Here we will look into the political philosophy of Kung Fuzi, Sun Yat Sen, Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping, and the analysis of Pao Yuching on Chinese socialist development and capitalist restoration in a chrono-thematic comparative approach. We’ll acquaint ourselves with their work philosophy first.
Confucianism, Confucius and Confucian Classics
Xiingzhong Yao in his introduction to his book “An Introduction to Confucianism” historicized Confucianism and presented the miasma of etymological debates regarding Confucianism. He also introduced Confucius, and towards the end of the introduction, introduced the political, ethical and religious dimensions of the Confucian thought.
As to when it begun, Xingzhong Yao is convinced that it predated Confucius himself. Confucianism is merely a ‘misnomer’ of the many thoughts or teachings and practices in the tradition we now know as Confucianism. It was not solely Confucius’ teachings, rather a reinterpretation of ancients one. Yao argued that it is not a mere thought system (ethical, moral or religious at that) but a tradition which morphed over time through different events.
Confucianism is considered as a philosophical system, sometimes as an ethical system (although that is debatable), and occasionally a religious system. Center to the Confucian thought is humanism ,or what the philosopher Herbert Fingarette calls “the secular as sacred”. Confucianism focuses on the practical order and harmony inscribed in a this-worldly awareness of the Tian (cosmos or heaven) and a proper respect of the gods (shen), with particular emphasis on the importance of the family, rather than on a transcendent divine or a soteriology. Confucianism dwells on the belief that human beings are teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor especially self-cultivation and self-creation.
Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics. Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include rén, yì, and lǐ, and zhì. Ren is an obligation of altruism and humaneness for other individuals. Yi is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. Li is a system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life. Zhi is the ability to see what is right and fair, or the converse, in the behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for the failure of upholding the cardinal moral values of ren and yi.
Confucianism is greatly embedded in the Chinese consciousness. It’s very long and far-reaching history permeates the Chinese society; ergo, there is no denying that while a ‘new’ intellectual culture exists in the modern Chinese community, strands of Confucian thought remains.
There are criticism to Confucianism. The disillusionment towards the government and the distrust towards the Confucian thought have contributed to the rise of the ‘new culture’ movement in the twentieth century. This was the beginning of the adaptation of Western ideologues and standards by Chinese intellectuals. Let us begin with the thoughts of Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
Sun Yat Sen and his Three Principles of the People and the Fundamentals of National Reconstruction
Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People[1] or the San min Doctrine (also coined as Trimedism) outlines the three doctrines Sun Yat-sen argued will set China free, and make it a prosperous and powerful nation — the Doctrine of Nationalism, Doctrine of Democracy, and the Doctrine of Livelihood.
In his Doctrine of Nationalism, Sun Yat-sen argues that Chinese as a people are inherently independent in spirit and in conduct. According to Sun, when China’s political and military prowess declined they weren’t able to escape the aggression of imperialist nations[2], but eventually the Chinese as a people will reassert itself.
Sun’s Doctrine of Nationalism posits that for China to regain its morale and unify its peoples and stand against its aggressor, it must first develop a sense of “national consciousness”. This means a ‘China-nationalism’ and must not be confused with ‘ethnic-nationalism’. Moreover, according to him, nationalistic ideas in China do not come from external sources but are inherited from their forefathers. It has to be revived and improved.
In Sun’s Doctrine of Democracy, he promulgates a republican form of government. Sun’s idea of democracy espouses the four political rights of the people namely: (1) right to vote, (2) right to recall, (3) right to initiative and (4) right to referendum. Moreover, it provides for a unique administrative set up with five branches of government namely: (1) Executive Yuan, (2) Legislative Yuan, (3) Judicial Yuan, (4) Examination Yuan, and (5) Censor Yuan (also translated as Control Yuan). This is Sun Yat-sen’s version of a government by the people where the people controls the government through its political rights to elect and recall (also to conduct initiatives and referendum). This Doctrine lays out the power of politics and the power of governance.
