Contemporary Appropriation of Confucian Aesthetics in China: Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping’s Political Discourses on Art and Morality
Eva Kit Wah Man
Abstract
Mao Zedong’s thoughts on art and society delivered at the Yan’an Talks in the 1940s had a significant impact on the Chinese Communist Party’s art policies for decades. In 2014, Xi Jinping delivered the “Speech at the Forum on Literature and Art” in Beijing, which echoed Mao’s Yan’an Talks but was arrogated and idealized to emphasize the development of a strong China. His speech focused on boosting artists to celebrate Party-sanctioned morality, cultural heritage, and nationalist sentiment, and he stated that the main purpose of art was to infuse reality with optimism for the future. The ways both leaders appropriated Chinese traditional Confucian aesthetics and related art to social reality have not been well examined. This article reviews the development of the discourses and how both leaders appropriate the Confucian utilitarian approach to art and claim Confucian aesthetics to be the spiritual lifeline of China in facing cultural globalism.
Key Words
action-based ethics, art and morality, Confucian aesthetics, Meihao, political function of art, Yan’an Talks
The two strong leaders of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping, announced their agenda on art and literature to the country in the 1940s and 2010s, respectively. Their speeches, though, are seventy years apart and beat around art and socialism, stating that art serves the comprehension of the general public. When their basic understanding of art and morality follows the line of socialism, their emphasis on art and its social functions deviates due to different political situations, yet what is in common is that both agendas refer back to traditional Confucian aesthetics.
It is timely to raise the following questions: What do Mao and Xi appropriate from the traditional Confucian aesthetics in their artistic and political discourses? What did Confucius originally emphasize when he discussed art and the way art can cultivate humanity? This study reviews the original Confucian discourses on aesthetics, art, and society and examines the ideas that might have illuminated what Mao and Xi arrogated, and the ways they appropriated traditional Confucian aesthetics in their socio-political agendas. The argument of this study is that both leaders of the new China have referred to the ideas and social functions of traditional Confucian aesthetics and used the reference as tools for political propaganda, yet they have left intact some of the core values of humanity. The discussion starts from a brief account of the developmental background of Mao and Xi’s discourses on art, before reviewing the main dimensions of Confucian aesthetics through its discussion on music, art, and social functions. It then investigates their appropriation of the tradition and the variations in both Mao and Xi’s artistic agendas. The conclusion tells the missing parts of the tradition in these recent arrogations.
1. Background
Mao Zedong’s thoughts on art and society started from the Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art (在延安文藝座談會上的講話, hereafter Yan’an Talks) in the 1940s, which became very influential, directing principles in art and culture. The Yan’an Talks have had great impacts on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) art policies for decades. As Ellen Judd pointed out, when Mao called upon mental transformation among artists to follow the mass line policy of Marxism-Leninism, the Yan’an Talks aimed to link together urban intellectuals and peasants to create an effective political force. His call developed further nationalistic fervors in Communist China afterward (Judd, 1985, 377-390).[1]
Soon, in 1942-1945, came the Yan’an Rectification Movement 延安整風運動, which provided relatively clear and detailed guidelines to intellectuals and artists about how to create “New Democratic” literature and art from local and national soils, and the political values of the arts recognized by the CCP. One of the most renowned passages from Mao’s speeches at the Forum includes: “In the world today, all culture, all literature, and art belong to definite classes and are geared to definite political lines. There is, in fact, no such thing as art for art’s sake, art that stands above classes or art that is detached from or independent of politics.”[2] (在現在世界上，一切文化或文學藝術都是屬於一定的階級，屬於一定的政治路線的。為藝術的藝術，超階級的藝術，和政治並行或互相獨立的藝術，實際上是不存在的。) Mao openly criticized petit-bourgeois writers, saying that their works only exposed dark and preached pessimism and world-weariness. At the time, he declared his inclination to promote art to the masses and educate them to overcome their shortcomings.[3]
