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The Chinese society has undergone unprecedented changes during the four decades of Reform and Opening Up. The economic and social achievements have been remarkable. The scope and speed of China’s development have been so startling that it has been dubbed the Chinese Miracle. To understand this miracle we must understand the realities of the Chinese society and the inner experience of the Chinese people, the latter of which requires a sound knowledge of what they value and believe.
One can better understand contemporary China only when one understands contemporary Chinese values. In today’s China the government promotes many core socialist values such as prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity and friendliness. These values have to do with the kind of nation we want to build, the kind of society we want to live in, and the kind of civic virtues we need to cultivate as citizens. But these are not merely words in a Party or government document; they are necessary for China’s social development and congruous with the Chinese people’s desire. The Chinese way of governance has always evolved from the age-old belief that “the heavens see what the people see and hear what the people hear.”
Values are the meaning things have for human beings. A person’s sense of values is the totality of values which inspire that person. A person has an innate sense of values even if values and the sense of values are not imposed from without. When the ancient sages pursued the perfection of the self, the people and all things in the universe, they were talking about values implicitly. The rites of ancient China are nothing other than a system of values which harmonize social life. It is written in “Qu Li I”, The Book of Rites that “They are the rules of propriety, that furnish the means of determining (the observances towards) relatives, as near and remote; of settling points which may cause suspicion or doubt; of distinguishing where there should be agreement, and where difference; and of making clear what is right and what is wrong.” To speak and act according to the rites is to realize the values the society holds onto. The book also says, “To cultivate one’s person and fulfil one’s words is called good conduct. When the conduct is (thus) ordered, and the words are accordant with the (right)course, we have the substance of the rules of propriety.” In ancient China, to abide by this set of values and beliefs was to receive social approval and to protect the order of the society.
The Chinese values we speak of here should not be understood from a purely individualistic point of view. Rather, they should be viewed in light of a consensus among contemporary Chinese people. The shared values of the Chinese people are to seek human happiness, social welfare, and cultural progress, and these are aligned with the values of many other nations and peoples. It is clear that the Chinese values are the result of the evolution in the past several thousand years; they reflect the life, thoughts, and cultural pursuits of the people living on the land of China. They therefore carry the Chinese characteristics. Through the story of flood-taming Dayu (Yu the Great), we see how the Chinese people, who have a long agrarian tradition, place a high value on collectivity and cooperation. The individual can only find strength and opportunity in collectivity, and this is the reason that the Chinese people often consider the question of values from the perspective of the whole rather than the part, the collective rather than the individual. Westerners consider, for example, human rights more from the perspective of the individual whereas the Chinese tend to emphasize the reciprocal respect for each other’s rights. This is the concept of“harmony”. The Chinese people don’t consider human rights as a race in which individuals freely compete for rights and interests, but as a state of harmony achieved by the collective. This is why they value peacefulness and harmony in diversity. Democracy, freedom, equality and justice can only exist when there is social harmony. There can be no freedom, democracy, or justice without a harmonious society.
In this book I try to uncover the contemporary foundation and historical source of the Chinese values. The ancients feared the lack of equality more than the lack of possessions;we can see how socialism and modernity have transformed this into the pursuit of equality and justice as a value. The ancients also felt that a crime should entail the same punishment whether it was committed by a prince or a pauper, and this has transformed into the modern rule of law as a value.
To understand the Chinese values one must understand the historical and cultural evolution of the Chinese people and their cultural and spiritual heritage. The struggle of the Chinese people since 170 years ago, the endeavors of the CPC in the past 90 years, the 70 years of progress of the PRC, and 40 years of Reform and Opening Up are but a continuation of the 5,000 years of Chinese history. It is impossible to understand China if one ignores China’s history, culture, inner world, and the deep reforms of contemporary China. Why are the Chinese people able to exist and develop throughout its five thousand years of history? One important reason is that they share an inner spiritual world. The traditional Chinese culture is like the DNA of the Chinese people; it runs through their veins and quietly influences their thoughts and behavior. The core values we speak of today is the collection of past values transformed and interpreted in the present era. For instance, the traditional Chinese culture emphasizes “the people as the root of the nation,” “harmony between man and nature,” “harmony in diversity,” “as heaven keeps vigor through movement, a gentleman should unremittingly practice self-improvement,”“the ideal government puts everyone on equal footing,” “the ordinary people are responsible for the failure and success of the society,” “the government has to be virtuous and exerts a civilizing effect on people,” “an honorable man is ethical and has nothing to hide,” “promise must be kept and action must be resolute,” “untrustworthiness is fecklessness,” “a virtuous man is never alone,” “a benevolent man has love for other people,” “be helpful to others,” “Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto yourself,” “be helpful to and share information with friends and neighbors,” and “the lack of equality is more serious than the lack of possessions.”The Chinese people share these values whether knowingly or unknowingly. These core values of contemporary China are a sublimated inheritance of the traditional Chinese culture.
