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| Meghan Waters |
This past week I attended Dr. Daniel Tauss’ lecture about
Confucianism sponsored by the University’s Center for Asian Democracy. Dr. Tauss focused mainly on Confucian ideas
regarding government, particularly the importance of public opinion. As I came to
find out, early China and China today look almost nothing alike, especially when it comes to government and politics.
I found Tauss' discussion of the
“Mandate of Heaven” or the “Will of Heaven” interesting. This was the notion that government adheres to a specific hierarchy between heaven, the ruler, and the people. God selects a virtuous ruler whom He deems fit to govern the
people. The king rules over the people
and answers to God. He also answers to
the people, who serve as a check on his power. Additionally, the people have a responsibility
to inform Heaven about the ruler’s performance. Under this model, the people have both the authority and the duty to
challenge the king’s right to rule. And
if the king is prudent, he will listen to the people. As Confucius wisely noted:
Zigong asked about governance. The Master [Confucius] said, “Provide people with adequate food, provide them with adequate weapons, they will keep faith with their ruler.”
Zigong said, “If you had no choice but to dispense with one of those three
things, which would it be?” “Dispense with weapons.” “If you had no choice but
to dispense with one of those two things, which would it be?” “Dispense with
food. From ancient times there has always been death. If the people do not keep
faith, the state cannot stand.” ~Analects of Confucius 12.7
Hundreds of years later, the great minds of the
Enlightenment (including our American Founding Fathers) would come along to elaborate on
these ideas. We Americans recognize a
legitimate government to be based upon the will of the people, as evidenced in
our Declaration of Independence:
“Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the
Governed -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety
and Happiness.”
When people lose faith in their government and withdraw
their consent to be governed, it is their right,
it is their duty to dismantle the
current system. In the Confucian model,
this popular uprising would come when the virtue of the state
disintegrated. And it would definitely
disintegrate; no political power was immune to collapse. Once the people had purged the government of
corruption, a “Confucian” leader would hopefully come along; literally in
Chinese, “one who comes like timely rain.”
So, after all these years, is The People’s Republic of China
in need of timely rain? That will be for
the people to decide.
Meghan Waters, of California, Ky., is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is studying political science, justice administration and classical languages.