陈凯博客： www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

儒家伪道德vs.基督精神
Confucianism vs. Christianity

价值一语： Words of Value:

It is not guided missiles but guided morals that is our great need today. --- George L. Ford: Wesleyan Methodist

我们今天最需要的并不是导向的炸弹，而是导向的道德。 --- George L Ford: Wesleyan Methodist

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CHINA'S HONOR CODE FROM PAST - ITS CONFUCIAN CONNECTION TO PSEUDO MORALS AND ETHIC OF TODAY
从中国的伪道德经及其儒家起源看今日中国社会的道德虚无

By Kai Chen 陈凯 （Written 4/17/2006, Reprint 10/10/2011)

On this Saturday's LA Times' front page, there was an article entitled "China's Honor Code". It entails how nowadays the Chinese children fail to honor the ancient Confucian moral code of filial piety.

Some Chinese authorities even try to revive the ancient practice by erecting laws, enlisting tactics of shame by publishing the names of those who did not support their parents, and even forcing the school children to wash their parents' feet after they get home from school and refort their filial acts back to the school authority.

Those of you who fail to see the connection of Chinese feudal ethics based on Confucian teachings to a despotic authority still in control of Chinese society, should at least have seen it a little more clearly by now. The very concept of Nation is expressed in two characters in Chinese - "Guo Jia" - Nation Family, in congruent with core Confucian ethics based strictly on the order of "Emperor and Subordinates, Father and Sons". Now in a soulless Chinese society, the Communist Party and authorities want to tap into the ancient moral codes to establish some order and control. Forcing children to take care of their elders is only one of the tactics they use to enforce the slave mentality in the society. The implication is unmistakably political - since the offspring have the obligation to serve the elders, the population has the obligation to serve the nation - the communist Party-State, by logical extension of Confucian reasoning.

I say that Confucian ethics is a pseudo-moral code, precisely because its nature of lack of freedom and individuality, for all the Confucian ethics are "Others-Oriented", in contrast to Christian morals which are established on the priciple of Freedom and a self-directed, self-enforced orientation.

Loyalty, Filial Piety, Chastity and Devotion to Friends are all dependent on others to judge one's worth in his pursuit of being moral. One is only to perform for others and the state throughout his life, NOT to live for his own goals and innermost yearnings. And this code of ethics is strictly hierarchical and one-way street. There has never been an element of Emperor being loyal to his subordinates. The very term Loyalty implies bottom-up direction. There has never been an element of parents or elders being dedicated to and caring for their children. Childrens are tools for the elders, and are subjects to their elders no matter how old they are. "When father wants his son to die, his son has to die". There has never been a demand of husband to his wife. Chastity is strictly for women, with their unconditioned submission and bond-feet to please men. There has never been admission and recognition of self-interest and individual dignity. Pleasing others and friends, being used and even abused by them, is viewed as devotion and ultimately ethical. There have no standards on these codes are judged and evaluated, except in others' eyes, in the collective and superiors' feelings.

In Confucian ethics, somehow being used by others and using others are justified as being the very sign of Chinese identity. Using themselves as means to an end, to the collective and others, and using others without consent to justify some lofty goals are viewed not only as normal and Chinese, but as the ultimate morals. Cultural slavery is the necessary outcome of these pseudo-morals and ethics. And the very despotism come Chinese claim to dislike and despise is precisely established on this "Others-Oriented" fake morals. Everyone in this code justifies their own men-using and men-eating, under the lofty Confucian ethics. Everyone is also justifying their victimhood and helplessness by saying they are the products of their own cultural environment and they can never be free from their own Chineseness given by their own ancestors. Everyone is vehemently Nationalistic in defending this pseudo code of honor. The recent return of Wang Zhizhi to China to serve the Party-State's interests is only one examples of such moral degradation and corruption.

In sharp contrast, Freedom is the prerequisit in Christian morals and ethics. All the morals are accepted by individuals, NOT forced upon them. Equality is the necessary outcome of this moral code. Every individual is a beginning and end to himself and the only judge of his moral behavior is God through his own conscience. Thus Christian ethics is Self-Oriented and Self-Directed. Any suggestion of force and involuntary action by individuals are viewed strictly as immoral and corrupt. Individuals are not to be used as animals, as means to an end, no matter how lofty the end might be, no matter how much power and how many people the enforcer possesses. This is real morality, real ethics. They are timeless values encoded in our genes and bones, and embobied in our yearning for liberty, life and happiness. This is HUMAN morals and ethics.

