Originally published at: 儒教的复辟与复辟的儒教——习近平如何用“心学”“治国理政”及其必然下场 – 曙光
Rebirth of Confucianism and Confucianism's Rebirth—How Xi Jinping Uses "Xinxue" ("Heart-Mind Learning") "Governing the Country and Administering the State" and Its Inevitable Consequences
Editorial Board of League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Proletariat
Editorial Board of League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Proletariat
Preface
Each of us has come into contact with Confucian ideas in various aspects of life. In school, the teacher's "Disciples' Rules" states "Disciples' Rules, the sage's teachings. Respect elders and be filial, then be sincere," and on buses, the loudspeaker also calls out "Respect for the elderly and love for the young are traditional virtues of the Chinese nation." Billboards and TV programs also promote the revival of "Chinese excellent traditional culture" led by Confucianism, giving Chinese people "cultural confidence." Looking at it this way, Confucian ideas seem to be something very good, something everyone should accept and follow. But in reality, what exactly are Confucian ideas? Are they really as good as society promotes? To understand this from the perspective of the proletarian revolution, we need to examine how Confucian thought in Chinese history was produced and developed, and how people of different classes have viewed it.
"The person is filial and loves his elder brother, but rarely offends the superior; and those who dislike offending the superior but love to create chaos, have never existed."
Marxism believes that social existence determines social consciousness; a certain ideology and culture are based on a specific economic foundation. Over the past thousands of years, since entering class society, China's productive relations have been nothing but slavery and feudalism. Confucian thought was precisely a reactionary hierarchical ideology promoted by slave owners and feudal landlords to maintain their rule, based on slave or feudal productive relations, and it was extremely reactionary from the start. Whether it was Confucius, Mencius, or later Cheng, Zhu, Lu, Wang, all these thinkers of slave owners and landlords, driven by their class interests, crafted many fallacies such as "Obey Heaven's mandate," "Restrain oneself and restore rites, and the world will return to benevolence," "Small and great are fixed," "Different ranks have their own distinctions," to deceive farmers, attempting to persuade them to lay down their weapons of struggle and obediently follow the orders of slave owners and landlords, so they could never rise again in this life.
Yellow Turban Rebellion burning Confucian temples and smashing Confucian idols
By the nineteenth century, the revolutionary anti-Confucian spirit of the slave and peasant revolutions also influenced the nascent Chinese proletariat. Under the triple oppression of imperialism, feudal forces, and the bourgeoisie, the extremely revolutionary Chinese proletariat inherited the great spirit of slave and peasant revolutionaries. From their birth, they joined the front lines of class struggle that shaped Chinese history, continuously striking in economic and political arenas, participating in democratic revolutions, and finally shouting the slogan "Down with Confucianism" during the May Fourth Movement, thoroughly raising the banner against Confucianism that had poisoned the laboring masses for thousands of years, fiercely attacking the Confucian "Kong Family Shop" in the cultural front. After the Chinese Communist Party led the people to drive out Chiang Kai-shek, the big landlord-buyer-bourgeoisie and imperialist running dogs, and uprooted feudal and capitalist productive relations, reactionary Confucian ideas lost their material basis for existence. After the founding of the country, the rising mass movements led to their demise. Clearly, Confucianism has never been a good thing; it has always been promoted by exploitative classes, opposed by the working people, and long ago consigned to the trash heap of history.
Feudal landlord and executioner Wang Shouren
So, why has Confucianism resurged now? The reason is not complicated. The revival of Confucianism in contemporary China, according to the principle that social existence determines social consciousness, is precisely because the current economic foundation in China has emerged that can support and needs Confucian ideas. This economic foundation is none other than monopoly capitalism. The reactionary head of the "Zhongxiu" (Chinese revisionist) regime, Xi Jinping, is promoting various Confucian ideas mainly because his reactionary rule has already angered the Chinese working masses. Ordinary bourgeois ideology and cultural fallacies can no longer deceive the people, so he is resorting to the most blatant and naked Confucian ideas that were once highly revered by slave owners and feudal landlords, advocating rebellion and nonsense.
Among the various Confucian ideas, the "Xin Xue" ("Heart-Mind Learning") proposed by Wang Yangming, a notorious executioner who suppressed peasant uprisings multiple times, is particularly favored by Xi Jinping. He claims that "Wang Yangming's Xin Xue is the essence of Chinese traditional culture," and that "'Unity of Knowledge and Action' is a prominent feature of Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era." Therefore, thoroughly understanding why and how the revisionist regime revived Confucian ideas, clarifying what Wang Yangming's "Xin Xue" really is, and understanding how Xi Jinping uses "Xin Xue" to promote reactionary rhetoric, similar to Chiang Kai-shek and Lin Biao, has great significance for combating reactionary trends in society and helping oppressed masses, women, and children in modern China to turn the tide.
