The Dwindling of a Pure China

The Dwindling of a Pure China

“To get rich is glorious.” This is the new-found mentality of China. China, however, has never been money-hungry or profit-oriented. With mass industrialization, it essentially made China implement capitalist ideals, and China let “a couple flies get in.” China has had its roots sprouting from Confucianism, but industrialization has compromised their Confucian style of life. Sure, in the past we must acknowledge that Confucianism has disappeared a couple times only to resurface again. This time is different. China will never regain their Confucian spirit again because industrialization has corrupted the minds of the once pure, Confucian, Chinese people.

When Mao came to power in 1949, he created a radical Communist state. However, subsequent to his death in 1976, “moderates” took over and completely altered the economic system in China. Deng Xiaoping is the most notable “moderate” for creating a somewhat free-market economy. He adopted foreign technology, and reduced the amount of collectivized agriculture. Additionally, there was less state control of enterprise and agriculture, people were able to buy and sell property, and manufacturers were allured to China because of their minimal labor costs. However, the state still owned banks, steel, energy, media, and telecommunication services. Essentially, China, economically, was taking the “third way” like Tony Blair did in the 90’s. They are neither purely socialist nor purely capitalist. But, when Deng Xiaoping uttered, “to get rich is glorious,” in the late 80’s, it showed that China had become very capitalist oriented. Capitalism has always been based on greed to benefit, and Deng’s expression exemplifies that. Furthermore, Deng also uttered, that “when you open the window, the flies come in” meaning that when capitalist reforms were implemented like the West, western culture was bound to come with it. The question is, due Deng’s reforms, is Confucianism still potentially viable in China? (Ebrey).

To be frank, Confucianism does not have any chance of resurfacing. There are many sources that show us this. First, because of this new free-market economy, some people have thrived and some have not. Two distinct classes have been emerging, the very rich and the very poor. However, this was not what Communism first intended. It was first intended that Communism was to keep everyone equal by an “eternal revolution.” The Communist Party, with its plethora of recent reforms, has made this idea less of a priority. But, the rich, like the wealthy bourgeoisie in the West during the Industrial Revolution, are getting all of the benefit, and the “proletariat” are getting none. Since people were to “get rich as glorious,” people lived very lavishly. About a week ago, there was an issue that arose concerning the rich versus the government in China. Sophie Beach, an observer of Chinese issues living in Berkely California gave a report. The rich in China wanted to fly their privately owned airplanes in China without the government’s approval because it took several weeks to get an approval for a flight. It seems as if that the rich seemed as if it was okay to just ignore the law because they were rich. This certainly is not the China we would see in the past. People respected the laws because people treated others with respect, (Beach).

Moreover, people in China have lost their sense of simplicity in life because of mass industrialization. This exemplifies how China’s mentality has changed.

Wang Zhongjun is loaded and happy to flaunt it. He wears Prada shoes, Versace jackets, and a Piaget watch. He smokes Cohiba cigars from Cuba. He drives a white Mercedes-Benz SL600, a silver BMW Z8, and a red Ferrari 360. His art collection includes hundreds of sculptures and paintings. Value: $30 million or so (In China, to Get Rich is Glorious).

Is this really what China should be like? People’s lives have begun to become corrupted by Western influence. This China has only recently come into play. Before, people lived simply and China was mainly agricultural. But, now when you go up to an ordinary American and ask them about China, they would make a statement like, “that’s where everything is made!” China has changed so rapidly in the past 30 years since Deng uttered “to get rich is glorious.” (In China, to Get Rich is Glorious).

Furthermore, the way the Chinese have acted has changed drastically in the past 30 years. When Deng responded to questions about industrialization, Deng stated “when you leave the window open, the flies come in.” The flies have certainly come in. Western media, food, and technology have come to China and have westernized the mindset of the ordinary Chinese person. For example, in Hebei province a couple days ago, a couple was caught on camera while having sex in a university classroom. Even funnier, an average Chinese guy later commented on the post by stating, “if you haven’t tried [having sex] in a classroom, how can you be considered a male university student? Shanghai Normal University and Shanghai University has a lot of this.” (Hebei University Students…). Through the influence of western culture, people in China have become accustomed to this idea that sex is a joke, whereas in Confucianism, people took sex very seriously. For example, after a parent died, you were not supposed to have sex for three years.

Finally, in January a large statue was placed in Tiannamen Square of Confucius. Since then, the Communists have been thinking about implementing “political Confucianism.” Unlike the Confucian bureaucracy, this is just the use of Confucianism to alleviate China’s “moral crisis” as Samuel Wade, a graduate from the University of London, stated. However, this Confucian revival is not going to work. It’s too late. The damage has already been done to China (Wade). No matter what the Chinese do to try and re-install Confucianism, they won’t be able to do it because they have supported a capitalist economy which has westernized China. Thus, when Deng stated, “to get rich is glorious,” he completely flipped the ideals of Chinese culture. With his famous utterance, he created a dwindling China.

Bibliography

Beach, Sophie. "China’s Rich Try to Fly Around Red Tape." Chinadigitaltimes.net. 18 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. .

Ebrey, Patricia B. The Cambridge illustrated history of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.

"Hebei University Students Caught Having Sex In Classroom – ChinaSMACK." Chinasmack.com. 13 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. .

"In China, To Get Rich Is Glorious." Businessweek.com. 2006. Web. 19 May 2011. .

Wade, Samuel. "Political Confucianism’s Coming of Age | China Digital Times (CDT)."Chinadigitaltimes.net. 7 Feb. 2010. Web. 19 May 2011.