Culture shift

Bell debunks such stereotypes as the totalitarian control of intellectual discourse and encourages his readers to resist judging China by Western values -- namely, democracy and human rights. "[T]here is no reason to expect that China will -- or should -- have the same set of moral and political priorities when it engages with other countries," he writes. Confucius taught that government's first obligation is to secure the people's basic subsistence and only afterward to address the individual's rights. "The idea that certain rights can be sacrificed for the sake of enriching the people is not nearly so controversial in China," he argues. "If there's a conflict with liberal democratic theory, the problem may lie with liberal democratic theory."

At the core of Bell's book is his speculation on the long-term effects of the Confucian revival. China under Mao assumed a Legalist policy (strong state sovereignty, harsh laws) that helped restore its global footing. One reason Mao's brand of Marxism worked was that it incorporated elements of Confucian self-criticism, emphasizing that "demands should be directed at oneself before being directed at others." But as the gulf between rich and poor widens and social-justice issues such as the chaos in Tibet threaten the Communist Party framework, "new left" intellectuals envision the eventual replacement of Marxist ideology with something like a Confucian socialist republic. China's drive toward economic growth may be fueling political control, Bell notes, but "hardly anybody really believes that Marxism should provide guidelines for thinking about China's political future." What next? "It is not entirely fanciful to surmise that the Chinese Communist Party will be relabeled the Chinese Confucian Party in the next couple of decades."

The book is not without faults: Its author tends to meander off subject and fails to provide basic background on the historical impact of Confucius' teachings. But Bell compensates with lively, original chapters, like the Socratic dialogue between a modern-day Confucius and an "American-trained Chinese liberal thinker" who debate the virtues of meritocracy. In a prescient chapter titled "War, Peace, and China's Soft Power," Bell explores the teachings of Mencius, a founding father of Confucian thought, whose condoning of war only if it is morally justified still informs China's tempered approach to foreign policy. "Confucian theorizing on just and unjust war has the potential to play the role of constraining China's imperial ventures abroad," he writes. Frequent reference to America's Iraq debacle makes clear who his intended audience is. *