Gao Fang: Confucius and Marx; A Comparison

2018  June

Author: Prominent Scholar of Scientific Socialism, China Renmin University, Doctorate Tutor

Translator: Ferdi Bekir

Confucius has been recognized as a great thinker in China for more than 2,000 years, while Marx was selected by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1999 as the world’s greatest thinker of the second millennium. As great thinkers, what do they have in common? Based on my thinking and research, I think their outstanding thoughts have four things in common. In short: first, a common sense of reform; second, a common social ideal; third, a common political philosophy; fourth, a common love for the people.

Confucius and Marx shared a common reform consciousness. They were both very dissatisfied with the current social situation and demanded change. Confucius was born in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, when the early feudal society was transitioning to a new stage. The production and widespread use of iron tools during this period greatly improved productivity, and the emergence of new productivity gave rise to a new landlord class. Social contradictions intensified in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, manifested in the intensified contradictions between the new landlord class and the old aristocracy, and between the peasant masses and the new handicraftsmen and the old aristocracy. Confucius called this stage: “Rites and music are broken, society is lawless, and people are living in misery.” So Confucius  wanted to change this society. In the Analects, Confucius mentioned the word “change” 13 times, wanting to change society, change the state, and change personal qualities of people.

Thinkers from different eras

Coincidentally, modern Marx also faced a period of social transition – the West developed from feudal society to capitalist society. Feudal exploitation and oppression still existed, and capitalist exploitation and oppression emerged, and there were many social contradictions. In addition to the contradictions between the landlord class and the peasants, and the contradictions between despotism and the masses left over from feudal society, the emergence of the bourgeoisie also gave rise to contradictions between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, between the mother country and the colonies, and between the capitalist powers… So Marx also wanted to change society. In 1845, Marx had a famous saying in “Theses on Feuerbach”: “Philosophers interpret the world in different ways, but the problem is to change the world.” Dissatisfaction with the current social situation, wanting to change society and promote social progress are undoubtedly the common points between Confucius and Marx.

Confucius and Marx shared the same social ideal. In the Book of Rites, Confucius said: “When the great way is practiced, the world is for all. The virtuous and capable are selected, and trustworthiness and harmony are cultivated. Therefore, people not only love their own relatives and their own children, but also ensure that the old are well cared for, the strong are employed, the young are well grown, and the widowed, the lonely, the disabled and the sick are all well cared for. Men have their share, and women have their home. Goods are not to be thrown away, so they do not have to be stored; strength is not to be used, so it is not to be used for oneself. Therefore, conspiracy does not arise, theft and chaos do not occur, and the outer doors are not closed. This is called great harmony.” In plain language, when the great principle of social development is implemented, all assets under the sky are owned and enjoyed by the public. If this can be achieved, it is a world of great harmony, and people are not divided into rich and poor or noble.

In the Communist Manifesto, Marx proposed the ideal of communism and advocated the public ownership of the means of production, which actually meant that the world should be for all. Interestingly, the word “communism” was taken from China to Japan. At the end of the 19th century, students studying in Japan transplanted the word “communism” to China. The democratic revolutionary Song Jiaoren (TR. founder of national revolutionary party Kuomintang) translated “communism” into “Taiping Datongism” in the seventh issue of the “Minbao” published by the revolutionary faction. It can be seen that the highest social ideal shared by Confucius and Marx is “the world should be for all, which is called Datong” and the realization of communism.

Confucius and Marx share the same political philosophy. How can we achieve “the world is for the public, this is called great harmony”? Confucius advocated “selecting the virtuous and capable”, that is, electing people with excellent qualities and strong abilities to govern the country. Confucius’ political philosophy was to establish a good government.

Firstly, a wise ruler should select outstanding talents to govern the country and society. This government should implement the kingly way of politics, that is, implement benevolent politics and oppose harsh politics. Confucius said: Harsh politics is more ferocious than a tiger. He advocated governing the country with virtue and courtesy, and the ultimate ideal was to elect virtuous and capable people to govern the country.