Rebirth of Confucianism
Lenin once pointed out: "All oppressive classes, in order to maintain their rule, need two social functions: one is the executioner function, and the other is the priest function."[2] The bourgeoisie is the same; they always use force to suppress proletarian resistance, maintain capitalist productive relations, and spread reactionary ideas in the ideological sphere to keep the working people complacent. However, at different stages of capitalism, the bourgeoisie generally adopts different methods to exercise this "priestly" function. Generally speaking, before capitalism developed into imperialism, when competition was still widespread, the bourgeoisie spread fallacies under the guise of "liberty, equality, fraternity." For example, when talking about wage labor, they like to say that capitalists and workers are "free to choose," but in reality, workers only have the freedom to choose which enterprise to sign contracts with and be exploited; they have no freedom not to be exploited. When discussing politics, they like to say "one person, one vote, everyone is equal," and "everyone has the right to vote and be elected," but in fact, only bourgeois-supported candidates can make a splash in elections and stand out, thus having the freedom to be elected. During the stage of free competition, the bourgeoisie also likes to promote "speaking with strength," while practicing deception—saying they "started from nothing," claiming their wealth was "earned honestly," and that their success was due to "personal effort," while in reality, they engaged in savage and bloody activities to accumulate primitive capital and exploited workers to get rich. In summary, bourgeois capitalist rhetoric always uses superficial equality to hide actual inequality, covering up ugly facts with beautiful appearances, and revealing their reactionary essence only indirectly.
However, "The political superstructure of monopoly capitalism (imperialism is monopoly capitalism) shifts from democracy to reaction."[3] As imperialism enters the stage, contradictions within imperialist countries, conflicts between oppressed nations and imperialist countries, and conflicts among imperialist powers intensify—under the control of monopolist capital, the global economy faces deeper crises, inflation worsens daily, and workers grow poorer. The plundering and enslavement of colonies intensify due to frequent economic crises, with neo-colonialism under the guise of "aid" and "investment" bringing deeper suffering to colonized peoples. Conflicts over colonial division among imperialist countries escalate, leading to world anti-revolutionary wars and preparations for a third world war. The working masses in all countries resolutely resist. In this context, imperialist countries begin to impose open secret police terror at home and expand military buildup and bloody suppression of national liberation movements abroad. The strengthening of reactionary and decayed economic and political features in the imperialist era means that their measures to oppress the working people ideologically and culturally are even more reactionary—while monopolist capitalism in the stage of monopoly still uses old methods from the stage of free competition, they also find these methods insufficient to suppress the anger of the working masses. Therefore, bourgeoisie in various countries resort to a new set of tricks, openly and blatantly propagating reactionary ideology of "oppression is justified, rebellion is a crime" to deceive and fool the people. In Europe and America, this manifests as various forms of racism (past and present Yellow Peril theories, Black Peril theories, anti-immigration sentiments) and "family values" (barbaric anti-abortion laws). In China, this reactionary ideology is combined with "Marxism" in the form of Confucianism.
Furthermore, the revival of Confucianism in China has its particularities. Chairman Mao once said: "Revisionism coming to power is the same as the bourgeoisie coming to power," and "The current Soviet Union is a bourgeois dictatorship, a dictatorship of the big bourgeoisie, similar to fascist dictatorship in Germany, like Hitler's dictatorship."[4] These two sentences profoundly pointed out that because socialist economy is closely linked with state power,
Feudal customs that have reemerged after the capitalist restoration
A highly socialized economy means that once capitalism is restored, the original socialist state-owned economy will directly transform into a highly concentrated state monopoly capitalism, and the original capitalists will become bureaucratic monopolist bourgeoisie. There is no stage of "free competition" in this process; naturally, there is no relatively less barbaric stage in ideology and culture. On the contrary, the political superstructure based on this state monopoly capitalist economy will be extremely fascist and reactionary from the start. Since Confucianism originated and developed during intense class struggles between slaves and slave owners, peasants and landlords, it is the most reactionary ideology. Therefore, when the bourgeoisie in the process of restoration becomes extremely reactionary, they will use Confucianism, the most reactionary ideology, to maintain their reactionary rule. Thus, although China only completed its transition from a capitalist country that undermined socialism and sold out to imperialist powers in the early 21st century, since the capitalist restoration in 1976, the Chinese revisionists, faced with the angry resistance of the Chinese working masses, immediately began to promote Confucianism as a spiritual accomplice in their destruction of socialism and restoration of capitalism. The first step was to promote superstitions in rural areas. American progressive leftist Han Ding once recorded in his book "The Great Reversal":
"Apart from polarization, the most astonishing consequence of reform is the decay of social customs. Privatization has returned rural economy to a state similar to before liberation (many land lease contracts are sublet, just like landlords in the past), and also brought back all the old social vices: superstition, gambling, drug abuse, and the rise of new underworld organizations that profit from controlling these activities. From a cultural perspective, old customs, old habits, old ideologies, and old superstitions with feudal connotations have all come back. Without collective strength to oppose nature, farmers have consciously reverted to supporting old culture, such as worshiping land and sacrificial offerings to kitchen gods, etc. The latest buildings in Zhangzhuang are land temples. They also enjoy noisy traditional festivals, pay more bride prices, hold more wasteful weddings and funerals, build more extravagant tombs, and take out high-interest loans to cover these expenses. Rationality and scientific promises have receded, and the efforts of the revolution to promote thrift and simplicity have failed."
