From Asia Sentinel:
In China, the empathy deficit is not only at a worrying level but seems to be further compounded by what intellectuals call a “values vacuum.” In one of his blog posts, Financial Times Chinese web columnist Xu Zhi-yuan said, “The ideals of the past are no longer effective. Yet worship of money can only be a temporary substitute. We cannot possibly transplant Christianity onto Chinese soil, nor can we simply revive our ancients’ values.”
It may not be mere coincidence that there has been recent talk of the revival of Confucianism and even Taoism in China. Beijing has just endorsed Hong Kong’s decision to make Confucius’s birthday a public holiday. Yu Dan, a Beijing Normal University media professor, recently published a book called “Thoughts on the Analects of Confucius” that has sold 2 million copies. [Full text]