Bonnie McDougall notes how in his ideology Mao remains close to Chinese traditional literature and has no reservations about merging traditional Chinese elite concepts with popular culture.[4] In his talks, Mao made strong appeals to traditional Chinese poetry, especially the Confucian social functions of poetry, which involved “changing” (Xing, 興), “observing” (Qun, 觀), “uniting” (群), and “criticizing society” (怨). McDougall clearly identifies the Confucian utilitarian approach to art and literature in Mao’s words.[5]
Decades later, on October 15, 2014, new China leader Xi Jinping gave his “Speech at the Forum on Literature and Art” (在文藝工作座談會上的講話) in Beijing, which echoed Mao’s agenda delivered at Yan’an but was appropriated and idealized to emphasize the development of a strong China. His speech was regarded as putting less emphasis on the historical revolution and Communism, but encouraged artists to celebrate Party-sanctioned morality, cultural heritage, and nationalist sentiment.[6] Xi stated that the main purpose of art was to infuse reality with optimism for the future: “If literature and art creation is only pure recording and description of the status quo, and the first-hand display of hideousness, there would be no eulogizing of the light, no expression of ideals, no guidance of morality, and so it would be impossible to inspire the people to progress.”[7]
He also said that art must combine “a realist spirit” (現實主義精神) with “romantic feelings,” (浪漫感) “to shine light on real life, use the light to dispel darkness, use the beautiful and good to vanquish the ugly and the bad, should use the term “meihao” to replace beauty, see hope, and see that their dreams are ahead.”[8] (應該用現實主義精神和浪漫主義情懷觀照現實生活，用光明驅散黑暗，用美善戰勝丑惡，讓人們看到美好、看到希望、看到夢想就在前方。). He imposed a stronger sign of patriotism, as revealed in a later version of the speech: “Our contemporary literature and art must evermore make patriotism into the main melody of literature and art creation, guide the people in establishing and upholding correct views of history, views of the nation, views of the country, and views of culture, and strengthen the backbone and confidence of the Chinese people.”[9] (我們當代文藝更要把愛國主義作為文藝創作的主旋律，引導人民樹立和堅持正確的歷史觀、民族觀、國家觀、文化觀，增強做中國人的骨氣和底氣。)
The same agenda was restated during Xi’s speech at the Party’s 19th Congress in October 2017. Xi followed Mao’s arguments against formalist art and the mentality of “art for art’s sake.” His priority was that art must contribute to the rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation. The critical function of art was to condemn anti-social or anti-Chinese phenomena. Xi used the term meihao (美好) to describe a “better life” in China that is aesthetically pleasing and morally ordered. The duty of an artist is to produce visions of a good life, and the responsibility of the CCP is to create the socio-economic conditions for its realization. Through the meihao principle, art can promote a positive image of the nation and address any negative connotations with strong patriotism.[10]
Xi’s views on the function of art echo most of those of the Confucian tradition. For he believes art should aim at integrating social and economic effects as long as the Chinese nation pursues the moral plan of the true, the good, and the beautiful throughout.[11] Xi relates contemporary creativity to Chinese traditional culture, which he claims represents the spiritual lifeline of China and a firm anchor within the increase of cultural globalism. He said, “We must integrate the conditions of the new age with inheriting and carrying forward China’s excellent traditional culture and inheriting and carrying forward the spirit of Chinese aesthetics.”[12] (我們要結合新的時代條件傳承和弘揚中華優秀傳統文化，傳承和弘揚中華美學精神。)
2. The spiritual dimensions of art and its social function in traditional Confucian discourses
It is relevant to review traditional Confucian aesthetic discourses, which emphasize how art cultivates humanity and social harmony. It is helpful to start from Confucius’ own teachings on music and locate his discussions about poetry, which in later eras were extended to mean many aspects of the literary arts by Confucian scholars.