Marx was the same as Confucius on this point. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx said that in order to lead the proletariat to seize power, “fight for democracy” and let the working class and the working people become the masters of the country, and let the working class and the working people govern the country through democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision. Marx particularly praised the Paris Commune regime established by French workers in 1871. After the working class seized power, it elected and established the Paris Commune Committee to implement democratic self-government.

Confucius and Marx shared a common love for the people. They wanted to change society, realize an ideal society, and establish a good government. The ultimate goal was to allow people to live and work in peace and contentment, have harmonious families, and lead happy lives. Confucius said, “People should not only love their own relatives,” “The elderly should be provided for, and the young should be employed,” and “Outer doors should not be closed,” etc. Marx said that after the elimination of classes, a union of free people should be established. The two meant the same thing.

Confucius faced the past, Marx faced the future

Of course, there are also differences between Confucius and Marx, which I have summarized into four points.

First, Confucius was a reformer who represented the emerging landlord class in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, while Marx was a revolutionary who represented the modern industrial proletariat. Reformers are people who gradually reform the shortcomings and darkness of society to make society more complete and brighter. Reform cannot rely on individuals alone, but also on the masses. Confucius advocated that “gentlemen should be in groups but not in parties”, which means that they should be connected with the masses but opposed to forming parties. Reformers do not overthrow the existing system, while revolutionaries want to overthrow the old social system. From this perspective, Marx went one step further than Confucius. He wanted to overthrow the old system and establish a new system. To do this, he had to rely on the masses and establish a proletarian party. The masses must be led by advanced parties to update the social system.

Second, Confucius was a thinker of ancient agricultural society, while Marx was a thinker of modern industrial society. The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was a period of decentralized small-scale peasant economy. Confucius was influenced by the economic conditions of agricultural society, and his thoughts were relatively conservative, and his vision was inevitably limited. Confucius advocated “not worrying about scarcity, but worrying about inequality”, and emphasized fair distribution, but it is impossible to achieve a world for all based on agriculture. Since social productivity is very low, forcing fairness will actually cause common poverty. Socialism must be built on the basis of industrial society. Only when productivity is gradually improved can it develop from distribution according to work to distribution according to need and achieve common prosperity. Modern industrial society replaced agricultural society, and science and technology have made great progress. In Marx’s era, people’s horizons were also broadened.

Third, Confucius advocated wise rulers, hoping that they would select outstanding and capable people to implement the kingly way and benevolent government and maintain the monarchy. We cannot be too harsh on the ancients. The monarchy was adapted to the small peasant economy at that time, and it was impossible for a small peasant economy to establish a democratic system. Perhaps someone asked, why did the slave society in ancient Greece have city-state democracy, and some cities in medieval Italy also have urban democracy? That is because foreign trade and commodity economy in some places in ancient Greece and medieval Italy were relatively developed, so it was possible to achieve small-scale city-state democracy and urban democracy. However, this democracy was only democracy within the slave-owning class and the landlord class. The vast slave class and the peasant class still had no democracy and no right to vote. Marx once said figuratively that the small peasant economy was like scattered potatoes. Individual individuals were not connected to each other, and peasants could not establish a country on their own behalf. There were peasant uprisings in history, and after the victory of the uprising, the imperial dynasty was established, such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This is the reason. Marx further said that individual potatoes should be packed in a bag, and this bag is the monarchy, which can pack small peasants everywhere. So we should not deny Confucius just because he supported the monarchy. We should see that the monarchy and the small peasant economy are compatible.

Marx was different from Confucius. After the development of modern industry, Marx advocated inheriting capitalist political civilization and establishing a democratic republic. There are two types of democratic republics. First, the European bourgeois revolution overthrew the monarchy and established a capitalist democratic republic. For example, the French Republic and the United States of America. He advocated inheriting the advantages of the bourgeois democratic republic after the victory of the proletarian revolution, and creating a democratic republic that is higher than the bourgeoisie. This is where Marx and Confucius differ.

