The Sage Returns by Richey Jeffrey L. Hammond Kenneth James

Author:Richey, Jeffrey L.,Hammond, Kenneth James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2014-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

China faces tremendous challenges in the twenty-first century. The need for rapid economic development to raise the standards of living for hundreds of millions of people is a national priority. But this produces further challenges in terms of environmental stress, social dislocation, and political inclusion and empowerment. In addressing these and a myriad of other issues, Chinese avail themselves of a complex repertoire of cultural and ideological instruments rooted in both indigenous and extraneous sources. Without the Communist Revolution of the twentieth century, the present realities of China would be very different, and it is not surprising that even after the tribulations of mass movements and repeated frustrations, many people still hold to the vision of a just and equitable society articulated in the theories of socialist liberation. Today’s China is also strongly shaped by the multi-millennial heritage of “tradition” in all its diversity and complexity, and it is also not surprising that many people look to one or another aspect of the past or reinterpretation of this heritage to address the problems of the present.

My goal in this chapter has been to consider briefly one particular locus within the broad and dynamic field of political discourse and action in contemporary China that has caught my attention in recent years and that I feel may yield particular insights and offer specific opportunities for dealing with China’s discontents. The intersection between New Left thinkers and advocates of what I see as a “Left” Confucianism is hardly the mainstream of political debate in China. But it brings together two constituencies that share a concern with collective welfare and social justice and that call for upholding standards of public morality in a time of widespread corruption. Where this will lead and whether these two sets of thinkers will further develop their shared ideals in some form of coordinated theory or practice remains very much to be seen. But China may well be better off if they do.

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