i) Confucius’ views on the humanist functions of music
Confucius believed that when humans act as the subject of music, their body and mind unify in the creative process and in the practice of music, and this can enhance their sensibility and moral reason. In other words, the two faculties (body and mind) are in harmony during the practicing of music. In The Analects, it is recorded that Confucius discusses music emphasizing the ways the art form initiates bodily action and the circulation of the body’s matter, qi (氣). The initiation influences one’s will and thoughts, either enhancing or deteriorating one’s moral capacity or qualities, when sharing music. Confucius is recorded to have promoted his favorite form of music, shaoyue (韶樂), which is both virtuous (善) and beautiful (美), leading to a tranquil state of mind and strengthening one’s moral attitude. He particularly condemns zhengsheng (鄭聲), which was a popular form of music in the state of Zheng during his time, as Confucius believed that its noisy, allegedly lewd sounds and irregular structure would lead to chaotic states in the spiritual and physical aspects of both the players and the audiences.[13]
While in recordings Confucius elaborates on the different aspects of social ritual and musical practice, he likewise places equal emphasis on these two domains in his teaching, regarding the integration of both as part of the vital exercises of self-cultivation and state harmony. The message is, both social ritual and musical practice would nurture one’s aesthetic taste, moral temperament, and will through disciplined practice and regulation of bodily qi, which in turn would regulate the mind’s moral consciousness. The resulting self-cultivation would lead to the harmony of one’s family, nation, and the world.[14] Confucius perceived shaoyue music as a manifestation unifying beauty and goodness, with this unity taking place in one’s aesthetic experience. Not only would one enjoy the aesthetic pleasure but also the sense of aesthetic harmony and moral goodness imbedded in the musical form, arrangement, and performance. Confucius has further elaborated on the foundation of social rituals and music, relating them to the spiritual and moral qualities of human agents. He states: “If a man is not humane (ren 仁), what has he to do with ceremonies? If he is not humane, what has he to do with music?”[15]
These moral qualities directly lead to social harmony. In this sense, Confucians may disagree with the notion of “art for art sake,” for art does not only play a social role aiming at social harmony; it also leads to one’s harmony with nature. Heaven always achieves its own harmony, and one can perceive its form via proper music or art works. One can see the commonalities and differences between Confucian traditional aesthetics and New China discourses on art and morality—since artistic intuition is loaded with emotional quality, the notion of disinterestedness in art is impossible; there is the integration among art and humanity and its social and natural environments; art is always imbedded with social and political impacts; there is no dichotomy of the mind and body, form and matter, and individuals and the social masses implied in the discussion of art; art in the form of an indifferent attitude towards humanity, is not encouraged and seen as impossible.
This explains the important role of music and its implicit role of transformation in the Confucian tradition, and the proper “way” of music as discussed by Confucius, who said: ˝If names are not rectified, then language will not be in accordance with truth. If language is not in accordance with truth, then things cannot be accomplished. If things cannot be accomplished, then ceremonies and music will not flourish. If ceremonies and music do not flourish then punishment will not be just. If punishments are not just; then the people will not know how to move hand or foot.˝[16]
Confucians believe that the moral mind can see things in themselves, as it is endowed by, and corresponds to, the metaphysical Nature of Heaven (天道), which generates all things. The Confucian version reminds us that the experience of this metaphysical entity promotes imaginative understanding and suggests that art has transformative power; it works both through the body and the mind in enhancing one’s moral and ethical senses. The Confucian metaphysical and ontological implications traditionally refer to in-depth religious beliefs in our integrated relationship with nature. They are suggested in the mind and body practices that Confucius explicates through his teachings of music, as well as the later discussions by Mencius on mind and body coherence (身心合一).[17] Having said that, Confucian theories of art also aim at a social therapeutic model. The Confucian approach points to a parallel and interactive development in art and social culture, an organic and integrative mode of aesthetic activities and its community. According to Confucian aesthetics, art has never been, and should never be, isolated from its social reality. There is a genuine concern in the arts of how one should live with others in a state of well-being. Mao appropriates this concern to emphasize that art should be communicable to all walks of life, and Xi promotes how art should lead people to the meihao or the positive side of social life.
ii)Confucian views on poetry and social reality
Cai Zongqi conducted a comparative study of the discourses on the social function of poetry in Confucius and Plato’s conversations. He notes that in Lunyu, Confucius explicitly discusses poetry’s capability to enhance broader social relationships. Poetry has four basic social functions: “to inspire’”(xing 興), “to observe” (guan 觀), “to keep company” (qun群), and “to voice out grievances” (yuan 怨). For xing, Cai notes, in the process of making and reading poetry, there is the transformation of one’s emotions into moral sentiments, and the process achieves an inward harmony of feelings and thoughts.[18] Quan is glossed as “to observe the rise and the decline of moral customs,” by Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127-200),[19] and “to observe the success and failures [of government],” by Zhu Xi 朱熹.[20] Cai notes that it is generally assumed that Confucius thinks of poetry as a mirror in which readers can see reflections of both the social harmony of a well-governed state and the social discord of an ill-governed state.[21]
‘Qun,’ according to Cai, means not only a rejection of bad human company but also good human company governed by moral rightness as exemplified in poetry.[22] The term ‘yuan’ means to voice out or lament grievances regarding social situations or immoral behaviors. Cai notes grievances are not only about accusing governors. He translates Confucius’ saying, “Let a man be inspired by the poetry, set straight by the rituals, and perfected by music” (“興於詩，立於禮，成於樂。”)[23] Confucius was also concerned about the misrepresentation of social reality and moral incorrectness.