Fourth, Confucius’ social ideal is oriented to the past, while Marx’s social ideal is oriented to the future. Confucius believed that the idea of ​​the world being for the public was an ancient one, which existed during the Yao and Shun periods. After the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Great Harmony Society disappeared and became a moderately prosperous society. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the moderately prosperous society became a chaotic era again. Confucius was oriented to the past and was dissatisfied with the present, so he wanted to change the status quo, first restore the moderately prosperous society, and then return to the Yao and Shun periods when the world was for the public. Marx was oriented to the future. His ideal communist society was not primitive communist society, but a society in which productivity was highly developed in the future, workers could be exempted from arduous and heavy labor, and production was automated. Only when productivity was highly developed could classes be eliminated, common prosperity could be achieved, and everyone could be liberated and developed in an all-round way. Although primitive communism had no class division and no distinction between the rich and the poor, its productivity was low and people’s lives were not happy.

From these four differences, Confucius is not as good as Marx. Confucius was a reformer, Marx was a revolutionary; Confucius was an agricultural society thinker, Marx was an industrial society thinker; Confucius defended the monarchy system, Marx wanted to establish a people’s democratic republic system; Confucius faced the past, Marx faced the future. From these perspectives, Marx surpassed Confucius.

Confucius’ thoughts should also be passed on to new fenerations

On the other hand, is there anything that Confucius is better than Marx in? I think that Confucius emphasized self-cultivation, managing the family, governing the country and bringing peace to the world, and attaching importance to education. These four points of Confucius are better than Marx and are very worthy of promotion. Therefore, today we must not only be guided by Marxism, but also inherit Confucius’ thoughts.

Self-cultivation. Confucius attached great importance to personal moral cultivation and intellectual improvement, and required people to cultivate themselves to be upright gentlemen, not only to be self-sufficient, but also to benefit the world. Marx only focused on improving the consciousness and organization of the working class. He wanted to transform the working class from a class in itself to a class for itself, to strengthen the revolutionary consciousness of the working class, to organize the advanced elements of the working class into the Communist Party, and to lead the working class and the masses of the people to carry out revolution and seize power. He advocated the cultivation of proletarian revolutionaries, whose main skills were to master revolutionary theory, arm workers with theory, and organize the Communist Party to seize power.

Confucius, on the other hand, attached great importance to personal cultivation. To transform society, one must first transform people, and to transform people, one must first transform oneself. What kind of person should one cultivate oneself into? Confucius’ goal was to cultivate oneself into a gentleman. In ancient times, a gentleman originally referred to a nobleman with a high status. Confucius changed the concept of a gentleman and regarded a gentleman as a person with noble morals, superb intelligence, and integrity. What is the core of noble moral sentiments? It can be summarized in one word: benevolence. Benevolence is also the core of Confucius’ ethical thought.

Manage your family. Manage your family means to manage your family well. Chinese people attach great importance to their family, and the country is based on the family. Confucius believed that only when the family is well managed can the country be further better managed. A harmonious family will bring prosperity to everything, and a prosperous family will make the country strong. This is the great significance of managing the family that Confucius emphasized. As a professional revolutionary, Marx felt that the burden of having a family prevented him from concentrating all his energy on the revolutionary cause. In his middle age, he even regretted getting married. Raising six children made him poor, and although he loved children very much, he only raised three daughters in the end.

Governing the country and bringing peace to the world. Although Marx was a revolutionary, he never succeeded in his revolution and never seized power. The working class regime established by the Paris Commune in 1871 lasted only 72 days. At that time, Marx was in London and did not participate, but only gave advice from the side. Confucius was different. Confucius started to run a school at the age of 30 and became an official at the age of 51. He accumulated experience in governing the country and bringing peace to the world in two years as an official. According to Sima Qian’s “Records of the Grand Historian: The Family of Confucius”, Confucius’ official title was Zhongdu Zai – the ruler of the central city, that is, he served as the mayor of the capital of Lu State and served for one year. He put his political ideas into practice and managed the capital of Lu State very well. The following year, Confucius was promoted to Sikong and Sikou of Lu State. Sikong was the head of urban construction, and Sikou was in charge of internal enemies and external invaders, which was equivalent to the modern Minister of Justice and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