To understand the contemporary Chinese values, one must understand the Chinese people’s greatest pursuit and expectation: the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the building of a prosperous, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious socialist modern country. This is the Chinese people’s greatest hope since the Opium War; it represents the highest and the most basic interests of the Chinese people. All the struggles by a fifth of the world’s population have this as their ultimate goal. Since 1840, a history of humiliation, huge sacrifice and some important victories against fascism and the Japanese aggression have taught the Chinese people the importance of independence, prosperity, and happiness.
To understand the contemporary Chinese values, one must understand the reality of Chinese society. The implementation of socialism with Chinese characteristics has given new life and economic power to a poor and ancient country. People outside China call this a miracle and the Chinese themselves ponder this tremendous change as they experience it. This has seared a mark on the Chinese values. Socialism is based on a new ideal of values – public ownership of the means of production – which allows everyone to develop freely and wholly. China is a socialist country; it does not reject values such as democracy, freedom, and human rights but considers them from the perspective of social development. As a result, the Chinese people are less inclined to ponder the universal right to vote abstractly, but more inclined to explore and improve ways of exercising the right of running the country under existing conditions. As democratic rights are being perfected, a democracy with narrowed and periodic right to vote is being turned into a democracy with a wide range of rights. In reality, China believes firmly that the people have the right to progress freely, that is why it puts freedom in the framework of social justice. The Chinese sense of values does not reject human rights but puts democratic rights in a real and realizable framework. China looks at rights from the social perspective; when people respect one another’s rights, we will have a harmonious and rule-based society in which everyone is equal. Harmony as a value both includes and surpasses human rights just as justice as a socialist value both includes and surpasses personal freedom.
To understand the contemporary Chinese values, one must examine them from the perspective of future development. We have become aware that we cannot abandon our traditions and vitiate our spiritual inheritance, nor can we stop moving forward and ignore the calls of our ideals. It’s only by not forgetting our heritage that we can forge our future, and it’s only by preserving our traditions that we can innovate. We need therefore to explore and explain the values of the traditional Chinese culture such as benevolence, people as the base, trustworthiness, justice, integrity and peace and create modern versions of them. At the same time that we retain the traditional culture, we must abandon the values of the hierarchical society and cultivate the socialist values which reflect the trends of historical development. The core values must be informed by the direction of human development and reflect the necessities of social development; only this can ensure that we march to the beat of historical progress.
To understand the contemporary Chinese values, we must also have an appreciation for the multi-faceted exchange Chinese people have with other peoples of the world. The Chinese culture has always grown stronger in clashes with other cultures. The world will have more opportunities for peaceful development if it adopts the Chinese value of“harmony in diversity.” We can see from this that the value of harmony has real and universal significance for the world. The Chinese people have always felt that the world is but one big community and harmonious relationships should be fostered with other countries. There have been important interactions since ancient times with other cultures and new ideas were brought into China, including Buddhism, music from beyond the western frontier, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment Movement, the bourgeois revolutions, and the Industrial Revolution. Marxist and socialist theories have also had tremendous influence on China. China’s desire to build a prosperous country is certainly influenced by the West, which has also taught China the values of freedom, equality, democracy, and the rule of law. These values became manifest in the subsequent movements of Enlightenment and saving the country from aggression. China can no doubt contribute to the forging of a common set of values for the world. For instance, the value of harmony in diversity can be a good model for building international relationships. The ideas of sharing resources and of not hurting other living things are far more reasonable and equitable than the imposition of hegemony and the imperial order. The Chinese people believe that “poor, one should perfect oneself; rich, one should perfect the world.”Why has China developed so rapidly? It is because internally, we want to build a harmonious society, achieve peaceful unification and prosperity of the motherland while externally, we promote peaceful development, equal exchanges, and shared benefits. The value of harmony in diversity offers more opportunities for peaceful development of the world. Harmony as a Chinese value has practical and universal significance.
It is true that the Chinese values are intimately related to Marxism; this is a historical fact. The pairing of China and Marxism has freed the Chinese people, made them independent, and enabled them to catch up with the world. People may ask: Why has Marxism propelled Chinese development and what would be the result if China adopted other values or philosophy?