Lastly, Sun’s Doctrine of Livelihood, as he claims, is an answer to the Social Question which is basically about the problem of how man has to strive for the means of life. For Sun, the problem in China is not unequal distribution of wealth but poverty. Thus, economic policies advocated by Marx and the Marxists in China during his time, according to him, are not appropriate to the condition of China. [3]
Sun subscribes to the economic principle of state ownership and the creation of national capital. For Sun, the Doctrine of Livelihood is not different from communism. To quote Dr. Sun Yat-sen:
In the course of solving China’s Social Question, our object is the same as that of foreign countries, namely, to free the people from the suffering caused by the unequal distribution of wealth and to make them happy and contented [emphasis supplied]. Our way is community of industrial and social profits. We cannot say, then, that the doctrine of livelihood is different from communism. The San Min Doctrine means a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” [emphasis added]—that is, the state is the common property of all the people, its politics are participated in by all, and its profits are shared by all. Then there will be not only communism in property, but communism in everything else [emphasis supplied]. Such will be the ultimate end of the Doctrine of Livelihood, a state which Confucius calls ta t’ung or the age of “great similarity.”
He focused this doctrine on his four areas of livelihood (clothing, food, housing and transportation) and also advocated the land value tax.[4]
Sun Yet-sen’s insights in his “Fundamentals of National Reconstruction” lay down the blueprint for building a republic of China. It included the three stages of national reconstruction which are (1) military rule, (2) political tutelage, and (3) constitutional government.
Sun Yat-sen’s work has highly influenced Chinese nationalists and could be considered among the head figures of the Chinese bourgeois-democratic revolution. To date, there are debates whether Sun Yat-sen supported socialism or not.
Mao Zedong and Chinese Socialist Construction
Mao Zedong’s “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party” outlined Mao and other revolutionaries’ analysis of the then Chinese society and the politico-economic programme the CCP had to undertake.
On the Characteristics of the Chinese Society
In the text, Mao characterized China as a colonial, semi-colonial, and semi-feudal society. Recognizing the existence of some capitalist elements, it gave emphasis on the vast trace of the absolutely feudal society preceding semi-feudal and semi-colonial China. Mao argues that imperialism has sown the seeds of capitalism after the Opium War of 1840 and the consequent aggression from imperialist powers. While seeds of capitalism have been planted and the feudal China turned into a commodity economy, a completely capitalist China is not what the imperialists envision. Their purpose according to Mao was to turn China into a semi-colony and eventually a colony.
On the Revolution and the People’s War
Clearly, Mao has led a revolution against imperialism and feudalism (the bourgeoisie of the imperialist countries and the landlords of China). He, in this text, defined the targets, tasks and motive forces of the revolution. Note that the ultimate perspective of the Chinese revolution led by Mao was socialism and communism with the dictatorship of the proletariat.
He also set the strategy of people’s war in curbing imperialism and feudalism. Mao’s various theories guided Chinese revolution to victory in 1949, particularly his theory of people’s war, represent a fusion of many aspects of his thought: his confidence in the fundamental revolutionary strength of the peasantry, his mastery of the dialectical philosophy, his complete freedom from the kind of barbarism which invests excuses to condemn the armed struggle of the oppressed nations.
Chairman Mao once said, “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”. This stressed the need for a people’s army of an entirely new type to fulfill the revolution’s success. He devised an art of warfare where fighters move around people like ‘fish in the water’.
Among his important contributions to the people’s war is the protracted people’s war done by encircling the cities from the countryside. Practice proved it to be correct.
On Classes and Their Struggle
Heavily influenced by Marx and Lenin, Mao had a firm class stand (which Sun Yat-sen does not subscribe to). His firm class stand kept him resolute in upholding the interest of the laboring class. Elaborating on the classes Chinese society, he understood very clearly that the proletariat and poor peasantry was the only class force capable of regenerating China and thus contributing to the world revolutionary movement. He resisted tendencies to depend communism on movements of local bourgeoisie.
