Concurrent with the popular search for moral order and values, elements within the Chinese government have decided that it may be in the government’s best interest to strengthen “the rule of virtue” in society. To that end, they have begun to look to Confucianism as a way to do so, while avoiding the countervailing “corruption” that might come from Western religions.  As much a nationalist sentiment as an ethical one, the revival of Confucianism is part of a larger search for a Chinese identity. The state, in response, has capitalized on Confucianism’s resurgence by sponsoring an annual, nationwide celebration of Confucius’s birthday, supporting the restoration of Confucian temples around the country, and allowing the incorporation of Confucian texts into school curricula.

Confucianism’s resurgent popularity is found throughout all ranks of Chinese society and across political spectrums.  Some support Confucianism because they believe it can invigorate Chinese national identity, cohesion, and the strength of the state.  Others support it because they believe that, in the absence of Marxism and Maoism, it can provide a national ethic that is not Western in origin.  Recent years have also seen a revival of anti-Christian sentiment among some intellectuals who view Christianity as a form of Western imperialism. For them, Confucianism, which does not emphasize equality or individual liberties, is an antidote to “Western pollution.” 

According to some scholars, Confucianism offers enough ethical guidance to justify its becoming the sixth official religion in China, if not the official state religion. The government, however, has not pursued the idea because of the intrinsic problems associated with characterizing Confucianism as a religion.  Beyond the theoretical problem of calling an ethical teaching, with no obvious connection to a divine order, a religion, there are also practical problems with converting Confucianism in particular into a religion. Who, for example, would head such a “religion”?  How would it be governed, organized? 

Confucianism does not offer an easy analog to Tocqueville’s observations on organized religion, or his views on Christianity in particular. For one, conventional Confucianism does not have a supernatural or transcendent element underlying its ethical tenets.  Furthermore, traditional Confucianism is concerned with the ethics of relationships that take place in a very structured and hierarchical society.  As such, it is not easily adaptable to different societies, as Tocqueville believed Christianity could be, nor does it promote the idea of equality that Tocqueville believed Christianity inherently did.

Alexis de Tocqueville on Religion
The Role of Christianity in China
The Role of Popular Religions in Chinese Society