Moreover, the revisionist regime is gradually promoting activities like "Good Daughter-in-law," "Good Son," "Good Mother-in-law" evaluations in rural areas, vigorously propagating respect for elders and family harmony, but actually trying to reintroduce the reactionary patriarchal ethics of "father as head of the family, husband as head of the wife" into rural women and children, making women and children obedient and suffering under the rule of reactionary husbands and elders, and further instilling the idea of "the ruler as the subject" to prevent rural workers from opposing the rule of the revisionists, urging them to obey the law and "live a good life."
Women enslaved and the nationwide spread of "Women's Virtue Training Classes"> Moreover, Zhongxiu not only promoted the reactionary feudal restoration in rural areas but also vigorously instilled Confucian ideas among the broad masses of the proletariat and petty bourgeoisie in cities. After bloody suppressions of student and worker movements in the 1980s and 1990s, Zhongxiu first pushed the so-called “Qigong Fever” and “National Studies Fever,” and later intensified efforts to directly implement Confucianism. Since 2001, Zhongxiu has launched the program “Bai Jia Jiang Tan” on CCTV, inviting bourgeois scholars like Yi Zhongtian and Yu Dan to give daily lectures at noon on “Sanningguo,” “心得,” and other black books, promoting Confucian views on history and morality; they also produced TV dramas such as “Da Zhai Men” and “Kangxi Dynasty,” openly promoting reactionary ideas like filial piety, loyalty to the ruler, patriotism, and the so-called “Holy Sovereign and Bright Monarch.” Bo Xilai, who once was a “political enemy” of Xi Jinping, also, out of the same class interests, vigorously promoted Confucianism in Chongqing under his jurisdiction — the so-called “Sing Red, Fight Black.” Fighting black is a political struggle among bourgeois factions, while singing red is essentially singing Confucianism. Among the four activities of “singing red songs, reading classics, storytelling, and passing on admonitions,” reading classics means reading “classical books from ancient and modern China and abroad, including famous quotes, poetry, and essays,” which contains many reactionary elements — in the “Read Some Classics” series personally edited by Bo Xilai, selections include Confucius’ “Lunyu,” and Feng Youlan’s “The Realm of Life,” each encouraging people to “cultivate oneself and nurture morality,” to follow bourgeois morals, and to be a good servant, wife, and child.  And after Xi Jinping overthrew Bo Xilai and took power, he took over the baton of Confucianism from Bo, openly admitting to using Confucian ideas, this naked oppressive ideology, to rule over the Chinese working people, loudly claiming that “Communists of China have always been faithful inheritors and promoters of China’s excellent traditional culture,” and that “our party’s promotion of Marxism Sinicization is essentially the organic integration of Marxism with Chinese traditional culture,” vigorously promoting the revival of “Chinese excellent traditional culture.” Zhongxiu advocates “National Studies” in schools, encouraging elementary students to read “Di Zi Gui,” “San Zi Jing,” “Xin San Zi Jing,” and other reactionary texts; countless children and youth are subjected to the reactionary logic of “respect and listen to parents, obey their reprimands”; nationwide, the existence of “Women’s Moral Education Classes” and “Women’s Virtue Bases,” which oppress women, are tacitly permitted; “divorce cooling-off periods” are established; reactionary “chastity concepts” are widely promoted; women are taught to obey men, and morally depraved men are legally justified in oppressing women; in recent years, there have even been crazy and malicious measures like “Marx meets Confucius,” which slander revolutionary mentors to promote their own Confucianism. As mentioned in “The Road to Future Revolution in China,” “Under the influence of reactionary Confucian hierarchical ideas, contemporary Chinese society is full of phenomena of parental oppression over children, men over women, and exploiters over the exploited… The bourgeoisie, to ensure the stability of capitalist exploitation based on modern slavery, must maintain feudal patriarchal and patrilineal inheritance systems, and will inevitably promote theories that glorify reactionary Confucianism.” Wang Yangming and his “Xin Xue” (Heart School) are among the Confucian theories that Zhongxiu vigorously extols and which have had extremely harmful effects. ## Heart School Confucian Classics and “Governing the Country and Managing Politics” Wang Yangming was born into a high-ranking bureaucratic landlord family, and his life was spent in reactionary practices of “breaking the mountain bandits” and “breaking the mind’s bandits.” He was born during a time of deepening class and national contradictions in the mid-Ming Dynasty, with feudal rule on the brink of collapse. To defend the reactionary landlord-dominated imperial autocracy, he brutally suppressed ethnic minorities and peasant uprisings in Jiangxi and Guangxi, commanding soldiers to slaughter over 25,000 peasants, while collecting the ideological dregs of past Confucian philosophers, proposing “Zhi Liangzhi” (attain good