Moreover, Mao argues that the peasantry, especially the poor peasantry, can be profoundly revolutionary, whereas the national bourgeoisie will always be incapable on its own of striking out in a direction really independent of imperialism.
On the New-Democratic Revolution and the Socialist Revolution
In “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party”, Mao remarked:
To complete China’s bourgeois-democratic revolution (the new democratic revolution) and to transform it into a socialist revolution when all the necessary conditions are ripe–such is the sum total of the great and glorious revolutionary task of the Chinese Communist Party.
Mao Zedong saw that the victory in the struggle for democracy won with the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, opened the way for an uninterrupted progress towards socialist revolution. He knew that the nature of revolutions in oppressed nations is in essence anti-imperialist, thus a broad and unified alliance of forces against the imperialist forces can easily be forged.
During the revolution up to 1949, the Communist Party managed to win the leadership of a very wide range of social forces who were ready to fight for at least some aspect of human dignity against domestic and foreign oppressors. Mao sought to maintain allies and gradually transform them, rather than letting them drift into a reactionary position which he deemed useful as they enter the socialist construction of the Chinese society.
Deng Xiaoping’s “Market Socialism”
Staunch followers of Maoism call Deng Xiaoping a “revisionist” while individuals who favor Deng Xiaoping praises his pragmatic handling of the Chinese economy after Mao died in 1976. Nonetheless, Deng Xiaoping’s goal in 1976 was to speed up China’s economic growth which has become slowly moving forward under Mao Zedong.
His major policy was Zhou Enlai’s “Four Modernization” that is focused on the development of these four areas: industry, agriculture, defense, and science and technology. This followed the dismantling of the communes set by Mao, the opening up of the Chinese economy as they introduced and experimented with capitalist methods of market economy. Deng Xiaoping claims that this is not a form of veering away from the socialist ideology, rather a “method” to develop the productive forces of the Chinese community. This is what Deng Xiaoping calls “market socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Deng Xiaoping believes that there is no contradiction between market economy and a socialism. He could be remembered saying ” “it does not matter if a cat is black or white so long as it catches the mouse;” it no longer matters if an economic policy is capitalist or socialist, in other words, as long as it results in economic growth.
Pao Yuching on Chinese Socialist Development and Capitalist Restoration
Pao Yuching’s article on Chinese socialist development and capitalist restoration is a sharp comparative analysis of the two vital epochs in Chinese polico-economic development. From 1949 to 1979 and 1979 to the present, China employed two distinct, antipodal programme for politico-economic development, the socialist development and “market socialism” (which is plain capitalist restoration).
Yuching argued that during China’s socialist development, China was able to achieved remarkable successes and have paved the way for future development as fundamental changes to the economic well-being of the people and the economy have been achieved. Development in agriculture, transportation, communication and industry have raised the standard of living of workers and peasants in China during the socialist development. During this period of Chinese development, the State catered to the interest of the masses stressing cooperation rather than competition, preservation rather than planned obsolescence and pillage of natural resources, and most of all self-reliance rather than dependency. It was marked by the de-commodification of basic necessities such as food and health care.
On the second part of her article, Pao Yuching presented how capitalist restoration by Deng Xiaoping changed the orientation of the State — from catering to the people’s interest to catering to the interest of the bourgeois as social relations changed. The re-commodification of basic necessities have plunged millions of people to misery. Labor was exploited as workers who used to be full-time State wage laborers have become typical capitalist slaves subject to the whims of capitalist bosses — workers are insecure at the workplace. China, although did not solicit financial support from international financial institutions, has lost its autonomy as it integrated into the global capitalist system.
Consequently, Yuching argued that the acceleration in exports and accumulation of foreign reserves in China is a manifestation of a coming international capitalist crisis. And history dictates, that when such crises come, international monopoly capital transfers the burden of such crises thru its imperialist states and financial institutions and trade organizations to China (the way it did in the past with crises). This means more suffering for the Chinese people.
Yuching finally argues that the capitalist restoration does not mean failure of socialism. It merely represents the lose of political power from the proletariat. And as class struggle remains and intensified, there is a future to be look to forward.