Why does misrepresentation of sociopolitical reality matter? According to Cai, Confucius warns that misrepresentations lead to a willful destruction of the hierarchical sociopolitical structure, which then leads to social chaos and disharmony.[24] From the strict moral standard comes a similar understanding of the appropriate form of art, similar to those claimed by Mao and Xi, that the moral and aesthetic standards well-received by the masses are most effective.[25] Despite his clear judgment of right and wrong, Confucius’ aim is for the arts to promote one’s moral cultivation. Mencius elaborates on this point through bodily qi and mind rectification in artistic practices. Cai also notes similar references in another representative Confucian work, The Great Learning (Daxue 大學), which states, “Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their families being regulated, their States were rightly governed. Their States being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy.”[26] We might add that traditional Confucian concerns go beyond social and political harmony, social control, or regulations. The ultimate concern is the coherence of Heaven, or the Dao, and humanity. This is the spiritual or metaphysical dimension that is missing in the art discourses of Mao and Xi, which is expected in their socialist agenda and political contexts. Yet Confucian aesthetics has also promoted the social functions of art.
iii) The social functions of literary art
The influential Northern and Southern dynasties literary critic and Confucian scholar Liu Xie’s (劉勰, 465- 522 AD) representative literary criticism work, The Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragon (Wenxin Diaolong 文心雕龍), examines the spiritual and the aesthetic dimensions of literary authors and the creative force of compositional literary writing. To Liu, the quality of writing is related to the moral quality of a person, for an author writes from the heart and mind. Liu attributes the common qualities and capacities of all authors to seven categories, which all originate internally from one’s heart; these include talents (才), spirit (氣), learning (學), practice (習), thinking (思), emotion (情), and will (志).[27] Liu elaborates that when one writes genuinely from one’s heart, the feeling will be profound; the style is clear, the facts are truthful, the meaning is straight, the form is concise, and the language is beautiful. He elaborates on writing in “eight styles” (ba ti 八體), which are the elegant, the recondite, the concise, the plain, the ornate, the sublime, the exotic, and the frivolous ( 典雅，遠奧，精約，顯附，繁縟，壯麗，新奇，輕靡). Liu notes the evaluation of compositions is based on one’s genuine feelings, which define writing as succinct and truthful.[28] Liu consequently attributes the origin of writing to physical and spiritual qi and its quality, which needs to be nourished, cultivated, reformed, and expressed.[29] This reminds readers of Mencius’ suggestion that one must nourish qi to be a moral person, and this can be elaborated to imply a cosmological perspective that artists should seek to realize the full development of their corporeal and moral natures, so that they may finally enter into communion with Heaven. These Confucian discussions are again missing in the discourses in Mao and Xi.
Liu also related the function of literary writings to social lives. He states that an author is an advisor on state affairs who should take up heavy responsibilities and be a pillar of the state; when in office, he should use the opportunity to bring about political achievements.[30] This point echoes Mao and Xi’s idea that the purpose of literary art is to make constructive contributions to society. From Liu’s Confucian perspective, a virtuous and excellent person understands the decree of heaven and knows what is morally right and what should be done in life.[31] In the chapter on “Moral Integrity,” Liu states that a person of virtue maintains their abilities and rises to the occasion to express themselves. They nourish their own nature, build up their moral integrity, and display their literary talent to establish their names. Then, an author goes beyond their individuality, becoming an advisor on state affairs and takes on heavy responsibilities.
iv) “Wandering in the arts”
Confucius highlights a condition of humaneness, “wandering in the arts,” which implies how mastering practical skills in the arts could promote morality. This should start from a solid understanding of their materials and natural laws.
Confucians believed that mastery of skill in the arts brings about the freeness of play in the arts. Wang Keping notes that this sense of freedom, when an artist possesses complete mastery and the appropriate use of practical crafts based on the objective laws of the art materials at hand, promotes maturity of personality.[32] We can relate the materials to those of the sounds in music and the brushwork in painting and calligraphy. Wang also notes the claim that “skills” nurture aesthetic sense and develop our appreciation of the arts and our aesthetic experiences in life or living experiences.[33] The harmony or synthesis of mind and body enhances the goodness of the individual’s personality and, furthermore, social harmony.
