The Long Tradition of Chinese Culture�Based on Faith and Venerating Virtue
The authentic culture of the Chinese nation started about 5,000 years ago with the legendary Emperor Huang, who is deemed to be the earliest ancestor of the Chinese civilization. In fact, Emperor Huang was also credited with founding Taoism�which was also called the Huang-Lao (Lao Zi) school of thought. The profound influence of Taoism on Confucianism can be seen in such Confucian sayings as �Aspire to the Tao, align with virtue, abide by benevolence, and immerse yourself in the arts� and �If one hears the Tao in the morning, one can die without regret in the evening.� [9] The Book of Changes (I Ching), a record of heaven and earth, yin and yang, cosmic changes, social rise and decline, and the laws of human life, was regarded as �Number one among all Chinese classics� by Confucians. The prophetic power of the book has far surpassed what modern science can conceive. In addition to Taoism and Confucianism, Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, has had a subtle yet profound influence on Chinese intellectuals.
Confucianism is the part of the traditional Chinese culture that focused on �entering the mundane world.� It emphasized family-based ethics, in which filial piety played an extremely important role, teaching that �all kindness starts with filial piety.� Confucius advocated �benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faithfulness,� but also said, �Aren�t filial piety and brotherly love the roots of benevolence?�
Family-based ethics can be naturally extended to guide social morality. Filial piety can be extended to subordinates� loyalty to the monarch. It is said that, �It is seldom that a person with filial piety and brotherly love will be inclined to offend those above.�[10] Brotherly love is the relationship among brothers, and can be further extended to righteousness and justice among friends. Confucians teach that in a family, a father should be kind, a son filial, an older brother friendly, and a younger brother respectful. Here, fatherly kindness can be further extended to benevolence of the monarch toward his subordinates. As long as the traditions of a family can be maintained, social morality can naturally be sustained. �Cultivate oneself, regulate one�s family, rightly govern one�s state and make the whole kingdom tranquil and happy.� [11]
Buddhism and Taoism are the parts of Chinese culture that focused on �leaving the mundane world.� The influence of Buddhism and Taoism can be found to penetrate all aspects of ordinary people�s lives. Practices that are deeply rooted in Taoism include Chinese medicine, qigong, geomancy (Feng Shui), and divination. These practices, as well as the Buddhist conceptions of a heavenly kingdom and hell, the karmic reward of good and the retribution of evil, have, together with Confucian ethics, formed the core of traditional Chinese culture.
The beliefs of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism offered the Chinese people a very stable moral system, unchangeable �so long as heaven remains.� [12] This ethical system offered the basis for sustainability, peace, and harmony in society.
Morality belongs to the spiritual realm; thus, it is often conceptual. Culture expresses such an abstract moral system in language that can be commonly understood.
Take the �Four Chinese Classics,� the four most renowned novels in Chinese culture, as examples. The Journey to the West [13] is a mythical tale. A Dream of Red Mansions [14] starts with a dialog between a spirited stone and the Deity of Infinite Space and the Tao of Boundless Time at the Baseless Cliff of the Great Waste Mountain�this dialog provides clues for the human drama that unfolds in the novel. Outlaws of the Marsh [15] opens with a tale of how premier Hong, in charge of military affairs, accidentally set free 108 demons. This legend explains the origin of the �108 outlaw militants of prowess.� Three Kingdoms [16] begins with a heavenly warning of a disaster, and ends with the inescapable conclusion of God�s will: �The world�s affairs rush on like an endless stream; a heaven-told fate, infinite in reach, dooms all.� Other well-known stories, such as The Romance of the Eastern Zhou [17] and The Complete Story of Yue Fei [18], all begin with similar legends.
These novelists� use of myths was not a coincidence, but a reflection of a basic philosophy of Chinese intellectuals toward nature and humanity. These novels have had a profound influence on the Chinese mind. When speaking of �righteousness,� people think of Guan Yu (160-219 AD) of the Three Kingdoms rather than the concept itself�how his righteousness to his friends transcended the clouds and reached heaven; how his unmovable loyalty to his superior and sworn-brother Liu Bei gained him respect even from his enemies; how his bravery in battle prevailed in the most dire of situations, his final defeat in a battle near the Town of Mai; and, finally, his conference as a deity with his son. When speaking of �loyalty,� Chinese people naturally think of Yue Fei (1103-1141 AD), a Song Dynasty general who served his country with unreserved integrity and loyalty, and Zhuge Liang (181-234 AD), prime minister of the Shu State during the Three Kingdoms period, who �gave his all until his heart stopped beating.�
Traditional Chinese culture�s eulogy of loyalty and righteousness has been fully elaborated in these authors� colorful stories. The abstract moral principles they espouse have been made specific and embodied in cultural expressions.
Taoism emphasizes truthfulness. Buddhism emphasizes compassion, and Confucianism values loyalty, tolerance, benevolence and righteousness. �While their forms differ, their purposes are the same�they all inspire people to return to kindness.� [19] These are the most valuable aspects of traditional Chinese culture based upon the beliefs in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
Traditional Chinese culture is filled with concepts and principles such as heaven, the Tao, God, Buddha, fate, predestination, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faithfulness, honesty, shame, loyalty, filial piety, dignity, and so on. Many Chinese may be illiterate, but they are still familiar with traditional plays and operas. These cultural forms have been important ways for ordinary people to learn traditional morals. Therefore, the CCP�s destruction of traditional Chinese culture is a direct attack against Chinese morality and undermines the basis for peace and harmony in society.
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