Those who profess to love freedom and also love Confucian ethics should have realized the intrinsic contradiction of their mind-set. One cannot truly love freedom without accepting the very responsibility it entails. One cannot truly understand liberty without understanding choice and open-ended possibilities. Those who want their group identity to supercede their individual identity should have given the very results it always leads to the proper name - Slavery. Those who claim to want freedom yet don't want to cast away the fake security and certainty the slave owners always promise and guaranty their subjects should properly name their actions as "Prostitution with a Chastity Plate hanging in front of their chests". Those who want to plant bitter melon vines in their fields, but refuse to accept the bitter fruits, or deny their original intention by saying "I never meant that the fruits are bitter" should property get their heads examined, for they are bordering on Bipolar and Schizophrenia.

As I have encountered many Chinese and many in the liberal left in America, I have found this border-line Bipolar and Schizophrenia to be prevalent. All of them claim to have good intentions, all of them claim to want to save others and serve others. (Even today forcing and conditioning individuals to Serve the People is still the paramount accepted and promoted ethics in China.) All of them excuse themselves when they see the murder and mayhem in their beloved despotic countries and collective nations around the world with wail such as "I didn't mean that when I first supported their ideologies" or "the ideologies of Communism and Fascism are good, only the practice of Bad people give them bad names".

Where are your individual moral integrity and responsibility? Where is your mental faculty for reason and logic? Where are you as an indivisible individual?

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平里

注册时间: 2006-02-18
帖子: 25

发表于: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:04 pm

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To Kai Chen:

In my humble opinion,

Communist authority does not represent China. It only represents an evil force that stole and trampled China. Whatever it perpetrates in China at current stage can not be taken as an account against Chinese culture.

// The key for sustaining any society is its legal system instead of the cultural custom. Any modern society that depends on cultural custom is doomed to lose the trust by the ordinaries. As the excellent example you provided, the communist just tries to take off the responsibility for caring elders. Any responsible government should provide a certain amount of money to each elder indistinguishably as USA.

// The legitimate comparison should be between two family in the same social system. Taking the example a Chinese family with elders and an American family both in USA receiving the same government support, which parents enjoys more of their lives? I think it'll be Chinese family where the parents receives much more children's visit due to their filial tradition. In contrast, the American elders most likely receive much less, if any, visit from their children. Therefore, Chinese elders will be happier in a healthy social system thanks to their Confucius culture.

// I do admit that Chinese culture including Confucius doctrines have lots of downside that needs to be cleaned up but this, the filial tradition, is good.

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发表于: Mon May 01, 2006 1:34 pm 发表主题: reply to Pingli 平里

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Dear Pingli:

The trap the false morals that the Chinese often fall in is what I have already stated: They attach certain concrete appearances with morals.

For example, elders should be respected regardless. As a moral and an ethic, it sounds perfectly OK. But to dwell deeper into it, you can see this is exactly what China's despots' depend on - absolutel obedience and conformity, not to moral absolutes, but to authoritarian power based on old age. The old-age politics in China has doomed generations of Chinese with a stagnant and rigid political culture, void of any new ideas and fresh blood, therefore void of any vitality.

Respect and love has morals in them. They are earned, not given. Should you respect Mao because he was older than others? Should the elders abuse their offsprings at will simply because they are old? Should a dying Aids patient smear his feces onto others simply because he is going to die? Should Rodney King who was beaten by the Police unjustly be viewed as a hero? Is victim always just and good? Is poverty always a virtue and being rich always immoral, or vice versa?

I admire those in America whose parents have neglected them or abused them eventually have the courage to face their past abuses and draw a moral line with their parents, to devote their lives never to abuse and neglect their offsprings. NBA's Spurs' Bruce Bowen is only one example. His parents totally abandoned him when he was young. But he had found a way not just to survive, but to thrive as a great human being. When his birth parents attempt to come back to his life, he refused to let them, for he knows a line has to be drawn so he is not going to repeat the past evil.

I do indeed regularly visit my mother, 86. It is not because I am obligated by tradition that I do it, buy because I love her, for she never abused me. This is more than I can say for my big brother who regularly beat me up for no reason. I never call him or visit him. I meet him only once a year when my mother has a gathering.

Some say that China is like a mother, no matter how ugly she is, she is still your mother. I entirely oppose such a view for it implies a fake moral. What is this mother raped you and abused you and poisoned you? What is this so called mother is not only ugly, but evil? Are you still obligated to love her?

Evil is perpetuated this way: In psychology you often find people who have been abused often abuse others. People who have been abused as a child often repeat the pattern in abusing their own children.

Someone has to have the moral clarity and courage to draw a line, to end this vicious cycle of abuse. Victims and victimizers must be eliminated at the same time, the abusers and the abused, the masters and the slave, the scam artist and the ignorant stupid takers must be disappearing at the same time. A good cycle of human dignity, self-respect and true morality must be established.

With respect and best wishes. Kai Chen

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平里

注册时间: 2006-02-18
帖子: 25

发表于: Tue May 02, 2006 11:38 am

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To Kai Chen:

This is my view on China's motherhood.

