The way ahead, as China turns to its past for guidance

The way ahead, as China turns to its past for guidance


The fabulous success of the 28th Olympic Games once again reminds people the importance of China as an old nation entering into a new era. The main theme in the opening ceremony is no surprisingly the carefully and lavishly orchestrated demonstration of the greatness of the traditional Chinese culture 5000 years old. Interestingly, China is both an old and new nation at the same time. As a new nation means it is vigorously seeking a new identity to fit in the world community and an effective cultural mechanism to govern its 1.3 billon strong people. It has so far turned to the richness of its antediluvian history for guidance. That is why the current public rhetoric is full of seemingly odd combination of the ancient proverbs quoted from Confucius and that of the Marx-Mao heritages.
As a price paid for high growth rate and material prosperity, traditional Confucianism faded away with the hard line communist ideologies as China is gradually transforming itself into a marketing economy. Yet there is no sign to indicate that China will navigate itself on the path of West, both in politics and culture. Today Chinese government seems to be more than any time inclined to the traditional ruling methods than that of the Western democracy. Economic growth has been be a double edged sword for China by allowing it to enjoy a fuller vein on the one hand, and yet get a weaker limb, so does speak, on the other. Social control becomes less and less effective in the face of a rapidly developing society.

An ancient people striving relentlessly for survival and dignity, modern Chinese history has been an epic saga of struggling and suffering. China tried various political recipes imported from West and Japan in the past 150 years and failed repeatedly. Finally there came this unique combination of a radical Western ideology intertwined with certain elements in traditional Confucianism which served well as a mechanism to unify Chinese people and establish a stabilized nationhood for the first time in the modern history. The rationale behind this “socialistic path” lies in the fact that China was so behind of the developed nations at that time that a radical and effective method must be adopted in order to catch up. China would not be able to catch up the world by going through the same path as West had because it had been so backward that no place was left for it in the world where colonialism and imperialism were the dominant themes. With no market and initiating capital to start with, China needs a short cut to finish its industrialization; a socialistic system must be in place to concentrate resources and man power to achieve the goal in the shortest time possible. This socialistic economic model may be interpreted as the so called “Nationalistic capitalism” which had also been adopted in Germany and Russia in the 30’s, though under different terms. This system had worked respectfully well in the regards of its swiftness in achieving industrialization and social reforms, albeit with hideous cost resulted from persecution and loss of lives. Quite similar to Christianity in Europe during medieval time, Communism to China at that particular time functioned as a sort of institutionalized salvation to mobilize its people into an organized political force. It may be questionable as to whether this so called Chinese way of socialism was indeed a genuine socialism per se judging by orthodox Marxist criteria. Nevertheless, it had worked well with traditional Confucian culture by corresponding to its basic elements, namely, the authoritative approach in politics and strong desire for social control. Both Communism and Confucianism shared similitude in the way of employing a concentrated ruling system and urging the ruling class to serve the needs of masses. Yet both have, by no accident, degenerated into types of despotism and inefficient and often corrupted bureaucracies.

