Politicisation and De-Politicisation of Confucianism in Contemporary China: A Review of Intellectuals

This research focuses on two trends in the field of Confucian studies, namely, the politicisation and de-politicisation of Confucianism in contemporary China. Four intellectuals—Yu Dan, Jiang Qing, Kang Xiaoguang and Liu Qiliang—are selected as the representative intellectuals of these two trends. Under the increasingly firm control from the CCP government, the connection between these two trends indicates that they both have the same potential effect: by producing the knowledge or the “truth” demanded by power, the cultural leadership of the CCP government is thus consolidated and the current regime is stabilised. The “knowledge” created by the intellectuals is designed to support the exercise of power and to provide a better environment for the exercise of that power. In return, the “knowledge” or the “truth” produced by the intellectuals makes the intellectuals themselves become a component of the power networks and part of the power chain.