knowledge) and “Unity of Knowledge and Action” as core ideas of Xin Xue, attempting to use this subjective idealist synthesis to eliminate the rebellious thoughts of the working people. His high-level integration as a “butcher and priest” of the ruling class led Zhongxiu to highly praise him, and to extensively inherit and promote reactionary fallacies from him. Many of Xi Jinping’s “governing” missteps also originate from Wang Yangming’s rotten doctrines. Wang Yangming’s subjective idealist doctrine is called “Xin Xue” because he believed that the individual’s “heart” is the fundamental substance of the universe, the source of all knowledge, and the standard of good and evil; he claimed “Outside the heart, there is no thing, no matter, no principle, no righteousness, no goodness,” promoting the idea that spirit is primary and matter is secondary, completely denying the existence of the objective world, and reversing the relationship between thought and existence. Wang Yangming’s “Xin Xue” is not new but directly inherits Lu Jiuyuan’s assertion that “The universe is my heart, and my heart is the universe,” which itself originates from Meng Ke’s (Mencius) proposition “All things are prepared within me.” Moreover, his Xin Xue also contains the dregs of Buddhist Zen philosophy: “The heart is the Dao, the heart is principle, then outside the heart there is no principle, outside principle there is no heart.” In summary, Wang Yangming cobbled together reactionary fallacies, vehemently denying the existence of the objective world and objective laws, to pave the way for his subsequent doctrines that seemingly oppose “evil thoughts” and “selfish desires,” but in fact serve to prevent people from opposing feudal rule. This fully demonstrates that Wang Yangming, in order to concoct a reactionary philosophy that could deceive peasants, frantically searched through the trash heap of history for statements he could use, which is completely consistent with Zhongxiu’s current practices. Wang Yangming’s worldview of subjective idealism directly leads to epistemological apriorism. In epistemology, Wang Yangming proposed two reactionary propositions, which are the core of Xin Xue: one is “Zhi Liangzhi” (attain good knowledge), and the other is “Unity of Knowledge and Action.” “Zhi Liangzhi” means Wang Yangming believed there exists an innate “Liangzhi” (good knowledge) that does not depend on social practice, which is the source of human knowledge and the standard of good and evil; everyone should act according to their “Liangzhi.” As long as one does not violate “Liangzhi,” and “preserves Heaven’s principles and extinguishes human desires,” everything will be fine. He said, “If people understand this ‘Liangzhi,’ no matter how many evil thoughts and wrong ideas they have, they will dissolve upon awakening. It is truly a pill of spiritual elixir, turning iron into gold,” meaning this. But what exactly is this “Liangzhi”? In fact, it is nothing but the moral standards of the feudal landlord class, the moral norms of the “Three Bonds and Five Constants” of feudal society. Wang Yangming’s demand to “not violate Liangzhi” and “extinguish human desires” is nothing but an open call for the peasantry to not rebel under the brutal exploitation and oppression of landlords, to “obey the ruler as the father,” and to accept the rule of the landlord class, even if it means enduring the lowest living standards. Today, Xi Jinping and his court writers are very fond of promoting this set of ideas; they fully accept Wang Yangming’s “Zhi Liangzhi” and develop it further, falsely claiming that “‘Zhi Liangzhi’ emphasizes and upholds the innate good knowledge within the human heart, making it a universal norm for everyone to follow.” Then they replace the content of “Liangzhi” with the so-called “Core Socialist Values,” claiming it as the “guideline for contemporary Chinese,” urging people to follow and practice it. In reality, this is still the feudal “Three Bonds and Five Constants” and Wang Yangming’s doctrine that everyone must obey Liangzhi, only with the words “the ruler as the father,” “the son as the father,” “the husband as the wife,” and “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust” replaced with more pleasing terms like “harmony,” “patriotism,” “dedication,” “integrity,” and “friendship.” The core remains unchanged — “Harmony” means workers are not allowed to engage in economic and political struggles and must obey the hierarchy; “Patriotism” means the Chinese people must be loyal to the revisionist party and Xi Jinping himself, always ready to serve the monopoly bourgeoisie; “Dedication” means workers should “accept poverty and contentment,” “endure hardship,” and willingly serve the monopoly bourgeoisie; “Integrity” means the proletariat should remain silent when faced with falsehoods in wages, working conditions, and social security, and must not disrupt work discipline; “Friendship” means oppressed workers, women, and children must smile and show obedience to the bourgeoisie, husbands, and parents, without resistance. Furthermore, because “Zhi Liangzhi” is based on idealist solipsism and admits to “innate good knowledge,” it inevitably leads to talent theory, recognizing that some people are “naturally clever” and “geniuses.” Wang Yangming