Summary and Conclusion
The progression of these thoughts have always been about the inherent contradiction in the society. Confucianism gave way as dissatisfaction and skepticism towards its credibility arisen. New Culture intellectuals in China in the early 1900s have blamed Confucianism for China’s weakness. Then, as Western political thoughts permeated the Chinese intellectual life, many scholars attempted to philosophize how China could become a great nation after a “century of humiliation”. Prominent names appeared such as Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping whose teachings or thoughts reverberate in the Chinese society and even in other nations (Sun Yat-sen’s to Taiwan and Maoism for instance in Philippines).
A lot can be said about the capitalist restoration of China. There are plenty of debates regarding it and the socialist development preceding it. However, as a new international crisis looms in the horizon and the class struggle always intensifying, prospects for Chinese politico-economic evolution is clear. In the news is Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution (although other accounts call it Umbrella Protest), a pro-democracy revolution against the fake Chinese Communist Party’s Central Government in China. Also, corruption scandals in the Chinese Communist Party surfaced mid-year of 2014 while territorial aggression by China intensified in the Southeast.
Indeed, while the proletariat lost its political power, the struggle goes on. And as the capitalist system struggles to keep its boat floating as a new tidal wave is coming, the singing of the people is loudening.
REFERENCE
Sun Yat-sen (1924). The Three Principles of the People
Sun Yat-sen (1923). The Fundamentals of National Reconstruction
Mao Zedong (1939). “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party”
Mao Zedong (1940). On New Democracy in Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung, Vol II, pp. 339-384. Foreign Languages Press: Peking
Mao Zedong (1934). Our Economic Policy in Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung, Vol I, pp. 141-145. Foreign Languages Press: Peking
Deng Xiaoping (1985). “There is no fundamental contradiction between socialism & market economy”.
Yao, X. (2000). An introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge University Press: UK
Yuching, P. (2010). China: Socialist development and capitalist restoration.
Revolutionary Communist League of Britain. (1986). The Theory and Practice of Mao in Class Struggle, Vol. 10, No. 9, September 1986.
Tisdell, M. (2009). Economic Reform and Opennes in China: China’s Development Policies in 30 Years in Economic Policy and Analysis. Vol. 39, No. 2, September 2009: University of Queensland, Brisbane
Chan, J (1997). Two Paradigms in Managing China in Advances in International Comparative Management. Supplement 3, P. 203-217: JAI Press Inc.
Deng, X (1987). Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in Fundamental Issues in Present-Day China. Foreign Languages Press: Beijing, China
Deng Xiaoping Theory and the Historical Destiny of Socialism. Retrieved from http://www.politicalaffairs.net/deng-xiaoping-theory-and-the-historical-destiny-of-socialism
Gawlikowski, K (2013). The Nature and Dynamics of Deng Xiaoping’s Reforms in R/evolotions: Global Trends and Regional Issues Vol. 1, Issue 1. June 2013: Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan
Niu, Xiaodong (1996). “Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping: A comparison of educational thought,” Canadian and International Education / Education canadienne et internationale: Vol. 25: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cie-eci/
Retrived from http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Sun+Yat-Sen
End Notes
[1] Its influence and legacy of implementation is most apparent in the governmental organization of the Republic of China (ROC), which currently administers Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, and Matsu Islands. This philosophy has been claimed as the cornerstone of the Republic of China’s policy as carried by the Kuomintang (KMT).
[2] Sun Yat-sen further argues that foreign cosmopolitanism weakened Chinese nationalism as efforts by the Powers (imperialist aggressors) to make China a “sub-colony” intensified
[3] China, according to Sun Yat-sen is not an industrialized country like England or Germany where industries are greatly developed; even Soviet Russia changed its economic policies due to Marxism’s failure to address the Social Question
[4] Georgism is an economic philosophy holding that the economic value derived from natural resources and natural opportunities should belong equally to all residents of a community, but that people should own the value they create themselves.
Thoughts Gone Astray 