In Mao and Xi’s discourses of art, its social and political functions and its effectiveness in social lives are stressed over the artistic skills or processing, which are assumed.
3. Variations of traditional Confucian aesthetics in both Mao and Xi’s artistic agendas
In the Yan’an Talks in 1942, Mao aimed to link urban intellectuals and peasants together to create an effective political force. He stressed that literature and art belong to definite classes and are geared to definite political lines. He was, therefore, against art for art’s sake and opposed art standing above classes or being independent of politics.[34]
He agreed with the Confucian social functions of poetry and recognized poetry’s ability to transform, observe, unite, and criticize society. However, Mao also imposed strong party discipline and regarded the arts as a state policy and apparatus, in the sense that they could lead people to live against all odds. These aspects were not stressed in traditional Confucian aesthetics. Mao’s emphasis on the functions of art to transform people, observe social situations, unite the masses, and criticize those on the wrong side of political incorrectness was repurposed for his revolutionary agenda addressing class struggle.
Xi echoed Mao’s agenda in art in his 2014 delivery on art and morality, appropriating and idealizing it to emphasize the development of a strong China. In his delivery, Xi puts less emphasis on historical revolution and Communism and encourages artists to celebrate moral acts agreeable with the party’s thoughts. There is also strong nationalist sentiment promoted through the praise and the preservation of Chinese cultural heritage including Confucian thought and aesthetics. Xi also adds his agenda of meihao in life, assigning art to boost optimistic feelings among Chinese people. In this sense, Xi echoes Mao’s projected mission of art in guarding against darkness and hardships in life. His agenda asserts that art is meant to express ideals, promote moral feelings, and inspire Chinese people to make progress.[35] However, one wonders if his agenda of meihao, together with his strong sense of patriotism, is totally agreeable with the functions of qun (to observe the living situation) and yuan (to criticize social injustice) explicated in Confucius’ discussion of poetry.
Xi suggests that people should cultivate a vigorous, healthy, tranquil, and harmonious atmosphere for art and accommodate different viewpoints and schools of thought, including artistic styles, themes, forms, and methods. He also proposes that art and ethics should focus on the artistic virtue endorsed in the traditional Confucian culture, with the purpose to illustrate the good lives that people can now attain in China. He cares very much about how the world perceives China and wants to promote the meihao side of Chinese culture. Xi also emphasizes that art should represent socialist core values; therefore, literary and artistic works should be realistic and effective in promoting what is regarded as the proper values and national views that embody the sense of patriotism that he endorses.[36]
Scholars point out that although the old social conflicts and contradictions of Mao’s era were replaced by the new economic changes and social reforms in that of Xi, Xi has inherited Mao’s ideas regarding literature and art, assuming that they should serve the people and reflect their broader social life.[37] These assumptions echo Mao’s belief that the most fundamental role of artistic creativity is “taking root among the people and taking root in life.” These notions were less emphasized in traditional Confucian aesthetics, which focused more on authors’ personal integrity and artistic talents and attributed artistic excellence to both domains.
It should be noted that in the Yan’an Talks, Mao claimed that the virtues of art and literature reside within the politics of the proletariats and the masses, rather than within the politics of any individual artist. In his speech, Xi mentions that the leadership of the Party guarantees the support and development of socialist arts and literature, and writers and artists should hold strong political beliefs and have keen political consciousness. Mao used art and literature to win the hearts of the people, to represent the national spirit, and to promote the victory of the democratic revolution. Xi regards art as an essential means of enhancing cultural confidence and realizing “the Chinese Dream” 中國夢; and the traditional arts are also an important soft cultural power. Again, such agendas are not found explicitly in traditional Confucian aesthetics. Art is used to promote the political ideals of a meihao society under the regime of the socialist China. In Mao’s agenda, art is about revolution; in Xi’s era, it is about national rejuvenation.
Traditional Confucian aesthetics emphasizes how art can initiate bodily action and the circulation of the body’s matter and spirit/energy (qi). The initiation influences one’s moral capacity when practicing art. The resulting interaction leads to self-cultivation and, finally, harmony in one’s family and immediate and extended social environment. In this sense, Confucians also disagree with the notion of “art for art’s sake” and instead see art as a model for social therapy. As mentioned, the Confucian approach to art points to art’s parallel and interactive development with social culture and is concerned with how one should live with others in a state of well-being.
