Voropaev D.S. Political Confucianism and reproduction of the elite patriotism in modern China

Abstract: The subject of this research is the phenomenon of rehabilitation of the Confucian tradition in the modern Chinese society, as well as the attempts to revive the school of political Confucianism based on the example of Jiang Qing’s theory. Attention is given to the analysis of the traditional sociocultural and political codes of the Chinese civilization. The author performs the review of Jiang Qing’s theory, its strong and weak aspects, including a brief historical-philosophical insight into the differences between Confucianism “heart” from the political Confucianism, structural and superficial levels of Confucianism. The analysis of the three sources of the legitimacy of political power (heavenly, earthly, and human) is also given in the article. The scientific novelty of this work is defined by its theoretical-methodological basis. The author makes the following conclusions: 1) Confucianism should be understood as the “acknowledging” latent matrix of Chinese civilization, which cannot be overcome by nothing that is assumed or informative, but allows it in form of simulative discourse; 2) The popularity Jiang Qing’s theory substantiates the thesis about the only possible for hieroglyphic way of thinking model of political modernization – reincarnation of the traditional political Confucianism in the relevant to modernity form. Such form represent  the form of vertical democracy, in which public support is achieved by means of ritual and “symbolic” cycles rather than electoral, as well as functioning of the authentic mechanism of reproduction and rotations of the patriotic elites.

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