said that people’s “temperament” and “talent” are born with “pure and mixed,” divided into upper, middle, and lower classes; “Good knowledge and good ability… only sages can attain their good knowledge, and fools and women cannot attain it,” which divides people into “sage” and “fool,” essentially implementing a policy of dumbed-down masses, discouraging rebellion, and labeling workers as “stupid.” Xi Jinping and his court writers have inherited and further developed this. His close aide Cai Qi, at the 13th Congress of the Zhongxiu Party in Beijing, pompously praised “the extraordinary wisdom, foresight, and leadership style of General Secretary Xi,” and at other meetings, claimed to “promote Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the minds and hearts of the people”; Li Xi, former secretary of the Guangdong Zhongxiu Party Committee, also lauded Xi as the “fixed star of thought” and “guidance” in his reports; recent Zhongxiu Party and government documents repeatedly emphasize “two maintenances” and “two establishments,” loudly proclaiming Xi as the “people’s leader.” All these practices are essentially promoting Xi Jinping as the contemporary sage, a genius with extraordinary talents, and that all Chinese people should listen to and trust him, bowing before him and the monopoly bourgeoisie he represents, obeying his commands, and striving to align their thoughts with his policies. They want the masses across China to submit to him and his class, to obey his directives, and not to think about rebellion or resistance. Following Zhongxiu Party policies is enough — it is utterly reactionary!  In addition, Wang Yangming, while acknowledging and praising “genius” and “saintly” individuals born with innate knowledge, also promoted the idea that inferior people are full of “impurities,” which must be diligently cultivated to remove “impurities,” and that they should “accept their place in agriculture, commerce, and trade,” demanding that the peasantry be content with their oppressed status, wholeheartedly serving bureaucratic landlords. Zhongxiu keenly exploited this point — Xi Jinping and his mouthpieces often talk about “the new era being the era of strivers,” “strivers are the most spiritually abundant,” “roll up your sleeves and work hard,” “the Chinese Dream, every man has a duty,” and “unite in effort, with no shirking of responsibility”; the Nazi bureaucrats in Shenzhen, in their 2021 Labor Day propaganda film “Strivers, Not Lonely,” shamelessly promote “you always work overtime,” “you always turn off the lights at midnight,” “just to catch the last train,” “because you refuse to leave work,” and other absurdities; the People’s Daily, CCTV, and other central media repeatedly mention “love what you do, excel at what you do, and be dedicated,”… In fact, Zhongxiu’s so-called “striving” and “passion” are just ways to make the workers serve the bureaucrats and private monopolies to the end, actively prolonging their working hours, willingly creating surplus value, and becoming cannon fodder for their imperialist struggles, while also forcing workers to focus on their low wages and daily trivialities, ignoring the huge gap and fierce social and political struggles between workers and peasants, urban and rural areas, brain and body. They are told not to think about revolution or change but to mind their own business. Ultimately, these practices of Zhongxiu are still the “Zhi Liangzhi” doctrine, which causes any resistance to Zhongxiu to “dissolve itself,” opposes the people’s contact with Marxism, and slavishly follows capitalist morals — utterly disgusting! And on the basis of “Zhi Liangzhi,” Wang Yangming proposed “Unity of Knowledge and Action.” The so-called “Unity of Knowledge and Action” means that “knowledge” refers to everyone’s innate “Liangzhi,” and “action” refers to another idea in the mind, which is the “Liangzhi”’s fulfillment, not practice. As he himself said: “Say ‘like good color, dislike bad smell.’ Seeing good color is knowledge, liking good color is action… Hearing bad smell is knowledge, disliking bad smell is action,” and “I now say ‘Unity of Knowledge and Action,’ so that people understand that when a thought arises, it is already action.” In other words, Wang Yangming believed that whatever thoughts arise in the mind are “action,” and “Unity of Knowledge and Action” is about seeking principles within oneself, not unifying feelings and thinking with practice. His “Unity of Knowledge and Action” has nothing in common with the materialist dialectic principle that “practice determines knowledge, and knowledge reacts on practice,” which completely rejects practice and only leaves “Liangzhi.” Contemporary petty bourgeoisie, deceived by Zhongxiu and his court writers, mistakenly think Wang Yangming’s doctrine is “materialist,” believing that “Unity of Knowledge and Action” involves both knowledge and practice, and treat it as their “life creed.” In fact, they are entirely caught in Zhongxiu’s trap. Xi Jinping and his court writers often emphasize that in “Unity of Knowledge and Action,” “knowledge” is the foundation and prerequisite, urging “to promote action through knowledge,” and then claim that “action” is the focus and key, and that one must “regard thoughts as action and prevent evil thoughts from