Within the four basic social functions of poetry proposed by Confucius, “to inspire” (xing 興), “to observe” (guan 觀), “to keep company” (qun群), and “to voice out grievances” (yuan 怨), xing and qun align with Mao and Xi’s views that art “unites people” and “promotes a political and social agenda.” We hear these agendas in Mao’s Yan’an Talks and the speech on art and literature in Xi’s 2014 speech. Yet guan, to observe social unfairness, and yuan, to voice out or lament grievances regarding social governess among people, were not stressed in Mao and Xi’s speeches. They are not expecting social inharmony, in the hidden sense of accusations against state’s policies or social struggles; therefore guan and yuan are underplayed. They can be exercised against an artwork, instead of about governance. Xi wants to have unified force in society and that people share the same values; this is articulated in his 2014 speech on art and literature. The traditional Confucian concerns, however, go beyond social and political harmony, or regulations. The ultimate concern of the Confucian aesthetics is the coherence of the Heaven and humanity, the ideal of which is manifested in good art and the moral awareness that the art brings.
Liu, in Wenxin Dialong, demonstrates Confucian aesthetics by attributing the origin of writing to the physical and spiritual qi, which needs to be nourished, cultivated, reformed, and expressed.[38] He evaluated the art of writing as succinct and truthful, and criticized writings that were merely “word plays” and empty in meaning.[39] These critiques are also the foundations for discerning an author’s “moral integrity” and whether he is fit to become an advisor on state affairs, take up heavy responsibilities, and be a pillar of the state to reach political achievements. Yet in both Mao and Xi’s artistic and literary agendas, the main Confucian proposal to nurture one’s aesthetic taste, moral temperament, and will through disciplined artistic practice and regulation of the bodily qi is not mentioned.
As articulated by Wang Keping, the focus of traditional Confucian aesthetics is on how art channels human emotions into proper interpersonal relationships and illustrates human affections under varied life circumstances.[40] Another Confucian claim was that artistic skills nurture aesthetic sensibility, which in turn develops an appreciation of arts and aesthetic experiences in life.[41] Confucius once mentioned “freedom in art making,” (游於藝), which originates from “the good knowledge of the nature of things.” This sense of freedom, suggested in The Analects, occurs when an artist possesses complete mastery of practical crafts, according to the objective laws of their artistic materials. This is not only the ground for producing good art but is also the ground to nurture one’s moral sense, for then the emotional side of a person will be morally rectified.
It seems that these spiritual ideals of Confucian artistic cultivation are not the main objectives of Mao or Xi’s thesis on art and morality. While Mao cares more about mass reception, Xi emphasizes art’s role in highlighting the bright side (meihao) of the society and promoting national strength. In real life, both dissuade against artistic freedom and enforce specific or exclusive boundaries for artistic creation based on their promoted agendas. Wang Keping, among others, warned that when art is guided too fervently by certain moralized and social ideas, the multiplicity of human life may not be freely explored and expressed in art. In Wang’s words, the political agenda may “reduce the spell of tension, obscure philosophical value, and suspend the tragic power of artworks in many cases.”[42]
4. Reception and appropriation of Confucian discourses in New China
Lao Sze-kwang argues that traditional Confucian culture had long lost its vigor by the late Qing dynasty, and that it was largely destroyed and replaced during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.[43] However, he notes that the core of a culture, including Confucian culture, can always appropriate and incorporate other cultures that enter into its “territory.” There were times when traditional Confucianism was an obstacle to modernization, as reviewed during the May Four movement in the 1920s, and times that modernization developed and generated ideas from the cultural core of Confucianism.
Mao’s discourse on aesthetics in China during the 1940s, when he was facing the political situation and promoting the Rectification Movement, was a mixture of Marxism and Leninism plus those proposed by himself. Mao incorporated traditional Confucian ideas in his cultural campaign. If Confucianism, as Lao suggests, has a core ideological structure, its cultural elements including values, aesthetics, and ways of life should have developed from this ideological core. Its appropriation and application would be adapted through a political structure, including social systems and economics.[44]
During the respective eras of Mao and Xi, the process of integrating political structures involves borrowing foreign influences before fully adapting them. In Mao’s aesthetic approach, for instance, one can identify elements of Marxist-Leninism. He may not have initially evaluated these ideas to see if they could harmonize with Confucian aesthetics, as Lao suggested.[45] However, Mao would selectively reference Confucian concepts whenever they could serve his Marxist agenda in China.
