How Xi Jinping is going back to Confucius to define China’s future

For most of the 103-year history of the Communist Party of China, the teachings of the philosopher Confucius were deemed relics of a backwards past, with its leaders looking to Marxism and socialism to modernise China.

But under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, Confucianism has made a dramatic comeback as the bedrock of imperial Chinese ethics and governance, and other Chinese classics have become the pillars of Beijing’s efforts to shore up its intellectual foundation and governance philosophy amid an intensifying ideological competition with the US-led West.

One of the latest ventures is the Ruzang, or “Confucian Canon”, project to create the largest ever compilation of Confucian classics. The project, which has had the input of nearly 500 scholars since it was started in 2003, was significantly elevated in 2014 when Xi became the first Chinese president to throw his personal weight behind it.

Within China, the project is reminiscent of similar immense canon projects undertaken only a few times in the past 2,000 years, and is set to become a major source of inspiration for better governance.

Among those contributing to Ruzang are international scholars, with Beijing apparently aiming to appeal to overseas Chinese. But experts point to geopolitical tensions and a public opinion of Confucianism as a Han-centric idea as obstacles.

The Ruzang project was first approved in 2003 by the Education Ministry under then president Hu Jintao and spearheaded by Chinese philosopher Tang Yijie, who pledged to compile all known Confucian classics while explaining the survival and development of the nation.