Despite his death more than 30 years ago, Chairman Mao’s legacy seems to linger on. Perhaps no other figure in the modern time has been so controversial that the correct interpretation of his historical significance is still a hotly debated issue even today. To the leftists, Mao is still a Godly figure with a legacy tinged with a sort of religious aura. Many view him as a kind of “Messiah” betrayed and denied by his own people. Since his death, China has been running on a fast track of marketing economy under the disguise of the so called socialistic path with unique “Chinese characteristics”. However, this path by no means fits into the orthodoxies of Mao’s thoughts and therefore has been deemed as a heresy. So as Mao’s prophecy goes, people are going to suffer when society falls apart as the result of promotion of elitism and intensification of class conflict. The leftists, a once marginalized and nearly insignificant group in Chinese political congregation, now seems to find a second life. Yet this nostalgia of Mao’s era appears to be more of a ranting of the extremes and a protest on the social and economic injustice than of a serious solution for the future. Though today’s China is by no means perfect, however, for most people, returning to the life of poverty and insecurity is neither a solution nor a possibility. The existence of dissidents may be viewed as sign of political tolerance as well as the symptom of China’s ever deteriorating social and economic conditions. China seems to become more confident politically by allowing different voices to be heard without rendering serious punishment. Without a doubt China today is freer than ever. Yet underneath this seemingly moderate surface a Maoist political structure remains virtually intact. Today’s China is also a land full of contradictories and embarrassments; economic prosperity did improve people’s lives in general, but the gap between rich and poor has never been so disproportionately extended. Despite its rapid growth recent years, China, with its huge population, is still ranked as one of the poorest nations in the world when it comes to income per capita. So in reality Taiwan independence or any other supposed threatening issues may be less eminent than the problems of housing, medical care and unemployment, all which seems to have no immediate solution available. Social and economic injustice is always a warning sign to any nation, especially for a country inhibited by one billion plus people and in relatively less developed social and economic conditions. China boasts with modernized metros and a small percentage of citizens living in a life style comparable to that of the developed nation, but majority of people, especially in the rural area, are struggling to make their ends meet. To these people, Olympic Games and sky scrapers in big cities mean little because their minds were constantly preoccupied by the challenges of finding decent paid jobs, feeding their kids and being able to afford medical care and livable housings. It is hard to imagine a nouveau riche who drives a BMW will share the same view on anything with a beggar crawling on his deformed arms in the market place. There is a growing anti rich sentiment among the majority of underprivileged because the rich people in China are commonly viewed as a bunch of ruffians who had secured their wealth not by hard work but through unethical means. The danger to stability lies in the explosion of this sentiment when it becomes politically motivated. China runs into danger of losing stability and credibility when it shifts from one extreme to another so quickly and unpredictably that there is no consistency left in between. Today’s binge for material prosperity is just as fanatic as the ranting in Mao’s era for the so called socialistic purity. China may exist in different forms at different times, but the underneath sentiment remains the same. Capitalism without legal guardian is just as destructive as the Socialism without rationality. In fact, neither one will work in the long run. Indeed, how could one make a connection between the notion of a socialistic nation which preaches equality for all and China’s reality in which greed and inequality prevailing everywhere? China could still label itself as socialistic or whatever it wants to be called, but to convince people of what it really stands for demands more creativity. Without a doubt, the challenge China facing now is unprecedented in human history, never have there been a nation with such population transforming itself into a modern society at such speed.
The high growth rate did not come at free of cost. China’s greatest potential lies not in technology or capital, but mostly in its ability to capitalize on its unique resource, a huge pool of low cost labors willing to toil themselves in sweat shops at wage only a fraction of what was paid in the West. With millions of people from rural area entering into cities each year to find jobs and better lives, China has to find a way to feed them and keep them occupied. Unemployment rate is a closely guarded secret for the fear of losing momentum. Though without precise data, the number of unemployed people is estimated at around 200-250 millions depending on the definition of unemployment. How long Chinese economic engine can last under this kind of circumstances is the question puzzles economists. One thing seems to be sure that there might be a tipping point where the current mode of development becomes no longer feasible giving and social and environmental concerns. China’s problem also has a global impact. Already there is a common understanding in Western countries, especially the United States, that China’s currency policy and over production are the real cause of financial crisis and loss of domestic jobs. It is urgent for China to find a new way before the break down of the old mode.

To tackle any social and economic problems, an effective ruling mechanism is needed. The new ruling method, unlike the one in the past which is more toward a coercible approach, must be more humanized by encouraging the willingness of people to participate and share responsibilities. There also must be something in it that is familiar to people by having indelibly Chinese characteristics. Traditional culture is the way to go. On the other hand, China is now more than ever a part of the world where Western ideas are prevailing in virtually everything. Thus, China could be in some way either “anti-West” or “pro -West”, but certainly it could not afford to be “non- West”. If China is running a historical marathon, the journey may just get started. Whether or not this once proud and confident people could regain its proper place in this world determines, to a great extent, the future of the whole humanity. As China enters into new era, Western ideas, be that Capitalism or whatever, have also entered into the Great Wall, not to replace Confucianism, but mostly likely to supplement it.