In Xi’s time, slogans like “Reform” and the “Chinese Dream” have emerged. By contrast, Mao’s China faced disintegration after the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, followed by the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping. Critics like Lao argue that China’s modernization has employed Confucian thought primarily as a tool without a genuine engagement with its core principles. While China’s market economy has since thrived, it was done so separated from the Western foundations, values, and historical contexts it initially drew upon.[46]
Similar critiques can be applied to the Confucian tradition and its aesthetics. Discussions around art and morality often lack the foundational Confucian values—such as the unity of heaven and humanity, moral cultivation through art and ritual, harmony of mind and body, and the blend of sacred and secular elements. Lao suggests that at the heart of Confucian moral discourse are the specific motivations behind moral actions, along with the associated practices, moral order, and education. These elements, he argues, cannot simply be replaced by political campaigns, artistic directives, or social engineering. Instead, they require a process of adaptation and equilibrium, so that Confucian core values can continue to influence and function effectively.[47]
As Daniel Bell explicates, two dominating factors have overshadowed the so-called “utopian thinking” of the Confucian tradition relating Heaven to humanity, namely, political control and immediate economic and social problems. He relates the decline to “Mao’s disastrous attempts to sweep away the past during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.”[48] In this sense, what is left is a moral vacuum to be filled by Confucianism and its political terms, which are social hierarchy and control via ritualism. The objectives are honesty, filial piety, social harmony, and unity. The agenda is very practical, in which the metaphysical flavors are diminished. Confucianism promptly becomes a form of national identity externally, and it also forges a closer relationship between the people and the government.[49] It is admitted that there are conflicts between the state policies and control of people and the Confucian moral principles of ren, empathy, and accommodation.
Some of the moral discussions in Confucius’ teaching were appropriated to meet the political agenda of the time, including the Maoist practice of self-criticism, which ended in directing criticism at oneself rather than directing it at class enemies. And, as Bell has claimed, one of the biggest challenges to government policy is Confucianism’s emphasis on meritocracy, which refers to the rule by talented and public service-spirited members of the community.[50] However, Confucian teachings are the soft power of New China, and they have become tools of social and political propaganda. Their appropriation and variations are tailored to meet the political agenda of Mao and Xi, including the teachings in the Confucian classics, The Great Learning, which relates personal cultivation to state harmony and then to peace on earth.
If Confucianism is an action-based ethics, as Bell describes, so is its aesthetical discourse about art and morality. Art promotes morality via freedom for competent skills in practice, and morality is a vital condition to produce ideal forms of art. The notion of the rectification of mind claimed in The Great Learning, for example, is a moral preparation for artists, but under Mao and Xi, the Confucian moral beliefs were replaced by political agendas and social functions for their times. Conscientious social criticism, which used to be an essential function of poetry, now may be regarded as intimidating and threatening social harmony when critics’ comments lead to critical reflection on the social governance. An essential value in being a Confucian artist should be reinstalled, which idea can be read in Bell’s words when he mentions the great teacher: “Confucius continued to criticize political authorities, pointing to the gap between reality and the ideal, and laid the foundations for subsequent political reformers inspired by his views of humane government.”[51] This is all about humanity’s foundation.
Eva Kit Wah Man
profevaman@gmail.com
Hong Kong Metropolitan University
This study was supported by the Research & Development Fund of Hong Kong Metropolitan University granted in 2023.
Published May 12, 2025.
Cite this article: Eva Kit Wah Man, “Contemporary Appropriation of Confucian Aesthetics in China: Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping’s Political Discourses on Art and Morality,” Contemporary Aesthetics, Volume 23 (2025), accessed date.
Endnotes
[1] Ellen Judd, “Prelude to the ‘Yan’an Talks,’” Modern China 11, no. 3 (1985), 377-90.
[2] Zedong Mao, “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature,” in Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung (Maoist Documentation Project, 2004), 21. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/ index.htm. Mao added that although man’s social life is the only source of literature and art and is incomparably livelier and richer in content, the people are not satisfied with life alone and demand literature and art as well. Why? Because, while both are beautiful, life as reflected in works of literature and art can and ought to be on a higher plane, more intense, more concentrated, more typical, nearer the ideal, and therefore more universal than actual everyday life. See Mao, “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature,” 22.