turning into evil deeds.” This rhetoric appears to acknowledge practice but, in fact, like Wang Yangming’s original purpose of “Unity of Knowledge and Action,” it is aimed at “activating” bad thoughts and “clamping down” on people’s resistance, trying to prevent the emergence of “bad thoughts” in their hearts, and to restrain people’s rebellion against the ruling class from the motivation. The difference is that Wang Yangming wanted people to “overcome” rebellious thoughts in their hearts and then do nothing, while Zhongxiu not only wants people not to resist their bureaucratic monopoly rule but also to willingly serve them, acting on their behalf based on their doctrines — which is even more reactionary. If petty bourgeoisie truly believes in Xi Jinping’s inheritance of Wang Yangming’s “Unity of Knowledge and Action,” instead of transforming themselves with Marxism, the result will only be that they either waste their time in an increasingly reactionary society with wishful thinking and accomplish nothing, or fully accept Zhongxiu’s reactionary logic and become their most loyal and worst running dogs. Beyond systematic philosophical theories, Wang Yangming also traveled everywhere giving lectures, carving steles, and establishing biographies, while his disciples collected his various writings into the “Complete Works of Wang Wencheng Gong.” Among them, we can see how Wang Yangming, the so-called “immortal saint” who “established virtue, meritorious deeds, and words,” suppressed peasant uprisings and maintained feudal rule in action and thought, and how he treated women. In Volume 25 of the “Complete Works of Wang Wencheng Gong,” there is an epitaph he wrote for the wife of a censorate official, which states: “Ancient funerals did not seal or plant trees… but all the world has epitaphs, which are not ancient anymore, and women’s epitaphs are even more non-ancient,” meaning Wang Yangming believed only saints could have epitaphs, but now everyone has them, which is a deviation from ancient customs and a bad thing. He also said: “Ling Ruren Yang’s epitaph, how can it be verified? It is verified by her husband’s deeds, her son’s words, and her neighbors’ praise; she is virtuous.” He openly states that he only wrote this epitaph because her husband, son, and neighbors praised her as a “virtuous wife and good mother.” The epitaph also states: “Ruren… loved by her in-laws, praised by her clan, respected by her neighbors, her good deeds are all known… Ruren’s kindness and teachings remain… Ruren’s domestic virtue,” revealing a reactionary attitude that this woman is “virtuous” only because she served her husband and educated her son, serving as a reproductive tool and family slave. This is a particularly reactionary policy aimed at women, similar to the reactionary slogan “Women’s Talents Are Useless,” and is extremely hostile and belittling toward women, aiming to confine women to the narrow domestic sphere and prevent their participation in social affairs, reducing women to unthinking, unindependent sexual tools, and trying to keep women forever subordinate to their husbands and other male authority figures. Although Xi Jinping has not directly quoted Wang Yangming’s reactionary views on women’s status, he inherits the spiritual essence — when talking with the leadership of the All-China Women’s Federation, which claims to help women but actually oppresses them — he repeatedly emphasizes “guiding women to play a unique role in promoting Chinese traditional virtues,” “promoting family harmony, love among relatives, healthy growth of the next generation, and caring for the elderly,” openly advocating that women “assist their husbands and educate their children,” obey their husbands and elders as family slaves. He also makes speeches on “actively cultivating new marriage and family culture,” “strengthening guidance on young people’s views on marriage, love, and family,” which is actually to cooperate with the rollback of marriage restrictions and birth registration policies, turning women who should have independent personalities and be equal to men into “reproductive machines,” following the barbaric practices of Nazi Germany, completely opposing women’s liberation, and infuriatingly reactionary! In terms of education of children, Wang Yangming saw that the social situation in the Ming Dynasty increasingly diverged from the feudal moral code, and that people were losing faith in the rotten “Three Bonds and Five Constants,” so he criticized “People nowadays often regard singing poetry and practicing rites as unpractical,” and said “Ancient teachings were based on human relations,” demanding that children and adolescents be “induced to sing poetry and read books to develop their ambitions, guided to practice rites to uphold decorum, and encouraged to read to open their perceptiveness,” advocating moral education, which in fact aimed to brainwash children and adolescents with feudal morality and the “filial piety of father as head of son,” and cultivate loyalty to “the ruler as the father.” This approach was fully adopted by Xi Jinping, who loudly proclaims “Parents and guardians should pass on noble moral concepts to children from an early age,” “Our education must… cultivate generations of useful talents committed