Quote:
Originally Posted by Thingle
Don't tell me you're serious.
China 1900? Confucianism trained the mandarins very well in managing the state (sarcastic). It is truly a source of up-to-date information on dealing with barbarians and a reliable guide to international politics. It is so effective that in fact, a "barbarian" state such as Japan soundly beat the Middle Kingdom and pulled away Taiwan and Korea from its sphere of influence. That at the time when the "barbarian" white men were forcibly opening ports everywhere.
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This was a at a time when the Manchus were ruling China, and also, at the end of the Chinese dynastic cycle. The dynasty was already on its last legs and the fact that the West suddenly industrialized super fast was too much. China was actually lucky that it didn't get totally colonized and end up like Africa.
The whites and Japanese, arguably, were still barbarians, they were just barbarians with high technology. China at many times had scientists and educated people who discovered the same things the Westerners did, but didn't use them for the same ends. A good example is the Ming fleet which sailed to Africa and maybe even America, but they never went around colonizing those places.
China has survived for many thousands of years. No other major culture on Earth has this sort of continuity. If you want to say anything about Confucius and Chinese philosophy, it would have to be that the Chinese mindset is actually the most effective. I'm not going to say if it is indeed the best or not, but I think it's wrong to attribute China's problems to Confucianism, or to attribute Europe and America's problems to Christ, in that case. Those philosophers were most likely much more knowledgeable and open-minded than their fellow countrymen and rulers, and you can't say it's the fault of their teachings in particular that screwed things up.