[3] Mao, “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature,” 23.
[4] Bonnie S. McDougall, Mao Zedong’s Talks at the Yan’an Conference on Literature and Art: A Translation of the 1943 Text with Commentary (Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1980), 4.
[5] McDougall, Mao Zedong’s Talks at the Yan’an Conference on Literature and Art, 10.
[6] Christian Sorace, “Mao on the Relationship between Politics and Art in the Context of Revolution,” in Afterlives of Chinese Communism Political Concepts from Mao to Xi, ed. Ivan Franceschini, Nicholas Loubere, and Christian Sorace (Verso Books, 2019), 11-17.
[7] Jinping Xi, “Speech at the Forum on Literature and Art,” Beijing Forum on Literature and Art (delivered in Beijing, October 15, 2014), China Copyright and Media (CCM), https://chinacopyrightandmediawordpress.com/2014/10/16/xi-jinpings-talks-at-the-beijing- forum-on-literature-and-art/ (the original weblink was not found and cannot be retrieved, background and information about CCM can be found in DigiChina in Stanford.edu.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Jinping Xi, “Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, The People’s Daily, October 28, 2017.
[11] Xi, “Speech at the Forum on Literature and Art.”
[12] Ibid.
[13] Confucius’ discussion and evaluation of Shao music is recorded in chapter three of The Analetics. See Confucius, The Analetics, trans. Arthur Waley (Vintage, 1989).
[14] Wing-tsit Chan, trans. and compiled. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton University Press, 1963), 60.
[15] Confucius, The Analetics, 3.3., in Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, 53.
[16] Ibid., 67.
[17] For further discussion, see Eva Kit Wah Man, “Contemporary Feminist Body Theories and Mencius’s Ideas of Body and Mind,” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 27, Issue 2 (2000), 155-69.
[18] Zong-qi Cai, “In Quest of Harmony: Plato and Confucius on Poetry,” Philosophy East and West 49, no. 3 (1999), 324.
[19] Lunyu jijie (Collected explanations to the Analects論語集解), ed. He Yan (SBBY edition), 17.4b.
[20] Ibid., 9.13b.
[21] Cai, “In Quest of Harmony,” 324-325.
[22] Ibid., 325.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid., 333.
[25] Here are related quotations: “The Master said, Artful words and an ingratiating countenance, they scarcely have anything to do with the Good.” See Confucius, The Analects, 1.3.84. Also “The master said, what need him to be a good talker? Those who down others with clap-trap are seldom popular”. See Confucius, The Analects, 107.
[26] Cai, “In Quest of Harmony,” 336. The quotation is from The Great Learning, in The Four Books, trans. James Legge (Chengwen, 1971), 358-59.
[27] Xie Liu. Dragon Carving and the Literary Mind, trans. Guobin Yang. (Foreign Languages Teaching and Research Press, 2003), 695.
[28] Ibid., 445.
[29] Ibid., 377.
[30] Ibid., 371.
[31] Ibid., 315.
[32] Keping Wang, “A Sketch of Chinese Aesthetics,” in The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, ed. Marcello Ghilardi and Hans-Georg Moeller. (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021), 21.
[33] Wang, “A Sketch of Chinese Aesthetics,” 22.
[34] Mao, “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature,” 21.
[35] Xi, “Speech at the Forum on Literature and Art.”
[36] Ibid.
[37] Yue Ma, “Discussing Xi Jinping’s Inheritance and Development of Mao Zedong’s Literary Thought,” in Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, Conference proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Economics, Social Science, Arts, Education and Management Engineering (ESSAEME 2018), 555-60.
[38] Liu, Dragon Carving and the Literary Mind, 377.
[39] Ibid., 425, 445 .
[40] Wang, “A Sketch of Chinese Aesthetics,” 20.
[41] Ibid., 22.
[42] Ibid., 24.
[43] Sze-Kwang Lao. Illusion and Hope: On Contemporary Philosophy and Culture (Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003), 64.
[44] Ibid., 74.
[45] Ibid., 26.
[46] Ibid. 192.
[47] Ibid. 154.
[48] Daniel A. Bell, China’s New Confucianism : Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society (Princeton University Press, 2016), 3.
[49] Ibid., 9.
[50] Ibid., 14.
[51] Ibid., 170.