to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” which is a modern version of Wang Yangming’s doctrine, only changing the object of obedience and sacrifice from Ming Dynasty landlords and officials to the current bureaucratic bourgeoisie. In summary, Xi Jinping and his bureaucratic monopoly bourgeoisie, like all reactionaries in history, frantically promote Confucianism and the teachings of Wang Yangming, not for any other reason but to inherit and develop the reactionary hierarchical oppression ideology of Confucianism to deceive and lull the Chinese people today. They regard this spiritual poison as a “poisonous whip and a sweet supplement to the bloody repression of workers and mass movements,” holding Confucian classics in one hand and a butcher’s knife in the other, attempting to make the revolutionary spirit of Chinese workers, women, and children submit to their rule and stop resisting, so that the savage capitalist system can continue. But can the evil schemes of Xi Jinping and his ilk truly succeed?> All regressive behavior results in outcomes opposite to the original wishes of the host. Throughout history and across the world, there are no exceptions. > To understand the inevitable fate of Xi Jinping, who advocates Confucianism as a despotic traitor and traitor to the people, we might look at the stories of his predecessors Chiang Kai-shek and Lin Biao. Chiang Kai-shek praised Wang Yangming to the skies, claiming Wang's Heart-Mind Doctrine was "the most valuable school in Chinese academic history," representing "the spirit of Eastern culture." Chiang, like Wang Yangming, was "a combination of executioner and priest," suppressing peasant uprisings and encircling Red Army while loudly proclaiming "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, faith, and peace," repressing peasant and worker revolutions. Chiang also believed in Wang Yangming's solipsism and genius theory, shamelessly claiming "the current commander is the supreme commander of the nation," and "the entire nation, especially the military, should obey and love me." Chiang also pursued "Zhi Liang Zhi" (致良知, awakening innate knowledge) and "Unity of Knowledge and Action," concocting the so-called "Practical Philosophy," urging people to "practice礼义廉耻 (rites, righteousness, integrity, and shame)," striving to act according to the demands of the Kuomintang reactionaries. So, what was the fate of Chiang Kai-shek, such a mad, reactionary, and scheming traitor who shared Wang Yangming's intention to maintain reactionary rule? His fate was to be driven out of mainland China by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, retreating to Taiwan and being eternally despised until death, with his meticulously planned "counterattack and reunification" plan becoming a joke. The China under his rule, which was once impoverished and suffering, transformed into a land of peace and prosperity, where the working people who once toiled like beasts became masters. > Lin Biao was the same. He praised Wang Yangming as a "predecessor," claiming to "give new development to his思想." Lin also believed in solipsism and genius theory, claiming himself as a "particularly灵" (spiritually gifted) genius given by his parents, smarter than ordinary workers and peasants, delusional that the entire Party, Army, and all ethnic groups in China should obey his command. Lin also pursued "Zhi Liang Zhi" and "Unity of Knowledge and Action," claiming "to solve problems, one must erupt革命 (revolution) deep in the soul," and "to do so, one must搞主观世界 (transform the subjective world)," distorting the Cultural Revolution as "a revolution that touches the soul," and turning the change in worldview into a single thought, also advocating "self-restraint and礼 (礼,礼仪,礼节)," suppressing revolutionary ideas and actions. His aim to seize power and restore the landlord bourgeoisie regime guided by Wang Yangming's philosophy led to his downfall. After his ambitions were thoroughly exposed, he fled in panic, was destroyed along with his plans, and was disgraced, serving as a good negative example for the people, deepening their understanding of the complexity and necessity of continuing革命 under the conditions of proletarian dictatorship. > In summary, from the revolutionary histories of Chiang Kai-shek and Lin Biao, despite their manipulations of Confucian classics and the sword, they were nothing but paper tigers in front of the rising masses. Their ultimate fate was to be overthrown by the working people and despised by them. This is not due to other reasons but because the Chinese people have long hated the ruling classes who use material force and spiritual suppression through Confucianism. Once revolutionary waves erupt, the Chinese people will thoroughly overthrow the exploiting classes sitting atop them. >  > The current situation is the same. The various Confucian思想 (thoughts) manipulated by the bureaucratic monopoly bourgeoisie have already suffocated all oppressed people in Chinese society, especially women and children who suffer not only from class oppression but also from fascist male chauvinism and feudal patriarchy. Since the capitalist restoration, the status of women in China has plummeted, with women constantly under threat and vulnerable to brutal violations. From 1980 to 1983, the number of rape