There is a famous sentence in the Analects of Confucius: “All people in the four seas are brothers.” Confucius not only achieved remarkable achievements in domestic affairs, but also made great achievements in diplomacy. For example, when the kings of Lu and Qi met, Qi was strong and bullied Lu and occupied three cities of Lu. The king of Qi, Duke Jing of Qi, also wanted to use this meeting to put pressure on the king of Lu. Confucius had anticipated Duke Jing of Qi’s conspiracy and gave the king an idea: “For this diplomatic negotiation, you must bring the army and mobilize all the troops.” Sure enough, when Duke Jing of Qi met with the king of Lu, it was a song and dance troupe performance on the surface, but in fact they were all carrying weapons. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Confucius was very clever and stepped forward in two steps and said: “Today, the kings of the two countries are meeting. How can you bring weapons in the song and dance troupe? Isn’t this against the rules?” He exposed Duke Jing of Qi’s conspiracy on the spot. Seeing that Lu had been prepared, Qi dared not to take action. This is a successful example of Confucius’ diplomacy. When Confucius was in politics, he highly respected the doctrine of the mean. He handled things impartially and docilely. He opposed issuing administrative orders by means of administrative orders to force people to obey, and advocated restraining people with virtue and courtesy so that the people would be convinced and return.

Attaching great importance to education. Confucius started to run private schools at the age of 30 and was the founder of private schools. After serving as an official for two years, he retired from officialdom and traveled around the countries to promote his political ideas. In the seven years from the age of 53 to 60, he visited almost seven countries, including Wei, Chu, Jin, Chen, and Cai. On the one hand, he lobbied to promote his political ideas and social ideals, and on the other hand, he hoped to be appreciated by the monarchs of other countries and be hired as an official, but he encountered obstacles everywhere. When he was over 60, he came back to run a school again. Confucius ran a school for more than 40 years in his life, and brought students with him when he traveled around the countries.

Confucius was undoubtedly an outstanding educator with a set of educational ideas. He emphasized “teaching without distinction”, and accepted not only the children of nobles but also the children of the poor. His teaching content was very extensive, including the “Six Arts” (ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics), which in today’s terms means the all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, and aesthetics. Confucius’ teaching method was to communicate with students on an equal footing and explore with each other, rather than to lecture them. In terms of teaching attitude, he was patient and persuasive, and never tired of teaching. Confucius’ goal in cultivating students was to make them gentlemen with noble character and superb intelligence, and he also advocated “learning well and becoming an official”. It can be seen that Confucius’ educational ideas were very rich, and he was revered as a model teacher for all ages in history. When I was in private school and elementary school, the 27th day of the eighth lunar month was the statutory Teacher’s Day every year.

In general, Confucius and Marx are both great men of the “six schools” of thought, and they are consistent in four “schools” – thinker, theorist, scientist, and politician. Although Marx has never been in power, he founded the Communist Party, led the working class, and safeguarded the interests of the working class, so he is undoubtedly also a politician. The inconsistency between them shows that each of them has his own strengths. Confucius was also a reformer and educator, while Marx was a revolutionary and organizer, who organized the first Communist Party and the first party-based international organization, the International Workingmen’s Association. 2018 is the 200th anniversary of Marx’s birth and the 2569th anniversary of Confucius’ birth. Their brilliant ideas are worth inheriting and learning.

Today, we are building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and building socialism with Chinese characteristics in all respects. We must not only follow Marx’s scientific socialism, but also absorb Confucius’ spiritual heritage and combine Marxism with Confucius’ excellent thoughts. In addition, we must keep up with the latest trends of scientific and technological revolution and absorb all the achievements of civilizations in other countries. Only in this way can socialism with Chinese characteristics be built better.