China has been and will continually to be my dear motherland.
However, she is sick, sickened by tuberculosis and schizophrenia.

As a child, I feel responsible to treat her with all my asset.

However, most people don't feel the sickness of our motherland, due to the heavy impact from propaganda. Some rather ignore the illness of our mother, violating the very concept of filial piety spirit.

Our culture, in current China, is in a non-existence status, destructed by the communist. Anything you describe as vulgar to China or Chinese people can not be attributed to the non-existing thing, our culture.

It'll be, to certain degree, legitimate for you to comment on our culture by describing Taiwan people's behavior since they don't have communist ruining their cultural spirit. If Taiwan is as vulgar as China, I will probably think of China's cultural problem. But I don't think that's the case for Taiwan. From my father's comment, Taiwan people behaves more like our Chinese people before 1949, reflecting our culture more, even not perfectly.

I think we are seeing China from different perspectives.

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发表于: Wed May 03, 2006 8:31 am 发表主题: reply to Pingli 平里

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Dear Pingli:

Thanks for a thoughtful message and I appreciate it.

Yes indeed, Taiwan has made a great progress toward the direction of freedom, human dignity and rights. There is no doubt about it. We are all proud of what Taiwan can achieve with only a few decades' hard work, with the moral compass of liberty, democracy, human rights, truth, justice.

My only contention with you is you think this progress is because of Chinese culture, not inspite of obsticles posted by the Chinese culture, while I think the reason is the opposite. It is because in Taiwan, the Western culture of humanity and individual human rights has, despite the poisons left by our Chinese ancestors, indeed taken roots, due to the transformation of its culture and cultural soil content.

If you study the vocabulary of the Taiwanese people, you will find most of it are translated from English. If you read Taiwanese papers, many terms and vocabulary are new and nonexistenct a few decades ago. Taiwanese economy has been sustained by its trade with America and the West. Taiwanese students have been educated in America and West, and most Taiwanese elite and government officials are proficient in English. Many of them have degrees in American universities. Taiwan's constitution is modeled after America's with its inner checks and balances, with its separate branches of government. Freedom of speech, nonexistence with our Chinese ancestors, is guanrantied now in Taiwan. The news media provides further more check and balances on governmental abuses. Men and women have equal rights in voting and expressions. This phenomenon is nonexistent with our ancestors. Different religions can coexist peacefully in Taiwan and Christianity played a big part in forming this tolerent culture. Sun Yetsun and Li Denhui were Christian believers, humanity, NOT being Chinese, are their first concern.

I can list many of positive changes in Taiwan, not because of their Chineseness, but inspite of it. Nonetheless, Taiwan has provided a positive role model to China. It has proven that transplantation of Western model of democracy and liberty to ensure human dignity is not only feasible, but workable as well. But the prerequsite of such a transplantation has to be a cultural soil content transformation. Otherwise, no matter how good the ideal is and how excellent the seed is, it will rot in a poisonous soil composite. It will never bud and fruit. Taiwan has a long way to go, but its direction is definitely right.

Contrast to what China has now: None of the Chinese current leaders has been educated in the West. Very small percetage of population in China speak English, none in the Politburo does. The fact is that only the Communist Politburo controls China, not the government. Army is loyal only to the Party and the despots. The mainland communist regime did everything to filter out Western infulence even its economy depends on America and West. The internet police have effectively checked and eliminated exchange of ideas with America and West. People in the mainland will not see and read what we are doing on this forum. Religion in China is government controlled for the only purpose of "serving the state". Press is not free to express. There is no private land ownership, much like in our ancestors' time, everything is emperor's. Government is not legitimate in nature by the consent of the governed, by election, their legitimacy is only by the muzzle of a gun, much like our ancestors. Constitution is fake for it espouses Communist's absolute power over people. There is no independent judiciary and separation of power in the government, much like our ancestors. Women's rights are trampled for they are not equal with men, girls are routinely drowned in China's "one child" evil policy, much like the practice by our ancestors. Individuals have no rights to express and they are used and educated to be the tools of the state, much like our ancestors....

If you are honestly taking a look at what is happening in China and in Taiwan, you have to say Taiwan cannot be farther apart from our ancestors and their despotic traditions; and China cannot be more resembled of the despotic values and traditions of our ancestors, with no elections, no rights, no freedom to express, no equality, no democracy and its institutions....

This misperception and misconception of that Taiwan is more Chinese are all products in people's fantasy and illusion. It simply is NOT a reality. Open your eyes in your mind and your soul, you may see the truth. Please stop thinking with your Chinese character-based language, with your skin color or the illusory cultural heritage, or national borders and start thinking with your brain which is designed for thinking, and start cleansing your souls with humanity and decency to rid off the decay.

Best regard. Kai Chen