crimes doubled, reaching 57,914 in 1983; in recent years, the number of prosecutions for rape and child molestation has increased year by year, reaching 38,000 in the first eleven months of 2023! These shocking figures are not cold statistics but the blood and tears of real victims. Moreover, these cases with reports and prosecutions are just the tip of the iceberg of female oppression in Chinese society. Even more infuriating is that women who have been assaulted often face slander and attack from reactionary fascist male chauvinists. > In the Baise Fuzhou High School sexual assault case, Tang Yuwen, a beast who tried to control, abuse, and torment符月华 (Fu Yuehua), fed her many false ideas, but reactionary male chauvinists distorted and slandered the case after her diary was made public, claiming it was "teacher-student love," saying Fu Yuehua also "liked" Tang Yuwen, romanticizing sexual assault as "love," whitewashing oppression as "affection," and even more reactionary, calling Fu Yuehua "cheap," stabbing her even after her death, completely ignoring the ongoing societal hatred and slander against women. > In the Datong, Shanxi, engagement rape case, the man forcibly engaged the woman, raped her, and then illegally imprisoned, assaulted, and controlled her, yet reactionary male chauvinists claimed it was a conspiracy by women to cheat for bride price, denying evidence of rape and claiming that many women now are morally corrupt and deceive for bride price, completely ignoring reality and attacking victims' women for their own利益 (interests) just like rapists in the news. > The earlier Fengxian Iron Chain Woman incident, where victim Yang Mouxia was chained outside a dilapidated house, was exposed because local authorities wanted to praise her husband董志民 ("mountain-like fatherly love," "heroic act" of "having eight children"), with many "positive energy" bloggers going to interview and promote, which was utterly absurd! After the incident was exposed, due to the explicit oppression revealed, the Fengxian and Xuzhou governments denied and distorted the facts, claiming Yang Mouxia had "violent tendencies," that the chains were to "prevent harm," and that there was "no abuse," using unbelievable lies to deceive the angry Chinese people. > In the end, these incidents were downplayed, and董志民 received only a light nine-year sentence. All these cases show that female victims, after suffering immense suffering, are further harmed by reactionary male chauvinists who invoke reactionary Confucian logic like "husband as the head of wife," "male尊女卑 (male尊, male尊, female卑)," "女子无才便是德 (a woman’s virtue lies in her lack of talent)," and "only women and villains are hard to raise," causing irreversible harm and proving that women, as human beings, are oppressed by Confucian思想 and fascist male chauvinism in contemporary Chinese society, filled with endless hatred and a desire for revenge. >  > However, "chaos leads to治 (governance), darkness leads to光 (light), this is the way of heaven." > The fanaticism of Confucianism can only accelerate the demise of the reactionary Zhongxiu regime. As long as all Marxists can act, awaken the class consciousness of the broad proletariat and oppressed women and children under Confucian oppression, and organize them to oppose the barbaric rule of Zhongxiu, the storm of proletarian socialist revolution will sweep across China. The proletariat, women, and children across the country will be able to shatter the shackles of capitalist production relations and Confucianism, achieving material and spiritual liberation. Xi Jinping and the current bureaucratic monopoly bourgeoisie will meet the same fate as Chiang Kai-shek and Lin Biao, no longer able to eat or harm people! > This is not impossible; it is precisely the goal our revolutionary organizations are fighting for! > **"We are moving forward. We are undertaking a glorious and great事业 (cause) that our predecessors never did. We will certainly achieve our goal. We will definitely succeed."** > [footnote 9] > 1. Also known as "The君为臣纲 (the ruler as the subject's principle),父为子纲 (father as child's principle),夫为妻纲 (husband as wife's principle)" and "仁、义、礼、智、信 (benevolence, righteousness,礼, wisdom,信)." This promotes the justification of oppression, demanding that the oppressed accept the oppressive制度 (system) and not反抗 (resist). > 2. Lenin: "The Bankruptcy of the Second International," Lenin Collected Works, Vol. 21, People's Publishing House, 1959. > 3. Lenin: "On the Complete Transformation of Marxism and 'Imperialist Economism'," Lenin Collected Works, Vol. 23, People's Publishing House, 1958. > 4. Mao Zedong, quoted from "People's Daily," "Red Flag" magazine, "PLA Daily": "Leninism or Social Imperialism? - Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Lenin's Birth," April 22, 1970. > 5. Marx and Engels: "The Communist Manifesto," Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, People's Publishing House, 1972. > 6. Mao Zedong: "The Constitution of New Democratic China," Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1, People's Publishing House, 1967. > 7. Flame: "The Road of China's Future Revolution." > 8. Hong Xiuquan: "The Wake-up Lesson of the Original Way." > 9. Mao Zedong: "Struggle for the Construction of a Great Socialist Country."