China's leaders would like the world to believe that Wei Jingsheng is an apostate who is anathema to what Chinese President Jiang Zemin described as China's "5,000 years of history, culture and splendid traditions." The gist of this argument is that "socialism with Chinese characteristics" is entitled, because China's unique cultural tradition, to be politically repressive. In an effort to connect its nouvelle authoritarianism to this tradition, the party has even exhumed Confucianism, conveniently forgetting that its leaders have spent decades reviling classical culture as the source of China's decadent system of "feudal oppression." But to so blithely lump the sage Confucius in with Lenin and Mao, as an antidote to the likes of Wei, ignores some fundamental aspects of traditional Chinese culture.
China's Tradition of Dissent
While the ethical proscriptions associated with Confucius do stress hierarchy, obedience to authority and social order, they also reflect a deep moralism and humanism. An important part of this aspect of Confucianism has always been a veneration for qing guan, or "upright officials," who have, regardless of the personal sacrifice, dared to stand up to unjust authority. As the Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang put it, "The great man should achieve righteousness through sacrifice and not prolong his life if that means the destruction of righteousness."
An enormous body of popular lore soon built up around such historical figures. Perhaps the most revered qing guan is Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), whom legend portrays as an official of such uncompromising uprightness and integrity that he withdrew from office and drowned himself rather than acquiesce to his king's erroneous policies and course of action. Qu's death is still celebrated in China each spring with the Dragon Boat Festival.
This tradition of feeling compelled by honor to remonstrate with one's ruler when injustices were being perpetrated began to acquire a distinctly Confucian cast in the Tang Dynasty, when such upright officials as Wei Zheng, a historian and counselor to the Emperor Tang Taizong, also entered the pantheon of folk heroes for daring to infuriate the throne with his truthfulness. The Song Dynasty general Yueh Fei became the embodiment of the neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi's admonition, "To die after having done everything according to the right way is the proper political fate," when he was accused and executed for treason after daring to differ with the emperor over military strategy. This neo-Confucian tradition of humanistic reform tempered respect for authority with a veneration for self-cultivation and moral individualism and gave rise to such expressions as: Wenren si jian, wuren si zhan--"Just as a military man must be ready to die on the field of battle, a scholar must be ready to die remonstrating with his ruler"--that are still used today.
