Reading about spread of Confucianism in early modern Japan, amused by translators’ habit of discussing idea that ruler has Mandate of Heaven but literally not mentioning the further fact that if one lacks benevolence and humane rule then one loses mandate and may be replaced.
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One plays with fire when, as an autocrat, one tried to bend the great ideals of the humanistic tradition to one’s corrupt purposes. In the long run the forceless force of gentle argument and appeal to principle may well be unstoppable, however one tries to twist it.
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Anyway, right or wrong, this historical antecedent is what I’ll now have in mind when I see certain folk appeal to Martin Luther King Jnr as a defender of the status quo.
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Thoughts somewhat inspired by
@BryanVanNorden‘s ideas about the state sponsored revival of Confucianism in modern China.Show this thread
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