On Xu Fuguan's Examination Of The Political Philosophy Of The Early Confucianism

As one of the leading exponents of the contemporary New Confucianism, Xu Fuguan deeply and systematically examined the development and changes of traditional Chinese society and scholarship, especially Chinese authoritarianism since the Pre-Qin period, as well as its impact on Chinese politics, society, and culture. Xu also analyzed the living situation and characteristics of Chinese intellectuals under authoritarian rule, and deeply criticized the evils of Chinese authoritarianism. At the same time Xu endeavored to explore the essences of traditional Chinese culture, that is, the core values the Pre-Qin Confucianism, and he argued that traditional Chinese culture is not a coherent whole, and while we reject the dross of authoritarianism we must inherent the essence of Chinese cultural tradition.Xu deeply analyzed and expounded the theory of human nature of Confucius and Mencius, as well as their ideas of rule of virtue, the doctrine emphasizing the people's interest, and the spirit of political protest. Xu pointed out that the primary shortcoming of Confucianism is its lack of the idea of constitutional government. And he went further to explain how the original ideas of Pre-Qin Confucianism were distorted under the pressure of authoritarian rule, and at the same time Chinese intellectuals lost the spirit of political protest advocated by Confucius and Mencius.After analyzing the core values and shortcomings of both Confucianism and western democratic liberalism, Xu stated that, for the revival of China, we must learn and absorb the essences of western democratic liberalism, and reject the tendency of seeing the rule of law and the rule by virtue as an absolute contradiction. He advocated a creative integration of the essences of both Confucian political philosophy and that of western political thought, in order to develop a new socialist Chinese political culture.Xu actually developed the original idea of synthetic innovation of Chinese culture in the academic field of China, and this is an important contribution to the Chinese scholarship. Furthermore, Xu's examination of the Confucian political thought also inspired us to reflect deeply on the dialectical relation between tradition and modernity. Xu's work sets up an example of treating tradition with a critical and analytical attitude, as well as dealing with tradition and modernity dialectically. Guided by Marxism, we must endeavor to integrate creatively the essences of both western culture and traditional Chinese culture, thereby to realize the synthetic innovation of the socialist culture of China.