First of all, Marxism dovetails with the two-pronged historical process of Enlightenment and self-preservation in modern China. History has shown that Marxism has raised China’s cultural standard, promoted social development, and facilitated the process of the nation’s rejuvenation. It is only after Marxism entered China and became the impetus for social and cultural transformation and modernization that China was able to achieve independence, liberation, and social development. Why is this achievement possible? There has to be a historical logic at work, since it can’t be happenstance for an ancient culture like China. Some people say that the mission of self-preservation has defeated the Enlightenment in China. This is not the case; in fact, the Enlightenment has been bonded to self-preservation historically and internally. Marxism is able to exert such deep influence on the world because it is a tool for understanding and changing the world. It has imparted reason to the Chinese way of thinking and compelled the Chinese people to revolt and change their own fate. Marxism has meted out blunt criticisms to capitalism; this enabled the Chinese people to stand firm against capitalism and imperialism at the same time that they launched social revolution. Having adopted Marxism which dissects and criticizes capitalism, China is able to learn from the West yet also resists the West which has consistently tried to take control of China. Through its struggles, the CPC has adopted Marxism as the guiding principle, learned to use it creatively, and merged its universal values with China’s realities. Through extremely hard work, the CPC built a new China, allowing the Chinese people to stand up.
As China looked for solutions to its crisis, Western capitalist theories spread to China and met with the political leaders’ approval; some of the theories were adopted. But they never warmed the cockles of the Chinese people’s heart or became a driving force behind China’s historical progress.
Secondly, in exploring the path to socialist development, China has found success in the era of economic globalization by standing under the banner of socialism. The Chinese people have stood up but they need to stand firm, and this needs sound mechanisms. Only those countries with high productivity, advanced technology, and creativity can ensure national safety and personal happiness. To develop under economic globalization, China cannot separate itself from the world or disregard the logic of capital and market. We either have to abide by the international order or close our doors again. During the Reform and Opening Up, China has not surrendered or consented to shock therapy like some other countries, but it did reject the socialist dogmatism and found a more appropriate path which enabled it to create the China Miracle.
Moreover, the Reform and Opening Up, which began with the discussions on ideological emancipation, is itself a continuation of the Enlightenment Movement. The mission of self-preservation has been achieved but the progress of reason has to continue, and the socialist market economy fits the bill exactly. We have understood the importance of science and technology and of the role of the individuals in the development of our economy; the pursuit of profit in the market has made us understand the importance of individual rights and the necessity of a legal system which protects them. As we look at developing countries in the context of economic globalization, we see that without Marxism, they either become vassals to capitalism or foment extremist resistance to it, such as Islamic fundamentalism. If China has found success in Reform and Opening Up, is it not a new life bestowed on it by Marxism? Marxism has allowed the traditional Chinese culture to transform and modernize in a creative way.
Finally, China will become a prosperous modern socialist country under Marxism. Socialism with Chinese characteristics will advance into a new era where “the Chinese nation, which since modern times began had endured so much for so long, has achieved a tremendous transformation – it has stood up, grown rich, and become strong.” But there is further difficulty to overcome. China has gone from a backward agrarian culture to an industrial powerhouse, from a self-sufficient natural economy to a market economy, and from a state of closure to a participant in economic globalization. We have become the second largest economy of the world and the biggest trading nation with a per capita income of $10,000. But the Chinese people must remember: “The basic dimension of the Chinese context – our country is still and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism – has not changed. China’s international status as the world’s largest developing country has not changed.” The closer you get to the finish line, the longer the distance seems to become. We see national rejuvenation and a life of contentment in the offing, but we must persist in our Marxist beliefs, have full confidence in the theory, path and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and steadfastly forge ahead along the correct Chinese path.
China’s confidence comes from the CPC and the Chinese people inspired by the Marxist ideals. The cultural confidence does not mean China wants to return to the old thinking and values, for example, those advocated by Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Such confidence is closely associated with the best of its traditional culture, its revolutionary culture, and the advanced culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its socialist core values. For China to stand up and become wealthy and strong, it needs to persist on the Marxist path but more importantly, it must advance Marxism. Only by advancing Marxism can we inject new life into it and let it guide us along the socialist path in the new era. As President Xi Jinping has said in the report of the 19th CPC National Congress, “Only with socialism can we save China; only with the Reform and Opening Up can we develop China, develop socialism, and develop Marxism. We must uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and continue to modernize China’s system and capacity for governance. We must have the determination to get rid of all outdated thinking and ideas and all institutional ailments, and to break through the blockades of vested interests. We should draw on the achievements of other civilizations, develop a set of institutions that are well conceived, fully built, procedure based, and efficiently functioning, and do full justice to the strengths of China’s socialist system.” To do this, we must march to the rhythm of the new era, have the courage to face the truth, correct our mistakes, and let Marxism speak the universal truths more forcefully and convincingly and inform the Chinese values through the implementation of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The ancient Chinese traditions and the modern revolutionary culture have left their indelible marks on China’s national spirit, resulting in the people’s unique mindset, character and values. The spirit or values of a nation, however, reflect the ongoing creative activities of the people, and thus must respond to the pressing questions of the era. A culture must reflect the characteristics and the requirements of the era to exert influence on the era, to attain vitality and to foster a set of values with positive contemporary implications. It is within such a dialog between the present and the past that we come to understand the Chinese values.