Confucianism is needed in people's daily lives, scholars say

Experts on Confucianism used a seminar today in Beijing to urge China's top leadership to imbue the spirit of Confucianism into the daily lives of its people.

Many Chinese lack in-depth knowledge about Confucianism as a Chinese cultural tradition, said Gong Pengcheng, a Confucian scholar from Taiwan who has been teaching in Beijing for many years.

"Westerners always mistake Confucianism for a kind of political philosophy that justifies autocracy, while domestic people tend to think it something old and outdated," Gong said at a seminar on Confucianism and traditional Chinese culture at Peking University.

"Both are rather rigid. Actually, Confucianism chiefly functions to regulate people's daily behavior to form a better, harmonious society," Gong said.

For example, many people think Confucianism stresses the obedience of children to their parents, while it actually requires both parents and children to share their feelings with other and consider both sides, he said.

Gong advised the government to advocate a resumption of some traditional customs, such as encouraging residents to hold traditional-style wedding ceremonies. In that way, people will feel the spirit of traditional culture in their daily lives and general moral standards will be promoted in society over the long run, he said.

His ideas were echoed by Zhang Chonggang, vice director of the Bureau of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In his speech, Zhang said that in Taiwan, where Confucianism is relatively better promoted, many people follow traditional customs in key ceremonies like weddings and burials, and authorities even offer annual sacrifices to Confucius. This has helped shape traditional culture in people's minds, he said.

Jiang Yumei, a doctoral candidate in traditional studies at Peking University, shared stories with participants about the management of the Dujiangyan Confucian Temple in Sichuan province.

The temple, built in 2012 as a museum, holds exhibitions and other rituals for tourists, and has helped promote the influence of Confucianism among them, she said.

They have plans to found more such temples in other parts of the nation, Jiang said.