As global capitalism transforms East Asia, the region is under the influence of a powerful thinker. No, it’s not Adam Smith. It’s Confucius.
The Great Sage’s influence in China, Korea, and Japan cannot be overstated. Confucius lived from 551 to 479 BC, and his teachings inform familial and gender relations, how bosses interact with their subordinates, and how citizens think about their governments. And for precisely these reasons, he has been cast as a misogynist reactionary and criticized for the hierarchical relationships he espoused as a tool for the ruling elites to oppress the masses. Yet Confucian philosophy has also been reinterpreted countless times — and many of these readings diverge drastically from his original intentions.
Now, Michael Schuman, a former Asia correspondent for Time and The Wall Street Journal, predicts that the resurgence of Confucianism will be one of the most important cultural trends of the 21st century, making it more vital than ever for Westerners to understand his actual teachings.
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In his new book, “Confucius and the World He Created,” Schuman examines the uses and abuses of Confucianism throughout history, and how modern Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people are fitting the Great Sage into their lives. This rediscovery will radiate outward as East Asia’s influence in the world grows.
Ideas spoke to Schuman by telephone.
IDEAS: Confucius and his philosophies have been around for 2,500 years. Why is there a resurgence of interest in him now?
SCHUMAN: There are a couple of reasons. One is that for a long time in Asia, since basically the early 20th century, this idea took hold that if Asia wanted to be modern it had to westernize. Now we are seeing this great shift in economic and political power to the East, especially to countries like China, and Asians are rethinking this. They are saying, “Actually, we’ve been really successful as well, and maybe you don’t have to be Western to be modern. Maybe you can be Asian as well.” So you’re finding people returning to their ancient traditions, their ancient literature, and their ancient philosophy.
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IDEAS: Confucianism as a philosophy is grounded in the past. A lot of it is about looking to old modes of politics and traditional familial and gender roles. Why does this appeal to modern Asian societies?
SCHUMAN: There are very universal principles there that apply to every age. The basis of Confucian teaching was virtue, and that if people were benevolent to everyone else then you create the perfect society. He propagated the idea of the golden rule before Jesus — “don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.” These are very basic moral principles that have timelessness to them.
IDEAS: Is this resurgence exploring old roots, or do you think it’s another makeover for a philosophy which has already had many makeovers over the course of its history?
SCHUMAN: What the Chinese government is doing, for example, is basically returning to what the old imperial governments did, with some tweaks. But they’re basically thinking that Confucius can be a source of political legitimacy for their government. . . .
[As for individuals,] they’re saying, “I need something else in my life, and this can help me.” What they get out it will be very interesting to see. Are they going to [follow strictly] the reinterpretations upon reinterpretations? Or are they going to be influenced by all these foreign ideas coming in like democracy and human rights and Christianity and find something completely new in Confucius for a new age? I think that’s something that we have yet to see.
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IDEAS: Do you think Confucius ever really disappeared from Asian culture? Or he always buried slightly below the surface?
SCHUMAN: These ideas basically were the governing principles of life for such a long period of time that they don’t just kind of evaporate in 50 years. A lot of the stuff people do they don’t even realize is a Confucian influence. It is just what they do. This is how I expect my boss to be at work, and this is what I expect my government to do, and this is what I want my son to do. Despite efforts of reformers and governments over the last 100 years, it has been very hard to get rid of Confucius.
IDEAS: Where does the West play into this resurgence?
SCHUMAN: The big story of the 21st century is the rise of China, and more broadly the rising importance of East Asia in the global economy but also in global culture. I mean, look at [Korean] pop. This is the big story of the next 100 years, and I think it has a lot of people in the West and in the United States feeling uneasy about what that might mean. That’s why I think we have to know a lot more about Asia across the board. Know where Asia has come from, what’s the foundation of Asian life, why do people what they do, why do companies do what they do, why do governments behave the way that they do. And not that Confucius is the only influence on this of course, but he is one of the primary influences on this. So if we want to be able to understand what is going on in East Asia, and we want to be able to contend with it, then we have to know more about Confucianism.
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IDEAS: So, for Westerners, what’s important to know?
SCHUMAN: There is a lot of stuff in Confucius that doesn’t have cultural bounds. When you look at some of his stuff on government, it can apply to any government system at any age. A lot of this stuff is just logic. If you’re the president of the United States, and you lower taxes, and you put in really good policies so that there is a lot of prosperity, and you are upright in your own behavior, and you don’t have public scandals, then there is a pretty good chance that you’re going to get reelected.
On a personal level, a lot of Confucian morality isn’t much different than Judeo-Christian morality. In some respects, for me at least, there are aspects of it that are more appealing.
Noah Guiney can be reached at noah.guiney@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @NoahGuiney.
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