eatfastnoodle
1/9/2009 7:31:00 PM
On Jan 9, 9:56 am, Jerry Kraus <jkraus_1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jan 9, 2:14 am, eatfastnoodle <d12s34...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jan 8, 4:31 pm, Jerry Kraus <jkraus_1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Jan 8, 1:55 pm, eatfastnoodle <d12s34...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > On Jan 8, 9:54 am, Jerry Kraus <jkraus_1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > Mao Tse Tung was born and raised Confucian, and he never renounced
> > > > > this upbringing. He was a Confucian prior to being a Marxist, and it
> > > > > can be argued that Confucianism remained his primary social-religious
> > > > > orientation. His last two decades were consumed in trying to
> > > > > reconcile revolutionary principles with Confucianism, with the
> > > > > "Cultural Revolution" of the 1960's -- effectively, a social
> > > > > revolution to maintain the status quo -- being the result.
>
> > > > > Suppose, instead, he had been a Buddhist. Bear in mind, Pol Pot was a
> > > > > Buddhist. The Imperial Japanese were Buddhists. The Nazis were
> > > > > influenced by the transcendental disciplines of Buddhism and the
> > > > > Swastika is a Buddhist religious symbol. Ho Chi Minh, in Vietnam, was
> > > > > so thoroughly Westernized that he probably was not a Buddhist, but,
> > > > > rather, a Marxist-Leninist. So, on the whole, attempts to fuse
> > > > > Buddhist transcendentalism with Socialism didn't work out too well, in
> > > > > the twentieth century. Seems to lead to apocalyptic nihilism, on the
> > > > > whole.
>
> > > > > So, does Mao turn into a super Pol Pot who exterminates the entire
> > > > > Chinese Nation in order to forge the theoretically perfect Communist
> > > > > State, once he is in power? Do the essentially pragmatic Chinese
> > > > > people, steeped in Confucianism, tolerate a Socialist Buddhist
> > > > > leader? Do they remove him from power, once they see he is a few
> > > > > slices short of a full loaf, a la Pol Pot? Does Stalin save the
> > > > > Chinese people the trouble of removing him from power, by doing it for
> > > > > them?
>
> > > > > Or, does Buddhist Mao somehow find the perfect fusion of Buddhist
> > > > > transcendentalism and Socialism?
>
> > > > Well, if you read Mao's early writtings, you would know young Mao,
> > > > long before he became a revolutionary, had already written extensive,
> > > > blistering attack against Confucianism, the biggest target of the
> > > > cultural revolution is Confucianism, not to mention his behavior and
> > > > belief were clearly much more in line with The First Emperor of China
> > > > whose philosophy was fundamentally at odds with Confucianism and whose
> > > > attempt to eradicate Confucianism resulted in countless Confucian
> > > > scholars being buried alive and countless Confucian books being burned
> > > > into extinction. Your argument that Mao was a Confucian doesn't really
> > > > hold water.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > > > - Show quoted text -
>
> > > ???: "?????????,??????,????,?????""??????,?????????????????,??????'?
> > > ??',?????????????"
>
> > > Mao seems to have favored Confucius in dealing with fundamental
> > > problem solving and leadership skills. Don't you think these were
> > > critical issues to him? Would any have been more critical?
>
> > Don't want to sound dismissive. But you got your conclusion from the
> > above quote, you really should not get involved in analyzing Mao.
> > (He's a voracious reader, he loved to quote extensively to make his
> > point, even during daily casual conversation, and he probably quoted,
> > mentioned every living or dead soul on this planet. That in no way
> > means he's a Confucian, among all the people ever said anything about
> > Mao, positively or negatively, you probably are the first and only one
> > ever to indicate Mao is a Confucian. )- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Mao directly attributes his abilities to having studied first
> Confucius for 6 years, then Capitalism for 7 years, and, finally,
> having studied Marxist-Leninism in his late twenties.
>
> "????????????????,???????????,????????????,??????"
>
> Obviously, Mao rejected Capitalism, Marxist-Leninism requires this.
> Does Marxist-Leninism require the rejection of Confucianism? I don't
> really think so. They are both knowledge-based efforts to structure
> and optimally control society. Confucianism and Marxist-Leninism are
> by no means incompatible or unrelated.
>
> I'm not saying that Mao's views were identical to Confucius.
> Obviously, they weren't. I'm saying that his interpretation of
> Marxist-Leninism is strongly influenced by Confucius.
Word of advice, go to local university and meet some native Chinese
speakers. They will tell you what he really meant.