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China to open mega-Confucius center

Move is seen as yet another attempt to steer citizens away from Western religions
China to open mega-Confucius center
Published: December 05, 2014 08:34 AM GMT
Updated: December 04, 2014 11:22 PM GMT

China will open a US$260 million Confucius center next year, the boldest symbol yet of a recent revival of traditional Chinese religion as the Communist Party seeks to sideline Western faiths.

The sprawling 90,000 square-meter complex — slightly bigger than Madison Square Garden in New York — will include a museum displaying 100,000 relics and an exhibition center in Qufu, the philosopher’s birthplace, state media reported on Friday.

Confucianism has exploded in China since President Xi Jinping visited Qufu in Shandong province a year ago to “send a message to the nation: to carry forward our traditional culture and spread Confucian thought”.

Following his visit, investors have poured billions of dollars into Confucian schools and tourist sites in Qufu, which has reportedly attracted 3,000 visitors per day in recent months. Chinese celebrations marking Confucius’ birthday in September this year were the largest in decades.

State media has regularly featured Xi quoting the philosopher as a rule-based moral compass for China’s new consumerist society, and in October the state-run Foreign Languages Press published a new book of the president’s speeches littered with Confucian references.

“The Chinese tradition, represented by Confucianism, has held a dominant role for more than a thousand years, which means that there has never been an established state religion imposed on the whole population,” Helmut Schmidt, Germany’s chancellor between 1974 and 1982, wrote in a glowing tribute to Xi and the book in Friday’s state-run China Daily.

Confucianism was all but banned in China up to the 1990s after Mao Zedong called for criticism of the 2,500-year-old “feudal” philosophy during the Cultural Revolution.

Since becoming president in March last year, Xi has frequently praised China’s traditional faiths, as the ruling party has continued to warn against “Western religions” amid a growing crackdown on Christianity in Zhejiang province and Islam in restive Xinjiang.

“The government is paying more attention to Confucianism these days since what Confucianism advocates — hierarchical rule with peaceful stability — complies with the ideas of the ruling party,” Yan Ping, director of the National Studies Research Academy in Qufu, told ucanew.com.

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