government no longer selected officials based on their knowledge of Confucianism classics.

But according to Wei, it never died in modern China, despite some Western analysis to the contrary.

"The ethical parts of Confucianism have been deeply imprinted in the minds of Chinese generations in modern times," Wei said. He noted that a typical example was the structure of family, a more close-knit construct than that in the West, and that Chinese people have a much stronger sentimental inclination.

And despite the fall of Confucianism in politics, the spiritual root of some pivotal policies in modern day China can still be traced back to its wisdom.

Chinese modernization, a key term defining China's journey to rejuvenation and expounded in a report of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2022, describes a path to modernization with Chinese characteristics featuring peaceful development, and harmony between humanity and nature, in contrast to a Western path of aggression, colonization and expansion.

"Behind the Western modernization is the logic of confrontation and hegemony, but traditional Chinese thought places more emphasis on harmony and difference, and believes in peaceful coexistence," said Wei.

He noted that another distinguished Confucian sage, Mencius, put forward the concepts of the Kingly Way and the Way of Hegemon. "China preaches the Kingly Way and uses benevolence to govern the political order. Those who are benevolent love others and will not hurt others."

Building a community with a shared future for mankind, a global public good proposed by China in response to a global deficit of governance, trust, peace and development, reflects the keynote of Chinese culture: the oneness of heaven and humanity, according to Wei.

"Western tradition believes in the division of heaven and man, thus man conquers and makes use of nature. The idea was especially prominent after the Industrial Revolution and the era of mechanization."

"Chinese culture never had such emphasis. Confucius and Mencius talked about the relationship between man and all things in the world, which is in a pattern of unity and believes that man and the heaven are coexistent rather than separate and confrontational with each other," Wei explained.

He added that in Western traditions, such thoughts did exist but were never in the mainstream.

"The West, based on its own traditions, has developed a model of modernity that has led to the world being the way it is now. And China has been seeking to explore a new model of modernization and a better future for the world, based on its own tradition and Confucian wisdom," Wei noted.

He said it is an ongoing mission for the Chinese in modern times.

(Cover: A statue of Confucius in front of the Confucius Museum in Jining, east China's Shandong Province. /CFP)